Library Guides: IKC101 Research Skills Guide: Develop your skills

Welcome

Welcome to IKC101. My name is Jennifer and I am your embedded librarian for IKC101. This research skills guide has been created to help you with your research for IKC101.

Each section introduces the steps you should take when researching for an assessment. You'll find links to videos and resources that will give you the tools to find relevant and reliable information. Use the activities on the Test your knowledge tab to see what you need to revise.

Watch: Online Library 101

Getting started with your assessment

The first thing is to make sure you clearly understand the task and what topic you are seeking information for, this is called topic analysis. Check your assessment task details in your Subject Outline for the full instructions for the assessment.

Your question for Assessment 2 is is to select two events from the Australian History Timeline; one pre-1967, the other post-1967.This will enable you to investigate the evolution of approaches to Australian policy for Indigenous Australian peoples.

With an understanding of your task you then need to plan how you will search for information. This starts with identifying and brainstorming keywords.

From your assessment task:

Keywords	Synonyms or related terms
Indigenous	Aboriginal, First Nations, Torres Strait Islander, Indigenous Australia
Referendum	Election, poll, vote, mandate
Policy	action, administration, guideline, strategy, scheme, management, rule
Protection Act	Segregation, Stolen Generation, forced removal, forced adoption,

For guidance in topic analysis visit the following links:

Create a search strategy

When you search using Primo Search or a library database, use the keywords and limits you identified above to create your search. Combine the keywords with "search operators", rather than searching with a whole sentence or question. Search operators tell Primo or the database how to search with your keywords. Here are some examples:

Search Operator/Symbol		Example
Boolean Operators	Use AND to retrieve results that contain both of your search terms.	Indigenous AND culture
	Use OR to retrieve results that contain any or all of your search terms.	segregation OR discrimination
	Using NOT to exclude irrelevant results.	Aboriginal kinship NOT clan
Phrase	Use quotation marks to search for a phrase	"land rights"
Grouping	Group terms or equivalent keywords with parentheses to create complex searches	(Indigenous OR Aboriginal) AND Australia
Truncation	Search for terms with different word endings using an asterisk	protect* = protected, protection, protects
Wildcard	A question mark can be used ti replace a single letter with a word	organi?ation = organisation, organization

Potential search strings for your topic could include:

"land rights" AND (indigenous OR Aborig* OR "First Nations" OR "Torres Strait Island*")
"Stolen Generation" AND (Indigenous OR Abori*) AND Australia
(Indigenous OR Aboriginal OR "first nations") AND "land rights" AND Australia

To understand how search operators work, please visit these library pages for more information:

Choose the right place to search

Before you start searching, think about what types of information you need and where you can search to find those types of resources.

Primo Search

Primo Search is a good place to start as it allows you to use one search box to bring back results from most of our Library collection including books, eBooks, journal articles, newspaper articles and more. You may get a large number of results and some of these will be from outside your subject/discipline area. Check the content is relevant to your assessment task before you use it.

Library databases

Databases will help you find academic resources and are often subject specific. You will get fewer results than Primo, but they will be more relevant to your subject/discipline.

I recommend trying the following databases:

Indigenous Collection This link opens in a new window
An Informit database of entirely full-text material from journals, books, conference proceedings, and reports, covering all aspects of Indigenous Studies. The link here will take you the Informit platform with Indigenous Collection selected.
Informit describes this database as a single platform for Indigenous worldviews which brings together a range of international Indigenous research resources, from Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, North America, and The Pacific.

Content is sourced from peak professional bodies including Aboriginal Studies Press, African Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific, Australian Archaeological Association, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit , Fiji Institute of Applied Studies, Center of World Indigenous Studies, University of Waikato, Polynesian Society, Pacific Recourses for Education and Learning, Ateneo de Manila University Press, and the Association for the Publication of Indonesian and Malaysian Studies.

Key journals include:
* Aboriginal History;
* Australian Aboriginal Studies;
* AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples;
* Australian Indigenous Law Review;
* Australian Journal of Indigenous Education;
* He Puna Korero: Journal of Maori and Pacific Development; and
* The Journal of the Polynesian Society.

Your searching from this link will be within the Indigenous Collection only. You can change the database(s) you are searching using the Change Databases button. Unless you have changed databases, you will continue to search in Indigenous Collection. When you have run a search, your results list will include, at the top, which database(s) you have searched in.

You can use Basic Search or Advanced Search. Advanced Search offers more options for searching, and more limiters. When you have run a search, there are further options for filtering your results. For searching help, there is a useful set of Search Tips at the bottom of the Advanced Search Screen.

Warning: There is the possibility that some records contained in this database may contain references to deceased people, sacred or secret material, inappropriate terminology or offensive language, which, though unintentional, may cause distress to some people.
Australian Public Affairs (APAFT) This link opens in a new window
An Informit Australian database of citations and article summaries from more than 560 journals, with most also available in full-text. It covers current affairs, economics, health, humanities, law, literature, politics, and social sciences. The link here will take you to the Informit platform with APAFT selected. See more ... below.
Key titles include:
* Australian Aboriginal Studies;
* Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health;
* Australian Health Review;
* Australian Historical Studies;
* Australian Journal of Communication
* Australian Journal of Social Issues;
* Griffith Review
* Journal of Australian Political Economy and Oceania;
* Journal of Industrial Relations;
* Keeping Good Companies;
* Metro;
* Quadrant.

Index records are from 1978 to present, with full-text material available from 1994 to present.

Your searching from this link will be within APAFT only. You can change the database(s) you are searching using the Change Databases button. Unless you have changed databases, you will continue to search in APAFT. When you have run a search, your results list will include, at the top, which database(s) you have searched in.

You can use Basic Search or Advanced Search. Advanced Search offers more options for searching, and more limiters. When you have run a search, there are further options for filtering your results. For searching help, there is a useful set of Search Tips at the bottom of the Advanced Search Screen.

The Indigenous Australian Studies list has more databases you can search.

Learn how to search efficiently in Primo and Library databases:

Evaluate

Using credible information will improve the quality of your assessment and may result in better marks, but how can you tell whether the resources you've found are credible and suitable for your assessment? Have you been asked to use peer reviewed, academic or refereed articles? Are you using authoritative websites?

The information below will help you evaluate the information you find, in books, journal articles, or online to make sure it’s reliable.

Reading, writing and referencing

The Academic Skills team can help you to build your writing, referencing and reading skills to be successful at Charles Sturt.

Explore resources from the Academic Skills team in the Learning Skills section of the Student Portal.

Here are some pages to get you started:

Using the library for locating resources for assessments

To help you with Assessment 2, I have put together a video on how to use the library and get the most out of your searches.

Keen for more?

If you're interested in finding out more, check out the following:

Last Updated: Jul 19, 2024 11:02 AM
URL: https://libguides.csu.edu.au/IKC101
Print Page

Charles Sturt University acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which its campuses are located, paying respect to Elders, both past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations Peoples.

Charles Sturt University is an Australian University, TEQSA Provider Identification: PRV12018. CRICOS Provider: 00005F.