Welcome to theInformation Literacy Student Tutorial

on Social Work Resources

You have been assigned a research project and you are not surewhere to begin. The Touro College Libraries have many resourcesto assist you.

This instruction module is designed to introduce you to a variety ofuseful library resources and services and to prepare you toresearch your topic.

Research can seem a little overwhelming at first, but we believeyou will feel much better prepared after you complete this step-by-step module.

Let's get started

A worksheet is available for you to use as you complete the tasks at the end of each section. At the bottom of each assignment page there are links to the Touro College Virtual Library.

Click on the following student worksheet link and use the Windows File Print command to print a copy of the worksheet. Student Worksheet. Then click the back arrow to return to the tutorial.

Touro College Virtual Library

The Virtual Library is located at the following URL:www.touro.edu/library/

The Virtual Library has information on and links to:

About the Libraries Library Services Find Resources

Using this tutorial, you will learn:

How to search for books, media, and ebooks by subject in the Library Catalog and how to use ebooks

How to search for full text periodicals using Proprietary Databases

How to use a Subject Directory to locate quality Web sites selected by human editors

How to use a Search Engine to find Web resources selected by computer programs

How to evaluate Web sites using five basic rules to determine if the information is appropriate for your research assignment

How to complete your bibliography using a style guide and NoodleTools

Part 1: Using the Library Catalog

You can search for books and media using an online catalog.

To access our online catalog, click on the Books & Media (Library Catalog) link.

.

Advance to continue or click here to return to the Index

Touro College Library Catalog

The Library Catalog SIMPLE SEARCH screen appears.

This catalog includes all physical items (books and media) in the library collections as well as ebooks, etheses, and ejournal databases.

Searching the Catalog

Let’s do a subject search in the Touro College Library Catalog.

For this section we will use the subject terms social work and community practice to retrieve information about books and media in the libraries. Type the terms in the Search box (arrow).

Click the down arrow next to Any Field (circled), to view the list of options that allows you to specify the area in the record to search.

Searching the Catalog

The following options can be used to search for resources:

Any field Author Title Subject (non-medical) Subject (medical) LC Call number (non-medical) NLM Call number (medical) ISBN/ISSN OCLC number

Searching by Subject (non-medical)

To search on a subject area that we are interested in, click on Subject (non-medical) (arrow).

We are using the search terms:

social work and community practice

Searching by Subject (non-medical)

Place the cursor on Subject (non-medical). This option will fill in the second box as is displayed to the right (circled).

Click (arrow). Go!

Search Results

Your search results will appear on the screen as shown to the right. If there is not an exact match to your subject terms, the catalog will provide nearby LC SUBJECTS.

Let’s look at the first subject on the list titled: Social work administration -- Textbooks for which there is 1 entry.

Click the subject link (arrow).

Search Results

Now we will examine the catalog entry for the book:

“Skills for human service practice : working with individuals, groups and communities…”

Book Details

This screen depicts the following details about the book (circled).

Title/Author Imprint Location Call # Status Additional Subjects

Let’s review each detail.

Title / Author

The book detail screen shows the book Title followed by the author’s or editors name.

In this example the book title is: “Skills for human service practice : working with individuals, groups and communities…” [edited by] Agi O'Hara, Zita Weber”

Location

The Location describes where the book is physically located.

In this example, the book, “Skills for human service practice : working with individuals, groups and communities…” is located at both the Kings Highway and Midtown libraries.

Call #

The Call # refers to the number that was assigned to this book using the Library of Congress Classification System.

Each book has a unique number that organizes it on the shelves by subject area. The Call # for this book is:  HV40 .S55 2006   

Note that the call number ends with the publication year so you will know how current the book is.

Status

The Status lets you know if the book is available.

Examples of status types include:

Available ReservedOn Hold Checked OutIn Transit Non-TC ILLMissing Overdue

In this example, the book is Available.

Subject Headings

You can search for more books in the catalog by clicking on Subject links in the book details.

Additional subjects are listed towards the bottom of the book detail record.

For example: Human services personnel –Training of – Textbooks (arrow).

Locating ebooks in the Catalog

Touro College Libraries subscribe to over 40,000 ebooks.

Let’s go back to the Catalog SIMPLE SEARCH screen and type the search terms

social work and community practice

Select to search in Any Field

Click (circled).Advance to continue or click here

to return to the Index

Go!

Locating ebooks in the Catalog

Review the result list and select an entry that is noted Electronic Resources (circled). The entry will have the following as its location: College E-Books (circled).

On the screen to the right, scroll down to locate the ebook titled, “Building on women's strengths a social work agenda for the twenty-first century”.

Click on the title link for this book to open the record (arrow).

Locating ebooks in the Catalog

The catalog entry for this ebook appears on the screen.

Notice the blue box in the center of the screen.Click here to access the electronic book

Click on this link to open the ebook record (arrow).

Reviewing an ebook

This ebook is one of many entries that is available through an electronic book service called NetLibrary (circled).

You open the ebook by clicking on the link View this book (arrow).

Publication details are to the right (circled).

Reviewing an ebook

You will see the book cover on the bottom right of the screen.

MAXIMIZE the ebook screen by pulling the divider line up to the top. (circled, arrow).

This will allow you to view the ebook on a full screen.

Reviewing an ebook

The Table of Contents and Chapter titles appear on the left side of the window (bracket).

If you click on the link for Contents… (circled).

Reviewing an ebook

You will see the Contents of the ebook (bracket).

You can scroll up and down through the Contents of the book on screen (arrow) or you can click on any chapter (circled).

Searching within an ebook

To search within an ebook, use the Search box at the bottom of the page (circled).

Let’s type in the term:influence into the search box.

Click Search (arrow)

Searching within an ebook

You will see the message “Results 1 - 5 of 21 pages for influence” (circled).

The results related to the search appear on screen, highlighted in yellow.

The page number where the term is located in the ebook is noted. Click on the link View this Page (arrow) to go directly to the section.

Searching within an ebook

You can read the page online to see if this resource meets your requirements for your research (circled).

To go to the next instance where the terms are found, click View this Page for the second result (arrow).

Exiting ebooks

To go back to the Touro Virtual Catalog, bring the NetLibrary page back to the center of the screen.

Click Return to Catalog (circled).

Assignment 1 Go to the Touro College

Virtual Library and perform a Library Catalog search using your topic.

Select one of the entries in your catalog search results.

Review the detailed record

for a book that looks interesting and answer the questions for Assignment 1 on your worksheet.

Catalog search practice Advance to continue or click here to return to the Index

Part 2: Proprietary Databases

Touro College subscribes to many online databases to help you with your research needs.

Subscription databases are found on the Touro College Virtual Library by clicking on the Proprietary Databases link.

Advance to continue or click here to return to the Index

Proprietary Database Links

The databases that you need can be viewed by clicking on a subject area link.

OR

You can scroll down the complete list of databases arranged in alphabetical order.

Using Social Sciences Databases

Let’s look at proprietary or subscription databases in the Subject area of Social Science.

Click on the Subject link Social Sciences.

A list of the resourcesRelated to these subjectareas will be displayed inalphabetical order.

Social Science Resources

The list of Social Science resources in support of the Social Work curriculum is on the screen.

By scrolling down the list, you will see proprietary databases that relate to the field of Social Work: Proquest Social Science Journals, Social Work Abstracts, etc.

Using Social Work Abstracts

For this tutorial, let’s use the database Social Work Abstracts. This database is very good for locating academic articles in this field.

Scroll down the list and click on the link for Social Work Abstracts (arrow).

Using Social Work Abstracts

The main search screen appears with a search box to type in your terms (circled).

Note that there is also the option to perform an Advanced Search (down arrow).

We will use the terms social work and community practice. Leave the default search option as Anywhere (up arrow).

   

Using Social Work Abstracts

Type in the search terms:

social work and community practice(circled).

Click (arrow).

Search Results

Your search results will appear on the screen. A sample is to the right.

The number of records retrieved using the terms social work and community is 242 (circled).

Search Results

Let’s look at the first article titled, “Advances and challenges in preventing childhood and adolescent problem behavior”.

Click the link to open the Complete Record (arrow).

The Article in Citation Format

The complete record for this article appears on the screen tohelp you locate the article in anelectronic or print form.

Accession Number Title Editor Source (Journal name,

page, date) Document Type Publication Year ISSN Hardcopy details Abstract (summary)

Examining the Abstract

The abstract provides all the details that you need to locate this article. For example:

The TITLE: “Advances and challenges in preventing childhood and adolescent problem behavior.”

The SOURCE: Social-Work-Research. 30(3): 131-134, Sept 2006.

Either write down or print out this information using File, Print, Select the Page button and type 1.

Examining the Abstract

By examining the Source line, we know that this article was published in the journal called Social Work Research

The volume is 30, Issue 3, published in September 2006.

The article appears on pages: 131-134

Searching for the Full Text

To find this article, we need to return to the Virtual library home page.

We want to see if the library has the journal called Social Work Research available electronically.

Click eJournals (arrow).

Searching for the Full Text

At the prompt Find a full-text periodical

Title begins with, type

Social Work Research (circled).

Click (arrow)Search

Searching for the Full Text

The information for the electronic journal appears on the screen.

Articles published in Social Work Research are online from 03/01/1994 – current in various Proprietary databases to which Touro College subscribes.

Searching for the Full Text

We are looking for the article titled, “Advances and challenges in preventing childhood and adolescent problem behavior.”

The article was published in December 2006. We will look in Proquest Social Science Journals (arrow).

Click this link.

Searching for the Full TextWe are automatically brought to the Proquest database.

Publication:  Social Work Research, Washington Full text coverage: Dec 1997 (Volume 21, Issue 4) – current.

Type in the first few words of the article title. “Advances and challenges in preventing childhood and adolescent… (circle).

Click (arrow).Search

Full Text Article

The link for the article is found (arrow).

Click on the icon to open the full text article

 Full text (circled).

The Article in Full Text Format

The Article in Full Text Format

You can Print or email this article

(circled).

Journal Sources

We are pretty comfortable with books, so now let’s take a look at journal sources.

There are different classifications of journal sources. The types that you will likely encounter in your research are:

ScholarlyTrade

Popular Advance to continue or

click here to return to the Index

Scholarly Journals Used by Academics

Scholarly materials have a serious appearance and containvery little advertising. 

They are written for professors,students, or researchers. 

The authors have expertise,have done research, and areaffiliated with or sponsored bya professional association. 

Trade Journals

Used by Professionals

Trade or professional materialsmay have a bright cover andcontain advertising that appealsto those in the industry or field. 

They are written to provideinformation of use to thatparticular industry or field ofstudy. 

Popular Magazines Used by Anyone

Popular materials may have abright cover, and contain manyglossy pictures and lots ofadvertising. 

They are written to attract a broadsegment of the population and areusually published commercially. 

They have second or third-handinformation, are opinions on acontemporary issue, and attempt toinform/entertain a wide audience ontopics of general interest.

Practice Selecting a Journal Type

Assignment 2

Go to the Touro College Virtual Library and perform a periodical Proprietary Database search using your topic.

Select one of the entries in your proprietary database search results. Print the citation of the article. You will need to use this to create your bibliography later in this tutorial.

Select an article in Full Text and answer the questions for Assignment 2 on your worksheet.

Practice Proprietary DatabasesAdvance to continue or

click here to return to the Index

Part 3: Quality Internet Sites

There are many Web pages published on the Internet.

Your goal is to choose a quality Web site that is appropriate for your research needs.

Advance to continue or click here to return to the Index

Web & Search Sites

The Touro College Virtual Library offers links to many quality web sites that can help you in your research.

Under Find RESOURCES, click on Web & Search Sites.

Web & Search Sites

The WEB & SEARCH SITES page is divided into four major categories:

Ready Reference Subject Directories Search Engines Metasites, Portals &

Gateways

Let’s review SubjectDirectories.

Subject Directories

Subject Directories include collections of links that were selected by human editors / specialists who have subject expertise.

These links have been reviewed and carefully chosen to assist students with their research needs.

Advance to continue or click here to return to the Index

Types of Subject Directories

The Subject Directories have been organized into the following categories: General Business Education & Psychology Health Sciences Humanities Jewish Studies Mathematics & Science Social Sciences

Subject Directories

Each subject directory contains lists of Web links that relate to a specific area of interest.

For example, if you click on Social Sciences, you will see a list of Web links that you can use to locate portals for links on: conflict & violence, mental health & health risk issues, counselor resources, social issues, organizations, etc.

Social Sciences Subject Directories

The SOCIAL SCIENCE SUBJECT DIRECTORIES page contains an alphabetical list of links to collections of links to Web resources.

Using subject directories can focus your research by going directly to quality Web resources that relate to your topic.

Using a Subject Directory

Let’s continue the research using your term social work and community.

We will look for a link that might be useful for your topic.

Scroll down the list (down arrow).

Using a Subject DirectoryThe link for Social Sciences - looks like it might be useful for our research.

Using this link we can browse areas including: Anthropology Business & management Economics Education Environmental studies Government policy Law & politics Psychology Research tools & methods Social welfare, etc.

Click the link for Social Sciences (arrow).

Searching with Social Sciences

When you click on the blue link for Social Sciences the screen to the right appears.

Type in the search term social work and community in the search box (circled).

Click on GO.

Search Results

Results using the terms social work and communityare displayed (circled).

Now showing: 1 - 25 of 456 records Order by Relevance Alphabetical

To view information about theresource, click on the title (arrow).

Additional Resources

The Web & Search sites portal has a great deal of information / links to additional resources in the Social Sciences area.

Under the section titled Metasites, Portals & Gateways

Click Social Sciences (arrow).

Additional Resources

Let’s look for a link that provides information on career & professional services.

Scroll down the list (down arrow).

Council on Social Work Education

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) link has information on membership, accreditation & reaffirmation, meetings & education.

Click Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)

Council on Social Work Education

CSWE also provides career & professional services, research reports & resource links, the latest issues of the Journal of Social Work Education and CSWE Focus.

http://www.cswe.org/CSWE/

Part 4: Using a Search Engine

Another way to locate a Web site for your research is to use a Search Engine.

Some search engines that you will want to consider include:

GoogleAsk.comYahoo Search

Under Find RESOURCESclick on Web & Search Sites. Advance to continue or

click here to return to the Index

Social Sciences Search Engines

Search engines use computer programs to look for matches based on subject terms. The results are returned in a list that is not evaluated by subject area experts.

Click on Social Sciences under Search Engines to bring up a list that relates to the Social Sciences area.

Search Engines

The list of Social Science general search engines appears.

Let’s choose Google U.S. Government Search for this tutorial and type in your search term social work and community.

Click Google U.S. Government Search - A *****Google search engine (arrow).

Google U.S. Government Search

The main page of the search engine appears with a search box (circled).

Type in the search terms social work and community.

Click Search Government Sites

Search Engine Results

Your search results will appear on the screen.

Google ranks the top search results in order of relevance to your search terms.

Be as specific as you can with your search terms.

Advance to continue or click here to return to the Index

Part 5: Evaluating Search Results

Before selecting a Web site retrieved by a search engine, you should be aware of some characteristics of Web site evaluation.

When you use a Search Engine the results are computer-generated, and therefore need examination.

We will review five rules to follow when reviewing Web sites.

Advance to continue or click here to return to the Index

Web Site Evaluation – Rule 1

Authorship

This is a major criterion used inEvaluating information. Who issponsoring, authoring, or managing theWeb site?

Does the publisher list his or herqualifications? You can determine thetype of Web site by the extension on itsURL.

.edu education / research

.com commercial / business

.gov government agencies, offices, and departments

.org group or individual

.mil military

.net Internet service providerhttp://www.touro.edu/

Web Site Evaluation – Rule 2

Accuracy

Is the information on the sitereliable? Unlike scholarlymaterials, Web sites are rarelyrefereed or reviewed. 

Differentiate fact from opinion.  Look out for ambiguity,manipulative reasoning, and bias.

Web Site Evaluation – Rule 3

Currency

Is the material up to date?  Checkthe date on the page to see whenit was updated.

Is some of the informationobviously out of date?

Web Site Evaluation – Rule 4

Comprehensiveness

What is the depth of the information presented? 

Does it cover a time period,specific topic, claim to beinclusive? 

Web Site Evaluation – Rule 5

Style and functionality

Is the site laid out clearly and logically?  Check for correct grammar and spelling.  Is the writing style appropriate for the intended audience? 

Is the site easy to navigate?  Are there clearly labeled icons and links?  Do links to remote sites work?

Selecting a Site

Getting back to your Google search results for the topicsocial work and community,let’s choose the following sitefrom the search results:

Social Assistance, except ChildDay Care

Click on the Social Assistancelink.

Let’s see if this site meets therequirements for the five rules.

The Social Assistance Site

Authorship

The URL (Uniform Resource Locater) is:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs040.htm

This URL ends in .gov which means that it is a site maintained by the government.

The site is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Social Assistance Site

Accuracy

This site focus on providing information about areas of Social Work including:

Individual and family services Community food and housing Emergency and other relief

services.

The Social Assistance Site

Currency

The site includes a last modified date of: January 20, 2006

The site also references the Department of Labor Career Guide 2006-2007 Edition.

The Social Assistance Site

Comprehensiveness

This site provides links to: Nature of the Industry Working Conditions Employment Occupations in the

Industry Training & Advancement Outlook & Earnings Sources of Additional

Information Statistics

The Social Assistance Site

Style and functionality

The Social Assistance site is organized by the services provided.

The material is presented using narrative links and the subject matter is easily understood.

This site looks like it will be useful for information on the area of Social Work.

Assignments 3, 4 and 5 Go to the Touro College Virtual

Library Web & Search Sites page and, using your search terms, select a Subject Directory to locate relevant Web sites for your research.

Review the results of your search and choose a Web site for your topic. (Do not choose a .com site.)

From the Web & Search Sites page, choose a Search Engine and, using the same subject terms, perform a search and compare your results.

Answer the questions for assignments 3, 4 and 5 on your worksheet.

Web & Search Sites

Advance to continue or click here to return to the Index

Part 6: Writing Your Bibliography

The Touro College Virtual Library has tools to assist you in creating your bibliography or reference list.

There are style guides and online tools to help you.

From the Virtual Library, under Our SERVICES, click on the Guides & Tutorials link.

Advance to continue or click here to return to the Index

Resources for Bibliographies

Scroll down the page to Quick links.

You will see links: For Students For Faculty

Click the link For Students

Resources for Bibliographies

You will see Quick links for:

o Primary and Secondary Sources o Scholarly, Trade and Popular Materials o Style Guides o Citation Style for Research Papers (APA,

Turabian, MLA, Chicago, AMA) o NoodleTools (MLA & APA via NoodleBib)

For detail on using this program, read our Creating Your Bibliography with NoodleTools.

o Turnitin (plagiarism prevention system) For detail on how to submit a term paper, read

our Introduction to Turnitin for Students

Check with your professor tosee which style (APA, Turabian,MLA, etc.) is required for yourresearch paper.

Resources for Bibliographies

NoodleToolsNoodleTools is a web based bibliography generator that Touro College Libraries has purchased for faculty and student use.

To create your NoodleTools ID, click on NoodleTools,  New user? Create a new folder

Note: For detail on using this program, read our Creating Your Bibliography with

NoodleTools

Citation – Book Resource

Below is an example of a book that would be included inyour bibliography for the research on social work and community.

This is the book Skills for human service practice : working withindividuals, groups and communities that we looked at using the Library Catalog.

Bibliography

O'Hara, A., & Weber, Z. (Eds.). (2006). Skills for human service practice:     Working with individuals, groups, and communities. New York: Oxford     University Press

This citation was created online using the program NoodleTools. Contact your local libraryfor assistance in creating your NoodleTools account.

Citation – Web Resource

Below is an example of a Web resource that would be included inyour bibliography for the research on social work and community.

This is the Social Assistance site that we just reviewed, using Web& Search Sites.

Bibliography

Social assistance, except child day care. (2006, January 20). U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved August 1, 2007, from U.S. Department of Labor Web site: http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs040.htm

This citation was created online using the program NoodleTools. Contact your local library for assistance in creating your NoodleTools account.

Assignment 6 Review the style guides and

create a citation for your bibliography. Use your article list from assignment #2 to choose an article for your citation.

Write your citation in the space provided on your worksheet or attach a NoodleTools bibliography.

Submit your worksheet to your professor.

Style GuidesNoodleTools Advance to continue or

click here to return to the Index

Congratulations!

You have successfully completed the Information LiteracyStudent Tutorial onSocial Sciences Resources.

Any questions can besubmitted to:

theresa.zahor@touro.edu Or visit your local TouroCollege Library. Advance to continue or

click here to return to the Index

Bibliography

1. American University Library, and Gwendolyn Reece. “American University Library - Information Literacy Tutorial - Artical Type Exercises.” American University Library. 13 Sept. 2005. American University Library. 7 July 2006 <http://www.library.american.edu/ tutorial/ type7.html>.

2. Association of College & Research Libraries. “Information Literacy.” ACRL Information Literacy. 24 Feb. 2006. American Library Association. 1 May 2006 <http://www.ala.org/ ala/ acrl/ acrlissues/ acrlinfolit/ infolitresources/ infolitinaction/ iltutorials.htm>.

3. Google. “Google Image Search.” Google Images. 2006. Google Inc. 7 July 2006 <http://www.google.com/ imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&q=>.

4. Penfield Library. “Information Literacy Worksheet.” Information Literacy Tutorial. 2003. SUNY College at Oswego - Penfield Library. 15 May 2006 <http://www.oswego.edu/ library/ tutorial/ index.html>.

5. SUNY College at Oswego. “Library Instruction Resources.” SUNY Oswego - Penfield Library: Library Instruction Resoures. 31 May 2006. Penfield Library. 15 May 2006 <http://www.oswego.edu/ library/ instruction/ index.html>.

6. Touro College. Touro College Libraries. 23 June 2006. Touro College Libraries. 7 July 2006 <http://www.touro.edu/ library/ libindex.asp>.

7. “web_art.jpg.” www.webdesignersnews.net/ . 31 Jan. 2005. Yahoo Images. 31 July 2006 <http://www.webdesignersnews.net/>.

8. Yahoo! “Yahoo! Search Images.” Yahoo! Search. 2006. Yahoo! Inc. 7 July 2006 <http://images.search.yahoo.com/ search/ images>.

9. Google.com, Image Search, 2007. Google, Inc. 1 August 2007