How can you search for information efficiently and effectively and use it correctly? Use a search plan to systematically search for the information you need:
1. What am I looking for? >> Determining topic
2. Which search terms are relevant for my topic? >> Gathering search terms
3. Where am I going to search? >> Selecting sources
4. How am I going to search? >> Search methods
5. What did I find? >> Assess information
6. How can I use information correctly? >> Referencing
The first step in the information search process is an important one. During this initiation phase, you recognise your need for information and you start determining your topic by brainstorming about it.
Think about in which context you are searching for information. Do you need information for an assignment, a project or a thesis? For which target group will you be doing research? Are you searching for facts or different views and opinions? The context affects the type of information sources you need.
During the initiation phase you examine what you want to know about your topic, learn which professional terms to use and start asking specific questions about your topic. You can do so by:
Writing a (re)search question is very helpful for defining the scope of your topic. You can narrow your topic by including one or more of these criteria in your question:
The 5W's might help you defining a good (re)search question:
5 W’s:
Once you have determined your topic and formulated a search question you start gathering search terms. This is very important, as using the right search terms will give you relevant search results. You can use a mind map to gather search terms systematically. Use combinations of search terms to search more specifically.
How to find the right search terms? Use the tools below for finding good search terms:
Dictionaries:
Thesaurus / synonyms
In a thesaurus you will find a list of synonyms and related terms.
Once you have determined your topic, defined your (re)search question and gathered search terms, you can start looking for relevant resources for your research.
Think about the aim and context of your research. Do you want to support your argument with academic resources? Do you need topical information about your area of study? Or do you need statistical information to support your research? You will find this information in different types of resources, such as academic journals, professional magazines, databases with company info, newspapers etc.
Make sure you have a good idea of which types of resources are available to you. An overview of the resources of BUas Library can be found here: Discover your Library.
The advantage of the snowball method is that you can find a lot of literature about a subject quickly and relatively easily. The disadvantage of this method is that you are searching retrospectively, so each source you find will be older than the previous one (especially in the case of books).
Many of the publications you find will contain relevant bibliographies. The disadvantage is that these titles always pre-date the publication in which they are mentioned. Citation searches reverse this process: who has cited the publication you have found? In this way you will find recent literature.
For more information on assessing information check out the Libguide Evaluating Resources.
You must always carefully cite the sources you are using in your papers, essays and theses. That is why it is of the utmost importance that you note down precisely which sources you are using, right from the start of your research. Note down the exact title description and page number of the source you are using. You must also indicate when you are using a particular passage literally (citation) and when your are refrasing a passage in your own words (paraphrasing).
How to refer to sources?
The bibliography, source list or list of references is placed at the end of the text to provide an overview of the information sources you have consulted. There are strict rules for compiling these lists, and there are different styles for different disciplines (APA, MLA, Chicago, Vancouver, Harvard).
For more information on referencing, check out the following Libguides:
Theses guides also explain how to reference AI-generated content.