Research Help Archive - Student Support - page 2 University at Buffalo Libraries

Student Support

Archive for the ‘Research Help’ Category

What is the Library Skills Workbook?

Student using computer The Library Skills Workbook is designed to help University at Buffalo students develop their library research skills. It is a General Education requirement for all UB undergraduate students, including transfer students. All undergraduate students are required to complete it during their first year of study at UB.

In addition to the general Library Skills Workbook, we now offer 6 discipline-specific versions. Any UB student may choose to complete one of the discipline-specific versions or the general version; any one of them will fulfill the General Education requirement. Students should complete only one version. The 6 discipline-specific versions are: Architecture, Business & Management, Engineering, Health Sciences, History and Music.

For more information about the Workbook, including how to enroll, please visit: http://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/gethelp/libraryskillsworkbook/

Need help finding resources? Ask a librarian!

With spring break quickly approaching, the library is busy with students studying and finishing up mid-term projects and papers. While conducting your research, keep in mind that librarians are here to help you find the resources that you need.

You can contact us by phone, text, email, chat, or in-person. Subject librarians are also available for those in-depth research questions.

Whatever your preferred contact method may be, please do not hesitate to ask us – we look forward to assisting you!

Primary and Secondary Sources: What’s the Difference, Anyway?

[The following post was written by Amanda Morrison, a recent graduate of the Department of Library & Information Studies.]

The Libraries can help you find the best materials available for your research and projects. As you prepare to start a writing or research assignment, it’s helpful to be clear on what you are looking for. Usually, two kinds of sources are necessary: primary sources and secondary sources.

What’s the difference? Primary sources are the materials, documents or texts that you are studying or commenting on. They can be recordings of particular events, photographs or even manuscripts of literary works. Examples include: the Declaration of Independence and the U.S Constitution, Civil-War era photographs, or recordings of political events or speeches. A full description can be found at http://library.buffalo.edu/helpAZ/PrimarySources.html. You can find many primary source resources available through the UB Libraries here:

http://libweb.lib.buffalo.edu/blog/history-us/ (look under the tab called “Primary Sources”).

Secondary sources are materials that analyze, comment on or respond to primary sources and artifacts. Examples include: scholarly articles about the Constitution, the introduction to a facsimile edition of Finnegan’s Wake, or the catalog notes to an exhibition.

Other blog posts highlight some of the excellent databases you can use for secondary sources: JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, and Project Muse. These are all available from the Libraries database page. For help understanding what secondary sources are and finding the right ones for your work, ask your librarian. We are here to help!

What is the Library Skills Workbook?

The Library Skills Workbook is designed to help University at Buffalo students develop their library research skills. It is a General Education requirement for all UB undergraduate students, including transfer students. All undergraduate students are required to complete it during their first year of study at UB.

For more information about the Workbook, including how to enroll, please visit: http://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/gethelp/libraryskillsworkbook/