Welcome to UNB Libraries!
Over the course of your degree, you will need to rely on UNB Libraries staff and resources to complete assignments and learn the steps involved in academic research. We are always here to help, with research support desks in all of our libraries and chat, phone, text, and email support at your fingertips.
This guide is designed to lead you through the types of resources that you can find through the Libraries for research. It will also help you complete your Arts 1013 library assignment.
Think of this guide as a launching pad to library research. Should you need help for other courses or help that relates to a specific subject or discipline, please see the full list of Guides on the Libraries' web site.
Notice that this site is organized using tabs. Each tab lists different kinds of resources, which are usually most useful at different stages of your research process. While you likely won't need 'Reference Materials' to complete the assignment for this course, we suggest starting with this tab for most research assignments. 'Reference Materials' are resources that give you overviews of your subject, define terms, list useful books and journals to look for, and help you to frame your research topic.
Use the 'Books' tab to find online and print books at UNB Libraries. Books generally provide more in-depth information on your topic. Scan the Table of Contents and the Index of the books you find, to see if they focus on any aspects of your topic.
Once you feel that you understand your research question, use the 'Articles' tab to locate and read journal articles on your topic. Because journal articles are usually much shorter than books, they tend to spend less time explaining the background of the topic at hand.
If you encounter concepts or terms that you don't understand, loop back to 'Reference Materials' to find a dictionary or encyclopedia that will help you to understand what you're reading.
Depending on the subject area, guides will have additional tabs, such as the 'Primary Sources' tab in History guides, which list collections of documents from various historical periods, and provides instructions for finding more in the library catalogue and in the bibliographies of the books and articles that you find.
Finally, the 'Citing your Sources' tab provides information on how to document what you read and use in your own research, using the style preferred by your discipline.
If you need help using this Guide, or have any questions, please don't hesitate to Ask Us.
Your library assignment asks for scholarly sources. How do you evaluate your sources? Watch this video to find out:
