Prepare to Launch: The Who, What, and How of Library Research at UTA
Whether you’re just beginning your college journey, or your journey in education has now brought you to Arlington, it’s invaluable for you to learn about the treasure trove of support the UTA Library has for students new to research. Learning who is involved in research, what tools and services we have to offer, and how to make the best use of both will no doubt help you work smarter and faster – giving you time back to focus on taking your education to new heights.
Who can help me with research?
Research at UTA is built on collaboration between students, professors, and university staff, and the libraries lie at the heart of that collaboration. We provide a few key ways to work with research experts to help you succeed.
First, the Research Mavs are a team of peer tutors trained to help you with every step of a research assignment at a moment's notice. They are available seven days a week, in-person and online – appointments encouraged, but not required! Research Mavs also operate the library chat, so if you have a quick question, head over to the library website and click the chat button on the right. From choosing a topic to fine-tuning a search string, Research Mavs are trained by the library staff to be your go-to support for research success.
If you are already deep into your research process and you’re really looking for next-level support, you can also schedule a consultation with your subject librarian. Or if you’ve got data that you need, or data that you want to turn into a convenient graph, chart, or other visual tool, check out our incredible data services team!
Regardless of whom you meet with, come prepared to discuss all the research you have done so far – the more you can provide in advance, the more effective your consultation will be!
What tools does UTA have for research?
UTA Summons Search - Our generic search will pull results from a lot of UTA’s holdings at once – books, journal articles, newspapers, and more are housed here. When you aren’t sure where to begin, this is always a great place to start!
A-Z Databases – If you’re ready to focus on one subject area or content type, try using the A-Z Databases page to select a specific source to narrow your search results.
Subject Guides - To get additional support independently, try identifying a subject guide for your needs. Everything from citations to research strategies and even class-specific research support can be found in one of our guides, curated by the library research staff.
Recommended Subject Guides:
When designing your own research or working to present your findings, the data services team connects researchers with data visualization tools, software, and statistical analysis resources to take their research further. The Research Data Portal can help you learn how to plan, execute, and share your data-driven research. You can learn more about these research strategies from our data librarians in a consultation or workshop.
How do I start researching?
The essentials of research empower you to be independently successful; databases aren’t like Google or other basic search engines, so it pays to spend some time learning the essentials.
Where Google will guess what you want to see, databases trust that you have a good idea of what you’re looking for. They use a system called keyword searching, where the words that you choose dictate the results that you see. This may require patience as you change your mindset, but once you get used to it, you find more specific results quickly.
When you’re really ready to narrow your results to the perfect source, you’ll need to know common search strategies. You can combine keywords to require a certain phrase or, alternatively, to eliminate results you don’t want. You can filter by publication date, full-text online availability, material type, and more so that you can find exactly what you need.
Of course, Google or Google Scholar is a great place to get your fundamental understanding for your research topic. But to make the most of your time, you should consider adding the LibKey Nomad extension to your browser. Once you have that extension, you’ll be able to see at a glance if something you’ve come across in Google is also available at UTA – this is a huge help when you find an amazing resource that’s locked behind a paywall!
How can I be successful at research at UTA?
There are many avenues to success in research, but these three steps should help you get off to an excellent start.
- Meet with your subject librarian or a Research Mav
- Know your tools
- Master the essential research skills
Above all, remember that we are here for you. Learning all of these new research skills can be intimidating, but you don’t have to do it alone. By engaging with your library, you can go above and beyond, getting better grades in less time and more importantly, mastering the research skills you need to succeed in the future.
The cover image for this blog post is a modified version of “Online digital document inspection or assessment…” © madedee/Adobe Stock, made available under an education license. It was modified to add the “Research @UTA Libraries” banner.
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