Research: The Research Process

Click here for an outline of the Research Process and Search Tips.

To access the resources within StudyVibe, Research Safari and Knowledge Compass use the password found for StudyVibe on the password document. You will need to login to Office 365 to access the password document.

TIP: You can use filetype:pdf in your search e.g genetics filetype:pdf to find PDF versions of articles. If you find an article in Google Scholar that you can't access, try searching for it in our library databases.

Google Scholar Search Tips

When evaluating a website, an important technique is being able to 'read' the URL.  The ability to read a website address, will tell you a lot about the creator, the audience, the purpose and the country of origin. 

Lourdes Hill College website  -  http://www.lhc.qld.edu.au/

Google Advanced search techniques

 1. Add site: and a domain name to your search terms.

• Looking for an educational site -  genetic engineering site:edu
• Looking for a government site - genetic engineering site:gov
• To restrict your search to Australian websites, add '.au' -  genetic engineering site:edu.au

2. Use a Google command to limit results to the MOST RECENT: After you get your results, choose the Google Menu Bar, and choose 'Tools'. Then on the far left, at the drop-down menu next to 'Any Time', .you can choose 'Within the last year' (or less, if you prefer), but generally, you can choose 'Custom Range' at the bottom, as often the last 3 to 5 years would be sufficient for a recent search.

4. To link directly to Google Advanced Search, click on the following link.

• Google Advanced Search 

Use 'Ctrl F' (Control + Find) to search for particular terms easily in a long document, whether from a website or a database article.