Research Guides and Tips

 

Library Research Guides (aka LibGuides)

These self-guided tools are created by library staff and pull together a variety of materials to help patrons navigate subject and topic areas as well as providing class specific resources. 

• See all Research Guide subject areas
   

Library Research How-to Videos

Tutorial videos for using various SVC research tools.

• See all How-To Videos
   

Find a list of commonly used library terms

Library Vocabulary

To assist with understanding commonly used library terminology
Abstract: A summary of a scholarly article, usually published at the very beginning of the scholarly
article. Read this to get a sense of what the article is about before deciding if you want to keep the
article for your research.
Article: A brief work (between 1-40 pages) on a topic, published as part of a journal, magazines, or
newspaper.
Citation: A reference to a book, magazine or journal article, or other work containing all the
information necessary to identify and locate that work. A citation to a book thus includes its author's
name, title, publisher and place of publication, and date of publication.
Database: An online collection of electronic information, available through the library website.
Download/save: To transfer information from a computer to a program or storage device to be
viewed at a later date. What you should do when you find a good article.
eBook: an electronic book
Encyclopedia: A large book or eBook containing information on all branches of knowledge, offering
background information with core concepts, terms, events, people, and definitions of a topic. Entries
are in alphabetical order. Available through the library databases. Wikipedia is an example of a public
online encyclopedia
Entry: a list of results
Heading: a title or a name
Journal: A publication, issued on a regular basis, which contains scholarly research published as
articles, papers, research reports, or technical reports.
Keyword: A word you use to find information on your topic in a databases. A good search uses
multiple keywords that represent the main concepts of your topic.
Library website: Find information online about tools, resources, services, and using the library.
PDF: A file format short for Portable Document Format. You can download a PDF copy of your article
to your computer, or email it to yourself when you find it in a database.
Peer review: A process by which editors have experts in a field review books or articles submitted for
publication by the experts’ peers. Peer review helps to ensure the quality of an information source by
publishing only works of proven validity, methodology, and quality. Peer-reviewed journals are also
called scholarly journals.
Reference: a) A citation to a work is also known as a reference. b) A reference source provides
access to facts or overviews on topics. For example; encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, and
handbooks.
Research: A process of learning whereby you search for information on a topic while growing your
knowledge on that topic. A creative and systematic work you do to increase your knowledge and to
apply that new knowledge to your thesis. The steps used to collect and analyze information to
increase our understanding of a topic or an issue. (Wikipedia)
Scholarly article: An article in a scholarly journal. Written by experts, scientists, and researchers for
students and other researchers. Read the abstract, introduction, and conclusion first.
Scholarly journal: A publication, issued on a regular basis, which contains scholarly research
published as articles, papers, research reports, or technical reports. Also called a peer-reviewed
journal.
Serial: Information published regularly, including newspapers, magazines, and journals. Also called
periodicals.
Source: The place where you get your information from