SSC101 Introduction to Information Resources for the Social Sciences
Winter 2005
SSC 101 Survey
Due Jan. 11
Please answer the following questions. I am interested in your personal goals as well as how
much you already know about libraries and research. I may give you a similar test later in the
quarter along with an opportunity to evaluate your learning and make suggestions for future
library courses.
You will not be graded for this assignment, but you will get credit for doing it.
Please answer these questions thoughtfully and to the best of your ability the first time! If your
response is inadequate, I may ask you to do it again.
This Word document is a form with text fields and checkboxes. With the text fields, you can begin
typing in the shaded rectangle; the rectangle will enlarge as needed, as you type.
Your Name:
Your email address (please write clearly):
What are your main interests:
In school?
Out of school?
Are you working outside of school? (full-time or part-time?)
What is your level of educational preparation?
high school
some college coursework
completed the following college degree:
What are your plans for future work and education?
LIBRARY EXPERIENCE Please check the appropriate responses:
Have you had training in how to do
research?
Would you consider yourself computer literate?
Yes, in high school
Yes, in college
No, I've learned on my own
Yes, I'm pretty comfortable with computers
I am moderately comfortable with computers
I need to learn more about computers to feel comfortable
I am just beginning to use computers
LIBRARY RESEARCH EXPERIENCE & KNOWLEDGE
Please use these symbols to indicate:
C = I feel confident using this
U = I am not confident, I could use some help
N = I have no experience
RESEARCH SKILLS
email
online library catalog
periodical databases
print indexes
web browsers
Internet search engines
saving files to a hard-drive or disk
attaching and sending files by email
opening email attachments
LIBRARY SERVICES
interlibrary loans
reserves
reference service
audiovisual or other media services
library orientations or workshops
other: _____________________________
KNOWLEDGE OF RESEARCH STRATEGIES
Forming a research question from a broad topic:
If you wanted to research the Vietnam War, what might be a narrower research question you could formulate?
For example, "How did antiwar protests affect U.S. foreign policy during the Vietnam War?" Please try to
formulate your own research question on that same broad topic:
Identifying keywords
Using the research question you drafted above, what keywords might be good to use in the first stages of
research? (Please list two or more. If you didn't write your own research question, use the question given in the
example).
Resources for research
To begin research on the question you wrote above, what kinds of resources do you think you would use to
find answers to your question? (Please list as many as you can think of. If you didn't write a research question,
use the question given as the example.)
Distinguishing popular from scholarly periodicals
Popular periodicals (like Newsweek, Time or People) are written to appeal to the general public. What are
some of their other characteristics?
Scholarly periodicals (like American Historical Review or Journal of American Ethnic History) are written to
appeal to researchers and students in the field of study. What are some of their other characteristics?
Distinguishing Primary from Secondary Resources
An example of a primary resource would be:
An example of a secondary resource would be:
Using the World Wide Web for Research
Let's say you begin your research on the topic in the sample research question above using the World Wide
Web. What are the first couple of steps you would take?
Evaluating Web sites
How do you know whether a site you have found on the World Wide Web includes information that is reliable
and appropriate for academic research?
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting the work of others as though it were your own; it is a form of theft. Which of the
following is an example of plagiarism? (check all that apply)
Using phrases and sentences of others as if they were your own without giving credit
Using ideas of others as if they were your own without giving credit
Copying text written by someone else and using it with no quotation marks
Rewording someone else's information and using it without giving credit
Using copyrighted images from the Web without giving credit
Using different types of resources
Information you find on a research topic may come from:
(1) Printed materials and electronic resources made available through libraries (for example, databases that
provide fulltext copies of periodical articles) OR
(2) Materials you find using Web search engines
What are some of the major differences between these two sets of materials?
Research Process
If your instructor assigns a 10-15 page research paper, what first steps will you take to plan, research, and
report on the assigned topic?
How would you begin?
How would you find what you need?
How would you organize what you find?
How would you complete the task?
This page is maintained by Connie McDowell.