RESEARCH STRATEGIES

WRITING SEMINARKelly Kobiela, Systems Librarian

Heterick Memorial Library

HOW WILL I REMEMBER EVERYTHING?

HOW WILL I REMEMBER EVERYTHING?

HOW TO DO RESEARCH:SEVEN STEPS OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Step 1: Identify and develop your topic Step 2: Find background information Step 3: Use catalogs to find books and media Step 4: Find internet resources (if appropriate

for the assignment) Step 5: Use databases to find periodical

articles Step 6: Evaluate what you find Step 7: Cite what you find

Amended with permission by the Librarians at the Olin and Uris Libraries of Cornell University

HOW TO START YOUR RESEARCH

State your topic as a question Identify main concepts or keywords Test the topic – look for keywords and

synonyms and related terms for the information sought Subject headings in catalogs Built-in thesauri in many databases Reference sources Textbooks, lecture notes, readings Internet Librarians, instructors

EXAMPLE OF A CONCEPT MAP

CONCEPT MAPPING

BACKGROUND RESEARCH Background research = Reference and Encyclopedias Library catalog Look at Databases/Reference tab in the Writing Seminar

research guide for a link to the library’s databases as well as links to electronic encyclopedias and reference materials

CATALOGS – BOOKS AND MEDIA POLAR Catalog – Search for physical and electronic

items (ebooks and ejournals) that are available from Heterick Memorial Library and Taggart Law Library

FIND A BOOK – POLAR: KEYWORD SEARCH

Looks in several locations Subject Article title Abstracts Table of contents

Does not require an exact match Generates comparatively large number of

hits Good if you are not familiar with terminology Good for a beginning search

FIND A BOOK – POLAR: SUBJECT SEARCH

Looks at the subject headings in the records Requires an exact match Provides a results list with related headings

to use for broader and narrower searches Generates comparatively smaller number of

hits Good if you are familiar with terminology Good for a next step after a keyword search

POLAR – RESULTS

ebook

Law Library

Heterick Library

POLAR – MY LIBRARY ACCOUNT

FIND A BOOK – OHIOLINK

Materials owned by 92 other libraries in Ohio: colleges, universities, public libraries

Can submit request for an item to be delivered to Heterick Memorial Library

Most requests arrive in 2-3 working days No charge to request items (unless they

become overdue) Maximum of 25 requests at a time Items can usually be renewed

FIND A BOOK – OHIOLINK

From POLAR results list: Button will recreate the POLAR search in

OhioLINK From an item record:

Button will go directly to the same item Use if the copy in POLAR is checked out

Direct link to the OhioLINK catalog: http://olc1.ohiolink.edu/search

FIND ARTICLES – DATABASES What is the basic definition of a library database?

A library database is an electronic (online) catalog or index Library databases contain information about published items Library databases are searchable The library subscribes to many databases so the ONU

community has access to these resources. When you’re searching a database, you are not searching “the web.”

What types of items are indexed by library databases? Articles in Journals/Magazines/Newspapers Reference Information (i.e. entries from Encyclopedias,

Dictionaries, etc.) Books & other documents

Source: http://web.calstatela.edu/library/whatisadatabase.htm

WEB RESEARCH VS. LIBRARY DATABASES

Internet Material from numerous

sources, individuals, government, etc.

Search engines must work with material prepared without regard for specific software

Quality of material varies Generally do not access

for-profit information Content often

anonymous and undated

Databases Usually created by a single

publisher Content pre-arranged for

easy searching Quality-controlled by

editorial staff Most are available only to

subscribers Sources are usually

identified and dated Databases often focus on

a specific subject or discipline, but some cover several areas

FIND ARTICLES – DATABASES

FIND ARTICLES – DATABASES General

Databases Academic Search

Complete Business Source

Complete JSTOR Lexis-Nexis MasterFILE

Premier MEDLINE with Full

Text

Databases by Subject

ARTICLES – POPULAR VS. SCHOLARLY

Popular = Magazine Scholarly = Journal

Magazines tend to have glossy pages, lots of pictures, and can be read and understood by the general public

Scholarly journals are usually peer-reviewed and tend to be aimed at professionals in the field

ARTICLES – FULL TEXT

FIND IT @ ONU

Find It @ ONU takes you from a database where you don’t have full text access to a database where you do have full text access

SEARCH

WHAT IS INCLUDED?

POLAR Article-level searching for all EBSCO

databases Article-level searching for a variety of other

databases: JSTOR, Hoover’s, AccessPharmacy, etc.

Title-level searching for most other databases: IEEE, CIAO, Proquest Nursing & Allied Health

OhioLINK Central Catalog

RESULTS: FULL TEXT, POLAR

RESULTS: OHIOLINK

RESULTS: FIND IT @ ONU

RESULTS: ILL When in doubt, email: ill@onu.edu

FACETS: LIMIT YOUR RESULTS

REMINDER!

Kelly Kobiela, k-kobiela@onu.edu Jenny Donley, j-donley.1@onu.edu Kathleen Baril, k-baril@onu.edu Reference Email, reference@onu.edu

Librarians on duty: Monday – Wednesday

8:00 AM – 4:30 PM 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Thursday – Friday 8:00 AM – 4:30 PM