CU Coventry: Home

Books, eBooks and Journal articles can all be found via our library catalogue, called Locate.

Using Locate you can:

• Find books in the library
• Access thousands of eBooks
• Access hundreds of thousands of academic journal articles

Access Locate:

Library staff will be happy to help you develop the skills needed to find  resources for your studies. 121 study skills sessions can be arranged in CU Coventry Library by asking a member of staff.

Skills sessions include:

• Using Locate
• Introduction to using journal articles and/ or e-Books
• Advanced techniques for journal article searching
• Evaluating information
• Referencing

To produce high quality work you need to use accurate,up to date and reliable information.

These five simple steps will help you 

First of all spend time thinking about exactly what it is you are looking for. Does your information need to be specific to a country, what is the earliest date that would be relevant, what different terms might people use to refer to the same thing. eg. marketing, sales, advertising etc.

Secondly, try your search terms in a number of different places, use Google, Locate, a subject specific database, a text book, a blog from an expert. 

Thirdly, ask yourself questions about the resources,   Who has written this?  Why was it written?  Is it factual or an opinion piece? How does it compare to other sources?

Fourth, keep a clear record of your results so that you can find them again.

Fifth, use the best results from your first searches to start a new search, for example by looking fo a specific author or phrase.

Books in the library are a good source of information and are great to introduce you to a topic, give you an overview and explain key theories and concepts. 

Journal articles are short papers, focused on a very specific topic. These are then printed in journals that specialise in particular areas

Journal articles are a great resource to use. They will cover more specific topics and go into more detail than a textbook. They also usually contain more up to date and cutting edge research than books.

Websites when using websites always consider if the author (person or company) is an expert in their field, or if the website is appropriate to use in the context of your work.

Using accurate statistical data  is a useful way of providing evidence and giving credence to your work and argument. 

The Office for National Statistics is the UK's producer of official statistics.

Eurostat- statistical information provided by the European Union.

UK Data Service- funded by the Economic and Social Research Council to provided data and statistical information for students, teachers and researchers.

To find more sources of good quality data and statistics, use the subject tabs within LibGuides to view recommended sources for your subject area.

Using Images in your work

For advice and guidance about using images in your work and a range of sources providing access to images, please use the LibGuides Images page