Research Springboard
To help get you started on your topic, below are some reliable websites and databases.
Using just a few keywords you can find thousands of resources online to help with your research. Typing your keywords into Google will deliver you millions of results, but, not all the results will be accurate and from good quality sources. With help from the Frances Compton Library you have access to reliable, respected databases and websites that will help you with your research.
(Top tip! We recommend you start with Databases before using google as the content on EPIC and JSTOR has already been assessed for you)
Epic Databases
Username: cuthberts
Password: 42cuthberts
EPIC is a hub of many databases. You can type your search terms directly into EPIC Discovery, which will look through all the databases, or you can use just one.
JSTOR
The login details for this Database can be found on the Frances Compton MyCollege homepage
JSTOR provides access to more than 12 million academic journals, articles, books and primary resources.
After using the databases, compare the information against other sources. Here are some example websites:
(Top tip! We recommend you start with Databases before using google as the content on EPIC and JSTOR has already been assessed for you)
Epic Databases
Username: cuthberts
Password: 42cuthberts
EPIC is a hub of many databases. You can type your search terms directly into EPIC Discovery, which will look through all the databases, or you can use just one.
JSTOR
The login details for this Database can be found on the Frances Compton MyCollege homepage
JSTOR provides access to more than 12 million academic journals, articles, books and primary resources.
After using the databases, compare the information against other sources. Here are some example websites:
If studying a New Zealand individual, we highly recommend:
Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
DigitalNZ
Ngā Taonga
The Museum of New Zealand - Te Papa Tongarewa
New Zealand History
Papers Past
For other sites you find on Google:
Remember to assess websites for reliability and accuracy - the CRAAP test is a great tool to use.
Keywords
Your keywords are important. Think about what you want to research, start with broad keywords for instance; are you researching examples of how Queen Lili'uokalani protected her people and home? Use advanced search options in the databases. You can add extra words to limit your search (e.g Queen Lili'uokalani AND 1892 Highways Act). Experimenting with different keywords can open many options for your research. If you use quotation marks “” around your search terms, (e.g “1892 Highways Act ”) the search engine will only look for those terms and not terms related.
Dates
It’s a good idea to limit your data range of the resources you want to use. This will help limit your data to relevant material.
What sort of sources would you like?
You can select from academic journals, magazines, articles and other sources. What sources do you think would be relevant to your research?
Referencing & Citations
When using Databases, you can easily citate your sources using the CITE button. Select the text you want to cite, click the CITE button, select APA as your reference style. You can then add the citation to your document.
For more information on referencing go to:
www.francescomptonlibrary.com/apa-referencing
Frances Compton Library MyCollege Page - in the Links box there is a clip on APA referencing.
All our librarians are available to help you with your research and reference questions.
Please contact us at [email protected]
Please note: Books from the National Library and our Senior Library Collection on this topic will be library use only.