Research Strategies

Fenton Valley CollegeIntro. To College Research

November 5, 2013Eliot Boden

Image credit Clker user MrChicken

Information Literacy Recap“Information literacy is a set of abilities requiring individuals to

recognize when information is needed and have the ability to

locate, evaluate, and effectively use the needed information.”*

Determine the extent of information needed

Access the needed information effectively and efficiently

Evaluate information and its sources critically

Incorporate selected information into one’s knowledge base

Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose

Understand the economic, legal, and social issues surrounding

the use of information, and access and use information

ethically and legally

* Association of College and Research Libraries. “Information Literacy Competency Standards.” Chicago: American Library Association, 2000. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency. Web. 12 Nov 2013.

Today’s Objective

Standard 2: The information literate student accesses

needed information effectively and efficiently.

The information literate student…

Selects the most appropriate investigative methods or

information retrieval systems for accessing the needed

information.Constructs and implements effectively designed search strategies.Retrieves information online or in person using a variety of methods.

* Association of College and Research Libraries. “Information Literacy Competency Standards.” Chicago: American Library Association, 2000. http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency. Web. 12 Nov 2013.

http://vimeo.com/13186317

Scholarly Communication

PublishersCreate books,

journals, electronic databases

LibrariesPurchase, organize, and give access to

resources

UsersApply information

to research

Write articles and submit them for peer-review

Package content and sell access rights to

libraries

Teach information literacy to students

How Many Keywords?

Most databases do not understand human language

Google’s natural-language search is not perfect

Must break down question into small pieces

Keywords (Thesaurus)

3-4 is just the right amount

1. State your topic as a question

“Where have dinosaur bones been found?”

2. Extract the main concepts from the question

dinosaur, bones, location

3. Brainstorm a list of synonyms and related terms

fossil, skeleton, triceratops [a dinosaur], Colorado [a location]

4. Voila! You have your keywords! Book image credit deviantart user narutolove1477 Dinosaurs image credit Wikipedia user Mariana Ruiz Villareal

Group Activity!

~7 minutes. In groups of 3-4, brainstorm keywords for one of the

topics above.

Image credit Flickr user lumaxart

Immigration

Independence

movementsGlobal Warming

Piracy

Search Techniques

Useful in the catalog and online databases.

Computers do not understand human language

Operators help a computer think

Boolean? What?

AND, OR, NOT – narrow or broaden search

NEAR, BEFORE, AFTER – sets order of terms

Wildcards

Expand the range of your search

* - searches the root word

“soci*” will find social, society, sociology

! – for alternate spellings

“wom!n” will find woman and women

Playing Cards image credit Wikipedia user atchiusGeorge Boole image credit Wikipedia user Haks

See you Next Time!

DON’T FORGET! The Research Plan is due Tuesday, November 12 at the

start of class.

Research StrategiesContinued…

Fenton Valley CollegeIntro. To College Research

November 12, 2013Eliot Boden

image credit deviantart user MegLyman

Today’s Objective:

Standard 2: The information literate student accesses

needed information effectively and efficiently.

The information literate student…

Retrieves information online or in person using a variety of methods.Refines the search strategy if necessary.Extracts, records, and manages the information and its sources.

Library of Congress (LC) Books grouped by subject

In alphabetical, then numerical order

Great for browsing!

Here's a sample call number, with an explanation for each line:

QA -   letter line, describes general subject area; alphabetical order

152.3 -  number line, narrows subject area; numerical order

.L37 -  cutter line, usually specifies author or key word(s) from title; alphabetical then decimal order

2008 - year of publication, numerical order

Image credit Flickr user CCAC North Library

How to Use Call Numbers

Using Interlibrary Loan

Fenton Valley has 40,000 titles MOBIUS has 25 million books

Request with your student ID

~3-4 days to arrive

Use the catalog to renew

Articles Citations in library databases

Full-Text must be available in electronic format to request

Usually 5-7 days to arrive

Link will appear in your emailImage credit Flickr user Brian Gaid

Group Activity!

~ 5 minutes. In groups of 2-3, use the

MOBIUS catalog to find books and answer the questions provided on the

worksheet.Image credit Flickr user lumaxart

Group Activity!

~5 minutes. In groups of 2-3, use Academic Search Premier to find articles and answer the questions

provided on the worksheet.Image credit Flickr user lumaxart

How to Cite Sources

Why Cite? Appear more credible to your

readers.

Display engagement with your sources.

Show respect to authors.

Modem Language Association (MLA)

Helpful Resources MLA Handbook 7th ed.

Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)

Hanging Indent! Format > Paragraph >

Indentation:Special (drop-down menu)

Image credit Flickr user pricejaj

http://vimeo.com/13016416

Thanks for Participating!

DON’T FORGET! The Modified Annotated Bibliography is due

Tuesday, November 19.