4. Wikipedia Woes and Google Gaffs
What are the pros and
cons of so much
information being
online?
What do you do to be
sure you’re finding more
than “information junk
food”?
Appelbaum, Y. (2012). How the professor who
How do you evaluate
fooled Wikipedia got caught by Reddit. The the information you find
Atlantic. May 15. while researching?
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archi
ve/2012/05/how-the-professor-who-fooled-
wikipedia-got-caught-by-reddit/257134/# Why is it important to
support your argument
Prater, E. (2011) Beware online filter bubbles.
TED: Ideas worth spreading.
with valid sources?
http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_
online_filter_bubbles.html
5. The Research Process
Interpreting the
Selecting a Assignment
Topic
Reading Identifying &
Background Listing
Refining a Information Vocabulary
Topic
Using Online
Databases
& Indexes
Evaluating Citing
Sources Gathering Sources
Sources
Drafting Paper or
Presentation
6. Web “Pre-Searching”
Why start your search online?
Find background information
Help solidify research topic
Find new terminology to use as keywords
Find links and/or citations to other sources
7. Improve Google
Autism and vaccines Body image and girls
Advanced Google CookLibrary’s
searching Guide to the Web
Power searching
8. Keywords are critical!
Sample topic:
Which age is childhood obesity in the
United States the highest?
First,
break the question down into
keywords:
Which age is childhood obesity in the
United States the highest?
9. More on keywords…
Expand your list to include synonyms then add
to it once you have done some background
reading.
Which age is childhood obesity in the United
States the highest?
age obesity United States
childhood overweight USA
youth BMI U.S.A.
10. Combine your keywords
Boolean “search connectors”
AND OR NOT
For example:
obesity AND children
Combining >1 topic
BMI OR body mass index
Combining synonymous terms
11. Additional Search Tips
Use truncation! Phrase Searching…
Use quotations to
keep a keyword
Educat* finds phrase intact (words
Educate will be searched in
the specific order)
Education
Educating
Examples:
Educator “advanced
practice nurses”
Etc… “long term care”
12. Evaluate what you find
Goto one of the websites below and
analyze it
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb1
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb2
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb3
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb4
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb5
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb6
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb7
14. Check for CRAP
Currency
How recent is the information?
Can you locate a date when the resource
was written/created/updated?
Based on your topic, is this current enough?
Why might the date matter for your topic?
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
15. Check for CRAP
Reliability
What kind of information is included in the
resource?
Does the author provide citations &
references for quotations & data
Where am I accessing this information?
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
16. Check for CRAP
Authority
Can you determine who the author/creator
is?
What are their credentials (education,
affiliation, experience, etc.)?
Who is the publisher or sponsor of the
work/site?
Is this publisher/sponsor reputable
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
17. Check for CRAP
Purpose/Point of View
Is the content primarily opinion?
Is the information balanced or biased?
What is the purpose of the information? Is it
to inform, teach, sell, entertain or persuade
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
18. Begin your own research
Fill out this worksheet
http://bit.ly/IDHP110libaosurvey12
Next class:
“Read” and prepare for discussion
Use your keywords to find books/articles
19. Questions?
Feel free to contact me:
Laksamee Putnam
lputnam@towson.edu
410.704.3746.
Twitter: @CookLibraryofTU
Or any reference librarian:
Visit Cook Library Reference Desk
410.704.2462.
IM – tucookchat
