This course introduces students to basic library research practices. The specific goals of this course are that students learn to:

• Implement the steps within the research process necessary for the writing of a comprehensive research paper, including: the selection of a research topic, the construction of a thesis statement, and the formulation of an outline;
• Make use of the variety of information sources (in print and online) available for research accessible from the Concordia Library system, including: books, reference material, journal articles, non-print, government documents, and dissertations, by learning about the different retrieval tools available for each;
• Develop and apply effective search strategies for the different retrieval tools (library catalogue, subject and multi-disciplinary databases, web directories and search engines), appropriate for a research topic;
• Analyze and evaluate the quality and suitability of sources (published and unpublished) for a specific topic and to take notes that will support synthesis of the material;
• Organize material gathered from these sources into a logical and effective manner and to construct a working bibliography;
• Properly integrate newly developed ideas and to correctly document sources that were used in the research paper.

While the focus of this course will be on the development of key information literacy competencies, additional sub-skills related to critical thinking and self-regulated learning will also be addressed. Writing skills are not addressed in this course. The learning outcomes of this course will be applicable to students’ academic, professional and daily lives.