Quick Steps Library Guide

This guide is designed to introduce you to the basic steps of library research. For more detailed information, please see our Rosen Research Tutorials, Rosen Research Guides, or Ask a Rosen Librarian.

A printable version of this guide is also available: Quick Steps Library Guide PDF (33 KB)

For UCF students, faculty, and staff, your UCF ID serves as your Library card. You MUST have your valid UCF ID with you in order to check out library materials.

Off-campus access to the Libraries' electronic resources is limited to faculty, staff and currently enrolled UCF students. To access these resources at home, you must login using your activated Library ID number (on the front of your UCF card) and your password. Your default password is the last 4 digits of your PID or the last four digits of your Social Security Number.

For more information:

• Obtaining and activating your UCF Library Card Number
• Off-campus access

Write your research topic down in the form of a statement or question. Pick out the phrases and keywords you can use to search for library resources. Then make a list of similar terms for each of your keywords. For example:

Research Question: What are managers doing to improve employee retention in the hospitality industry?

Keywords and similar terms:

• Managers: management... supervisors... human resources... executives
• Employee: personnel... staff... workers or workforce
• Retention: retain... turnover... morale
• Hospitality Industry: tourism industry... hotels or restaurants

For more information:

• Hospitality Research Tutorials
• Hospitality Research Guides

Use the UCF Library Catalog to find:

• Reference Books
• General Collection (Circulating) Books
• Electronic Books
• Serials (newspapers, magazines, journals, annual reports, yearbooks, proceedings, etc.)
• Audio-Visual Materials

Begin your search using keywords. If you get too many results, use the menu bar to the left of your search results to narrow by subject, format, or location.

Once you find an item you want, write down the citation (author, title, etc.) and the location information (example: Rosen General Collection TP553 .W555 1998). Don't forget to check the circulation status (available, lost, due (date), in library use only, etc.) If the book is located at another campus, or you need a specific book that UCF does not own, you may request it through interlibrary loan.

For more information:

• Finding Books
• Electronic Books
• Interlibrary Loan

While the library features many print journals, if you are looking for an article about a specific topic, you will want to use the library's databases. Did your instructor want you to find scholarly, peer-reviewed articles from academic journals, or do you need up-to-the-minute newspaper and magazine articles about a current hot topic? If you are not sure which databases to search, Ask a Rosen Librarian.

Database Tips

• Truncation: Use truncation to search for variations of a word. Place an asterisk where you want the variation to begin. For example, manage* will search for manage, manager, managers or management, and employee* will search for employee or employees.
• Boolean operators (and, or, not): Use these operators to link your keywords
  • AND requires all terms connected with an AND to be in the article (narrows search)
  • OR either term or both terms is present in the article (broadens search)
  • NOT specifies that a term not be present (narrows search)
• Example: employee* AND (retention or turnover) AND hospitality industry

For more information:

• Finding Articles
• Scholarly, Trade, or Popular?
• Finding Full Text from Citations

The Internet is a great place to search for background material. There you may find some secondary sources, formulate some keywords and search strategies, and narrow your focus before you look for your primary sources in the library. However, remember anyone can publish anything on the Internet. Be sure to evaluate the quality of information you find by using the CARS criteria: Credibility, Accuracy, Reasonableness, and Support.

For more information:

• Evaluating Internet Sources
• Helpful Websites

Now that you have found information to support your research topic, it is time to write your paper and cite your sources. Remember to list your sources using the style (APA, MLA, etc.) that your instructor requires.

For more information:

• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Annotated Bibliographies
• APA Citation Style
• MLA Citation Style
• Chicago Citation Style
• Citation Management Software