FYSM 1108 Sustainable Environments

Welcome

Your assignments at university are an invitation to join a scholarly conversation by exploring topics in depth, formulating questions, examining the research in order to build an arugument and draw your own conclusions. A good research topic is one that sparks your interest. This guide is intended to introduce the information literacy process that will help you conduct university level research. Begin with: First-Year Students: Library Basics

Start your research

Pick a Research topic

Read your syllabus and course assignment instructions carefully
Pick a topic that interests you and meets the criteria of the assignment
Need extra help? Click on Choosing an essay topic

Do an initial search on Wikipedia for background knowledge

Using Wikipedia will also help you to broaden your search terms and help you find Grey literature
Watch the video, Using Wikepedia Wisely

Use Reference sources to find definitions

What is academic literature?

Academic literature is written by scholars in a specific field and is peer reviewed by specialists in the same field so that only the best possible research is published. Scholars usually have PhD degrees in an area of specialization and are employed at higher education institutions. Although many of the library's databases provide access to all types of sources, your professor will want you to use peer reviewed journals. These journals publish the world's most recent research written by scholars in all disciplines.

Watch Peer review in 3 minutes video (from NC State U Libraries)

Popular magazines and newspapers are also indexed by the library's databases and are primarily designed to entertain, as well as inform the general public. They are written by staff writers or free lance journalists and are not peer reviewed. Getting to know the difference between these two types of sources is important.

Academic Journals vs. Popular Magazines (overview)

What this means to you

For any resource that you wish to use, be critical about it! Ask questions. Consider who the author is, and what the purpose is of the author conducting the research.

Who published the source?
What sources did the author use?

When you are new to a discipline, it can be difficult to know which sources can be trusted. Verifying that sources in Omni (the library's main search tool), are designated as "peer reviewed" will reduce the risk of trusting bogus sources.

If you are unsure if a journal is peer reviewed, you can check Ulrichsweb. It is the definitive source that lets you know what type of journal you are using by 'content type'.

Finding Journal Articles and books/eBooks

To find books or journal articles, you have three options:

1. Use Omni, the library's main search box

type in the keywords of your topic
this discovery tool searches most of the library's databases, simultaneously, for all types of material, ie: journal articles, book reviews, books/e-books, newspapers, magazines,videos, reports, etc.
each search can return many results (much like Google), so you must use the filters to refine your search results
use the Advanced Search and narrow by Subject terms (controlled vocabulary)
remember to login first if you are searching from 'off campus'

2. Search specialized databases for Environmental Studies

these databases are focused on environmental studies & contain citations or full text links to journal articles, books, conference proceedings, reports, and dissertations
you will find more precise articles with fewer results to browse

Recommended databases for journal articles/books include:

3. Use a search engine

Google Scholar (access via the library's web site only) - Google Scholar is a large search engine that searches information on the web and provides links to full-text articles to which the Carleton Library subscribes, or to articles made freely available by the publisher. It also provides articles from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and scholarly articles posted on the web.
Although it is easy to use and includes 'cited by' and ranking features, it does not provide full text without a library subscription and the coverage for the humanities and social sciences is uneven. There is no 'filter option' for just scholarly publications and very few options to limit or narrow your search results.

4. Here is a list of peer reviewed geography journals. You can browse the contents of each title to become familiar with the topics and themes. For help with this, view the Journal Searching feature in Omni.

Remember: If you cannot get find a specific journal article at Carleton's library, you can register for a RACER account to access online material from other libraries.

Search Techniques

1. Select keyword search terms for your topic

Choose words that represent the key concepts of your research topic

2. Create a search string using Boolean command words, AND, OR

Search Examples:

food AND campus AND (organic OR gardens OR pollinator OR fair trade)

"single use plastic*"

"outdoor environmental education" AND "experiential learning"

"organic food" AND (campus OR university OR college)

use AND to search multiple ideas and phrases in order to narrow your search
think of possible synonyms for each concept
use brackets to group synonyms together with OR in between them to broaden your search
use truncation symbol * (asterisk) to replace word endings or variant spellings
use quotation marks to ensure that words are searched together as a phrase

3. Select a Database from the subject-specific databases for Environmental Studies

4. Use database filters - to obtain high quality, academic literature, remember to refine your search by selecting the following filters:

Peer reviewed journals
Articles
Subject (optional)

Tip 1: Refine date range Filter your search to find peer reviewed journal articles. Many sources are published in different formats and written for specific audiences and do not have solid authority as with peer reviewed literature.

Tip 2: Check the bibliographies of journal articles to find additional relevant sources.

Tip 3: If you are unsure if a journal is peer reviewed, check Ulrichsweb. It is the definitive source that lets you know what type of journal you are using by 'content type'.

Documentary Films/Videos

Useful Web Sites

Reading, Writing & Citing Tips

Reading Guides

How to read effectively and critically (U of Melbourne)
How to read a Scholarly Article (Western U Libraries)

Writing Guides

Writing an outline
Developing strong research questions
Writing Services @ CU offers students instruction on developing an argument, structuring your ideas, and writing well.

Writing an Annotated Bibliography

Citing Help

Getting Help