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Home » Research » Reference Online Center

Introduction to Research

Need research assistance? Ask a Librarian or schedule an individual research consultation by using our Automated Booking System or email learn.library@louisiana.edu.

Choose a Topic

CQ Researcher and EDS Research Starters provide an overview of topics of high interest.

You can narrow your topic by focusing on a specific geographic region, time period, person or population, cause, correlation or effect.

Finding Books & Articles

In either the catalog or databases, you can refine your search using Boolean operators.

Within the databases, you can limit the results by date, full-text availability and other limiters specific to an individual database.

Criteria for Evaluating Resources

  • Internet Evaluation Criteria (PDF)
  • Evaluating Sources for Credibility (NC State)
  • How to Evaluate Sources (Stanford)
  • Crap Detection 101 Video
  • Crap Detection 101 Article
  • You can evaluate resources using the following test:
    • C – How Current is the work? Many academic disciplines concentrate on work done in the last 10 years. Those in technology and science may limit articles to the last 5 years.
    • R – Is the information Reliable? Does the information mesh with what you already know? Do at least two other sources corroborate the information? Is the argument presented logically and supported by evidence? Is the coverage of the topic complete?
    • A – Who is the Author? What credentials does he or she have? Is his work referenced by others in the field? Does she reference others in the field?
    • P – What is the purpose of the work? Is it meant to inform or to entertain? Is it scholarly or popular? What is the philosophy or bias of the author or publisher? (Consult the “About Us” section of websites for information.) Is the tone satirical? Who is the intended audience?

Plagiarism

Citation Tools

Citation Tools include both print and online style guides for MLA, APA, Chicago, and others, and citation managers recommendations.

Research Guides

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Note1: Only one (1) user is allowed to use the Oxford Reference resource at a time due to the licensing agreement with the database provider. Try again later if you experience access issues.

Database Use:

Access to online databases provided by Edith Garland Dupré Library is limited to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Users both on and off-campus will be required to log in with their ULID and password. Visitors can access online databases on-site when visiting the library or can use Library Search Guest Access to find limited research materials.

Users must follow 'Fair Use' as outlined in U.S. Copyright Law and provisions of license agreements with database providers. Online database material obtained must be used for personal, non-commercial purposes. Improper use generally includes, but is not limited to, excessive use, utilizing robots/auto crawlers, downloading entire journals, printing numerous copies of a single article, or publishing articles made available through the databases.

Users visiting several databases or viewing or downloading a substantial amount of material from within databases in a short period of time may receive a browser warning and, as a security precaution, their access will be suspended for two (2) hours.

Unauthorized and improper use of online databases and other online resources provided by Edith Garland Dupré Library can result in access revocation.

For questions about use, Ask a Librarian.

Database Accessibility:

EBSCO, one of the library's major database providers, is committed to providing positive experiences for all users. They have provided an EBSCO Accessibility – Navigation Guide and an EBSCO eBook Accessibility User Guide and FAQs for using their databases.