HINKLE LIBRARY RESEARCH WORKSHEET Fall 2007 (Draft 5)
Name: ___________________________________ Instructor: _________________
Date due: _________
Class time: _____________
Librarian: ______________
http://web.alfredstate.edu/library
GRADING RUBRIC
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√
√NA
Outstanding! All questions correctly answered AND articles & book/video highly relevant AND
MLA citations correct AND all printouts attached
OK! All questions attempted; only minor errors AND articles & book/video relevant AND minor
errors in MLA citations AND all printouts attached
Needs improvement! 1 or 2 questions not answered OR article(s) or book/video barely relevant
OR many errors in MLA citations OR 1 printout missing
Not acceptable! More than 3 questions unanswered OR 2 or 3 printouts missing OR articles &
book/video not relevant
1. WHAT BROAD SUBJECT ARE YOU RESEARCHING? (Examples: Abortion, Anorexia,
Global Warming, Renewable Energy, Cloning, Wal-Mart etc.)
______________________________________________________________________
2. MOVE FROM A BROAD SUBJECT TO A NARROWER TOPIC
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Look at your broad topic from several angles; if required, take a stand on a
controversial issue
Survey what you already know or get background information
Examine the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY of the topic
Example: Broad Topic: Abortion Narrower topic: Should teens be allowed
to have abortions without parental consent?
Write a short sentence that describes how you will narrow the focus of the broad
subject you identified above:
______________________________________________________________________
3. “TRANSLATE” THE SENTENCE ABOVE INTO TWO OR THREE KEYWORDS or
PHRASES (Example from above: Abortion, Teenagers, Parental Consent)
Keyword #1
_______________ AND
Keyword # 2
___________________ AND
Keyword # 3
____________
These KEYWORDS OR PHRASES are your initial search strategy, which
may change as you continue your research!
4. SEARCH Academic Search Premier ONLY. Your article MUST be:
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Highly relevant to topic
At least one printed page
Full-text
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Not be from newspapers or
newswires
Not be a book or movie review
Not be from a web page
a. What search strategy did you use (what words did you use to search?)
________________________ AND _________________ AND ______________
b. Author(s) of article (if given) _____________________________________________
c. Title of article: ________________________________________________________
d. Title of magazine or journal (ex. Psychology Today) __________________________
___________________________________________________________________
e. Date of magazine or journal article: ______________________________________
f.
Volume/ Issue of magazine or journal: ___________ Page(s): ________________
g. Print the page with the citation information & the abstract (if available). Staple it to the
worksheet.
5. SEARCH ProQuest ONLY. Your article MUST be:




Highly relevant to topic
At least one printed page
Full-text
Not be from newspapers or
newswires


Not be a book or movie
review
Not be from a web page
a. What search strategy did you use (what words did you use to search?)
________________________ AND _________________ AND _________________
b. Author(s) of article (if given) _____________________________________________
c. Title of article: ________________________________________________________
d. Title of magazine or journal (ex. Psychology Today) __________________________
___________________________________________________________________
e. Date of magazine or journal article: ______________________________________
f.
Volume/ Issue of magazine or journal: ___________ Page(s): ________________
g. Print the page with the citation information & the abstract (if available). Staple it to the
worksheet.
6. FORMULATE A MLA CITATION FOR ONE OF THE ARTICLES LOCATED ABOVE.
See attached handout for guidance.
________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
7. SEARCH the Alfred State online catalog ONLY. The item identified MUST:
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Be a book or video in the ASC collection
Be relevant to your topic
Not be from a web page, journal or magazine article
Not be from WorldCat, Issues & Controversies, Opposing Viewpoints or from any
other database
Answer the following questions if you chose a book:
Author(s) or Editor(s) if given: ______________________________________________
Title: _________________________________________________________________
Place of Publication ___________ Publisher _____________ Date _______________
Answer the following questions if you chose a video or a dvd:
Title: _________________________________________________________________
Producer/director/ actor info: _______________________________________________
Format: ______________
Distributor: _____________________________________
Year of release: _________________________________________________________
8. What is the call number of the book or video? _______________________________
9. Print out the “detailed” record and staple to worksheet
10. Formulate a MLA citation for the book or video you just identified in question #6.
See attached sheet for guidance.
_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
MAKE SURE ALL THREE PRINT-OUTS ARE STAPLED TO THIS WORKSHEET!
Simplified MLA Citation Style
For more examples see your grammar text
or the MLA Handbook (6th ed) also ON RESERVE
Book (one author; 2 or 3 authors: Allport, Gordon and Ozzy Osbourne.)
Allport, Gordon W. The Nature of Prejudice. Palo Alto: Addison, 1954.
Author last name, author first name. Title of book. Place of Publication: Publisher, date.
Book with editor(s)
Barbera, Jack and William McBrien, eds. Me Again: The Writings of Stevie Smith.
New York: Farrar, 1982.
Videocassette or DVD (title, director, and other information as pertinent, format, distributor,
date)
Alcohol Use and its Medical Consequences. Prod. Project Cork, Dartmouth Medical
School. Videocassette. Home Vision, 2001.
Wayne’s World. Dir. Penelope Spheeris. Prod. Lorne Michaels. Perf. Mike Myers, Dana
Carvey, and Rob Lowe. DVD. Paramount, 1992.
Newspaper Article
Doherty, William. “Woodward Jury Seeks Definitions.” Boston Globe
29 Oct. 1997: B1. <ProQuest>.
Author last name, author first name. “Title of Article.” Name of Newspaper
Day Month (abbreviated ex. May, June, & July) Year: page. <Database>.
Newswire Services (no page numbers) Often retrieved from Lexis-Nexis
Frommer, Frederic J. “Baseball and Drugs: Official says Congress Should Regulate
Substance McGwire Used.” Associated Press 18 June 2002. <Lexis-Nexis>.
IMPORTANT: IS IT A MAGAZINE OR A JOURNAL ARTICLE??
JOURNALS: Scholarly, professional topics; not intended for general reader; may have “journal” in
the title; sometimes paginated by volume (i.e. numbered continuously from first to last issue)
MAGAZINES: Topics of interest to general reader; usually published frequently (weekly, bi-weekly,
monthly, bi-monthly)
Article from a JOURNAL paginated by volume (numbered continuously within the volume)
Ignore issue number, month or season, even if it is listed
Bloom, Lynn, Tony Burgess, Nancy Martin and Vincent Tinto. “Why I Hate to
Give Grades.” College Composition 48 (1997): 360-71. <ProQuest>.
Author last name, author first name. “Title of Article.” Tile of Publication Volume (Year):
Pages. <Database>.
Article from a JOURNAL paginated by issue (each issue numbered separately)
Volume number (47) and issue number (2 ) must be included
Laver, Michael and Kenneth Benoit. “The Evolution of Party Systems Between Elections.”
American Journal of Political Science 47.2 (2003): 82. <Academic Search
Premier>.
Volume.Issue (Year): Pages. <Database>.
Article from a MAGAZINE
Do not include volume and issue number, even if they are listed. Abbreviate months except May,
June, and July.
McAllister, Gwen. “It Started in a Garden.” Time 22 Sept. 1999: 110-11. <ProQuest>.
Barbara Greil
Hinkle Library
Alfred State College
Revised 9-05