1. Dr Lisa Padden UCD Access & Lifelong Learning
Research Skills
Dr Lisa Padden
UCD Access & Lifelong Learning

2. Learning Outcomes Using the Library Finding a good source OneSearch
Search Terms
Finding a good source
Reliable information
Online resources

3. Research
UCD Library OneSearch
Library Databases
Google Scholar

4. Search Terms – Quotation marks
Searching for a phrase or series of words
E.g.
“George Eliot”
“Little Women”
Using Quotation Marks “”
E.g. laugh* will retrieve laugh, laughter, laughing etc. and saves you having to type lots of words.

5. OR – to find alternative results
Search Terms - OR
E.g. Teenagers OR Adolescents
OR – to find alternative results

6. AND – to combine two sets of results
Search Terms - AND
E.g. Children AND Illness
AND – to combine two sets of results

7. NOT – to remove unwanted results
Search Terms - NOT
E.g. Illness NOT Children
NOT – to remove unwanted results

8. Library Research
The best place to start finding information on a topic for your essay or research topic. is UCD Library OneSearch. One Search can search a wide range of resources including: books, journal articles, newspaper articles etc.

9. Library Research - online
One Search
Enter the tiltle of the book you’re looking for in the search box. If you know the exact title use quotation marks to improve the accuracy of your search. Click Search. The results screen will show you all the library resources which match your search. To find a copy of the book you are looking for limit your search to books and e-books only. You can also apply further limiters e.g. James Joyce Library under library location. Underneath the book you are looking for you will find details of the availability of the book and the location where it is shelved. You need to note the shelfmark in order to locate the book in the library.

10. Use Evernote to Clip useful articles
Web App
Chrome Extension

11. Maps
Directory
Library
News
Events

12. Using OneSearch to find Books
Enter the title of the book into the OneSearch search box and click on search.
Use quotes if you know the exact title.
Limit your search to books and e-books only in the Content Type section.
Make a note of the shelfmark number.
Critical thinking skills by Cottrell.

13. Using OneSearch to find Journal Articles
Type your topic into the OneSearch search box and click on search.
Your results are automatically sorted by relevance.
You can filter your results by using the filters on the left hand side e.g. Journal Articles.
Click on help for tips on searching. Remember to use phrase searching to narrow your search results e.g. “wind energy in Ireland”. You should limit your results until you get a manageable number of resources to look at.
Select Full Text Online to view the article. If available click on the PDF icon to view the articles.

14. How to Search for a Journal Article
Julian Goodare, ‘Women and the witch-hunt in Scotland’ in Social History, 23, 3 (1998).
Cox, Michael, Kennedy-Pipe, Caroline, ‘The Tragedy of American Diplomacy? Rethinking the Marshall Plan’, Journal of Cold War Studies, 7, 1 (2005),
These are examples of journal citations as they might appear on your reading list. You can tell that these are journal articles by the numbers which appear at the end of the citation. In order to find these articles we must first find the journal in which they were published. The first article was published in the journal called ‘Social History’. The number after the journal title refers to the volume – so we are looking for volume 23 of the journal title Social History which was published in 1998.

15. Using OneSearch to find a Journal Article
Enter the title of the journal article and the author’s surname into the OneSearch search box and click Search.
If the article is available to read on-line it will say ‘Full Text Online’
Click on ‘Full Text Online’ to view the Journal.

16. Using OneSearch to find a Journal Article
This will take you away from OneSearch and into the publishers database. Each database will look slightly different but look for the words PDF or full-text and click to view the article. You can then print or save the article.

17. Using OneSearch to find a Journal Article
If you do not find the journal article using the title of the article and the author’s surname you could try looking for the Journal Title i.e. Social History. Click on Full Text Online or PDF to view the Journal.

18. A reliable source will include:
Reliable Sources
A reliable source will include:
Author’s name
Date of Publication
List of Sources
Websites rarely provide all of the items listed above.

19. “Googling” something is not researching – try Google Scholar
Searching Online
“Googling” something is not researching – try Google Scholar
Using non-academic websites and sources can mean your essay will be too general or inaccurate.
Wikipedia - Use it for a general introduction but never use it as a source for your academic work.

20. Evaluating an Internet Source
Level of Detail
Intention/Purpose of author
Source of information
Verification of information

21. What not to do…
From the Irish Times: A WIKIPEDIA hoax by a 22-year-old Dublin student resulted in a fake quote being published in newspaper obituaries around the world. The quote was attributed to French composer Maurice Jarre who died at the end of March. It was posted on the online encyclopedia shortly after his death and later appeared in obituaries published in the Guardian, the London Independent, on the BBC Music Magazine website and in Indian and Australian newspapers. “One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack. Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head, that only I can hear,” Jarre was quoted as saying. However, these words were not uttered by the Oscar-winning composer but written by Shane Fitzgerald, a final-year undergraduate student studying sociology and economics at University College Dublin. Mr Fitzgerald said he placed the quote on the website as an experiment when doing research on globalisation. He wanted to show how journalists use the internet as a primary source and how people are connected especially through the internet, he said.

22. Using your time well Researching Effectively and Efficiently
Journal Abstracts (summary)
Table of Contents
Index
Secondary Bibliographies

23. Use Evernote to Manage Your Citations
Web App
Chrome Extension