researchingeffectively | researchresources

Effective Research Practices

As a student and scholar, you need effective tools to conduct your research efficiently and accurately. Below are some helpful links to various online resources to help with your process.

CSUN Databases

The following is an excellent resource for performing effective searches and contains an essential wealth of knowledge for any researcher:

Search Tools

One of CSUN’s excellent librarians, Kimberly Embleton (whose useful webpage can be located here), gave a lecture regarding research. In the lecture, she discussed methods for performing effective searches.

Here are her search tips:

Put things in quotes "_" to make it specifically just that, or else it will come up with things in your search terms and not exactly your search terms
Use the asterisk to make it a wildcard search
- wom*n (woman and women)
- politic* (for politics, political, etc.)
Start out with simple, broad terms and then narrow down
Use and, or, not to also narrow your search (Boolean operators)

To access CSUN’s databases, go here and then select “Databases A-Z” from the menu on the left hand side of the page.

Some major databases that English majors use are: the EBSCO databases including Academic Search Premier and eBook Collection, Early English Books Online (EBBO), Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), JSTOR, MLA International Bibliography, and Project Muse.

Google Databases

Here is a useful link from Google that provides information for performing effective searches on their search engine: Google Search

Performing wildcard searches in Google is a bit different since the search engine does not directly support that feature. However, this article will explain how Google uses stemming instead, and how the feature can be similar to performing wildcard searches: Google Wildcard Searches

Also, don’t forget that Google has an academic search engine. To access Google Scholar, click here: Google Scholar

Google Scholar can also find articles that are located at your university’s library. Instructions on how to do this, as well as other useful tips and tricks for using Google Scholar can be located here: Google Scholar Help

Special Collections and Archives

Finding Aid Database (FAD): A database formed by the CSUN Oviatt Library to help students and faculty find pertinent archival sources to aid their own research. The link includes a three minute tutorial video that walks newcomers through the subtleties and nuances of an archive search and defines some crucial terms that every researcher should know to properly navigate an archived piece.

The English Library Resource Guide: A great web page full of links and descriptions to different research databases for researchers in the different periods and emphases of the English discipline.

Other online resources

Bibliography

Creating a bibliography and organizing your research for your works cited page can be a long and arduous task. Here are some great tools to help you manage all of your sources effectively:

Zotero

An online tool that can also be downloaded and used as a native app on your computer, Zotero helps keep your research organized and easily accessible. Here are instructions on how to download and use Zotero:

Install Chrome on your computer (if you don’t have it already). Zotero is best if used with this particular browser. You can also use it with Firefox, but unfortunately, Safari doesn't support the "extension" utility required for Zotero to function properly. Go here from any browser and download it for free.*Note: you don’t have to make Chrome your default browser. You can keep Safari (or IE for Windows users) as the default and just use Chrome for, in this case, Zotero.
Once you’ve installed Chrome, go to Zotero and download the application (again, for free) to your computer. This is important, because you want a “native app” version of this on your own hard-drive. Register and create an account for yourself on Zotero. This will allow you to sync to the app’s cloud, and to be invited to groups, etc.
Now that you have Zotero installed, go back to Chrome, click on the word “Chrome” in the title bar, and click on “Settings.” (For Mac users, this is under “Preferences.”) Chrome will open a separate tab, and you can choose “extensions” in the left hand column.
Chrome should recognize that you have Zotero on your computer and offer the option to add that extension. If it doesn’t, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “Get more extensions.” Do a search for Zotero. You should get a link to “Zotero Connector.” Click on that and “enable” it.
To test that everything works properly, open the Zotero application on your computer. Then go back to Chrome, and go to a bookseller (like Amazon). Pick a book and click on it. You should see a little blue book on the field bar (where the address for the book is displayed. It will look something like this
Click on the little blue book. You should get a small pop-up in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen saying something like “Saved to your library.”
Now go back to Zotero on your computer, and you should be able to see the book listed there. If you click on it, you’ll see all sorts of great information in the right-hand column.
Whenever possible, Zotero will also save a PDF of your research document (for example, the ones that you're accessing through Muse or JSTOR) so you will not need to have separate folders to house your research. *Note: please check Zotero and make sure that the actual PDF is included with your bibliography. Sometimes, Zotero just offers you a "snapshot" or a link back to the document (as is the case for cataloging books from Amazon, etc.)
Once you've collected your research, you can choose the documents you want, and use Zotero to create a bibliography for you. You can then copy/paste this into your works cited page.

CSUN Cloud-based Storage

Did you know that you have access to a secure cloud-based storage system through your CSUN student account? Here are the steps to access your free Box account:

Sign in to the portal using your CSUN ID and password.
On the "Home" tab, scroll down to the bottom of the section titled "Tools for Academic Success."
Click on the myCSUNBox shortcut
You can now create folders and upload files to them. You can also invite fellow students to share folders with you, or just send a link to whomever you wish. Box is a secure, easily accessible tool for you to share and archive documents.