Research Assistant Training

Law Faculty,

If you are interested in training for your RAs, please contact Marisol Floren at 305-348-0014 or florenm@fiu.edu. We have developed a program for training RAs, and can tailor the training to you needs.

This guide is intended to help RAs navigate the world of resources available to them from both the Law and University Libraries.

Your research will always start with a question or assignment from your faculty member. It's always a good idea to write down as many specifics about the request as possible, and don't be afraid to ask questions to get the answers that you need. More often than not, your faculty member has a specific goal in mind, and you may need to ask questions to properly understand that goal.

In addition to developing a research strategy, you should also keep a log of the research that you do. This will allow you to easily tell your faculty member what you have done on a project and allow them to note any areas that you may have missed or that may deserve more exploration. A research log should generally consist of: 

• The databases/resources searched
• The search terms used
• An evaluation of how effective that search was

Using Google to find something? Try using some of Google's more advanced features to narrow down your search!