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Geography Research Guides: Food Security


USEFUL LINKS

SEARCH STRATEGY TIPS

Before starting your research, it is good practice to think about and create a list of  keywords that you can use to search for information on your topic.  Google is very intuitive however databases  usually require a search string. Here are a few tips to help you.

  • Words are sometimes spelled differently, for example, colonization is sometimes written as colonisation.
  • Many search engines and databases use Boolean logic to construct a search term. The asterisk is known as a wild card. The use of AND, OR and NOT can also be helpful.
  • Sometimes it is useful to use other words that mean similar or the same thing (synonyms)
  • Use quotation marks when you are searching for a phrase.
  • Using keywords that relate to the topic will focus the search

Suggestions for this topic:

food security

agriculture and global change

sustainable AND (farming OR agriculture)

food footprint 

"population growth" AND "food security" AND (impact OR consequence OR effect)

agroecology OR agro-ecology

GEOGRAPHY ONLINE RESOURCES

FoodPrint is the name of a program from a non-profit organization dedicated to research and education on food production practices.

Oxfam work with partners and communities to find practical, innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty.

The Food Systems Dashboard combines data from multiple sources to give users a complete view of food systems. Users can compare components of food systems across countries and regions. They can also identify and prioritize ways to sustainably improve diets and nutrition in their food systems.

CRAAP INFOGRAPHIC

Evaluating information sources is an important part of the research process. Not all information is reliable or true, nor will all information be suitable for your assignment or project.  

In brief, you ask the following questions:

Who has written the information and what authority do they have? Is the information objective or biased? Is there a hidden agenda? Is it corroborated by other sources? How current is the information?  Is it relevant to your topic?

To help identify the answers to these questions we  use the C.R.A.A.P. testundefined

LIBRARY CATALOGUE

DEWEY DECIMAL

The Campion Library has quite a few books on food security. A  trolley of books may have been organised for you. If not you can use Oliver to find books on your specific topic or you can shelf browse in different sections of the Non-fiction Collection.

338.1 Agriculture
363.1 Public safety programs
363.8 Food supply
382 Foreign trade
613 Personal health and safety
613.2 Dietetics
631.5 Cultivation and harvesting
641.5 Cooking
660.6 Biotechnology
664 Food technology

613 Personal health and safety
613.2 Dietetics
631.5 Cultivation and harvesting
641.5 Cooking
660.6 Biotechnology
664 Food technology

REFERENCING

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The Referencing Libguide has resources on how to cite/reference sources in research.

The  Online Reference Generator allows you to create citations and bibliographies using the Harvard Referencing Style for a comprehensive list of resources.

       

MyBib is a free online service that allows users to generate citations and bibliographies. You can paste in a DOI, ISBN or URL and have the fields populate automatically. However it does not always provide the correct reference so you must check that all possible parts of the reference have been included.