My Research: Humanities Module 2 Sharon Rankin Sean Swanick
Helena Reddington [
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It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance
between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all
hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great
openness to new ideas. Obviously those two modes of thought are in
some tension. But if you are able to exercise only one of these
modes, whichever one it is, youre in deep trouble. --Carl Sagan The
Burden of Skepticism. Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 12, Fall 1987. The
research mindset
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Skepticism in action
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After todays workshop, you will be able to: Develop an
effective search strategy for a research topic Find relevant
material for your topic using the library catalogue Search general
academic databases for article literature Locate information beyond
McGill Learning outcomes
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The Research Process Clara M. Chu, Literary Critics at Work and
Their Information Needs: A Research- Phases Model, Library &
Information Science Research 21, no. 2 (1999): 263. It can seem
long and circuitous
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The Research Process Christine D. Brown, Straddling the
Humanities and Social Sciences: The Research Process of Music
Scholars, Library & Information Science Research 24, no. 1
(2002): 88. Long and circuitous = normal DONT PANIC!
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Case study: The New Woman, 1890-1920 Cybill Shepard in the
movie of Henry Jamess 1878 novella Daisy Miller
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By 1890 a new, more modern culture was emerging in the United
States....As women pushed the boundaries of the private sphere to
participate more fully in wage earning, education, the professions,
or community service, the concept of true womanhood was pushed
aside in favor of the New Woman. Lucille A. Adkins, "Women's
Movement, United States, 20th Century," in The International
Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, edited by Immanuel Ness.
Blackwell Reference Online. Accessed February 12, 2013,
http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/tocnode.html?id=g9781405184649_yr2011_chunk_g97814051846491608.
http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/tocnode.html?id=g9781405184649_yr2011_chunk_g97814051846491608
Case study: The New Woman, 1890-1920
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How did the idea of the New Woman impact depictions of
domesticity in American literature? Sample research question
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Relevancy Retrieval (# of search results) Broad Questions
Narrow Questions High = lots of articles Low = very few articles
High = directly relevant articles Low = mostly irrelevant articles
How questions influence search results
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How did the idea of the New Woman impact depictions of
domesticity in American literature? Break it down: pull out key
concepts
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Strategies: Generate synonyms and related terms Brainstorming
Concept maps Reading articles and books Mining bibliographies Using
thesauri and subject headings
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New WomandomesticityAmerican literature feminism First Wave
feminism womens suffrage Suffragists Progressivism womens rights
marriage family gender femininity sexuality True Womanhood American
novels American poetry Henry James Willa Cather Edith Wharton Kate
Chopin Mina Loy American literature -- 19th century -- History and
criticism. American literature -- 20th century -- History and
criticism. Generating keywords
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Your turn
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Boolean operators Combine terms
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AND
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New WomandomesticityAmerican literature feminism First Wave
feminism womens suffrage Suffragists Progressivism womens rights
marriage family gender femininity sexuality True Womanhood American
novels American poetry Henry James Willa Cather Edith Wharton Kate
Chopin Mina Loy American literature -- 19th century -- History and
criticism. American literature -- 20th century -- History and
criticism. Boolean Operators AND
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New Womandomesticity
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OR
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New WomandomesticityAmerican literature feminism First Wave
feminism womens suffrage Suffragists Progressivism womens rights
marriage family gender femininity sexuality True Womanhood American
novels American poetry Henry James Willa Cather Edith Wharton Kate
Chopin Mina Loy American literature -- 19th century -- History and
criticism. American literature -- 20th century -- History and
criticism. Boolean Operators OR
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domesticity marriage
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NOT
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American literature American literature Poetry
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NOTE: The symbols used will vary from one database to another.
Truncation * !? Suffrag* Suffrage Suffragist Suffragists
Suffragette Suffragettes Use to retrieve variant endings or plurals
#
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Wildcard * ! ? wom?n woman women Use to replace character(s)
within a word # NOTE: The symbols used will vary from one database
to another.
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Quotation marks Use for phrase searching Example: New Woman
First Wave Feminism Parentheses Device that allows you to control
the order of your search Example: ( New Woman OR suffrag* ) AND (
domesticity OR marriage ) More advanced search techniques
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(New Woman OR First Wave Feminism OR womens suffrag*) AND
(domestic* OR marriage OR family OR gender OR sexuality) AND
(American literature OR American poetry OR Kate Chopin OR Willa
Cather OR Mina Loy) Putting it all together
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McGill WorldCat vs. Classic Catalogue
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One Catalogue, two ways to search McGill WorldCat Classic
Catalogue
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Advanced Search Classic Catalogue
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Advanced search in WorldCat
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Your turn
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Library catalogue exercise
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General academic databases
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http://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/connect
http://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/connect EZProxy
automatically! when you start from the library pages (such as
WorldCat Local, e-journals search or A-Z list, subject guides,
etc.) or Google Scholar.WorldCat Locale-journals search A-Z
listsubject guides VPN - Install it on your computer. Also a whole
range of other University activities and services, such as buying
and downloading software Off-campus access
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Do any databases require a separate login & password?
http://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/connect/passwords/databases
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Off-campus access EndNote Web In order to sign up for an
EndNote Web account from off- campus, you need to first identify
(authenticate) yourself as a McGill library user. You can do this
using a special link to EndNote Web:
http://proxy.library.mcgill.ca/login?url=http://www.myendnoteweb.com
After creating an account, you should sign in using this link if
you want to access McGills article subscriptions through links
youve saved in EndNote Web.
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Your turn
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Using Boolean logic, run some searches in your subject area
using one of the general academic databases. Save at least one
relevant article to your EndNote library. Exercise
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Use the Google tips handout to have more control over your
searches. Set up Library Links in Settings. If using citation
management software, set up for direct export in Settings. Take
advantage of the Alert option. Maximizing Google Scholar
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Your turn
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Run some searches in Google Scholar. Use at least 2 of the
Google search tips from the handout. If you are happy with the
search results, set up an alert. Exercise
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What will you get in your results? Academic journal articles
Book chapters from Google Books Theses and dissertations Searching
in Google Scholar
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For more details:
http://www.mcgill.ca/library/find/theseswww.mcgill.ca/library/find/theses
Theses and Dissertations eScholarship ProQuest Dissertations and
Theses 35,000 full text McGill theses Allows searching by faculty
advisor McGill theses from 1934 to present day Full text 1997-
Selected full text before 1997 Also contains: journal articles,
conference papers, technical reports, book chapters written by
McGill faculty and students Also contains: theses written by
students from North American and European universities Use for:
McGill-specific search requirements Use for: Broader scope of
current research
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1.Conduct a keyword search in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses
to find a thesis related to your research. Check the bibliography
to see if any articles could be useful for your research 2.Search
eScholarship to find a thesis supervised by your current
supervisor, or by a professor in your department. Specialized
Resources
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Borrow in person from other libraries BCI
http://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/otherloans/CREPUQ
Interlibrary loan COLOMBO
http://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/otherloans/interlibrary
Access beyond McGill
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Allows you to borrow books from other universities in Quebec
and Canada. Obtain a BCI card at any Library Services Desk on
campus. BCI (formerly CREPUQ)card: what is it?
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Use when McGill and other local universities do not have an
item. Administered through COLUMBO; instructions here.here
Interlibrary loan: what is it?
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What do you need to borrow books from Concordia? BCI card Which
will retrieve more results? 1)new woman OR feminism 2)new woman AND
feminism ANSWER: 1 Name a multidisciplinary, general academic
database database we used today. Academic Search Complete, Web of
Science, Google Scholar are all good examples. Name a source for
locating theses and dissertations. Proquest Dissertations and
Theses Full-Text, eScholarship@McGill, Google Scholar Review
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Liaison librarians
http://www.mcgill.ca/library/contact/askus/liaison
http://www.mcgill.ca/library/contact/askus/liaison Subject guides
http://www.mcgill.ca/library/find/subjects
http://www.mcgill.ca/library/find/subjects Subject-specific
databases Next time
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Complete the brief Module 2 survey online:
bit.ly/myresearch-module2 Share your feedback