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Video Tutorials

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Getting Started

A frowning blue square, a signpost with arrows, and a confused man holding his head.
Light blue text reading 10 quick definitions on a white background.
A graphic displaying the text arguments not equal to disagreements.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

Ten Basic Terms

Scholarly Arguments

Pep Talk

Searching the Library

Red arrows point to text saying where to find info equals wherever you are.
Public library building next to a list of resources including periodicals, books, and videos.
A black icon of a building with a clock and flag above the orange text library resources.
Text reading Subscription Databases is centered on a light background.

Places to Go

Physical Libraries

Digital Libraries

Searching the Library

Searching the Web

Search bar icon, crowded building layout, and customer service illustration.
Diagram of a laptop, tablet, computer, server, and phone connecting to a central internet cloud.
A red pushpin labeled precise is positioned above the word expansive in blue.
Black binoculars and a green flask above a row of cartoon people holding items like an apple.

Finding Information

The Open Web

Web Searches

Beyond the Web

Emotion vs Evidence

An image displaying the text consistent with is not equal to evidence of.
An orange circle reading your feelings is separate from a blue circle reading the truth.
A man looking at his phone while alarming notifications about murder, theft, and assault appear.
Text asking what does count as evidence with icons of a presenter, bar charts, and a trend line.

Consistence

Feelings

Anecdotes

Finding Evidence

Types of Evidence

An illustration of a man at a podium with text about expert testimony supporting a claim.
Graphic warning viewers to use statistics that serve as evidence for a claim rather than just being consistent.
Illustration of scientists managing large datasets and control variables.

Testimonies

Statistics

Scientific Studies

Data

Evaluating Sources

A balance scale weighing a school building against a laptop.
A row of digital device and reading icons with a WordPress logo and a large question mark.
Secondary sources provide support for arguments while primary sources are raw materials to analyze.
Peer review minimizes bias and incompetence in published works.

Evaluation

Types of Sources

Primary & Secondary

Peer Reviewed

Books & Periodicals

An infographic states authors are experts, featuring an elderly man in a wheelchair and a woman holding a folder.
Icons of a news document and a magazine above the text lack of authoritativeness.
Open book icon between the words peer review and experts
An infographic asks what non-scholarly books give you, indicating they are a primary source but not a secondary source.

Scholarly Journals

Non-Scholarly Periodicals

Scholarly Books

Non-Scholarly Books

Online Sources

A computer icon with text noting that authoritative info is relatively few while primary sources are almost all.
Icons for legislation, press transcripts, and security alerts accompany the text asking what government publications offer.
Facebook logo, a red X next to secondary source, and a blue checkmark next to primary source.
The ProQuest Research Companion logo featuring overlapping orange and teal arrows.

Websites

Government Sources

Social Media

Video content retrieved from the ProQuest Research Companion

Visit the WRITING CENTER for More Information on Citations, Plagiarism, and Writing a Research Paper