ProQuest Research Companion

Build effective research skills and information literacy

ProQuest Research Companion was built to help students do more effective research and to support educators as they teach the core information literacy principles of finding, evaluating, and using information.

Aligned both to ACRL Information Literacy and Common Core English Language Arts standards, Research Companion provides a framework and foundation for information literacy instruction. More than 100 short videos are organized into ten learning modules that answer questions like "How do I choose a topic?," "Where do I find information?," and "How do I evaluate sources?". Additionally, pre-and-post assessment questions make the viewing experience more interactive, and allows educators to measure students’ learning, and identify gaps in their understanding.

Research Companion easily guides students through the research process and helps them develop their critical thinking and information literacy skills. Studies have shown that today's researchers are unequivocally overwhelmed with too much information and data—throughout all the stages of research process. Developed by writing instructors and librarians, Research Companion combines multimedia-based learning modules and powerful quick-start evaluator tools into one resource.

The learning modules are organized into easily digestible sections and are structured as commonly asked researcher questions which provide a foundation and context for finding, evaluating, and using information. The modules cover such topics as "Where do I start?" to "How do I avoid plagiarism and find my own voice?" to “What's the best way to revise?” They are delivered as a series of visually compelling and inventive videos, or in a full-text, readable format and are written in a conversational style that improves learning outcomes and maximizes retention.

Tools such as the Search Aid and Source Evaluation Aid help researchers get right to the information they need. These quick and easy-to-use tools automate the basic parts of the research process by leveraging the power of ProQuest data sources—including Ulrich's Web and Books In Print, and the expert ProQuest editorial team.

 Features include:

• Source Evaluation Aid: makes evaluating research resources easy—a simple search box allows the user to type in the title of a periodical or book, or copy and paste a URL, and data results about that source are displayed.
• Search Aid: helps students develop more effective search queries.
• Revision Aid: helps researchers write more clearly and persuasively.
• Customization Features: allow educators to add their own assessment questions and other resources, and all videos are fully embeddable, individually or as part of custom playlists

Presented in an easy-to-use and collaborative format, ProQuest Research Companion can be effortlessly incorporated into the student researcher's workflow to get to answers and context quickly.

ProQuest Research Companion gives librarians and educators the tools and resources to:

• Prepare high school and community college students for university-level research
• Help undergrad and graduate students produce better papers faster