Library Research Tutorials

Need Help?

Start your research

Start your research by picking a topic and learning about scholarly articles

Tutorial: Academic Integrity: What is a scholar?

What does it mean to be a good scholar at the University of Minnesota? In this tutorial, learn the specifics of what is means to have academic integrity vs. scholastic dishonesty.

Tutorial: Choosing a research paper topic

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
  • Find ideas and language on a topic using online tools and techniques
  • Use techniques like mind mapping, the 5W’s, and freeform writing to narrow a large topic

Tutorial: What does it mean to be a scholarly source?

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
  • Recognize a scholarly (versus a popular) source
  • Understand how a scholarly source differs from other types of sources

Tutorial: How scholarly research gets published in peer-reviewed journals and where to find it all

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
  • Recognize how scholarly research articles come to be published in peer-reviewed journals
  • Use a library database to access it all

Tutorial: Creating an effective search strategy

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
  • Use meaningful keywords to find the best sources
  • Apply search strategies like AND and OR to connect keywords

Tutorial: Database search tips

Improve your searches! This guide will help you:

  • Apply search modifiers AND, OR, and NOT to your database searches
  • Recognize phrase searching and other advanced search techniques

Tutorial: What is a library database and why should I use one?

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
  • Identify what a library database is
  • Recognize the two main types of library databases
  • Know why you should use them
  • Understand why searching a library database is different than searching the general internet

Tutorial: Exploring a scholarly research article

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
  • Identify the components, or sections, common to scholarly research articles
  • Recognize the importance of the information within each section

Tutorial: How to read and comprehend scientific research articles

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
  • Read scientific research articles
  • Find the main points of articles
  • Engage with articles by taking effective notes

Tutorial: What are citations?

After completing this tutorial, you will be able to:
  • Understand what citations are
  • Recognize why they are important
  • Create and use citations in your papers and other scholarly work

Tutorial: Using citations to find journal articles and books

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • Journal articles include citations you can use to identify other relevant articles and books
  • To use Libraries Search to find articles and books
  • To contact the Libraries if you need help
Last Updated: Nov 22, 2021 2:41 PM