Recreation and Leisure Studies: REC 220 Program Mgmt

Create a research strategy by listing all the keywords for your topic. Think of synonyms for your topic. Use the thesaurus in the database for help with additional terms.

An example of a search strategy:

A couple of items of interest . . . 

Stronger together toward more literate communities

A framework for Ontario early childhood settings

Building our Best Future: Realizing the Vision of Ontario Best Start Child and Family Centres

Search both newspapers and magazines for recent reports on a local event.

Factiva is a research database designed to index newspapers and magazines from all over the world. Access Factiva through the Research Databases from the Library's homepage.

For example, in Factiva you can find the February 19, 2013 article Top schools excel in annual ranking; Two local school boards place little importance on Fraser Institute's assessment of performance by Linda Givetash of the Waterloo Region Record that states "[t]his year, Laurelwood Public School in Waterloo broke into the top 25 schools in the province with an increase of its rankings to 9.7 from 8.6 last year."

In addition to subscribed resources, the Internet can provide some valuable information. For example, the 2008 report Access to Recreation for ALL Youth in Waterloo Region: An Environmental Scan of Recreation and Leisure Opportunities for Youth is an important overview of the region.

Note of caution using the Internet. Please check to see if meets the following criteria: current, reliable, and accurate. Understand the purpose and point of view.

Most of the Library's e-resources require authentication to access. One of the most popular, and efficient way to do this, is to Connect from Home. This link is also available from the Library's homepage, in the left navigation bar.

A Problem Report form is available if you have any issues with connecting (we still have glitches from time to time), or email me and I will help out.

Local community information is available through a  variety of websites:

• Laurelwood Neighbourhood Association
• Stork Family YMCA 
• Waterloo Public Library John M. Harper Branch

Additional information about Laurelwood is available on the City of Waterloo website.

Finding information to make the case to support a community event requires a multi-faceted approach. Search in Primo and other databases to discover both academic resources and grey literature such as:

• Government reports
• Theses and dissertations
• Statistics
• Newsletters
• Technical reports
• Policy documents
• Personal correspondence

Primo is a good starting point, but you'll find additional information in specialized databases such as Leisure, Recreation, Tourism.

When using Google Scholar, link in through the Library's Research Databases (check the alphabetical listing under G). When you do this you can link seamlessly to the articles you need through the Get It! @ Waterloo.

If you need help finding the information you need, please drop by for a visit. 

• I have office hours in BMH 2216 on Wednesday mornings from 10 - noon
• Email me, marian.davies@uwaterloo.ca  to set up a more convenient time

Research Tip: Spend several minutes reviewing the references of a resource that fits with your topic. Not only are references 'gold', you can find out who referenced them. In other words, you can follow the research back and forth.