Library:Help for Distance Students/Research Toolkit/Assignment first steps

Assignment first steps

Develop a plan before you dive into your assignments. Below you'll find links to guides that will help you set priorities for the term, manage your deadlines and sharpen your research skills.

• Getting Started on your Research: covers how to check that you understand your assignment, how to develop your topic and to judge the quality of the sources you find.

• Library Research: describes the research process and has tips and strategies for making the most of what the Library has to offer.

• Time Management: has helpful plans for organizing your term, your week and even your day.

• Assignment Calculator:"is a time management tool that breaks down research assignments into a series of manageable steps, while providing expert tips for success. Enter the assignment start date and due date to get planning!"

Citing

Don't think of citing only as an end-of-the-assignment activity. Save yourself a lot of time and stress by tracking your sources as you encounter them.

• How to Cite: covers the basics of citing and gives a brief overview of some of the most popular citation styles used at UBC.

• RefWorks is a web-based citation management program that UBC students, staff and faculty can use to store, share and format citations.
  • Refworks will also create your bibliography and with its Write-N-Cite tool, can be used to format your paper within MS Word.

• Research and Documentation Online: is an excellent web guide to MLA, APA, Chicago and CSE styles. Includes sample papers formatted in each style.