poli 378 fall 2010
DESCRIPTION
library research tips for a Political Science classTRANSCRIPT
Research Tips & Tricks
POLI 378 The Canadian Judicial Process
Megan Fitzgibbons, Liaison Librarian
How big is the internet?
3
Google doesn’t find everything….
Office Hours
Every Wednesday
13:30-15:30
Leacock 324B
Agenda
The flow of
information
Finding academic
articles
Government
information
Your questions!
Information flow
Academic analysis
Scholarly information timeline
ArticleJournals
Researcher
Research study
Conference paper
Write-up Revise Reviewed
Feedback from peers! Further research conducted.
Feedback from peers! Revisions usually required.
Points to evaluate:
Currency
Reliability
Accuracy
Purpose
Evaluation task
1. Look at the characteristics of each article.
(No need to read them!)
2. Evaluate the currency, reliability, accuracy,
and purpose of the article
3. Make a judgment: should you use this
article for your term paper?
11
Sax, David. “Ignatieff for Canada.”
Foreign Policy online January, 2006: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3352
Not a scholarly
article. Use with caution.
12
Publication sponsored by a government agency. NOT peer-reviewed.
Matheson, Andrew. “Seeking Inclusion South Asian Political Representation in Suburban Canada.” Electoral Insight 8, no. 2 (December 2006): 24-29.
http://www.elections.ca/eca/eim/article_search/article.asp?id=146&lang=e&frmPageSize=5&textonly=false
13
Stanford, Jim. “Canada's Productivity Performance Under the Stephen Harper Government.” Behind the Numbers 9, no. 2 (September 2008).
http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National_Office_Pubs/2008/Canadas_Productivity_Performance.pdf
Publication by a think tank
organization. NOT peer-reviewed.
14
Claes, Ellen, Marc Hooghe and Dietlind Stolle. “The Political Socialization of Adolescents in Canada: Differential Effects of Civic Education on Visible Minorities.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 42 (2009): 613-636.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0008423909990400
Scholarly, peer-
reviewed article.
Popular articles Scholarly articlesPurpose: Entertainment
Current awareness Overviews of topics
Report original research Review previously published
studies
Audience: General public Students, scholars, researchers
Authors: Journalists Often named
Researchers, academics, experts
Always named
Characteristics:
Short(er) articles Advertisements/
photos Published daily,
weekly, monthly Proofread/reviewed
by editors
Describe research methodologies
Often have charts, graphs, tables of statistics
Published quarterly, annually Reviewed by editorial board*
Peer reviewed = reviewed and accepted for publication by a panel of recognized experts in a field
Where do you find articles?
Choosing your ingredients
Information Type
Description
Books (scholarly monographs)
Broad, thorough, academic treatment of a subject.
Academic book chapters Examination of a specific topic. Similar to journal articles.
Scholarly journal articles Detailed scholarly examination of a topic. Peer-reviewed.
News & trade magazines Popular or non-scholarly treatment of a subject.
Government documents Official documents published by government agencies.
Different from searching the web…
Databases are like directories for finding academic articles
Databases: What’s the difference???
Each database provider chooses different journals, books, etc. to include in their index.
Some are specialized directories (e.g., only legal journals), while some are broad (e.g., social sciences in general, with a few journals from each discipline).
You will find that some of the databases overlap, but they all have some unique content.
The Subject Guide
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This guide lists links to resources that will help you
find information for your assignment.
My topic
Judicial activism in Canada
Search tip 1
“Exact phrase”
Examples: “Charter of Rights and Freedoms”
“Stephen Harper”
Search tip 2
AND
Canada AND constitution
OR
ethnicity OR race
Canad*CanadaCanadianCanadiens
Search tip 3: fill in the blank
Search tip 4
Subject words
Look for the standardized subject words or
“descriptors” in the database
Research process
1. Select a research tool
2. Find out what has been published
3. Find the text of the item
Search the library catalogue for the journal title
Use CREPUQ or Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
If full text is not available online
If not available…
Virtual Private
Network
Off campus?
Bibliography
Due Process and Victims’ Rights.
Roach, Kent.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1999.
How to find…
Look for the title of the book in the catalogue
American Review of Canadian
Studies 39, no. 4 (2009):
“Bush/Harper? Canadian Malloy, Jonathan.
352-363.
How to find…
American Evangelical Politics Compared.”
All articles are NOT listed
directly in the library
catalogue!
American Review of Canadian
Studies 39, no. 4 (2009):
“Bush/Harper? Canadian Malloy, Jonathan.
352-363.
How to find…
American Evangelical Politics Compared.”
Look for the title of the journal in the catalogue
Finding government information
Two strategies:
Searching
Browsing
Finding government information
1. Searching by keyword
– Custom Google search
– Canadian Research Index
Finding government information
2. Browsing: who would write about your
topic?
– Government of Canada website
• Look for: CanLII (legislation), Parliament, Supreme Court
– McGill Library government information guide
Where do you find articles?
VPN help
Library materials
Subject guide
Ask Us!
What are your questions?
Megan FitzgibbonsLiaison [email protected]
Office hours:Wednesdays, 13:30-15:30Leacock 324B
Image Credits
Slide 1: Juggling by timailius http://www.flickr.com/photos/9914541@N05/2832728718/. License: Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic
Slide 3: Vastness of the Internet by Ellie Koning Retrieved from http://blog.alivenow.in/2010/07/infographic-vastness-of-internet.html
Slide 8: Information timeline. Created by Anna Stewart, Librarian, St. Edward’s University. Retrieved September 21, 2009 from: http://libr.stedwards.edu/about_library/depts/instruction/instr_class_docs.htm. Used with permission.
Slide 18: Life ring by mag3737 http://www.flickr.com/photos/50318388@N00/2071089166 / License: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
Slide 21: Yellow-Pages by metrostation. Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic http://www.flickr.com/photos/28803949@N00/30441950/
Slide 39: Standing upon the shoulders of giants by mushon http://www.flickr.com/photos/74121966@N00/282287572/. Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic