Paige Thomson
September 21, 2010
ADMN 504 A01
Class Lecture Notes: Unit 3
Summary of Today’s Lecture:
Today we had a presentation from Inba Kehoe, the MPA librarian, on how to research for our scoping
review and how to use Refworks to track our citations. We learned about tricks and tools for web
research and how to use Google and Summon. We briefly discussed the Wiki, scoping review concerns
and next week’s research agreement draft presentation.
Scoping Review:
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Dr. Tedds asked how the first client meeting went and if there were any concerns
Note: If the scope is too narrow, that is ok. Your job is to conduct the research for the client, so
your scoping review may be shorter.
Wiki Grading Tool:
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The summary pages from A01 and A02 are available for both sections to see
Exemplary notes from each section are posted as examples
Students who took notes last week received feedback by email
Don’t grade the Wiki before the deadline Sunday night
Two students forgot to submit grades
There is now a comment section where you can leave comments on the Wiki notes
 The comments left have been professional and helpful
There is a free plug-in you can download online that allows you to view “.docx” documents
Learning to Research
Contact: ikehoe@uvic.ca
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PA: Librarian – speak to Inba Kehoe in person or by email
o Keep track of what you have done so if you need help, you can show her what you have
already done
Carole Gordon (librarian) does more online course assistance for public admin
Librarians at UVic: each one specializes in a different area
Outline of the Presentation
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Library Services
PA subject guide and blog
Research Strategy
Searching
a. articles, books, etc.
5. Citing References
a. Refworks, APA Style Guide
b. NOTE: UVic alumni have access to Refworks after they graduate
Library Services
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Your student card is your library card
Most of your sources will be online for your 502 scoping review, including journals and
magazines
“Gear to Go” in the library is a media centre that offers camcorders, recorders and other
equipment which may be useful in interviews
Your Netlink ID to be used for your Refworks account
If an Item is not at UVic, use interlibrary loan
o Right now, a request will take 2 days
o Later on, it may take more time
VPN = virtual private network
o Download VPN then log-in anytime you want access to “subscription” material from
home
o When doing your research, keep your VPN logged in all the time to make it easier to
access information and sources
On campus, use “UVic” wireless, not “UVic Open” (it is more secure and works better for
Refworks
SUGGESTION: Go to the Computer Help Desk on the main floor of the library for help setting up VPN
and automatic login to “UVic” wireless
PA Subject Guide and Blog
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Go to http://library.uvic.ca (research help  subject guides public administration)
o You will see a list of “Subject Guides by Category”
o Under “Public Administration”, there are two options:
 “Public Administration” and “Data” (Data will have info from Stats Canada)
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Summon Search Engine lets you type in a search like Google
There are many databases specific to different areas ( under “Useful Databases”)
o You may want to search databases not specific to public administration if they could be
related to your scoping review topic
 ie: the group doing rewards for healthy living might search “PubMed” database
Write down everything, where you go, what you search, what results you get
Write down key concepts for your topic, write down what works in each database
PA Times – BLOG
o http://blogs.library.uvic.ca/index.php/pubadmin
Research Strategy
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Look at the research your scoping review client has done
Look at background information provided (use research, websites....)
Ask what is the client’s real purpose? Then, narrow the scope accordingly
What are the major concepts and sub-topics?
Searching
How do you begin your online search?
Make a table with different words and synonyms
-Always keep track of everything you search (terms, search engines used etc...)
Searching on Google and Google Scholar
Search Terms
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Google automatically adds the word “AND” in for you
Put “OR” in between synonyms
Quotation marks will search both terms together in that order
o ie: “wind power”
Use a “*”for root endings (ie: temp* = temptation, tempting, temptress)
If you definitely want a word or phrase to show up in the search results, put a “+” in front of the
word
o Inba Kehoe finds this technique very effective
Use the advanced search so you don’t have to use brackets (for “OR”)
Using a “ ~” (tilde) will narrow results to show word proximity
o for example “bread~10 baker” will search for “bread” within so many words of “baker”
Starting your search with “Intitle:” will search the title and first few paragraphs of websites
(simulates searching the abstract)
o use when you have a lot of hits
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Starting your search with “url:” wil search for urls with your search terms
o Ie: “url: .gov” will search for websites that contain “.gov” in the url
Example: How do I Search for Information on Wind Power Towers?
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If you topic is: “How do other jurisdictions regulate and approve new materials for use in the
construction of wind power towers for use in “big wind” turbines?”
Then the areas of interest could be:
o Engineered wood products, wooden power towers, Germany approved 65 wooden
power towers, regulations, certification, codification process etc....
What is the main topic? Come up with search words:
o wind towers, pre-fabricated, pre-engineered
o “wind power” “wooden towers” approvals
o “wind power” certification
After searching with search terms, try searching with both questions and statements
o using engineered wood in construction of wind power towers
o benefits of using engineered wood in the construction of wind power towers
o regulatory environment for the use of materials in wind power turbines in Germany
Use phrases like this to narrow your search:
 “statistics say”, ”survey studies”, “case studies show that”
Sometimes putting in the answers to you own question works
Google Search – CRAP detection
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Currency:
 How recent is the information? How recently has the website been updated? Is
it current enough for your topic?
Reliability:
 What kind of information is included in the resource? Is content of the resource
primarily opinion? Is it balanced? does the creator provide references or source
for date or quotations? – look at first part of website to see who created it.
Authority:
 Who is the creator or author? What are the credentials? Who is the publisher or
sponsor? Are they reputable? What is the publisher’s interest (if any) in this
information? Are there advertisements on the website?
 Inba’s note: Look out for too much advertising as a warning that a site
may not be a good source!
Point of view/Purpose:
 Is this fact or opinion? Is it biased? Is the creator/author trying to sell you
something?
Tips for Online Searching
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If it works in one search engine, try it again in another one
-ie: if you find a search term to be successful, try it in other places too
Some words are on the web, but not in scholarly articles
-it takes time for academic language to catch up with phrases that are new
-ie: the term “best practices”
Try not to use more than three keywords, or you may get zero search results
Every database has a HELP button that will give you a list of the terms and key tricks to using
that search engine
Careful not to use redundant words in your searches
Narrow your search by region or time
Searching Using Summon (UVic Library)
Go to: Library website  Start Here
-then type your search into Summon
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This tool covers 85% of the content the library has (books, journals, articles)
It searches on principles similar to Google ie: “wind power” wooden towers
o See tips on Google searching above
When you find a good article, take a look in the “Subjects” area located just above “Abstract”
for other words you could use for a future search
Holding the mouse cursor over the title gives you more of the abstract
On the left of the screen there is a TOOLBAR to:
1. “Refine Your Search”
(ex: refine to peer reviewed articles or to full text only)
2. Narrow the search by “Content Type”
(ex: narrow to journal articles)
Inba’s note: Don’t refine your search too much. For your scoping review, newspaper
articles, articles that are not peer reviewed and many other sources will be useful to you
3. Click on the link “Where Can I Get This?”
-If you can’t gain access, try searching later. There may be too much traffic or
the site could be down temporarily
4. Once you have decided the source is useful to you, you want to export it to Refworks to
keep a record of it and to cite in your paper later on
 Select the Folder with “+” to save the item to your folder. This will save the item
(marking the citation)
 In other databases, instead of a folder you select the box beside the Title to save
it into a folder for later
 You can Print, Email or Export your citations
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Once it has exported, always double check the information in Refworks!
Where to Find Course Reserves (e-reserves)
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Go to library website  select “Course Reserves”
Search by instructor or by course
If it’s not there, try typing the journal article title into Summon
If you still can’t find it, type the first part of the title and the last name of the author into Google
Citing: How Do I Use Refworks?
To Log-On
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Connect to UVic VPN
If you enter the site without the VPN connection, you need the group code “rwuvictoria”
Go To Refworks support page: under “Articles” on library page, click on “Refworks”
-on the left-hand tool bar to log-in and sign up for an individual account (use UVic email address)
What Do I Do First?
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Start by viewing the Refworks tutorials under the “Help” menu to learn about the site
Familiarize yourself with the menu (“References”, “Tools”, “Bibliography” etc...)
Under “Tools”, customize your output style (APA 6th edition)
Once you open your Refworks account, close everything else and download Write-N-Cite, a
plug-in that attaches to your Word software
How do I Add Citations to my Reference List?
1. Follow the instructions above under the Summons search engine to export citations from the
UVic Library catalogue
2. Search using your database, select “Add to Folder”, view folder at the top of the page and on
the right side of the page, click on “Export” option, select “Direct Export to Refworks”
a. If Refworks is open, it will bring it right in, if it is not, you will be prompted to login
b. Make folders right away to stay organized!
c. You can’t make folders within folders
3. Use the Button on Refworks to Download a citation (that can’t be exported directly)
4. Enter the information manually
Editing Citations
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Always check the information for each reference, there may be something missing
Check capitalization (ie: watch for capitalization of proper nouns in APA style)
Each citation has an “Edit” and a “Get This?” button which will link you to the article
o If the “Get This?” button doesn’t work, you can attach a PDF
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Green checkmarks indicate the information used by your output style
Sharing Citations
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For sharing folders in a group project, make a new account for your group so you can share the
log-in and password
o If you have a group account, enter “User Field Options” to add comments on articles
under your name (add comments at the bottom of the “Edit” page)
You can make a quick bibliography or you can use Refshare
o Go to Bibliography button, create a format, select folder
o To make sure everyone can see a document, save it as a rtf
o Folders – share folders, select folder, “Email URL”
How to Cite
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Use the Write-N-Cite option
o In Word 2007, look under “Add-Ins”, click on Write-N-Cite
o You can “View” or “Cite” each one
o When you are done writing your paper, go to “Bibliography”, find your citation style,
and create bibliography
o You can add in page numbers if you need
o It will create a new word doc with “final-“ in front (this is the final version you want to
hand in)
o Double check!
I Have a Problem or a Question About Refworks!
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If you are having trouble with Refworks on Windows 7, try uninstalling it and re-installing
version two, not version three
You can email Inba Kehoe with specific questions or to set up a tutorial session in groups with
other MPA students
Don’t forget to watch the Refworks tutorials provided through the Refworks site under the
“Help” menu
There is a Refworks support page on the library website
You can attend an interactive Refworks workshop in the library later this month and in October
Refworks will also be providing webinars online
Dr. Tedd’s Advice On Research Tools
Use RefGrab-It
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This tool will help you get the information you need from a site
It can save you time on your citations
Use the WayBack Machine
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Government URLs change quickly, you can find a great site but not be able to find it again later
The WayBack Machine: type in a URL and it will show you the life history of the URL
However, it can take months for the site to update the history of the URL you are looking for
Another way to ensure you don’t lose the information is to take a webcapture (screen shot) of
the website, save it as a PDF and upload the PDF to you Refworks account
Research Tip: On the 502 Website, one person in the group should listen to the audio file on deep web
searching because there is lots of information on the web that could be useful in your scoping review,
but it is hidden and difficult to find
Next Week: Workshop Presentations
Next class all five groups will present: 10 minutes on their research agreement draft and 10 minutes of
Q&A
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KIS members will be present
Don’t forget to start your presentation by introducing yourselves
One PowerPoint slide with your groups names and research topic would be helpful
If you are struggling with something, include it in the draft research agreement, send a message
to the prof. and mention it in your presentation
All your group members do not have to talk for equal amounts of time
o “If your groups is happy, Dr. Tedds is happy!”
The last past of course next week will be reviewing APA citations with Dr. Tedds
Turn-It-In Notes:
What is a good score? An originality report shows common phrases like “at this point in time”, so scroll
through the report, but don’t worry about the number (ie: 50% could be fine). Look for blocks of text
that are highlighted.
If you are not sure, cite it – you are safer to over-site but you might get a lower grade on your writing
style (BUT if you under-site you risk plagiarism!!)