Many of you will have had a library session with me about finding some academic or industry sources for your assignment. As you work on assignments that may be due in December or January we wanted to share some tips that may help you find the sources you need.
1. Look at titles on your Library Reading List.
Your Library Reading List comprises titles collated by your lecturer for the specific module and is a great starting point. You will find your Library Reading List in the navigation menu on your Canvas module, or you can access it via the library web page.
Watch our short video about using Library Reading Lists
2. Search for keywords on Library Search & filter your results
We recommend you look for resources beyond your reading list as well. Avoid just typing your assignment title into Library Search, instead think of some keywords and search for those instead. Use the filters on Library Search to refine your results - a good filter to use is the Creation/Publication Date filter, but you can also search by type of source (e.g. books or articles)/
Watch our short videos about using Library search to find books and to find journal articles.
3. Look for a range of sources by checking your Subject Guide
Books and journals are what students most commonly look for and incorporate into assignments, but did you know you can use other types of sources too? You might find some data and expert industry analysis in a market research report, or perhaps you need to find some information on a particular company?
The Library Guide for Hospitality & Events helps you access a wide range of sources.
4. Check the reference lists of the sources you do find
Once you've found some useful sources you can get as much information from them as possible - not only will you read them for the subject content, but you can look at their reference lists and it might help you find some additional source that would be useful to you.
Have you looked at our ‘Make the Most of Journal Articles’ guide yet? This guide shares some different ways you can mine journal articles for information.
5. Look at the Library HEAT Blog & New Books Collections
Throughout this semester the library has been sharing some examples of recently published sources on the topics you are studying for your assignments. You can have a look at them for inspiration - we've covered topics such as sustainable events, employability skills, sustainability in tourism and hospitality, the impact of a pandemic and qualitative research.
6. Ask library staff if you need help
Perhaps you have a question about Library Search or you are not sure how to find company reports? Whatever your question library staff are happy to help you. You can either come to a library helpdesk and speak to a member of the team in person or you can contact us online via email or our 24/7 live chat service.