Liaison Librarian
Legend
- McGill users only
- In-library-use only
- Catalogue record
Course materials
- Library workshop slides (.pdf)
- Research Tool Kit handout (.pdf)
- Review of Search Tips handout (.pdf)
- A Guide to Using EndNote handout (.pdf)
- Using EndNote with Windows OpenOffice handout (.pdf)
On this page
- Finding journal articles
- Search tips
- Obtaining materials that are not available at McGill
- Reading journal articles efficiently
- Writing tools
- Writing business plans
- EndNote citation software
Finding journal articles
Subject guides are a great place to find subject-specific databases but here are good places to start:
- Scopus
(references to articles are all from peer-reviewed scholarly journals) - Web of Science
(references to articles are all from peer-reviewed scholarly journals) - Compendex
Comprehensive database covering all aspects of engineering
(references to articles are all from peer-reviewed scholarly journals) - Applied Science & Technology Full Text
(provides the option to limit your search results to peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles) - Academic Search Complete
(provides the option to limit your search results to peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles) - Google Scholar
(includes non-academic and non-peer-reviewed sources; you need to examine each search result to determine if it points to an appropriate academic source for your term paper)
Find out about accessing the Library's online resources from on and off campus.
Search tips
| Boolean operator | AND | e.g. petroleum AND processing will retrieve articles containing both words, petroleum AND processing in the title or abstract; this will decrease your search results |
|---|---|---|
| Boolean operator | OR | e.g. petroleum OR oil will retrieve articles with either petroleum OR oil in the title or abstract; this will increase your search results |
| Phrase searching | “___” | e.g. "crude oil" will retrieve records containing the phrase crude oil |
| Truncation | */? | e.g. process* will retrieve references containing the words process, processes, processing, etc. |
Obtaining materials that are not available at McGill
McGill students and staff may order articles and books not available at McGill using COLOMBO. Please do not wait until it is too late for us to help you with COLOMBO.
Reading journal articles efficiently
- How to Read a Scientific Paper (Quick tutorial from Purdue University)
- Reading and Critiquing Research Articles workshop slides (.pdf)
- Checklist for Reading and Thinking Critically about Research Aricles handout (.pdf)
Writing tools
- Check out McGill Library's Five steps to a better paper for tips on researching and writing your paper.
- For other tools to help with writing, click here.
- Citing Sources in APA (Purdue University)
- Annotated Bibliographies (Purdue University)
Writing business plans
- For help on how to write a business plan, see the Business Plans Handbook for sample plans (select 'Business' and then 'Business Plans Handbook' to access this resource).
- Visit the Business plans subject guide for a list of other useful resources on business plans.
EndNote citation software
- You can download EndNote citation management software for free. With this software you can get references directly from many databases, such as Web of Science.
- EndNote Web is now available at McGill University. To access EndNote Web you need to create a personal account. You may sign up for an account with your McGill email address.
- There are library workshops given on how to use this software effectively.