This course is about working well in the digital research world — understanding where scholarly material lives, searching it precisely, saving what you find, reusing open content, and staying critical online.

It bridges everyday digital skills and serious research, so the internet becomes a powerful research tool rather than a maze.

What you’ll be able to do

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• tell a digital library from a database and search each well;
• build precise searches with Boolean logic and filters;
• manage your sources with a tool like Zotero;
• find and correctly reuse open-access material;
• apply a critical, responsible mindset online;

The lessons

1. Digital Libraries & Databases — how scholarly collections are organised.
2. Advanced Search Techniques — Boolean operators, phrases, truncation, and filters.
3. Managing Digital Resources — saving and organising sources with a reference manager.
4. Open Access Resources — finding and reusing free, open content.
5. Digital Literacy Best Practices — using technology critically and responsibly.

How to study this course

Work through the lessons in order — each is a short read with a worked example, a quick exercise, and a hand-picked free resource. Use the Previous and Next buttons at the foot of each page to move along. There are no fees and no enrolment barriers; the course is open to everyone, and you can revisit it any time.

This courseware is provided free by FRELIP. Original text released under CC BY 4.0; linked resources remain under their own licences. Curated by the FRELIP Open Courseware editorial team.