Who Says?Holdstein & Aquiline, Chapter 6Sources

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Finding resources• Narrow your topic• Requirements• 2+ news/current events sites; can be online• 2 books• 2+ scholarly journals• Total of 12+

• Document everything1. Create a working biblio. Try RefWorks2. When in doubt, keep it; you can narrow the list later [and

you might shift your topic]3. Look for diverse sources—maybe even videos, and so on.

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Types of sources

1. Primary: original materials, often historical, also if e.g. you do your own survey

2. Secondary: most of what you will use—scholarly articles, books

3. Tertiary: encyclopedias and the like

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Databases vs. search engines• La Salle’s online databases (ProQuest, LexisNexis, First Search,

JSTOR, EBSCO) contain scholarly material that has been peer-reviewed and other edited publications; they cost $

• Search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo!) include anything online; you need a process (CARS in Chapter 5 or CARDS)

• In databases, use Subject headings (e.g. in catalog) to suggest keywords; your keywords need to be more specific as database/information gets larger

• Databases (more than Google) benefit from Boolean search terms: AND, OR, NOT; note these are usually capped so you search McDonald’s AND obesity, not “McDonald’s and obesity”; recall quotes for string search “kite flying”

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The Library• Try searching the catalog for books, then go to that shelf and

browse• Catalog also searches journal titles—[or try the E-Journal

portal on our research tab]• Don’t forget to save the source—email yourself a link, put it in

RefWorks, take a photo of the book

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Primary research• Participant observation common in anthropology• Interviews are possible for your paper; choose an expert,

e.g. La Salle prof; see tips on how to prepare (bring lists of questions, but be ready to go off topic … )

• Also consider brief surveys e.g. of students. Free service for short surveys is Surveymonkey

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