Speech 121The Process of Interpersonal

Communication

Library Information Competency

Prepared by Ibtesam Dessouky

Instructor Kate CampbellFall 2011

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Library Basics

Logging in to computers – instructions on workstations in the library lab.

Books – most check out for 2 weeks. You need student ID to check out materials.

Reference books – cannot be checked out.Reserve books – most are for building use for only two hours

unless the instructor allows the material to be checked out.Periodicals – most print magazines & journals can be checked

out for two days. Electronic databases and indexes contain many full-text articles.

Library web site is www.lahc.edu/library

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Today we will cover the following issues

Identifying a research topic Formulating a thesis statement around the topic Exploring general information sources Identifying key concepts that describe information needs Achieving a manageable focus Evaluating and organizing information based upon

relevance to thesis Choosing the right format to retrieve the information Developing a search strategy

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Identifying a Research Topic

Choosing a topic– What are your interests?– Use sources to get ideas. Read the newspaper. Use the CQ

Researcher online database to browse by topic (http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/). You can combine topics. (Music and the Vietnam War; Professional sports and Civil Rights)

– What do you already know about your topic?– You may also get ideas from class notes, syllabi, and assigned

readings.State your topic in the form of a question

– For Example: Are there differences in how men and women self-disclose?

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Identifying a Research Topic (cont’d)

For your research paper you will choose a family relationship & focus on one of the relational concepts, listed below, to enhance the effectiveness of your interpersonal communication.

Perception Emotions Self-Concept Listening Nonverbal Communication Language Self-Disclosure Relationships Conflict

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Formulating a Thesis Statement Around the Topic

Definition - A thesis is a statement that coheres all the material you’ve gathered into a unified piece. You can form a thesis statement prior to gathering research, but you may need to modify it based on what you’ve found.

“Think the words, ‘I believe …’ just before you write your thesis statement. This will insure that you and your ideas are in the paper.” (Baron, p. 10)– Example:

• “I believe that gender affects the way people interpret information.”• “I believe that gender does not affect the way men & women interpret

information.”

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Exploring General Information Sources

Reference works– useful for finding facts, data, statistics, and brief information.

Libraries usually don’t allow these to circulate. Include encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, statistics. Specialized encyclopedias include Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, Encyclopedia of Psychology, and Encyclopedia of Relationships Across the Lifespan.

Biographies & Autobiographies– collective or individual biographies. Collective biography could

be an encyclopedia of mathematicians or of jazz musicians. Individual bio. is usually a monograph. An autobiography is written by the subject, sometimes with assistance.

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Exploring General Information Sources (contd.)

Monograph– “A scholarly piece of writing of essay or book length on a specific, often

limited subject” (American Heritage® Dictionary)

Periodical – Article in a journal, magazine, or newspaper. Relatively short

(compared to full-length books) and often quite current

On-line information– can include: Articles in a periodical index (full-text articles indexed in an

online periodical database, such as Academic OneFile, are considered print … delivered online), Newspaper articles reprinted on a newspaper’s site, Online magazines (Salon.com), Blogs (highly personal and subjective), Personal website, Commercial website, Educational organization’s website

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Select Information Sources

It is important to understand the difference between a "magazine" and a "scholarly journal". It can sometimes be difficult to make the distinction but here are several clues to help you with that process:

Journals Magazines Scholarly Popular (News) Bibliographies No bibliographies Abstracts Advertisements Intended for a specific Intended for a general audience

audience Refereed Non - refereed articles Very plain, no photos Colorful and flashy Target audience General audience Long articles Short articles

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Select Information Sources(cont’d)

Examples of Magazines (Popular)

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Select Information Sources(cont’d)

Examples of Journals (Scholarly)

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Identifying Key Concepts That Describe Information Needs

Is the issue a very current one? If so, what kind of sources are you most likely to need?

Is the issue covering a period in history? How far back? What kind of sources might be appropriate?

Is the issue controversial? If so, you’ll need to find information expressing a variety of points of view.

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Achieving a Manageable Focus

How long is your final project? A five minutes speech? A 250 word essay? A two page paper? A 10-12 page research paper? This will determine …

How many sources you should cite. Most college instructors expect the majority of sources to

be printed, rather than from the Internet. Remember, however, that full-text articles indexed in an online periodical database, such as Academic OneFile, are considered print … delivered online.

Scholarly journals only, or are popular magazines ok?

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Evaluating and Organizing Information Based Upon

Relevance to Thesis

You may need to revise your thesis based on what you learn from the data you’ve gathered

“An accurate thesis is important, for a general statement indicating the direction of all the material will give your discussion one logical direction, a necessary characteristic of any successful paper. Careful formulation of a clear thesis will prevent rambling. If you have trouble arriving at a clear and concise general statement, you probably have included irrelevant material.” (Yaggy, p. 19)

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Choosing the Right Format to Retrieve the Information

Online Catalog to locate books that LAHC Library owns (http://www.lahc.edu/library)

Electronic Databases to retrieve full-text articles from magazines, journals and newspapers from Academic Academic OneFile or ProQuest

Periodicals (print journals or magazines) Selected Reference Works Searching the Internet using search engines such as

Google and Internet Public Library Library of Congress Subject Headings, LCSH, to trace a

subject for your topic

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Developing a Search Strategy

There are mainly three steps to follow in developing a search strategy:

1. Identifying the key concepts in your thesis statement. For Example: Are there differences in how men and

women self-disclose?

2. Choosing related terms or synonyms for your key concepts.

3. Combining your terms using Boolean operators, such as and, or and not.

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Developing a Search Strategy (cont’d)

Using Boolean Operators to Connect Terms

AND Narrows a search. A record must have all the terms in the citation

OR Broadens a search. Either term may appear in the citation

NOT Narrows a search by excluding articles containing the second search term

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Bibliography

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2000. Print.

Baron, Alvin. Bud’s Easy Research Paper Computer Manual. Lawrence, N.Y.: Lawrence House Publishers, 1995. Print.

Sanderlin, David. Writing the History Paper. Woodbury, N.Y.: Barron’s Education Series, 1975. Print.

Yaggy, Elinor. How to Write Your Term Paper. New York: Harper & Row, 1985. Print.

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Other Resources

Harbor College Library Home Page www.lahc.edu/library