Library Research 101 - Doing Research at a Distance

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed to visit or use a library to find information? You are not alone; many people have this “library anxiety” and the TRU Library is here to help you. You don’t have to be an expert to use the library, you only have to be willing to learn and to ask for help.

If you prefer to try and answer your own questions, take some time to explore this guide. It is intended to be a general introduction on to how to find and use the resources in the TRU Library.

• Getting started
• Finding Books & Videos
• Finding Articles
• Finding Internet Sources
• Evaluating Sources
• Requesting Items from the TRU Library
• Citation & Writing Help
• Ask a Question

If you still have questions after going through this guide, please ask us! There are no "dumb" questions -- only unasked ones.

"Library Research 101: Doing Research at a Distance" by Brenda Smith is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

The key to successful library research lies in knowing the terminology and devising a "plan of attack."

• Use Discover's "Request this item" feature to request a book, CD, or video. If you can't find the book in Discover, use our online interlibrary loan form.
  • Note: to use the interlibrary loan form, you'll use your T-ID number and your Library PIN. Your PIN is your 6-digit birthdate in the YYMMDD format

• Use Discover's "Request this item" feature to request an article. If you can't find the article in Discover, use our online interlibrary loan form.
  • Note: to use the interlibrary loan form, you'll use your T-ID number and your Library PIN. Your PIN is your 6-digit birthdate in the YYMMDD format

• Use Discover's "Request this item" feature to request an article, book, CD, or video. If you can't find the title in Discover, use our online interlibrary loan form. You can request that the item be put aside for pick-up if you are in the Kamloops or Williams Lake area, shipped to the address of your choice, or (depending on the type of item) sent directly to your email.
  • Note: to use the interlibrary loan form, you'll use your T-ID number and your Library PIN. Your PIN is your 6-digit birthdate in the YYMMDD format

TRU Open Learning (formerly BCOU) designed a set of three academic style guides which rely heavily on and extend or modify some version of MLA or APA style.
NOTE: Only use the guides in this section if specified in your course.