Need help with your assignments and research?
Follow the 4 steps to finding and referencing quality information for your assignments and dissertations.
Better Googling will help you get much better search results from Google Scholar.
Finally don't forget that you are always welcome to contact me, either call into the office on ML110 or by email kate.stephenson@solent.ac.uk. You could get a group of fellow students together and arrange a session.
Watch the video to find out about keywords and their importance in searching for information
Log into SOL to watch the video
Watch the Putting it all together video which will take you through how to put your keywords together (and will give you some useful tricks and tips using the key database SportDiscus as well
Watch the video on Boolean Searching - how you can link your terms together to give more or fewer results using AND, OR, NOT. Apply this to all your searching, whichever resource you are searching, including Google.
Log into SOL to watch the video
Evaluating your results.
Once you have have run your search in one of the databases or Google you need to look at what you have found and evaluate the results. Don't just assume the results are perfect for your needs.
Ask these questions
Are the results up-to-date?
Are the results reliable?
Are the authors authoritative?
Are the authors biased?
Watch the video for a look at evaluating resources - you will need to log into SOL
Log into SOL to watch the video
Refining your search is final step in the process. It is rare to get the perfect results first time. Use what you have found to re-do your search.
The process can be illustrated as in this diagram. Then watch the video.