Research Help is going to help you learn how to conduct research using Library Resources for your assignments/projects.

The best way to know your assignment is by having a clear understanding of the assignment requirements given by your Lecturer. Reread the instructions several times and understand what is asked of you. If you are doubtful about any aspect of it; don’t hesitate to clarify your doubts with your Lecturer. Please don’t wait until the very last minute to do your assignment. Plan your time wisely and start doing your assignments as soon as you have received them.

Some of the academic writing assignments come with pre-assigned topics; but there are others that allow you to choose a topic. If you are allowed to select a topic for your assignment; choose a topic that is of interest to you, and one where you can find enough material to write on; this will keep you motivated when writing your papers.

If your topic is too broad, you will be weighed down with too much information and you may not be able to focus. In fact, despite having plenty of material for your essay, you may not be able to answer your question in a straightforward and relevant manner. In addition, you have to start reducing the text to meet the required number of words for your assignment. Thus it is best to narrow your topic for it to be manageable.

The narrower the topic, the more focused is your research. Just make sure that you still have enough of material to write on.

Use key words, which are present in the research/ assignment question, this helps you find relevant articles or books for your topic. Given below is an example of how to identify the keywords for your research. For example if you are working on the topic:

“Moral awareness is the most important element of ethical decision making”

The keywords to use are: Moral/Ethical/Decision making

The next step is determining the kind of resources to use. Normally the research/assignment would specify this. If you are in doubt, please ask the Lecturer what kind of resources you are allowed to use.

Different types of resources

• Reference
  Reference includes resources such as atlases, biographies, dictionaries, directories, thesauruses, encyclopedias and statistical yearbooks. These resources provide definitions, facts and figures, and background information.
• Books
  Relevant titles may be found in the Course Collection and General Collections. Some books may help you with a general understanding of the subject yet others are specialized books on the subject.
• Periodicals
  Periodicals are published on a regular basis, that is: every day, week, month, quarter or year. The three main types of periodicals are newspapers, news magazines and scholarly journals.
• Online Databases
  The SIM Library subscribe to a wide range of online databases which include e-books and e-journals. These databases provide information on industrial and company news, company profiles, country reports, financial statements and market research reports.

Selected Resources issued by the library are also a useful starting point.

The Online Library Catalogue provides a listing of the library collection which includes books, audio-visual materials and journals, etc. You can search for items by typing in the author name, title, and/or subject to view the material. You can also place online reservations using the Online Catalogue.

The e-Resources consist of full-text journals, magazines, newspapers and e-books. The e-resources are categorized by subjects and once you have identified the subject relevant to your topic, you can consult the e-Resource map or subject guide to locate the relevant databases.

Below are some of the most frequently used online databases:

• Business Source Complete contains bibliographic and full text content in all disciplines of business, marketing, management etc.
• Factiva contains news and business information.
• ABI-Inform Complete is a comprehensive business database.
• Passport GMID is an Online information system that supports teaching and research across a wide range of disciplines.
• Emerging Markets Information Service: Contains news, company and financial data from 80 emerging markets like, Asia, central America, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa

In order to make your time more useful and relevant, here are some basic tips on searching for the resources:

“AND”,“OR” and “NOT” are three simple commands you can use to obtain better results when you are searching the Internet or an online database. They can be used to combine or exclude two or more search terms within a field.

1) When you use “AND” you will get information that is relevant to both the fields.

2) When you use the word “OR”, then resources that have either one of the main key words will be used.

3) When you use “NOT”, your reference will include only the first word and not the second.

» Search by using Phrases
A phrase search is using inverted commas in order to limit the search for words that appear together as a phrase.

e.g. “Corporate governance”

» Search by Truncation
Using truncation allows you to search for words with a common root. This means you don't have to enter a few different terms. The most common symbol for truncation is an asterisk *.

e.g. flexib* for flexible, flexibility, flexibly.

» Search by using Wildcards
Wildcards are similar to truncation. Using wildcards allows you to search for words that can be spelt in more than one way. The most common symbol for a wildcard is an asterisk* and ?

e.g. Colo*r for Colour and Color.
e.g. Organi?ation for Organisation and Organization

Evaluating information sources is critical for research papers. The following are some of the most important criteria that you can use to evaluate the information sources.

Establish and understand the credentials of the author by searching for the author’s credentials. Understand if the author is an expertise on the subject. Understand also if the author is an expert in another field. If you are using information from a website, please verify that the website is maintained by a responsible person/institution.

Verify if the information given by the book/website is accurate by confirming it through other sources. Check to see if the information is reliable. Make sure that the sources you refer to do not have any typographical error.

Make sure that the information provided is up-to-date. Certain subjects like Information Technology are constantly evolving, so make sure that you refer to the latest and most recent sources.

Sometimes material may make very good reading but it may not be relevant to you. Verify if the material is relevant to you by referring back to your question. In addition, make sure that your source’s coverage is relevant to your topic and has the right depth.

Make sure that your content is balanced, not biased and there is no conflict of interest. Understand the motives of the author- if he/she is trying to inform, persuade or sell something to the readers.

It is imperative that you cite the sources you have used for your assignments; whether it is a quotation, paraphrase, or summary of others’ ideas or theories. Remember that if you have copied more than three words without acknowledging your source then you have failed to acknowledged the intellectual property right of that author or researcher. If you fail to cite your sources, you have committed plagiarism and you will be penalized.

Type of reference styles

There are several types of reference styles:

• American Psychological Association (APA)
• Harvard Referencing Style
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
• Modern Language Association (MLA)

Your lecturer may specify which style to use for your assignment. Please check with your lecturer if you are not sure which style to use.

You may also visit your Partner University Libraries websites to find out how to use the reference styles required by your University.

Style manuals available in the SIM library:

• Concise rules of APA style
• MLA style manual and guide to scholarly publishing
• Publication manual of the American Psychological Association
• Style manual for authors, editors and printers.