CONSUME- Academic Research

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Many times, our first source of information is Google or Wikipedia. While these sources offer quick, brief, and convenient answers, deeper and more detailed information can be found elsewhere. Where else can we find information on the internet? Dr. Burton shares some valuable information sources on his blog "Ten ways out of the Google or Wikipedia rut". Also, I discovered another wonderful presentation on how to more effectively find information. Another source of information I want to share is the BYU Library!


BYU has paid for and authorized BYU students to access hundreds of journals. These journals, often requiring subscription in order to read, can be reached through the Harold B. Lee Library home page.

On the left is a view of the home screen. You can click on the tab "Subject Guides" and chose the subject of interest. In order to demonstrate the excellent resource we have, I will use "Dietetics" as we all are interested in food and healthy eating is important to us.

Once you select the subject, you will be brought to a home screen that is all about your subject. Here, we see a page of "Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science". Automatically, there are many prestigious journals that pop up. They are links in blue font. You can click directly on them, or, if you are not sure what journal to search in, you can input an overall search. For an effective search, you must use some Boolean Searching. For more info, you can go to my other blog page about Boolean Searching.

I am interested in researching about gatorade and how it helps athletes. I type it in the search bar, and automatically, I am brought to a page with numerous articles about gatorade and research. In order to specify my search more, I use boolean techniques. Specify my search.

Once you see an article you are interested in, click "Get it at BYU" and your article will pop up.

I have used this resource many times and it has been a great tool. Google and Wikipedia will give you broad information. However, for specific, advanced, and academic articles, this is another fantastic source of consumption.

Once you find the article and want to site it, you can even use BYU's provided "Endnote", which will put your articles in reference format of your choice.

Take advantage of resources :)