You will be required to research and read a number of relevant sources, summarize/paraphrase/quote others' arguments, and contribute to the existing conversation by building your own argument in response.
You will establish your ethos or credibility by demonstrating that you are well informed on your chosen topic, have consulted a selection of reliable sources, and have considered opposing points of view. (Use quotations, paraphrases, summaries, statistics, interviews, etc. to back up your claims effectively.)
What does the evidence say?
Can you find good quality evidence for all positions?
Background or reference sources (encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc.) are an excellent way of getting background on your topic, finding key people, understanding key concepts and locating other readings.
Check out the reference databases below. You can also search in LibrarySearch by selecting "reference entries" under the "Resource Type" filter on your list of search results.
An online reference library comprised of reference books including encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri and books of quotations, etc.
No matter what kind of source you find, you need to evaluate the information it contains to determine whether is appropriate, relevant, and a high quality source of evidence to support your research.
| Relevance |
Does this source fit my topic?What is this source's intended audience?
|
| Authority |
Is/are the creator(s) of this source clearly identified or known to us?How important is it in this case to trust the source's creator(s)?
|
| Date |
Is the creation or publication date of this source identified or known to us?If the source is quite old, is the information still accurate or relevant? |
| Accuracy |
Do this source's facts "check out"? Does the source have references of its own? How does the information relate to the other information you have seen on this topic? |
| Reason for Creation |
Why was this source made? Was this source made to sell a product or service, to inform/educate, to entertain, to advocate? How might the intention of the creator impact the content of the source? |
| Author / Creator | Subject matter expert; often with advanced education (e.g., PhD) or working at a university |
| Verification / Quality Control | Reviewed by an editorial board or other subject matter experts (peers) |
| Audience & Language | Researchers, scholars, students; language is academic or technical. Not aimed at the general public |
| Content | Reports original research or analysis AND builds on previous knowledge. Not just opinion. |
| Use of Evidence | Arguments based largely on existing evidence. Long reference lists and many in-text citations |
| Access | Usually through the Library or Google Scholar; usually paid access |
Open This form:https://bit.ly/GNED1401Answer the Questions using LibrarySearch |
Sign in to save searches, items, and to request materials.
Use the pin icon to save books and articles to your Favorites for future reference.
Use the filters on the right. You will use Availability, Resource Type, and Date filters most often. Filter settings can be "locked in" so that you don't have to reapply them to every search that you make.
When viewing an item record, scroll down to the Get it (for hardcopy/physical items) or Access options (for electronic items) section to get access to the item.
Helpful Search Operators to Use in LibrarySearch
You can use what are called search operators to search in a way to combine or omit different terms by telling the search engine exactly what you want and this can help you save some time (and frustration!)
Use quotation marks to keep specific phrases together:
"energy transition"
"surveillance capitalism"
Use AND to combine search terms (LibrarySearch automatically creates an AND when you write terms one after another, but it can be good practice to use an AND to help you understand the searches that you build) (AND narrows your search):
"social media" AND privacy
Use OR to connect two or more similar terms (OR broadens your search):
"social media" OR "social networking"
Use an asterisk to find different variations on a root word:
health* (in this example, the search health* will search for records that contain the words health, healthy, and healthcare)
As a faculty member at MRU, I have periodic evaluations of my instruction. Please take a few moments to complete the following evaluation, which I will use to improve my teaching.
Login using your MRU username and password.
https://evaluate.mtroyal.ca/blue
Select today’s class from the list on your personalized Blue Dashboard.
