Digital Research Tools Applications of New Media in Composition

By: A.Lockett, J.Hsu, and S.DiMaggio

About the Graduate Writing Center

• Offers 50 minute one-on-one consultations with professional tutors

• Services any graduate student writer represented all classifications, fields, and nationalities

• Availability posted on Fridays by 4 p.m.

• We will be closed Next Week for the Thanksgiving Holiday!

To access this presentation, schedule an appointment, or learn more about our services, visit:

http://pwr.la.psu.edu/resources/graduate-writing-center

Discussion

How do you think new media affects your writing/research?

How do you Query?

Write down what you are researching and why it is important in no more than THREE sentences. Feel free to focus on the problem, its significance, or its methods. (5 Minutes)

How should someone search for your research? Which keywords identify your project? Write down as many as you can, in as many combinations as you can. (5 Minutes)

Share your writing with the person next to you, and briefly discuss each other’s projects. As you talk about your projects, expand the set of keywords that ‘tag’ your research interest. (10-15 Minutes)

Quering Tips: The Algorithm

Boolean Logic: Broad/Narrowo "search a phrase": Search a phraseo AND: Both terms must appear in the resulto OR: Expands searches

Google Logic: Domain Specificityo site:.edu=educationo site:.gov=governmento site:.mil=militaryo site:.org=organization

Getting the Most from Databases

• Consider how you are thinking about your topic

• Explore databases OUTSIDE your disciplines to expand your associations about the study

• As you browse scholarly articles, pay attention to recurring terms and try “tagging” the piece when you are done

• Experiment liberally with search query combinations in various databases to generate innovative ideas about your subject

Google Scholar

•Locate sources (can access with PSU log-in)

•Link to sources being cited (useful for Lit Reviews)

•Observe titles of articles and note how your topic is discussed:o Which terms recuro Which authors recur o What story do these titles tell about both your research topic and

research questions▪ What are the conflicts/events? scenes? characters? resolutions?

Query for Trends

The Corpora (BYU/Google Books)

Search for trends in key words featured in books for the past 100 years or so.

Google News: Customizable

Another great way to find trends in current events. Search real-time. Customize by key words. Modify dates.

Google It…In many many ways…

Experiment with a host of Google Applications!

Getting the Most from Databases

• References• Oxford English Dictionary• Gale Virtual Reference Library

• News• Access News WorldBank

• Data and Statistics• Research Guide for International Statistics and Data

• Historical Newspapers • ProQuest• American Newspapers and Periodicals from the 17th to 20th centuries

• Scientific Research• Science Direct• Pub Med

• Multidisciplinary Databases• JSTOR• Academic Search Complete

• Open Access Guide

Writing in the Cloud

http://drive.google.com

http://draftin.com

Do you have additional recommendations for us?

Designing Digital Projects

Dawn Childress is a Digital Humanities Librarian at the Pattee/Paterno Library

https://digitallab.psu.edu/dhguide/

- For examples of projects

- For meet-up schedule

Also: PSU is FULL of resources!

We have almost 300 centers, institutes, and labs

- Geography Department

- Population Research Institute: http://www.pop.psu.edu/

Your Digital Persona

• http://about.me

• http://visualize.me

• http://linkedin.com

• http://academicroom.com

Interdisciplinary Communities

• http://www.hastac.org

• http://www.doaj.org/

Need Anonymity?

http://www.duckduckgo.com

https://www.torproject.org/

A Wiki of Writing Resources

http://writeresources.pbworks.com

This public wiki links to numerous research and writing applications. Please feel free to join this workspace to add more resources!

Survey and Questions

Please take a few minutes to fill out our survey!

If time permits, our consultants will be happy to stick around give you one-on-one assistance!

Please add us on Twitter @gwcpsu or Facebook

Email us: gwc.psu@gmail.com

Thank you for attending our Workshop!!!!!