Researching tips - Defining your information need

What are you trying to achieve? What is your topic about? It can help to think of the task as a question needing to be answered. You'll achieve better results if you gather list of alternative words for the key terms when it comes to searching. For help getting started, refer to the resources in the Reference collection.

Also, determine the scope and scale of the information you require, such as:

• Primary resources (original information), or:
• Secondary resources (information that has been analysed or interpreted)
• Peer reviewed resources (resources that have been scrutinised by a panel of academic experts as part of the publishing process)
• Timeframe (current or retrospective)
• Geographic perspective (regional, national or global)
• Our online database and journal search facilities to help you locate journal articles, conference papers, reports and other information resources.

• Defining your information need



• Constructing a search strategy



• Evaluating information



• Evaluating print and web resources



• Finding peer reviewed journal articles