Starting Your Research

Liberal Studies 196Library Instruction

Fall 2002

What is the assignment?

Paper, Presentation, Annotated Bibliography?

Due date – when is the last date for ILL? Citation Style? APA? MLA? Types of publications?

Basic Search Strategies: Sources Available

Does your topic cover recent events or research? Newspapers, magazines, journals or the Internet are the

best sources.

Do you need current, general information? Try a popular magazine.

Do you need current, in depth information? Try a scholarly journal.

Do you need an overview? Try an encyclopedia, handbook or dictionary

Do you need something more detailed? Try a book on the subject

Event Information Timeline

Research Information Timeline

Current

Email, face to face, phone

Months

Scholarly articles, Conference reports

Newspaper articles, popular magazines

Books Reference resources

Years

TimeLine Detailshttp://wwwtest.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/flow/

hint.htm

Report of Event (Documentation and Dissemination)

Time Frame

Radio/TV/Internet News Services

Seconds/Minutes

Newspapers (print) Day / Days+

Magazines (print) Week / Weeks

Journals (print & electronic)

6 months +

Books (print & electronic)

2+ years

Reference Sources (print & electronic)

average 10 years

Primary, Secondary & Tertiary Sources

Primary sources are original materials on which other research is based. It includes documents such as poems, diaries, court records, interviews, surveys, and fieldwork.

Secondary sources describe or analyze the primary

sources. Examples of secondary sources include: dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, and books and articles that interpret or review research works. Print and online resources.

Tertiary Sources, e.g., indexes and abstracts, serve to locate secondary and primary sources. An index will provide a citation which fully identifies the work: author, title of article, title of journal or book, publisher and date of publication.

Article DatabasesPopular Government ScholarlyLexis-Nexis

Newspapers and Magazines

Lexis-Nexis(Full-Text)

Expanded Academic ASAP

Full-Text

ABI Newstand Newspapers and

Magazines

FirstGov Academic Search Elite Full-Text

Academic Search Elite Full-Text

CQ ResearcherFull-Text

ERIC (Index)

Expanded Academic ASAP

Full-Text

Need a book?

1. Search the Library's online catalog. Start with a keyword search in the Web version of the catalog. If you find a book that looks interesting, note the subject headings and search again using those words

2. If the first search does not retrieve useful books, try using variant spellings and related words

3. If too many titles were returned to review, click the sort button to see the most recent titles. Select a title that seems promising by clicking on the title in blue (Hyperlink).

4. Write down the floor location of the book and the call number where the book will be found on the shelf

How Call Numbers Work

Need an article?

1. Start with a keyword search in one of the full-text electronic

journal databases like Academic Search Elite (EbscoHost) or Expanded Academic ASAP (InfoTrac).

2. If the first search does not retrieve useful articles, try using

variant spellings and related words, for example, college students or university students. If you retrieve too many articles, you may need to narrower or topic (make it more specific)

3. Click on the peer-reviewed or refereed box if the article needs to be from a scholarly, expert or academic journal. Click the full-text box to retrieve only full-text and articles. It is possible to limit the search to articles written in a certain year or range of years.

Types of Periodicals:Scholarly Journals

Authors are authorities in their fields. Authors cite their sources in

endnotes, footnotes, or bibliographies.

Individual issues have little or no advertising.

Illustrations usually take the form of charts and graphs.

Types of Periodicals:Scholarly Journals

Articles must go through a peer-review or refereed process.

Scholarly/academic articles that are read by academic or scholar "referees" for advice and evaluation of content when submitted for publication. Referees recommend to the editor/editorial board whether the article should be published as is, revised, or rejected. Also sometimes know as "peer-reviewed" articles.

Articles are usually reports on scholarly research.

Articles use jargon of the discipline.

Popular Magazines and Newspapers

Authors are magazine staff members or free lance writers.

Authors often mention sources, but rarely formally cite them in bibliographies.

Individual issues contain numerous advertisements. There is no peer review process. Articles are meant to inform and entertain. Illustrations may be numerous and colorful. Language is geared to the general adult audience

(no specialized knowledge of jargon needed).

Evaluating Print Resources Every book, periodical article, or other resource should

be evaluated to determine its quality and its relevance to your topic and the nature of your assignment.

Use the criteria below to help you evaluate resources.

Authority Content & Coverage Timeliness Accuracy Objectivity

Evaluating Internet Resources

Types of Web Sites: the url is a key

.gov

.edu.org.com

AuthorityContent & CoverageTimelinessAccuracyObjectivity

World Wide Web sites come in many sizes and styles. How do you

distinguish a site that gives reliable information from one that gives

incorrect information? Below are some guidelines to help.

Internet Resources vs. Surfing the Web

Internet Resources include: Internet accessible databases and journals

Use a Web interface Usually require subscription

Exception: ERIC Wizard Equivalent to print indexes and journals Authoritative and reliable

Surfing the Web: Use free search engines

E.G.: Yahoo, Google, HotBot Critical evaluation required

Anyone can put up a Web page! Evaluating Web pages (

http://library.csun.edu/mwoodley/Webeval.html)

Use Databases to Find Resources

Books – online catalog CSUN Library Online Catalog

Articles – index, abstracting service, or full-text database Find Articles and More

Web pages – search engines Internet Search Tools

Basic Search Strategies: Words to Search by

Jargon Keyword Controlled vocabulary – Subject

words/phrases

Choosing keywords to search

If one keyword does not work, try variations on the keyword

Teen

Job interviews

teenage, teenager, adolescent, adolescencestudent or students

If too many titles are returned, try searching more specific keywords

employment interviewing, employment interviews, employee interviews

Key Words Controlled Vocabulary

Basic Search Strategies: Putting concepts together

“English mathematician who helped establish modern symbolic logic and whose algebra of logic, now called Boolean algebra, is basic to the design of digital computer circuits. “

Boolean Operators:and, or, not"Boole, George" Encyclopædia Britannica http://search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=82823

[Accessed August 18, 2002]. George Boole, 1815-1864

Basic Search Strategies: Putting concepts together

Boolean operator and

Venn diagrams serve as a visual expression of the Boolean operations

Teenagers

Sex Education

Basic Search Strategies: Putting concepts together

Boolean operator or

LesbiansLesbians GaysGays

Basic Search Strategies: Putting concepts together

Boolean operator not

Body Image SchoolBehavior

Adults

and

not

Truncation Symbol used at the end of a word to retrieve

variant endings of that word. Allows you to search the "root" form of a word

with all its different endings.

For example: teen* will retrieve: teens, teenage, teenagers, teeny-bopper

However: tee* will retrieve all the above, but also teeny, teem, teeth etc.

Truncation symbols vary between all the databases

Wildcards

Some databases allow for wildcards to be embedded within a word to replace a single character. For instance, in InfoTrac, you can also use ? within a word to replace a character. For example:

Colo?r retrieves color, colour wom?n retrieves woman, women

Searching Tips

Articles Titles: Look in indexes and full-text databases

to find titles of articles Subjects: specific for the article

Journal Titles: Look in Online Catalog to see if we own Subject access: very broad subject headings

Book Titles: Look in online Catalog to see if we own Subject access: general terms that describe

the book as a whole

Citations – How to Read and Record

Online Style Guides: http://library.csun.edu/crussom/bibcit.html

ERIC CitationTI: Relative Reading Achievement: A Longitudinal

Study of 187 Children from First through Sixth Grades.

(title of article)

AU: Phillips, Linda M ; Norris, Stephen P ; Osmond, Wendy C ; Maynard, Agnes M

(author)

SO: Journal of Educational Psychology; v94 n1 p3-13 Mar 2002

(journal title and publication information)

AN: EJ644659

MLA CitationPhillips, Linda M., Stephen P. Norris, and Wendy C.

Osmond. “Relative Reading Achievement: A Longitudinal Study of 187 Children from First through Sixth Grades.” Journal of Educational Psychology 94.1 (March 2002): 3-13.

Contact Information

Kathy Dabbour kathy.dabbour@csun.edu or 677-4706

Mara Houdyshell mara.houdyshell@csun.edu 677-2277

Lynn Lampert lynn.lampert@csun.edu 677-7104

Mary S. Woodley mary.woodley@csun.edu 677-6302