Creating the Effective Library Research Assignment

Mark A. Vargas, Library Director

David Kohut, Associate Librarian

Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching

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Our Perspective

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Session Purpose

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What is the Research Problem?

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Causes of the Research Problem

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Suggestions to improve the assignments

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What is the Problem?

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What is the Problem?

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What is the Problem?

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What is the Problem?

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What is the Problem?

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Education Example…

In this assignment you will learn how to use real data to help resolve a specific classroom management problem

1. Find four scholarly, peer reviewed journal articles, published since 2005, that contain:

a) A poll for school administrators and teachers to assess student experiences with cyberbullying

b) Examples of school responses to incidentc) Use the Peer Mediation model to resolve conflicts

2. Compare the polling, responses, and use of the PM model

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Nursing Example…

The purpose of this assignment is for you to find a diabetes management plan for children 6-12 years old

1. Use WorldCat Local or CINAHL2. Must include a double blind peer reviewed case

study3. Published since January 20064. HTML or PDF full text5. Provide persistent link or Document Object

Identifier (DOI)18

English Example…

The purpose of this assignment is to take a position on an argument raised in one of the assigned readings (primary source).

• Use WorldCat Local or Discovery Service. • Find five academic secondary sources (either books

or articles) that support your position. Articles must be peer-reviewed.

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Business Example…

This assignment will teach you how to find and organization comparative financial data.

• Use the Mergent database to find four suppliers on four continents with a primary NAICS code of 336330

• Organize their 4th quarter retained earnings from 2006-2009– Standardize results in euros– Scale in thousands of euros

• Export the list to an excel spreadsheet

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Summary

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