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Geospatial Data Research Guide (GIS): Home

A guide for faculty, staff, and students interested in anything related to GIS

About this Guide - GIS

This guide is intended for faculty and students at Bishop's University and provides resources relevant to any discipline or application using GIS technologies.

As this is a highly interdisciplinary environment, this guide is intended to provide for the main needs and resources in one place.

Feel free to browse the tabs in this guide to answer any questions you may have about GIS. For further assistance or to ask a question not covered in this guide, please contact the librarian maintaining this guide.

Hours

Today's Library Hours

Getting Started with your Research

  • Become familiar with your research topic.

  • Do background reading and research.

    • Encyclopedias & dictionaries can be helpful at this stage.

    • Use the web (even Google & Wikipedia) to help you understand your topic or research area.

  • See what's out there in terms of information.

  • Take note of key concepts and keywords being used.

  • From your preliminary research, choose what concepts and keywords are appropriate for your research question or thesis

  • Select appropriate subject headings:

  • Use the Library of Congress Authorities website: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects.html

  • Find controlled vocabulary

  • For online catalogues, such as Sofia, use Library of Congress subject headings

  • In periodical databases, look for “Thesaurus” “Subject Terms” or “Subjects” etc. to find terms

  • Narrow or broaden your search based on what’s out there.

  • Focus in on your specific subject area or research question.

  • Make sure this is really what you want to choose for your topic.

Things to Consider When Choosing a Topic

  • What interests you and what you already know. If you can choose a topic that you are interested in, it will make the research process easier.

  • What types of information are required? Books? Articles? Primary Sources?

  • Does Bishop’s Library have the materials necessary for your topic?

  • Will you have to use Interlibrary Loans? Interlibrary loans take time to be delivered to the library, so you will need to account for delivery times.

  • The currency of the topic.

  • Length of paper and required format.

  • Deadlines.

  • Make a decision

  • Put your subject or research area into the form of a research question or thesis to keep you focused

  • Be as specific as possible

  • Ask your professor for input on your thesis or research question if you need help with this step.

  • Use the online catalogue, Sofia, to gather books, articles, etc.

  • Use Sofia to find books at other institutions; order them through Interlibrary loans.

  • Use appropriate databases for electronic access to journal articles (Use Databases by Subject choose subject specific databases)

  • You Should Critically Evaluate Every Source You Use!

  • Learning how to determine the relevance and authority of a given resource is one of the core skills of the research process

  • Initial evaluation of the sources can be done using the information supplied in the online catalogue, Sofia

  • The books can be further evaluated where they are shelved in the LLC

  • Final analysis requires a more in-depth evaluation of the chosen resources

  • For more information on evaluating sources, click here

Need Help?

Reference librarians are available to help Bishop's students and faculty with their research!
Check the Library's Research Assistance hours and come by the Library Service Desk located on the main floor of the LLC.
During Research Assistance hours, you can also chat with us using the LibChat box on this page or on our Library Home Page!
 
Contact us:
   E-mail: reference@ubishops.ca
   Telephone: (819) 822-9600 ext. 2608
   Text: (819) 201-0354
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