Before you start your research, review your thesis statement and outline and think about the kind of information that you'll need to develop your paper.

Some questions to ask are:

1. Do you need:
   • primary or secondary resources (to be defined on the next page after the next)?
2. Will the best information for your topic be from:
   • a book,
   • an article,
   • a website,
   • something else?
3. Has your instructor specified the types of information that you should use, for example, scholarly journals?

A research log is a tool that helps you to organize and save information about the sources you wish to use for your paper. Getting into the habit of using a research log or similar tools at the beginning of each project will save you time and possibly heartache down the road. It's also a tool that you can use throughout your academic career.

The research log involves three steps:

1. Searching for information for your paper
2. Evaluating the information found
3. Saving your research material into your research log

The first two steps help you to organize your thoughts and ideas after you have located and evaluated a possible information source. Step three helps you to save all the necessary information you need to reference your selected source appropriately.

We have prepared the following tutorial to familiarize you with creating a research log to organize and save the material that you wish to use in your paper. Note that in our example we used an internet source. You can and should use your research log to save necessary information from other sources such as books and journal articles.

Key Resources
Using the internet and creating a research log tutorial

Your instructor may ask you to use information from primary or secondary sources.

Primary sources provide firsthand evidence about an historical event, work of art, literary text, or person. Primary sources can be in either a textual(i.e. written) or non-textual(e.g. painting) format.

If you're using a primary source to write a paper, you'll be looking at the original source to get evidence to make and prove your observations or arguments. For example, studying Van Gogh through one of his paintings.

Secondary sources analyse or interpret events, historical periods, scientific theories, and works of art and literature. Analysis is based on primary sources and evidence. Secondary sources are usually in a textual format (i.e. books or articles) and are produced after the event that is being analyzed.

If you're using a secondary source to write a paper or do an assignment, you'll be reading and assessing someone else's analysis or experiment, determining the validity of their opinion, and using their judgments, opinions, or findings to support or analyze your own thesis.

Here is a list of some examples of primary and secondary resources.

Primary	Secondary
diaries & personal correspondence	an article analyzing the contents of a famous historical diary
a work of art	a book comparing the works of different artists
census or demographic records	an article examining the economic and social effects of Canada's aging population
the score of an opera	a biography of the composer Mozart
public opinion polls	newspaper article about the safety of air travel

Key Resources
Using Primary Sources on the Web
Identifying Primary and Secondary Sources

Your Arts 1110 assignment requires you to hand in an annotated bibliography.

An annotated bibliography consists of the citations for each book, article, or website used, plus a sentence or 2 which summarizes the source and explains why you decided to include it in your paper. The annotation contains not only a description of the resource, but also your evaluation of it as it relates to your research.

Will every book that you find be included in your annotated bibliography? Probably not. As you look for books, you should also continuously make decisions about their relevance, usefulness and reliability.

A simple method for doing quick evaluations is the Evaluation ABCs:

• Author: who wrote the book? What are their qualifications for writing the book?
• Bias/purpose: Why did they write the book? What is the book's purpose? Who published the book?
• Currency/date: When was the book published? Do you need current information, or is older or historical information OK?

You can add these points to your research log, and use them when you write your annotated bibliography.

Key Resources
TACO Checklist
Book Evaluation Chart
How to Write Annotated Bibliographies, Cornell University Library
Writing an Annotated Bibliography, Cal Poly
Writing an Annotated Bibliography, University of Minnesota Crookston
How to Write Annotated Bibliographies, Memorial University Libraries

Choosing Books, articles or websites

A good academic paper will be based on research from a variety of information sources. Different types of sources have different strengths and weaknesses. The following table summarizes some of the differences to be aware of:

Books:
Reliable overviews The information found in books is usually based on research and has been checked by editors. Books in the University of Manitoba Libraries collections are selected by librarians who are subject specialists, and who work with faculty to build a collection which supports courses and research. Books also provide good overviews and analysis, and have bibliographies which can lead you to more information on a topic.	May Be Dated Because it takes years to write and publish books, they are not always up to date. Books may also take a very comprehensive view of a topic, when a more detailed analysis is required. Some books are less scholarly than others. It is important to assess the validity, currency (date), and accuracy of the information in the book, as well as the intent of the author.
Scholarly Articles:
Specific & Current Many of the articles found in scholarly journals go through a "peer-review" process, which means that the articles are checked by other experts in the same fields. The information is based on extensive research and is considered to be reliable. Scholarly journals take less time to publish than books, and are a good source of current research. Scholarly articles contain citations to the research used in their construction, so you can verify the author's ideas, and see other materials related to the topic .	Specialized information Scholarly journals include information of academic interest, so they are not the best sources for general interest topics. They do not include up-to-the minute news or current events information.
Popular Magazines and Newspapers:
Current Events, pop culture & news Popular magazine articles focus on issues of current interest. Magazine articles are usually approved by an editor. The information is aimed at a general reading audience and is often meant to entertain as well as inform.	Not Scholarly & Commercial Popular magazines do not undergo a peer-review process and are generally not based on extensive research. The articles are written by journalists or freelance writers. Generally, magazines do not include references, so you cannot trace the origins of the writer's ideas. Also, magazines are often written for a specific audience and may contain bias. Magazines must sell advertising in order to be published, and advertisers can also influence the content of stories.
Websites:
Current Information, Easily Accessible Web sites provide up-to-the minute news and information about current events, trends, and controversial topics. Search engines like Google make information easy to find.	Often unreliable, usually not scholarly Web sites can be inaccurate or biased, and sometimes outdated.Search engines can be programmed to give paying websites more prominence in search results. Scholarly information is usually hard to find on the open web, and articles found in Google Scholar often work on a pay-per-view basis.

At the University of Manitoba, "the library" is actually "The Libraries", a system made up of many different libraries on two UM campuses, and at several other affiliated locations.

Each library contains or holds materials in specific disciplines, subject areas, or faculties.

One of your most important library resources is a librarian. Reference librarians are specialists in answering questions and helping students find information. Don't be afraid to ask them questions!

For Arts 1110, most of your research materials will be found at the Elizabeth Dafoe Library, which is the library that houses materials for Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Education, as well as several other disciplines.

Key Resources
Map of Libraries and Computer Labs
University of Manitoba Libraries
Libraries Hours
Reference Desks
Elizabeth Dafoe Home Page