3. A quick plug…
Palestinian Literature: The Needed
Background
When: Sunday, February 17th from
4-5:30pm
Where: Cook Library Room 507
What: Dr. Salam Mir, Associate
Professor of English at Lasell
College, will speak about some of
the pivotal works of Palestinian
Literature.
This program will also introduce the
Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim
Journeys
4. Agenda
Part 1 - Discussion
Background reading/Internet searching
Keywords
Evaluating Resources
Part 2 - Discussion
Finding Books
Finding Articles
Research time
5. 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 a
credible source?
How do you evaluate
the information you find
while researching?
Why is it important to
support your argument
with valid/scholarly
sources?
Google Analytics (2012) Google analytics in
real life – Site search.
http://youtu.be/cbtf1oyNg-8
DuckDuckGo (2012). There are no “regular
results” on Google anymore.
http://vimeo.com/duckduckgo/bubble
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. Through out the lesson:
Fill out this spreadsheet
http://bit.ly/11WGgvl
Choose your research topic
Genetic engineering and cloning to reduce
disease incidence
Healthcare for persons without health insurance
Ethics in care in a culturally diverse society
Ethical treatment of humans/animals during
drug testing
Complementary vs. traditional medicine
approaches to health care
Issues in the overuse of Antibiotics
8. Improve Google
Autism and vaccines
Advanced Google
searching
Duck Duck Go?
Body image and girls
Cook Library’s
Guide to the Web
9. 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?
10. 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.
11. 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
12. Additional Search Tips
Use truncation!
Educat* finds
Educate
Education
Educating
Educator
Etc…
Phrase Searching…
Use quotations to
keep a keyword
phrase intact (words
will be searched in
the specific order)
Examples:
“advanced
practice nurses”
“long term care”
13. Evaluate what you find
Go to 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
15. 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?
Check for CRAP
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
16. 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?
Check for CRAP
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
17. 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
Check for CRAP
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
18. 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
Check for CRAP
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
19. Continue your research!
Take a few minutes to complete your first
worksheet
Ask if you have a question!
Next: Part 2
20. Real research is complicated
Can you think of any
examples of a
“magical database”
with all the answers?
Where do you find
books/articles for your
classes here at Towson
University?
How many places do
you look?
Why are scholarly
articles important for
your assignment?
21. Finding Books
How did your book
search go?
Plenty of relevant
information in print
Use broad keywords
24. Finding Articles
How did your article
search go?
Scholarly – Peer
Reviewed
Use specific
keywords
Card Catalogue. [Photographer]. Retrieved from
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest.
http://quest.eb.com/images/115_2838287
26. Finding Articles
Content providers you should use:
CINAHL Plus with Full-text
Medline
Health Source Nursing/Academic
Health Reference Center Academic
ERIC
Education Abstracts
Social Science Citation Index
Social Science Abstracts
PsycINFO
27. Finding Articles
Features to remember
Yellow Findit button
Citation creations
Email yourself
Also as you are searching
Take a look at the article citations
Make note of additional keywords
28. Continue your research!
Complete your second worksheet
Then please fill out this survey:
http://bit.ly/11WBEVV
Next library session:
Read article – prepare with discussion
questions
Plagiarism and APA citation style
29. 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
Notes de l'éditeur
Aka it’s a good starting pointYou can read the wikipedia article… just don’t cite it
Cook OneSearch – USMAI catalog, Towson UniversityMedicine OR health OR wellnessElder* OR senior* OR geriatric*Dictionary OR encyclopediaCheck location – Find call numberRefine ResultsAsk a LibrarianSearch HistoryEmail yourselfCitation creation
Refine results to Academic JournalsCheck Content Provider
