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Women's and Gender Studies: Beginning Research

Information Literacy

A student who has achieved information literacy should be able to:

  • Effectively use library resources and services

  • Access information in various formats

  • Develop successful search strategies

  • Articulate their information need

  • Analyze and evaluate information

  • Critically think about the research process

The Research Process

  1. Choose a topic.
    1. Identify a research question.
    2. Narrow or widen the scope.
  2.  Collect Information
    1. Find sources.
    2. Keep track of your sources.
  3. Evaluate Information
    1. Analyze sources for incorrect or contradictory information.
    2. Select best sources for use in your writing.
  4. Analyze the topic.
    1. Think about your contribution to the topic.
    2. Ask if your sources support or contradict these ideas.
    3. If you’re doing original research, that step would go here.
  5. Write the Paper 
    1.  Combine your thoughts with the supporting information to make your argument.
  6. Cite your sources
    1. In-text citations are required for quotes and paraphrasing.
    2. Full citations are required in a reference or works cited list at the end.

Searching the catalog

UToledo Library Catalog- to search for books and multimedia.

● Search by: Keyword, Subject, Title, Author, or Number

● Save marked records check the box     

● To narrow or expand search use

•Boolean Searching: AND, OR, and NOT

•Truncation: cut off the end of a word and use an asterisk “*”  to get more results

            Ex: educat* = searches for education, educate, educators, etc…

•Use Synonyms and related words to search

•Find subject headings in records to expand and narrow search

● Limiting options: format of material, year, location

● Integrate different media types for research