How to start a documentary research - The art of finding what you’re looking for [Voice-over] It’s Thursday afternoon. Fred’s settled in at the library to start his research project. swisscovery UNIGE is really cool! It’s a tool that allows you to explore all of the library’s available documents by using only one finger. When he thinks about how everything was done manually in the past, Fred realizes that it couldn’t have been easy. [Dialogues] Fred, whispering: I dunno, but as for me…/ I think technology has some upsides. [Voice-over] It was while saying that that Fred realized he wasn’t sure if he had brought the list of keywords he had prepared the day before. So Fred thought, maybe it’s in my bag. Fred searched his bag. Nothing. Fred re-searched his bag because sometimes he searches the same pocket twice but forgets another. Nothing. So Fred took drastic measures. Fred didn’t find his list of keywords, but he found a packet of chocolate and praline-covered cookies that he had bought and had only eaten the topping. And an old piece of gum. Fred thought the gum was still good. Finally, Fred found his list of keywords and was able to do his research on swisscovery UNIGE. And for once, believe it or not, he was able to finish what he started. [Voice-over] Yes Fred, research tools have evolved. As have others. It’s important to know how about them so you can use them correctly. For once, Fred had made the right choice: he had prepared his list of keywords and used the right tool. In fact, there are two main scenarios: • In the first, you want to find a reference that you already have, perhaps from a reference list or a scientific article. You have either the entire reference or just a piece of it, such as the author and date. In this case, use swisscovery UNIGE. It’s the first tool to use because it will almost always allow you direct access to the full text, either electronically or by checking out the work in the library. • In the second scenario, you do not have a precise reference, but you want search a topic using the research question and keywords that you already have. For this, you also have multiple tools available: o swisscovery UNIGE, using your keywords o Discipline-specific or multidisciplinary databases (full-text access not guaranteed). For example, PubMed in Medicine or MLA in Humanities. [Dialogues] Fred, talking to his double: And how is your search going? Fred 2: Oh, I was in there and then…/ everything fell apart./ I lost everything.