Need help? Contact a library staff member to schedule a research consultation. We’ll help you plan your research and ensure that you are using the best information that the library provides.
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The Research Basics Guide was created by West Coast University Library staff to help you learn everything from choosing a research topic to finding trustworthy sources, making your academic journey smoother and more successful. There is a diverse range of research tools to help you:
Check out some of WCU’s eBooks about research! Didn’t find what you were looking for? Ask a library staff member! Additional resources can be found at each campus.
Doing Academic Research: A Practical Guide to Research Methods and Analysis by
Online student resource material cab be accessed under the 'Support Materials' tab at https://www.routledge.com/9780367207939 Doing Academic Research is a concise, accessible, and tightly organized overview of the research process in the humanities, social sciences, and business. Conducting effective scholarly research can seem like a frustrating, confusing, and unpleasant experience. Early researchers often have inconsistent knowledge and experience, and can become overwhelmed - reducing their ability to produce high quality work. Rather than a book about research, this is a practical guide to doing research. It guides budding researchers along the process of developing an effective workflow, where to go for help, and how to actually complete the project. The book addresses diversity in abilities, interest, discipline, and ways of knowing by focusing not just on the process of conducting any one method in detail, but also on the ways in which someone might choose a research method and conduct it successfully. Finally, it emphasizes accessibility and approachability through real-world examples, key insights, tips, and tricks from active researchers. This book is a highly useful addition to both content area courses and research methods courses, as well as a practical guide for graduate students and independent scholars interested in publishing their research.
Nursing Research: Reading, Using, and Creating Evidence by 
Introducing Research and Evidence-Based Practice for Nursing and Healthcare Professionals by 
The College Student's Research Companion by
Most college students are novice researchers for whom Google is the option of first resort. But the information provided by the surface websites usually found this way often lacks substance and is of questionable authority. You can save your students from fruitless, random web searching with the help of this cutting-edge guide, newly updated to reflect the broad range of today's information sources. It's a must-have tool for first-year composition and information literacy courses, LIS collections, and graduate-level research. With this trusted resource by their side, students will master the skills needed to integrate quality informational sources into their writing, enabling them to craft better essays; receive guidance on topic selection, time management, and research planning; learn a five-step process for evaluating sources; be introduced to the fundamentals of database searching, using reference sources, and finding periodical articles, books, and websites; get pointers on using sources properly, with advice on citing them according to widely used documentation styles, avoiding plagiarism, quoting or paraphrasing correctly, and incorporating notes; and find review questions and exercises at the end of each chapter, reinforcing the concepts they have just learned.
This box contains only select databases meant for use by multiple programs. Use the "info" icon to learn more about the database.
For a full list of databases available through the WCU Library, visit the A-Z Database List. For databases best for your program, find and visit your program guide on the Research Guides page.
When you walk in a library and see books on the shelves, the call number is usually seen on the bottom part of a book’s spine.
Library staff put spine labels (see below) on their books to organize them according to subject.
Search the library’s online catalog to view the call number of the book you are interested in checking out, so you will be able to swiftly locate the book in the library.
You can view the subclasses of R (Medicine) to familiarize yourself with the various subjects to have a better understanding when searching for books.
Special collections and locations are as follows:
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