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DEVS 100: Library Tutorial

Introduction

Image of a poster against mining in Guatemala

Welcome to the DEVS 100 library tutorial. This tutorial is designed to introduce students in DEVS 100: Canada and the "Third World" to the Queen's University Library system, library research tools that will enable you to locate books and scholarly journal articles for your coursework in DEVS 100, and the skills required to search them effectively and efficiently.

Upon completion of this tutorial, you will be able to:

  • select appropriate resources to search for and locate development studies information
  • implement a variety of search strategies in order to find information effectively and efficiently
  • evaluate sources critically in order to determine what information to incorporate and what to reject
  • cite research in the appropriate documentation style for DEVS 100
     

About this Tutorial

This tutorial consists of nine modules of varying length:

1: Introduction: Some introductory remarks and a quick overview of the tutorial.

2: Overview: A general orientation to doing research with library tools.

3. Managing you time: Resources to help you manage your workload.

4: Finding Sources: Search techniques you can employ to improve the efficiency of your search results.

5: Finding Books: How to search for books by title, author and topic (keywords) in QCAT, the Queen's Library Catalogue, how to locate them on the library's shelves, and using Summon to identify books on your topic.

6: Finding Articles: Characteristics of different types of articles you may come across in your research (scholarly, popular and newspaper); article indexes and databases including CBCA (Canadian Business and Current Affairs) and Academic Search Complete; and search engines including Summon and Google Scholar.

7: Searching the Web: Search techniques for searching the web and using subject directories to locate websites.

8: Using Information: Considers two very important aspects in the research process that occur after you have located a piece of information: evaluating and citing sources.

9: Conclusion: Tutorial wrap-up and where to go for research help, if you need it.