FNS 1020: INTRODUCTION TO FIRST NATIONS STUDIES Dan Sich, First Nations Studies Librarian

FNS 1020: INTRODUCTION TO FIRST NATIONS STUDIESDan Sich, First Nations Studies Librarian

Overview

Primary and secondary sources Finding journal articles (hands-on) Search tips Evaluating sources

Primary vs. secondary sources

Primary vs. secondary sourcesGenerally speaking… Primary = created at time of event Secondary = created later, looking back

on event

Primary or secondary?

Primary Secondary

Someone’s diary entries about their experiences as a soldier

A journal (diary) from 1942

A soldier’s letters to his parents

Letters from 1942

An article about WWII

A newspaper article from 1942

A history book about WWII, written in 1990

A book about WWII

A 2004 journal article framing the debate between Jesuit priests and Indigenous chiefs as a debate between Western and Indigenous ideas and knowledge.

A journal article…

The transcripts of the Ojibwa-Jesuit debate at Walpole Island, 1844

Transcripts…

A 1994 journal article discussing, and reproducing the transcripts of, The Ojibwa-Jesuit debate at Walpole Island, 1844

Journal article with transcripts…

An interview (recorded today), about a battle in WWII, with a veteran who was involved

Interview…

Primary sources are strong ‘evidence’Secondary sources provide interpretationYou can use bothKnow what you’re using, and why

Why does it matter?

Where are the journal articles?

Databases and journal articlesAll of these are linked from the course

library guide: Google Scholar Summon iPortal (Indigenous Studies Portal) Bibliography of Native North Americans

Points for hands-on and live demos1. Demonstrate a search2. What types of things are you finding?3. Does the database have a subject focus?4. Are there descriptions/abstracts of search

results?5. Can you see links to full text?6. Do you think the results are relevant?7. What do you like about this search engine?8. What don’t you like about this search engine?9. Would you use it for your own research?

(blind date example)

Searching

Ideas for a topic

Traditional ecological knowledge Indigenous knowledge Colonization Indigenous environmental thought Native speeches

Research topic & question

General research topic: traditional indigenous ecological knowledge

Specific research question: How is traditional indigenous ecological knowledge transmitted?

Specific search strategy

Tradition*AND

(indigenous OR native OR indian OR aboriginal)AND

(ecolog* OR environment*)AND

(knowledge OR thought)AND

(transmi* OR teach* OR learn*)

How do you know?

Is this article any good?

Evaluating sources: the CRAAP test* Currency: Is it up-to-date? Relevance [after next slide] Authority: Who wrote it? [next slide] Accuracy: Can you verify it? Purpose: Why was it written? Bias?

*see link to video tutorial on library course page

Authority (for this particular topic) Deborah

McGregor Gregory Cajete Vine Deloria Leroy Little Bear Jim Dumont Winona LaDuke Joe Couture

Marlete Brant Castellano

Marie Battiste James Sa’ke’j

Youngblood Henderson

Linda Smith Graham Smith

Relevance

Where (i.e. in what journal) was it published?

(How) Does it relate to your topic? Read book table of contents Read article abstract/description Skim the article

How to read/skim an article

1. Abstract (menu)2. Intro3. Conclusion4. Middle

image source: http://www.drivinganddining.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/0_61_hamburger1.jpg

Summary

Primary and secondary sources Finding journal articles: hands-on Searching tips Evaluating sources

Questions?

Dan Sich, First Nations Studies Librarian dsich2@uwo.ca ext. 82740