FREN 2P55 Library Tutorial

This tutorial will teach you how to use the library to find reliable, scholarly sources for use in your assignments. We'll cover:

• Where to search
  • Omni
  • Library databases
• How to search
  • Effective search terms
  • Evaluating your results
• Finding sources in French
  • Recommended resources
  • Search techniques for finding French language sources

Omni is what we call the library's main search engine - it's the best place to start out your research. You'll find the Library's collection of books and ebooks, our electronic journal collections, and other types of scholarly resources.

Learn how to use Omni with this tutorial

Also check out our Omni Search tips.

When researching or exploring a topic, you need to develop an effective search strategy to find the best books and articles.

The first step in creating a search strategy is to identify the main concepts for your topic or research question. It is also helpful to think of synonyms or related words for your main concepts.

This video will show you how to select the best keywords and experiment with related terms to develop a good search strategy. 

Feeling stuck? Contact the Library or find more help on the Library's Research Help page.

How do you decide if the article you are reading is appropriate to include in your paper?

First, some terminology.

Periodical means something that is published repeatedly. A magazine that is published once a month is a periodical. Journals and newspapers are also periodicals. A book that is published once is not a periodical, it is a monograph. 

When you search in Omni, you will see results from all sorts of publications: magazines, academic articles, theses, books, reports, and more!

Learn how to distinguish between scholarly and popular resources in the following video:

Let's review some of the characteristics of popular and scholarly sources:

Popular

• intended for a general audience and are not usually written by researchers or professors
• the author's name and affiliation may not be given
• no abstract at the beginning of articles
• seldom contain footnotes or a bibliography
• articles are often enhanced with glossy photos or other illustrations
• articles are often short - fewer than 5 pages
• often full of advertising
• examples: The Economist, Time, Maclean's, Psychology Today, Newsweek

Scholarly

• written for an academic audience and uses specialized vocabulary
• author' credentials and institution will be identified
• usually an abstract at the beginning of articles
• footnotes and/or a bibliography
• may contain charts and tables but generally not glossy photos or other graphics
• articles will usually be longer than 5 pages
• journals contain little or no advertising
• examples: Journal of Communication, Journal of Sport Management, Lancet

Need help? Contact the library or your liaison librarian for more help.

Even if you've used the Library for research in the past, things will be different this term since courses are online and the library is too. You can find up-to-date information on changes to Library resources and services at https://brocku.ca/library/use/library-resources-services-amid-covid-19/.