How to Research: A Tutorial

Welcome!

This tutorial is designed for students who are relatively new to the college research process.¹ Even if you have previously written research papers, this tutorial will help you better understand the research process. You will learn the most effective ways to use library resources and the Internet to find quality sources to support any research topic. By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:

1. Focus your research topic and select appropriate keywords to search for sources.
2. Find books and media related to your topic using the Library Catalog.
3. Find articles using electronic Databases.
4. Find and evaluate research-quality websites using various search engines and online resources.
5. Document your sources appropriately using MLA or APA citation format.

¹The Information Literacy I tutorial also serves as online library instruction for English I classes. English II students should use the Information Literacy II tutorial.

How to use this tutorial

This is an interactive tutorial that allows you to participate in your learning.

• Use the and to navigate through the sections.
• Click text with a dotted underline for more information about that topic.
  
  More information would appear here!
• Hover over text with a double underline for a definition.
• Clicking green underlined text will take you to webpages outside of this tutorial.
• Clicking bracketed text <Google> will open the webpage over top of the current page.
• Follow instructions provided throughout the tutorial to get the most out of your learning.
• There will be a quiz at the end of the tutorial to practice what you’ve learned, so PAY ATTENTION!