College Level Research: Diana Aram

Technology Librariandaram@nvcc.edu

http://nova.libguides.com/CST229PeckFA2012

Wheredoes information come from?

What should information

Look like? What should information

Do for you?

• People• Internet• Books• News• Journals• Facebook• TV

• Truthful• Accurate• Authoritative• Easy to

understand• Objective

• Give examples• Support my

topic• Give me ideas• Answer my

question

The Research Process

Wisdom in Song Lyrics

“You can’t always get what you

want. But if you try sometimes well you might find You get what you need.”

Jagger, Mick, and Keith Richards. You Can't Always Get What You Want. London: Decca Records, 1969. Print.

Research is a Journey –Starting with…

What is your topic?

What are your search terms?

How about synonyms and related terms?

Where to searchLibrary Catalog?

Library Databases?

Google?

Evaluate your findings

How does it support my argument/ purpose?

Is it CurrentRelevantAuthoritativeAccuratePurpose?

Rockwell, Norman. The Gossips. 1948. ARTstor. Web. 1 November 2010

Citing your sources

Build your credibility by giving credit where it’s due.

Revise and RepeatRevise you search terms/ strategy

Narrow Topic

Explore one aspect of topic

Avoid Target FixationO Change is inevitable

O It’s possible you (or someone else is wrong)

O Know how to get unstuck and move on

O More than one way.

What about Google?

Using tools

The Filter Bubble

“The ultimate search engine would understand what you mean and give you back exactly what you want.”

- Larry Page, Co-founder of Google

The Filter Bubble

Library Catalog OBooks

OeBooks

ODVDs,

OeVideos

OLibrary of Congress Classification – Call Number

Library DatabasesO Organized (“quality control)

O Evaluated

O Proprietary (not free)

O Specialized content

O Scholarly/ Academic

What’s in a Database?

http://youtu.be/KKIbnNLCh8g

Using tools

Types of DatabasesO Reference

O Article

O Bibliographic

O eBook

O Music & Video

Research & Search TipsIdentify:

Topic

Keywords

Synonyms & related terms

Topic & KeywordsO Voting laws and the presidential

election

OOther possible search terms:

- Voting rights

- 2012

- Identification requirements

“Phrase searching”Searches for words in exact order, as a package.

O “Great Depression”

O “Digital Divide”

O“19th Century” or “Nineteenth Century”

AND: Focuses a search

O “Voter rights” AND election

O India AND culture AND customs

OR: Broadens a search

Washington DC OR District of Columbia

NOT: Excludes/ narrows search

“Social networking” not Facebook

Truncation*Child*

- child, child’s, children, childhood

India*

- India, India’s, Indian

Review: EvaluationOCurrency: When was it created

ORelevance: How does it relate to topic

OAuthority: Who created/ wrote it

OAccuracy: Evidence?

OPurpose: Who’s the audience? Bias?

Review: Cite Your Sources!

O Citation builders

O Web: Online Writing Lab (OWL)

O Print: Rules for Writers, MLA Handbook for Writers & Research Papers

Review: What makes an effective Researcher?

O Knows where to search

O Knows how to search

O Evaluates findings

O Gives credit (cites sources)

Help

OLibrarians

OWriting Center

O24/ 7 Librarian Help via Chat

Questions?

Research Guide:

http://nova.libguides.com/CST229PeckFA2012