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Energy Asset Management: PROJ 399

Research Skills Review

1. Develop a search strategy

  • Pick your topic
  • Understand the assignment requirements
    • What do you need to include?
    • How many sources do you need?
    • Etc.
  • Explore your topic
    • Conduct background research using general resources
    • Google is your friend
  • Think of questions to ask
    • Narrow down your topic by asking specific questions
  • Brainstorm terms and synonyms
    • Write down related terms and synonyms for your topic
      • Find other terms online
    • These terms are used to search for sources

2. Search the library catalogue or a specific database

  • Use previously identified terms and synonyms to search library resources
  • If some terms do not find the right resources, you may need to try synonyms

3. Evaluate Resources using the RADAR technique

Relevance: Is the source related to your topic? Does it answer your research question in some way?

Authority: Is the author of the source credible? Do they have education, experience, and an affiliation that matches the source topic and gives them authority?

Date: Is the source up-to-date for the topic? Has anything important changed since the source was published?

Appearance: What kind of source is it? Academic? A news article? A book? Are there citations? Are there ads? How does the source appear? How does it show professionalism and quality?

Reason: Was the source created to sell something? Inform you of something? Entertain? Can you identify any bias in the information based on incentives?

Library Resources

Recommended Resources

  • SAIT Library Search (searches most of SAIT's databases)
  • Energy Asset Management Databases
  • OnePetro: Technical reports and journal articles covering a variety of energy industries and disciplines, published by the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
  • SciTech Premium Collection: Includes access to International Journal of Energy Sector Management and Petroleum Accounting and Financial Management Journal.
  • Business Source Complete: Covers all disciplines of business, including: marketing, management, accounting, finance, and economics. Additional content includes: market research reports, industry reports, country reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses.
  • IBISWorld: Contains over 400 Canadian and 1,300 US Industry reports. IBISWorld research reports contain trends, statistics & analysis on market size, market share of major companies and industry growth rates. Major market segments are identified and also those key external forces affecting supply and demand within the industry. Performance analysis includes emerging industry trends as well as recent production performance.
  • Your librarian
    • Your librarian can help you if you are unsure what to do or if you are having trouble with your research or citations.
    • You can contact your librarian by email or you can schedule a meeting
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