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Engineering

Mae'r dudalen hon hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg

MyUni Library Essentials - Researching

MyUni Library Essentials course

MyUni Library Essentials includes a section on Researching. Follow the link below to learn how to plan a search strategy and conduct your search. (You need to log in to Canvas to access the link.)

Search tips

Keywords

  • Find the keywords for your assignment topic. Don’t type in a long sentence.
  • Are there synonyms or related terms (broader or more specific) that might be relevant?

Getting more results

  • You can use a truncation symbol (usually an asterisk *) to find different endings to your keyword. For example, searching for read* would find read, reading, reads, etc.
  • You can find alternative terms simultaneously by linking them with OR; for example, you could search for adolescent OR teenager.

Getting fewer results

  • If you get too many results try searching just the title or abstract rather than the full record. You should get fewer, more relevant results.
  • Use quotation marks if you want your search terms to appear as a phrase; for example "artificial intelligence"
  • Use the filter options down the side of the results page to make your search more specific

Critically appraising your sources is a crucial element of any literature search.  You need to consider is your sources are:

  • reliable
  • academic enough
  • Free from bias

Ask yourself the following questions about the information you have found.

Who?  

  • Who is the author or organisation responsible for the information?
  • Are they qualified to write on this topic?

When?  

  • Is the information out of date?
  • Does it matter?

What sort of information?

  • Is it opinion or fact?
  • Is it reliable and independent?
  • Is it academic/research-focussed or commercial?

There are a number of checklists that can help you when it comes to critically appraising your sources.

Sage Research Methods

Research Support and Open Access

This Postgraduate course contains links to information useful to you as a Postgraduate, including Library Guides and external sources. It works best by navigating to the section on which you require information, although there are also a lot of useful links in the Support section. Use this guide to help you throughout your Postgraduate career.