Introduction
Overview
This book is a hands-on guide to academic research with a critical, informed lens. It walks readers through how to choose the right sources based on their research needs, the flow of information, and their specific context. The research process is broken into manageable steps starting with identifying information needs, forming strong questions, and building effective search strategies using keywords and tools like Search@UW, databases, and search engines.
It also covers how to evaluate sources by recognizing bias, understanding author expertise, and judging relevance and trustworthiness. The last section focuses on using sources in academic writing, including how to read scholarly articles, follow citations, and stay organized. Throughout, the book highlights campus resources like the UW-Green Bay Learning Center and the Library’s Research Help services to support students at every stage.
How to use this book
Finding and Using the Table of Contents
Sometimes the table of contents is overlooked! To see the table of contents for the book, look on the left side. You’ll see a box that says “Contents” (See image 1 below).
Click the “Contents” box to enter the table of contents, then you can click the “+” signs (See image 2 below) to see the expanded list of chapters in those sections.
Downloading the Textbook
For the best experience, including using videos and interactive quizzes, we recommend reading this textbook in your web browser. If you prefer, you can download a PDF or ePub version instead, but just keep in mind that if you download the textbook, you will not be able to use features such as videos and interactive quizzes.
Authorship
This OER was created to support UW-Green Bay’s core curriculum requirements for information literacy, but it can be used in many ways to support college-level research and information literacy skills. It was developed by the UW-Green Bay Library’s Research Services team: Renee Ettinger, Anna Merry, Jodi Pierre, Carli Reinecke, and Brian Schlender.
