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Research Skills: Internet for research

Student guide

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The library website is always the best place to start your research - whether you use Summon or go directly to a recommended database for your subject.

Very often your lecturer is expecting you to find relevant peer reviewed article.

Our library databases are a perfect starting point for this type of assignment.

There is an element of quality control knowing that these articles are paid for by the library.

They are also much easier to reference - you can see who the author is, what institution they belong to, the title of the journal and the date published.

Reading this type of material also helps you improve your academic writing. You might also can get ideas on how to layout your information.

The bibliography at the end is often a great source of further reading.  

A google search can provide you with additional information that can supplement your research but be careful to evaluate the websites you find. 

This website reminds you of the questions you should ask  - 

http://www.open.ac.uk/libraryservices/beingdigital/objects/87/index.htm

PROMPT acronym stands for  

Presentation / Relevance / Objectivity / Method / Provenance / Timeliness 

Has your Google search provided you with sites where you can match any or all of these  of these criteria?

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