The library would like to understand how our students are using, or plan to use, AI chatbots in research for their assignments, so we've created this survey to hear from you.
AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity and others can help students at various stages of the research process, within guidelines set by their instructors and KPU's own policy on Academic Integrity.
This survey will enable the library to better meet the needs of those students using, or planning on using, AI chatbots for their academic work.
Please use the QR code below or this link: https://kpu.libwizard.com/f/AI_library_research_survey
Questions about the survey? Please contact Celia Brinkerhoff or Caja Blomley.
This page provides a summary of the Library resources and research tools we explored in the AGRI 3225 library orientation. I will keep it up for you for the remainder of the semester. Check back from time to time for updated content. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, or if you'd like me to include additional links you found helpful.
Celia Brinkerhoff, Sustainable Agriculture Librarian
As part of your research proposal for AGRI 3225, you need to include a literature review. Properly done, a lit review is more than an annotated bibliography or summary of research articles. It should situate your own topic or problem in the context of other research being done in the area.
Your lit review should:
Need some tips on how to approach a literature review? See the links below.
Here's a good example of a well-written literature review as part of a primary research article.
What are some keywords you could use to search for similar articles?
What gaps in research have been identified that this study is hoping to address?
What are some limitations to the study design?
Here are some of the library's key databases for your work in Sustainable Agriculture.
Current scholarly articles from many areas of science and ebooks published from 2017-2021.
The following tools will help you access the Open Access literature related to agriculture and food systems.
Your Google Scholar results will be a mix of journal articles from academic and commercial publishers's sites (look for the Full text at KPU link), articles from Open Access journals, and institutional repositories.
You may also see results from ResearchGate and Academia.edu, networks for academics to promote and share their research. Use results from these sites with caution as some content may be posted without publishers' permission, or may not have gone through a peer review process.
Not sure if a journal or article is credible? Use the tools on this Predatory Publishers guide from the University of Saskatchewan to help you identify quality information.
When searching from off-campus, go to Settings > Library Links and add Kwantlen Polytechnic University Library to the search box. This will enable Google Scholar to add links to articles already in the Library's subscription.
See the screenshot below for details.
Now your results should look like this, with the link to KPU fulltext where it is provided.
Once you have defined your research question and done a little searching, you will see that a kind of scholarly conversation is taking place among researchers and writers within a particular field. You will want to take note of what these writers are saying, how they are building on one another's work, and where they agree or disagree.
Fortunately, most library databases, Summon, and Google Scholar have tools to help you locate related and citing articles.
Here are a few examples:
In the Summon search results for articles, look for "cited by" and "related articles". These will bring you a list of articles that cite this one, or are related to this one.
Most research databases will have a similar feature. Look for links called "Times cited" or "Cited by" to locate articles citing the one you are considerng.
Develop your own system of collecting research articles and include initial thoughts about topics, methods, critiques, as you read. This will be easier than trying to do after you have skimmed many articles. Use a Google or Excel sheet and create a table to capture:
Here is an example of a literature review log using Google sheets.
Refer to the Library's APA citation style guide for examples of properly formatted references. The links below will take you directly to the page providing details for each type of source.
The library does not provide support for Ecology citation style. There are many online sources from other libraries that you can check for citation details.
Zotero is a free browser tool that keeps track of your articles and webpages, and creates citations in several formats. Sign up for a free account, and your personal library will be accessible from any computer with an internet connection.
It is useful for capturing a diverse range of source types, and works with most library catalogues, databases, and websites.
For help learning how to use Zotero, please visit the library's Zotero guide.
Mendeley is also a free reference manager that stores and organizes your articles, export citations, and more. It is primarily best for working with PDFs.
KPU Library does not support Mendeley; if you need details on setting up and adding references using this tool, please see UBC Library's Citation Management Guide.
Trying to track down a citation? Here are a few ways you can see if the library has access to it.
1. If the article citation includes a DOI, check to make sure it leads to an article on a journal or publisher's platform.
2. Put the entire title of a book or article into the Library's Summon search.
3. Copy the entire title into Google Scholar.
Can't locate full text anywhere?
You can request articles and print books through the library's Interlibrary Loans service. Allow a few days to get an article emailed to you; a little longer for print material.