Note: This document (downloads as a Word doc) can be used to plan your work.
Scholarly sources are:
Scholarly sources use formal language and include citations and references.
A peer reviewed source is reviewed by other academics and experts in the field.
Ulrichsweb is a directory where you can check if a publication has peer reviewed material.
All peer-reviewed sources are scholarly, but not all scholarly sources are peer-reviewed.
A source is credible when it is from authorities in the field, professional bodies and standards.
It is important to have a variety of search terms to use when conducting your searches for information. Some locations for these may be:
Use your search terms to build your search strategy.
There are various search operators available to use. The most common are found in the table below:
This document has more search operators that can be used with various databases.
For an introduction to searching the library catalogue, please complete the Library Search Help tutorial.
The library catalogue should be your first port of call when you are searching for information. Many databases used by Education researchers are included in this search.
You can search from the library home page with your search terms and/or search strings, or go to the Advanced Search.
Log in to MyLibrary to save searches and results. This is particularly helpful when you need to document your search strings or if you need to return to your search another time.
You can link UniSQ Library catalogue to google Scholar.
To link UniSQ library catalogue, simply follow these steps:
While Google Scholar does not have as many effective limtiers as the Library catalogue, it does show where items have been cited and suggests similar articles.
While the library catalogue will search many of our databases, you may want to use one specific database for your topic. Some databases, such as ClickView, are not searchable through the library catalogue.
You might find our self-paced tutorial Finding and Using Databases useful if you are new to databases.
Many databases have guides and tutorials to help you use them effectively. This document has search operators that can be used with various databases.
View the video for a demonstration on searching for information.