Evaluating and Using

SourcesStephen

FrancoeurNewman LibraryBaruch College

4 November 2009

Research Survey to Determine the Mobility of Physicians in the Chicago Area Being Conducted at the University of Chicago with the Aid of Forty [40] National Youth Administration Employees. N.d. New York Public Library. NYPL Digital Gallery. Web. 4 November 2009. <http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1260389>.

Learning Goals

Students will be able to:• Evaluate sources based on multiple,

relevant criteria• Distinguish between source types by

analyzing source citations• Compose citations for online sources

Books

Search the Library Catalog

Articles

Search a database, such as:•Academic Search Complete

•LexisNexis Academic

•Opposing Viewpoints

Search Basics

BAD IDEA purpose of a college education

BETTER IDEA

purpose AND college education

BEST IDEA

(purpose OR goal) AND college education

Evaluating Sources

• Date of publication• Scholarly vs. popular• Credibility of author

Scholarly-Popular Continuum

Scholarly Popular

Scholarly Journals

• Audience = fellow scholars

• Long articles• Bibliographies• Jargon• Peer reviewed

Magazines and Newspapers

• Audience = everyday readers

• Short articles• No bibliographies• Everyday language• Not peer reviewed

Credibility

Google the author to learn if author:

– Teaches on this topic?– Written more than once on the topic?– Has degrees related to the topic?– Works in a field related to the topic?

Available at the Library

Sample Citations

Schrecker, Ellen. Many Are the Crimes: McCarthyism in America. Boston: Little, Brown, 1998. Print.

Schrecker, Ellen. “McCarthyism: Political Repression and the Fear of Communism.” Social Review 71:4 (2004), 1041-1086. Print.

Thatcher, Margaret. “My Cozy Cottage.” Ladies Home Journal (September 19, 2001), 45-46. Print.

Citing Websites Using MLA

Purdue OWLhttp://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

“Do Professors Matter?”http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2009/10/30/

katopes

How Was It?

1. What are three things I learned about research today that I didn’t already know?

2. What is one thing about research that we should have covered or that I’m still unclear about?