Librarians Guided Research Tutorials

Getting Started

student studying outside

Getting Started with College Research

Learn about the key characteristics of college research, scholarly sources, and how to search for peer-reviewed sources in a library database. Watch the entire lesson or navigate to a specific topic.

Data Visualizations printed out next to laptop

The Research Process

The research process in college usually starts with a professor giving you a research assignment. But where do you go from there? Learn about the most common steps for the research process, including selecting a topic, developing a thesis statement, and more.

Student reading books and taking notes

Choosing a Manageable Research Topic

When you have the freedom to choose your own research topic, it can be tough to know where to start. This video from Pfau Library (California State University) gives you some useful tips for defeating the “Topic Monster.”

Want to Learn More?

Check out the following playlist

Developing Research Strategies

Searching for Information

University Libraries Search Tool

Searching for Library Materials

Learn how to find books, articles, videos, and more using the library's search tool.

Students using computer in library

Keyword Searching

This tutorial will guide you through the process of choosing (and revising) your keywords when searching for information in the library catalog or a library database.

Keywords search with Boolean Operators AND OR NOT

Searching Effectively with Keywords

Use Boolean Operators, parentheses, quotation marks, and truncation to craft an effective keyword search in a database or Google Scholar.

website with large inputs for 'database title', 'find by subject' and 'find by type' and search button

Selecting a Database

Use the University at Albany Libraries website to find the list of databases available for your research.

Want to Learn More?

Check out the following playlist.

Searching for Information