As a scientist, you are familiar with the scientific method – a logical, organized approach to solving problems.  You will need to be able to collect, organize, and analyze data, and make connections between different pieces of information. Your research goal is to push the boundaries of current knowledge and to develop new knowledge, new answers, and new understanding.

Searching and staying up to date with the scientific literature is a skill that remains crucial throughout a researcher’s career. To produce original results, you have to know what has been done before you.  You also want to benefit from all the ideas, data, and interpretations that are documented in the literature right up to the present moment and help you contextualize your research.

This LIFE 121 Library Research Guide will help you access the library resources,  effectively search the literature, and give you ways to seek help if you need it.

The focus of this introductory research guide is to help you gain and refine your skill in finding and evaluating information – using databases to effectively search the literature for research articles related to your lab investigations.  This guide will also review how to credit the work of others in your assignments by creating correctly formatted citations, using the Council of Scientific Editors (CSE) style.

Library Resources

The University Libraries have a wealth of resources available for you to use from anywhere on campus or remotely from any internet-accessible locations. The next section focuses on how you can easily get to these materials.