English 1213Dr. Jones

Session 1Introduction to Information Literacy, Search Techniques & Finding Books

Frederic Murray M.L.I.S.Reference Librarian

DID YOU KNOW…

Part 1

Information Literacy

It is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

Library Instruction in the Information Age

A single current newspaper contains more written and visual information than the average person in the 17th Century was likely to come across in their entire lifetime. There are many areas of literacy that all add up to Information Literacy: Cultural, Visual, Media, Network, Computer, Traditional Alphabetic Literacy, and Library Instruction.

Educational Goals for 21st Century

1. Teach students to be self-directed & understand how to organize more & more of their own learning.

2. Teach students the importance of global communication.

3. Teach students to deal with massive amounts of information.

Define: Catalog, Database, Indexes

A comprehensive list of the books, periodicals, maps, and other materials in a given collection.

A large, regularly updated file of digitized information related to a specific subject or field.

An alphabetically arranged list of headings consisting of the personal names, places, and subjects treated in a specific work.

Part 2

Search

Techniques

Keywords

Flexible terms Easy searches Less accurate

searches

Identifying Keywords

Identify the significant terms and concepts that describe your topic from your thesis statement or research question.

These terms will become the key for searching catalogs, indexes, and databases for information about your subject.

Other Keywords

Identify the synonyms and antonyms to your keywords

Use a thesaurus Use database tools like descriptors

and subjects

Keyword Phrases

Single concept, multiple words

Some electronic resources require keyword phrases be enclosed with punctuation Quotation marks Parenthesis

Keyword Phrases

Basic phrase Proper names Hyphenated words Slogans,

advertisements Famous quotes Movie titles, song

titles, etc.

(criminal justice) “Native American” (x-ray) “I’m lovin’ it”

(to be or not to be) “Lord of the Rings”

Paper Topic

Treatment of employees by fast food restaurants

Treatment of employees by fast food restaurants

First, narrow down the topic Which restaurants are you talking about? What kind of treatment?

Good or Bad Focusing on:

Working environment & hours Benefits & Pay Promotion & Opportunities

How employees are treated by their peers? Manager(s)? Customer(s)?

How “AND” is used

AND (narrows) restaurant and employee restaurant and employee and “retirement

benefits”

Select three keywords…

RestaurantEmployee Salary

How “OR” is used

OR (expands) restaurant or cafeteria salary or income

AND & OR together restaurant or cafeteria and employee salary or income and “work hours”

Select related terms…

RestaurantEmployee Salary

Worker

Waitress

Cafeteria

Eatery

Benefits

Income

Search Strategy

Endless possibilities… employee OR worker AND cafeteria AND salary employee AND restaurant AND salary OR income waitress AND eatery AND income

How “NOT” is used

NOT (excludes) cafeteria not school income not influx

AND, OR & NOT together employee and restaurant or cafeteria not

school

Boolean Operators

Connect keywords only Must be placed between keywords AND

Narrows your search OR

Expands your search with synonymous terms NOT

Excludes words from your search If used too much, it can work against you!

Truncation (Wildcards)

Non-universal symbols used in searching

Common symbols: * ?

Used with a root word Used to replace a

vowel or single character

Truncation (Wildcards)

Root Word- looks for multiple endings of a word, in this case it takes the place of ‘OR’ jump? jump, jumps, jumping, jumper, jumpers

rope and jumping or jumps or jump rope and jump?

Truncation (Wildcards)

Singular/Plural- replaces a vowel or single character in a word, in this case it takes the place of ‘OR’ wom*n woman, women

history and woman or women history and wom*n

Class Exercise

Keyword Building Exercise

Topic: U.S.A. Presidential Elections Thesaurus.com

U.S.A. Presidential Elections

Union

American

National

Voting History

Choosing

Balloting Record

Politics

Part 3

Finding

Books

Library Catalog

Search for books, e-books, and videos Renew your borrowed items Accessible from off-campus with no

restrictions Operates best with

the presented search

techniques

Library Catalog Found Here

Subject Headings & Descriptors

Library collections are organized by subject

Search conducted by…. Author Title Subject

Keywords

Library Catalog

WorldCat

Reference Materials

Almanacs, dictionaries, handbooks, and encyclopedias are useful tools for finding quick facts, statistics, or a broad overview of your topic.

If you don't know much about your topic already, these tools can be a good place to start.

Class Exercise

Library Catalog Worksheet SWOSU WorldCat

End of Session 1

Thank You