Home: Researching? - Things you need to know (and do)

This step-by-step guide from the State Library of Victoria shows you how to break down research tasks into manageable parts and find reliable information.

Go to this site to access tools associated with research and your purpose.

e.g. "I want to....

Analyze statistics

Analyze texts

Author an interactive work

etc.

The Library 2 course in Moodle is a great place to go when researching.

We subscribe to EBSCO, Science Reference Centre, History Reference Centre and World Book Online.

Log in to Moodle, and enrol in Library 2. You'll find it under Miscellaneous if you haven't already enrolled.

This is a checklist for evaluating online information

Carefully evaluate the resources you select for your assignments. This will help you to determine their quality and decide whether they will be appropriate for your purposes.

Use the following criteria to evaluate resources:

Relevance

• covers important issues in enough depth
• uses an appropriate level of language, e.g. is it too basic or too specialised
• is the source primary or secondary, e.g. is it an original account, an analysis or an interpretation of original material

Currency

• check the date of publication, as some topics require recent information
• when was the web page last updated?

Reliability

• who is the author? check for an author's credentials, e.g. their qualifications
• is the website creator stated, who are they? Look for information about an organisation 
• who is the publisher? Is information about them readily available?
• peer-reviewed or refereed journals indicate that articles are scholarly
• blogs generally present a personal viewpoint

Accuracy

• is there author bias, suggesting less credibility? What is the writer's angle?
• are facts or statistics from a reliable source, e.g. Australian Bureau of Statistics?
• use of emotive language indicates the information is opinion rather than fact
• URL domain, e.g. .gov .edu .com, indicates a government site, an educational body or a commercial organisation

This guide was produced by the University of NSW Library (ELISE) and has been used with permission.

There are many online databases available to NSW citizens for searching via the State Library of NSW website.

You must have a Readers' Card to access these databases, and this can be arranged by visiting this page and completing the on-line form. Your card will be delivered to the physical address which you nominate when completing the online form.

When you visit the State Library of NSW website, go to eResources, and browse there - it's a good idea to determine which database you want to use before logging in with your Readers' Card.