A research guide is a librarian-made starting point for a subject — a single page gathering the best databases, key books, useful websites, and search tips for that field. Instead of facing the whole internet alone, you begin where an expert has already done the hardest sorting for you. FRELIP’s guides live at guides.frelip.org.

Starting research on an unfamiliar topic can feel like being dropped in a vast library with the lights off. A research guide turns the lights on. It’s the answer to the quiet question every student has — “where do I even start?” — written by someone who knows the territory.

What you’ll find inside a guide

• The best databases for the subject — chosen, not just listed.
• Key books and reference works — the foundational texts worth knowing.
• Trustworthy websites and organisations — vetted, so you skip the dross.
• Search tips — the right keywords and tricks for that particular field.

Curated beats comprehensive

The whole value of a guide is selection. Anyone can hand you a thousand links; a guide hands you the twenty that matter. That expert filtering — this database yes, that one no — is exactly what saves a beginner from drowning. A guide is a shortcut written by someone who already made the mistakes for you.

🔗 Try it on FRELIP: guides.frelip.org — browse the research guides

Of course, a guide only helps if you can find the right one. On to Finding Your Guide.

© FRELIP, released under CC BY 4.0. Linked resources remain under their own licences. Curated by the FRELIP Open Courseware editorial team.