Chemistry115: Chemistry and Society

CHM115 Lab Reports

This guide will help you do your research to find credible sources to serve as evidence of your reasoning in your lab reports.

Search Tools

Where will you look for information? This often depends on what kind of information you need.

Google

• An internet search engine that uses common language to find websites that contain the words you typed.
• Results are based on proprietary algorithms that are personalized and often based on other things you've searched and interacted with. In other words, the information is finding you.
• Quality information is often behind paywalls and not available without paying a fee or having a paid subscription to the content.
• Top results are usually ads or sponsored content that businesses have paid for
• Can be hard to tell what you’re looking at – a lot of websites look alike. Even businesses will publish informative articles about whatever they’re selling to convince you to buy it.

Library Databases

• A searchable, indexed, electronic collection of published information.
• You control the results by choosing how it’s sorted and filtered. In other words, you find the information.
• You have full text access to quality information because the library subscribes to content.
• Easier to know what you’re looking at – database results will identify academic articles, newspapers, magazines, opinions, etc.

Library Catalog

• A searchable, indexed collection of the materials owned by the library.
• You control the results by choosing how it’s sorted and filtered.
• Books and eBooks are a great place to find background information about your topic all in one place.
• eBooks are very accessible because content within the book is hyperlinked and searchable.
• Check out print books from the library with a library card, or view eBooks on your device at any time without a library card.