Research+Toolkit

The aim of this page is to develop a kit of tools which can help you with your research tasks at St Mary’s and also once you return to the main campus. This Toolkit brings together many ideas and resources which you need to think about when researching. We will add to this kit throughout the Semester- any suggestions please add to the discussion on the wiki.

Strategies – things to consider.
One of the difficult starting points in research is deciding exactly what it is you are trying to find out about. If you aren’t clear in your own mind what you are investigating then you might waste lots of precious time wandering off the track. The State Library of Victoria has a website called [|ERGO] with many suggestions about defining your topic. This [|research skills section] explains defining the topic.

Resources to use.
1. Join the [|State Library of Victoria] – it is free. You can [|join online] and they will send in the mail a library card to your home address (select mail not pickup). This card lets you access a huge number of online databases which cover all sorts of fabulous topics.

2. JBC – Resource Centre. Remember to visit the [|JBC Website] – on the left hand side of the intranet page.From here you can access many online subscription products.
 * [|EBSCO] terrific for newspaper and magazine articles. Newspaper websites to consider [|The Age], [|The Australian] and the [|Herald Sun].
 * [|Britannica Online] online encyclopedia – try the Middle Years level – Discover Australia link!
 * [|LinksPlus] is a database of websites which you can search by keyword. The sites in this database have been selected for educational use and cover a wide range of topics.
 * [|ReadPlus] an interesting reading resource, has reviews and suggestions.

3. [|National Library of Australia] a wealth of information discover Australia's collections
 * [[image:http://www.nla.gov.au/img/homepage/discover/trove-icon.gif width="25" height="25" link="http://trove.nla.gov.au/"]][|Trove] Australian collections and worldwide online sources
 * [[image:http://www.nla.gov.au/img/homepage/discover/pa_icon.gif link="http://www.pictureaustralia.org/index.html"]][|Picture Australia] Images of Australiana
 * [[image:http://www.nla.gov.au/img/homepage/discover/pandora_icon.gif link="http://pandora.nla.gov.au/apps/PandasDelivery/WebObjects/PandasDelivery.woa"]][|PANDORA] Australia's web archive
 * [[image:http://www.nla.gov.au/img/homepage/discover/ma_icon.gif link="http://www.musicaustralia.org/"]][|Music Australia] Australia's Music: Online, In Time
 * [[image:http://www.nla.gov.au/img/homepage/discover/ad_icon.gif link="http://www.australiadancing.org/"]][|Australia Dancing] Australian dance resources directory
 * [[image:http://www.nla.gov.au/img/homepage/discover/arrow_icon.gif width="25" height="25" link="http://research.nla.gov.au/"]][|Australian Research Online] Search for research papers and theses
 * [[image:http://www.nla.gov.au/img/homepage/discover/ANbeta_icon.gif width="25" height="25" link="http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/"]][|Australian Newspapers] Historic Australian Newspapers, 1803 to 1954

4. [|Australian Bureau of Statistics] (ABS) Investigate ABS [|Education services for students]

Copyright and Plagiarism
It is important to give correct recognition to the work of others which you might use to develop your own understanding. By writing a Bibliography you can make sure you do this and also impress your teachers with the wide range of resources you have used in your research. The [|Mackillop Formats and Conventions] page can help you.

If you are creating a digital product using images and music think look for files which are licensed under [|Creative Commons].

Human help
In the JBC we have fiction and non-fiction print resources, encyclopedias, newspapers, picture books, magazines … we also have **people** who are here to help! Mrs Voigt, Mrs Blackmore and Mrs Dunlevy are all teacher-librarians who you can ask for assistance. You can call in and see us or email library@mackillop.vic.edu.au and ask a question- we will email a reply as quickly as possible.