Research your Assignment
This guide outlines a simple but effective approach to finding information for your assignments. Depending on your topic and your level of study, you may need to rearrange or review these steps.
Please choose your subject below to get more specific information about how to research assignments for your subject, or keep on reading for general instructions.
Assignment research by Subject
Define your topic
It may seem obvious, but the first step is to make sure you understand the topic. Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question to help you develop a search strategy.
More on defining your topic.
Developing a research strategy.
Gather background information
Use dictionaries and encyclopedias to find definitions and background information. Articles from specialized subject encyclopedias are authoritative and often substantial.
Find Books
Search the Library catalogue:
- Check for books on High Demand. Use the Course code search, or check the Searching for High Demand page
- Use Title and Keyword anywhere searches to find additional material.
- Click on the Subject headings of useful titles to find books on related subjects.
- Refer to your subject guide page for more details.
More on catalogue searching.
Find journal articles
The catalogue lists the print and electronic titles of journals held by the Library. To find articles on your specific topic you will need to search the databases specific to your subject.
More about using databases to find an article.
Find information on the Internet
The Internet can be a rich source of information but not everything will be useful or appropriate for research use. Web resources should be carefully evaluated and used in conjunction with the scholarly resources provided by the Library. Use the Advanced search features of Google or Google Scholar to restrict your search to search results from reputable sources.
More on web searching.
Evaluate your sources
References recommended on reading lists will already have been evaluated for quality. You will need to evaluate sources that you find yourself. Think critically about the information you find. The quality of your information will help to determine the quality of your assignment.
More on evaluating your sources.
Cite your sources
Avoid plagiarism by citing all the sources of information you use in your essay. Check out the Citations and Referencing page for more information. .
Write your assignment
See our writing guides page for books which have useful hints for writing on literary subjects.