Getting Started at UVA Library

Key resources to help you do research at UVA:

• Ask A Librarian. Chat with a librarian, get help with your research, and see other ways to get in touch with a librarian on the Ask A Librarian page.
• The How Do I...? page has tutorials and walkthroughs for on-the-spot help with research and Library resources.
• The Search, borrow, request page on the Library website is the gateway to all of the databases the UVA Library has access to.
• Subject guides are created by Library subject experts to give you easy access to the best resources in a particular subject area.
• Virgo is the UVA Library catalog, giving you access to thousands of books, ebooks, articles, videos, and more.

See below for additional resources on picking a topic, finding and accessing sources, and understanding and using academic sources. These resources are independent of each other and do not need to be completed in any order. 

The resources below will help you define a topic and make sure it is appropriately scoped.

• The Starting Your Research module will help you learn about defining a topic, knowledge gaps, and search strategies. It will take about 10-15 minutes to complete.
• The Thinking Tool is an activity that will help you think through a topic idea to generate more specific topics and keywords.

The resources below will introduce you to UVA Library resources, including books, databases, journal articles, and more, and get you started with search strategies.

• .The Becoming a Scholar interactive module will introduce you to the different types of sources and how to find them in the UVA Library. It will take you 10-15 minutes to complete.
• The Authority in Research interactive module will help you learn how to identify peer-reviewed or academic sources. It will take you 10-15 minutes to complete.
• The short Databases 101 & 102 videos will introduce you to what research databases are, why to use them, and how to use them. 
• This short video explains what subject guides are and how to use them. 

If you come across sources that you would like to use in your research but are not available through the UVA Library, you can make a request from the Search, borrow, request page and we will get them for you. 

The resources below will help you read the resources you have found, integrate the sources into your project, and cite your sources.

• Reading academic sources like peer-reviewed journal articles is not like reading a novel or your Twitter feed. This short video and this guide will help you learn how to read and understand academic sources without being an expert in the field.
• The Information Creation interactive module will discuss strategies for integrating sources into your writing. It will take you 10-15 minutes to complete.
• The Using Information Correctly interactive module will help you learn about information ethics and how and why to properly cite your sources. It will take you 10-15 minutes to complete.
• The Excelsior Online Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) both have guidance on APA, MLA, and Chicago citations.
• Zotero is a free citation manager that helps you keep track of your sources and generate citations. You can learn how to use Zotero with this tutorial.