When searching for scholarly documents, researchers often stick with the same familiar handful of databases. Yet, just beyond these limited horizons lie dozens of alternatives with which they could search more effectively, whether for quick lookups or thorough searches in systematic reviews or meta-analyses. Searchsmart.org is a free website that…

We researchers have taken searching for information for granted for far too long. The COVID-19 pandemic shows us the boundaries of academic searching capabilities, both in terms of our know-how and of the systems we have. With hundreds of studies published daily on COVID-19, for example, we struggle to find, stay up-to-date, and synthesize…

This article looks back over the past two decades to describe how teaching of undergraduate marketing research has (or has not) changed. Sweeping changes in technology and society have certainly affected how marketing research is designed and implemented--but how has this affected teaching of this important topic? Although the purpose of marketing…

To better engage our graduate students, we asked them to describe their research strategy and challenges, helpful research support services, and their preferred venue for learning research skills. We conducted a thematic analysis and found that participants' top reported research strategies included "Research Topic Development" and…

The primary objective of the Remote Mentoring of Undergraduate Research Students (ReMentURS) workshop series is to design a remotely available professional development training that will provide rigorous research concept and skills introduction to incoming undergraduate research students. This pilot run eight-week remote learning workshop series…

Research skills are part of the academic activities of Higher Education teachers. Regardless of the knowledge area they teach, there is a need to observe, reflect, select, analyse and communicate scientific results using technological advances. The aim of this study is to analyse the use that teachers make of different ICT resources for research…

Academic literature suggests that today's college students are not as information literate as educators might expect, despite their generation being frequently described as "digital natives" or "Millennials" (Becker, 2009). A faculty survey at Pima Community College in Tucson, AZ, revealed that students' actual…

As the international student population continues to grow, librarians must adjust their instruction to meet the needs of students who are adapting to a new country, culture, and language. This study assesses first-year international students as they engage in the research process through the completion of concept maps that precede database…

The aim of this study is determining academic self-efficacy beliefs of students pursuing graduate study and revealing their needs and shortcomings from the graduate education. Case study method was used and data were collected by a form developed by the researchers from 92 students receiving masters and Ph.D.'s in different programs. As a result…

Students discover the factors contributing to species losses worldwide by conducting a project about endangered species as a component of a larger classroom theme of biodiversity. Groups conduct research using online endangered- species databases and present results to the class using PowerPoint. Students will improve computer research abilities…

Undergraduate STEM students are increasingly expected to have some data use skills upon graduation, whether they pursue post-graduate education or move into industry. This project was an initial foray into the application of data information literacy competencies to training undergraduate students to identify markers of data and information…

Traditionally, graduate study includes a research component, requiring library skills to locate relevant literature. Upon matriculation into graduate programs, many students are underprepared in library research skills, making library instruction a priority for the success of graduate students. This qualitative study, utilizing emergent design,…

This study investigated the use of a university library academic service to assist in research information seeking, and the role and value of the academic services in support of research from the viewpoints of both academic users and librarians. Ten Ph.D. students completed questionnaires followed by face-to-face discussions and four academic…

Researchers are often distressed to discover that the data they wanted to use in their landmark study is not configured in a way that is usable by a Statistical Analysis Software Package (SASP). For example, the data needed may come from two or more sources and it may not be clear to the researcher how to get them combined into one analyzable…

A report of findings from a content analysis of 191 course-related research assignment handouts distributed to undergraduates on 28 college campuses across the U.S., as part of Project Information Literacy. A majority of handouts in the sample emphasized standards about the mechanics of compiling college research papers, more so than guiding…