Download Starting Your Research

Starting Your Research
Library Instruction
Summer 2003
What is the assignment?




Paper, Presentation, Annotated Bibliography?
Due date – when is the last date for ILL?
Citation Style? APA? MLA?
Types of publications?
Basic Search Strategies:
Sources Available





Does your topic cover recent events or research?

Newspapers, magazines, journals or the Internet are the best
sources.
Do you need current, general information?

Try a popular magazine.
Do you need current, in depth information?

Try a scholarly journal.
Do you need an overview?

Try an encyclopedia, handbook or dictionary
Do you need something more detailed?

Try a book on the subject
Evaluating Print Resources
Every book, periodical article, or other resource should be
evaluated to determine its quality and its relevance to your topic
and the nature of your assignment.
Use the criteria below to help you evaluate resources.





Authority
Content & Coverage
Timeliness
Accuracy
Objectivity
Encyclopedias




African American Authors, 1745-1945: Biobibliographical Critical Sourcebook REF PS153.N5 A32
2000
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History.
REF E185.E54 1996 vol.1-5
The African-American Century: How Black Americans
Have Shaped Our Country REF E185.96 .G38 2000
Groves Music (Online)
Need a book?
1. Search the Library's online catalog.
Search the name of the person as a
subject: Morrison, Toni
2. Write down the floor location of the
book and the call number where the
book will be found on the shelf
How Call Numbers Work
Need an article?
Search the name in one of the full-text electronic journal
databases, for example:
Academic Search Elite (EbscoHost) or
Expanded Academic ASAP (InfoTrac).



Click on the peer-reviewed or refereed box if the article needs
to be from a scholarly, expert or academic journal.
Click the full-text box to retrieve only full-text and articles.
It is possible to limit the search to articles written in a certain
year or range of years.
Article Databases
Academic Search Elite
Expanded Academic
International Index to Music Periodicals
JSTOR
Literature Resource Center
Project Muse
Full Text/Index
Full Text/Index
Full Text/Index
Full Text
Full Text
Full Text
Types of Periodicals:
Scholarly Journals




Authors are authorities in their fields.
Authors cite their sources in endnotes,
footnotes, or bibliographies.
Individual issues have little or no
advertising.
Illustrations usually take the form of
charts and graphs.
Types of Periodicals:
Scholarly Journals

Articles must go through a peer-review or
refereed process.
Scholarly/academic articles that are read by academic or scholar
"referees" for advice and evaluation of content when submitted for
publication. Referees recommend to the editor/editorial board
whether the article should be published as is, revised, or rejected. Also
sometimes know as "peer-reviewed" articles.


Articles are usually reports on scholarly
research.
Articles use jargon of the discipline.
Popular Magazines
and Newspapers







Authors are magazine staff members
or free lance writers.
Authors often mention sources, but rarely formally
cite them in bibliographies.
Individual issues contain numerous advertisements.
There is no peer review process.
Articles are meant to inform and entertain.
Illustrations may be numerous and colorful.
Language is geared to the general adult audience
(no specialized knowledge of jargon needed).
Internet Resources vs.
Surfing the Web

Internet Resources include:

Internet accessible databases and journals





Use a Web interface
Usually require subscription
 Exception: ERIC Wizard
Equivalent to print indexes and journals
Authoritative and reliable
Surfing the Web:

Use free search engines


E.G.: Yahoo, Google, HotBot
Critical evaluation required


Anyone can put up a Web page!
Evaluating Web pages
(http://library.csun.edu/mwoodley/Webeval.html)
Choosing keywords to
search
If one keyword does not work, try variations on the keyword
Teen
Job interviews
teenage, teenager, adolescent,
adolescence
student or students
employment interviewing,
employment interviews,
employee interviews
If too many titles are returned, try searching more specific keywords
Key Words
Controlled Vocabulary
Searching Tips

Articles



Titles: Look in indexes and full-text
databases to find titles of articles
Subjects: specific for the article
Book


Titles: Look in online Catalog to see if we
own
Subject access: general terms that describe
the book as a whole
Contact Information

Mary S. Woodley [email protected]
677-6302