Research skills
Define the task
Locate information
Essay writing skillsNewspapers & journals
If you find a really useful article, look at the resources in the author's bibliography.
Newspaper and journal articles are really useful resources, particularly when you need information about a specialised topic.
Articles from a wide variety of journals and newspapers are often organised in databases which are available online. These databases are compiled by publishers who make it their business to ensure the sources of information are reliable and authoritative.
Some useful newspaper and journal databases are:
- Newsbank - full-text magazines, journals and newspapers, including The Age and the Herald Sun, from October 2000 to present day
- Echo - newspaper index where articles are searchable by topic and issue
- AusLit - information about Australian writers and writing from the 1780s to the present, including biographies and full-text articles.
Finding articles
You can access over 50 newspaper and journal databases online via the State Library of Victoria's website.
The Library pays a fee to provide users with free access to these databases. You can use some from home. Others you will need to use onsite.
See also
For example
The most important thing to know when you're looking for newspaper articles is a date. If you have a specific date, like your birthday or the day the Titanic sank, you're more likely to find useful articles quickly.
Fawkner's constitution
Royal Society of Victoria
Ernest Shackleton
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