Engineering: Why use the library?

When doing a third-level assignment, you will need to show an element of research, justify its context, and discuss results.

The Library contains both print and online resources. The Library pays for these and allows students to access free them of charge. These are good quality resources as they:

• have gone through an editorial process
• have been chosen by your lecturers
• are unlikely to be available for free via Google

You will need to evaluate any information you plan to use in your coursework. Our guide to Evaluating Your Sources will help.

Wikipedia might be useful for background information but cannot always be trusted for academic purposes.

Use it as a starting point but avoid referencing it in your assignments.

The video below talks about using Wikipedia along with other useful tips.

You generally can’t type your assignment title into Google and get the answer. Instead, you need to research and combine information from lots of places.

There may be one correct answer, but often there are many ways to approach the same question.