1. Information Literacy & the Research Process
Contact a Librarian:
Sasha Bishop (Beaufort) · Call: 843-525-8236 · Email:
sbishop@tcl.edu
(New River) · Call 843-470-6003
Text a Question: 843-256-2247

2. The Importance of Good Information
SITUATION:
Your brother just made his college football team.
You plan to be there for his first game.
What information do you need?

3. The Facts You Need:
 Date & time
 City
 Stadium location
 Directions
 Ticket information
 Weather forecast

4. Possible Sources of Information
Your brother
Newspaper Are all of these sources of
Printed game schedule information equally reliable?
Sports fan friend Are they equally accurate?
College or coach
What might go wrong if you
Online
Map website
get bad information?
College webpage
Weather forecast site

5. What other situations call for good
information?
School assignments
Job-hunting
Work
Learning a new skill
Traveling
Medical decisions
Image used under a CC license from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicagogeek/4006101093/sizes/l/in/photostream /
Finding good information for all of these situations
requires INFORMATION LITERACY skills

6. Information
Literacy:
The ability to
FIND,
EVALUATE,
and USE
RELIABLE INFORMATION
Ethically and Legally
Image used under a CC license from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kharied/4128848123/

7. The Research Process
Today we will look at Information Literacy and the Research
Process. Use these steps to help you organize your ideas and
information as you prepare your assignments
Step 1: IDENTIFY your information need
Step 2: USE BACKGROUND INFORMATION to learn about
your subject and develop your topic
Step 3: DEVELOP a research strategy
Step 4: FIND and EVALUATE information
Step 5: WRITE and REVISE your paper
Step 6: DOCUMENT your sources

8. Step 1: Determine Your Information
Needs
What do you need to know about the
assignment?
 Number of pages
 What subjects to cover
 How many resources to use
 Is a bibliography or works cited page
required?

9. Step 2: Develop a Topic Using
Background Information
Look at background information to develop your topic
Look at books and websites to get ideas
Reference books, such as encyclopedias, are a good place to find
background info
Once you know a little about your subject, you can come up
with a specific topic
Try to make your topic BROAD enough that you will be able to
find information on it, but NARROW enough that you will be able
to cover it in a paper

10. Broad and Narrow Topics
Too broad:
Sports
A narrower topic:
Steroid use and sports
Even narrower:
Steroid use and Olympic athletes
Probably too narrow:
Steroid use and javelin throwers in the 1992 Barcelona
Olympics

11. Step 3: Develop a Research Strategy
Once you decide on a topic, review the list of required
sources for your assignment
Do you need books? Websites? News articles? Scholarly
articles? Multimedia?
Think of KEYWORDS you can use in your search
You will use your keywords to search library catalogs and
databases

12. Keywords
Sample topic:
Should Olympic athletes be penalized for using steroids?
What keywords could we use for our search?
Olympics, athletes, sports, steroids, doping, drugs, drug abuse,
performance-enhancing drugs
Coming up with several keywords is important because one
catalog or search engine might find many articles under the word
“steroids,” but another might find more under “doping”

13. Step 4: Find Information
Now that we have a topic and keywords, we are ready to
begin our search
In this step, we will find info using LRC resources
LRC homepage
Online Catalog
PASCAL Delivers
eBooks
Databases (articles)

14. Starting Point:
The LRC/Library Website
On the homepage:
• The Online Catalog, eBooks, and Databases, accessible 24/7
 Research and citation
assistance with
LibGuides
 IM a librarian
 Access FAQs
 Take the information
literacy tutorial (TILT)
to improve your
research skills

15. Find info: the LRC Catalog
Use the catalog to find books and other materials in our library,
as well as ebooks that can be read on your computer
Search by title, author, subject, or keyword (e.g., “steroids”)

16. Can’t find a book in the LRC?
Use PASCAL Delivers
 Note: Your library ID is the
 Use PASCAL to order books school code (00991000) and
from other libraries your 7-digit TCL ID #,
 This is a free service, and separated by an underscore.
books usually arrive in our If your ID# is only 6 digits,
LRC within a week add a 0 after the underscore
 After you do a search in the
LRC catalog, click the Examples:
PASCAL icon at the side of  If your TCL ID is 2345678,
the screen your library ID is
 Search for your book 00991000_2345678
 If your TCL ID is 123456,
 Click “Request item” your library ID is
 Select TCL as your school 00991000_0123456
and put in your name and  Click here if you do not have a
library ID TCL ID

17. Find Information: eBooks
Read electronic books on your computer
Click “eBook full text” to read
Use the tools menu to search within a book and retrieve citation
information
Off-campus access:
Username: TCL ID
number located on your
TCL ID card. (If you do
not have a TCL ID,
click here.) Password:
first initial of your first
name + last three digits of
your SSN

18. Find Information: Databases
Databases let you search many different newspapers, magazines,
and scholarly journals at one time
Try using TCL’s databases instead of websites; the information
you find through the databases will usually be more reliable
Select a database from the alphabetical list, or from the subject
box
 For English classes, try the “English and Writing” databases
Off-campus access: Username: TCL ID number located on your TCL ID card. (If
you do not have a TCL ID, click here.) Password: first initial of your first name +
last three digits of your SSN

19. Database:
Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Use
Opposing Viewpoints
to research
controversial topics
A good resource for
persuasive essays
Browse the list of
controversial topics,
or search by one of
your keywords

20. Database: Academic Search
Complete
Academic Search Complete covers many subject areas
Search by your keywords
Use the “Limit your results” option to narrow your results
 Select “full text” to find only full text articles
Search Tip:
Select “Scholarly/Peer
Reviewed Journals” to
find information in the
most reliable sources. A
scholarly or peer-reviewed
journal is one that has been
reviewed by experts in the
field prior to publication.

21. Search for Information Online
Pros
Search engines are user-friendly and usually return lots of
results
Information comes from a wide range of cultures and
perspectives
Some online info is very up-to-date
Cons
You often find inaccurate information
You often find irrelevant information
You often get too many search results

22. A WARNING about Online Info
Web sites can be created by
ANYONE
Unlike books, web sites can be
published very quickly, and are not
always edited or checked for
accuracy
Not all teachers allow online sources
for every assignment; make sure you Used under a CC license from
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/3534516458/
ask before using webpages as sources

23. Evaluating Information
All sources of information should be evaluated
When you find a source, ask yourself . . .
How reliable is this source? Who wrote it? Is he/she an expert?
Is the information given by this source accurate? Can key facts be
checked in other reliable sources?
How old is this source? Is it current enough for my paper?
Does the source cover my topic?

24. Evaluating Websites
Evaluate websites carefully before using them as sources
Ask yourself . . .
Who created this website? Who published it? What are their
credentials?
Is the information accurate? Can it be verified in other trustworthy
sources?
When was the site updated? Is the information current enough for
my assignment?
Does the site offer complete coverage of my topic?
For more tips on evaluating websites, check out our
Evaluating Web Resources LibGuide

25. STEP 5: Now that you have your
sources, you are ready to Write and
Revise your paper
If you need writing practice, try
the LearningExpress Library
database
Visit the
Tutoring Center website to
schedule an appointment with a
tutor
Try Smarthinking, the 24/7
online tutoring service.
Click here for more information

26. STEP 6: Document Your Sources
Remember, information literacy means using information
ETHICALLY and LEGALLY
Documenting your sources helps you avoid PLAGIARISM
and COPYRIGHT LAW VIOLATION
Image: jscreationsz, freedigitalphotos.net

27. Plagiarism and Copyright Law
PLAGIARISM
Copying someone’s work and pretending it is your own
Using ideas, quotes, or facts that are not yours without
showing where you found them
COPYRIGHT LAW
Ensures that authors are compensated for their work
 Be careful when copying: making copies of your textbook for
another person’s use is a violation of copyright law
 Downloading copyrighted works without permission is a violation
of U.S. law and TCL policy. Click here for more information

28. Document Your Sources
Use citations to show where you found all facts, quotes, and
ideas
For this class, use current MLA style guidelines
If you paraphrase part of an author’s work, or put it into your
own words, you must still credit the author by citing
your source
When you have questions about plagiarism or copyright law, ask
a teacher or librarian

29. Resources for MLA Documentation
Handbooks and manuals in the LRC
MLA Citation Guide (http://libguides.tcl.edu/MLA)
View examples of Works Cited page entries for books, articles,
websites, and more
NoodleTools (citation assistance)
Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab: MLA Style

30. NoodleTools for Documentation:
NoodleTools is an online citation manager. Use it to . . .
Create citations
Generate your Works Cited page
Format in-text citations
To get started
Visit NoodleTools (Off-campus, enter name and TCL ID
number when prompted)
Create a free account
Check out our NoodleTools guide for more information

31. Information Literacy Review
Information literacy means . . .
Finding,
Evaluating, &
Using Information Legally and Ethically
It is important for school, work, and any activity or situation
you encounter that requires good information

32. Research process review
Let these steps guide you through your assignments
Step 1: IDENTIFY your information need
Step 2: USE BACKGROUND INFORMATION to learn about
your subject and develop your topic
Step 3: DEVELOP a research strategy
Step 4: FIND and EVALUATE information
Step 5: WRITE and REVISE your paper
Step 6: DOCUMENT your sources

33. LRC Resources
The LRC has books, DVDs,
videos, newspapers, magazines,
and reference materials
Check out the TCL Information
Literacy Tutorial (TILT) for more
information on the research
process and LRC resources
Can’t find information on a topic?
Don’t despair! You can order
books from other libraries, read
eBooks, or find articles in the
Databases

34. LRC Resources: Laptops
The LRC checks out
laptops to TCL students for
up to four weeks at a time
Click here to learn more
about our laptop program

35. LRC Resources: Kindle eReaders
The LRC checks out Kindle e-Readers to TCL students, faculty,
and staff for two weeks at a time. Click here to learn more about
Kindles and to put one on hold.

36. LRC Resources: Ways to Get Help
For information on using our resources, see our LibGuides page
Visit our Frequently Asked Questions + Answers page
Text the library: 843-256-2247
Send us an instant message via the chat window on this page
For more help, contact the LRC

37. Library News
Want to find out what’s new in the library? Check out the
Library Blog for news, book reviews, Kindle information,
and more!

38. LRC Hours and Contact Information
• Beaufort Campus (Building 12, above the Student Center)
• Mon.-Thurs. 8am–8pm, Fri. 8am-11:30am
• Call or email: Sasha Bishop, 843-525-8236, sbishop@tcl.edu
•New River Campus
•LRC open for study/lab use Mon.-Fri. 8am – 10pm, Sat. 8am–
5pm
•Librarian hours: Mon. –Thurs. 8am-5:30pm, Fri. 8am-2pm
•Call 843-470-6003