Starting Your Research
Liberal Studies 196
Library Instruction
Fall 2002
What is the assignment?
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Paper, Presentation, Annotated Bibliography?
Due date – when is the last date for ILL?
Citation Style? APA? MLA?
Types of publications?
Basic Search Strategies:
Sources Available
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Does your topic cover recent events or research?
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Newspapers, magazines, journals or the Internet are the best
sources.
Do you need current, general information?
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Try a popular magazine.
Do you need current, in depth information?
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Try a scholarly journal.
Do you need an overview?
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Try an encyclopedia, handbook or dictionary
Do you need something more detailed?
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Try a book on the subject
Event Information Timeline
Research Information Timeline
Current
Email, face to face,
phone
Months
Scholarly articles,
Conference reports
Years
Newspaper articles,
popular magazines
Books
Reference resources
TimeLine Details
http://wwwtest.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/help/flow/hint.htm
Report of Event
(Documentation and
Dissemination)
Time Frame
Radio/TV/Internet News
Services
Seconds/Minutes
Newspapers (print)
Day / Days+
Magazines (print)
Week / Weeks
Journals (print &
electronic)
6 months +
Books (print & electronic)
2+ years
Reference Sources
(print & electronic)
average 10 years
Primary, Secondary & Tertiary
Sources
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Primary sources are original materials on which other research
is based. It includes documents such as poems, diaries, court
records, interviews, surveys, and fieldwork.
Secondary sources describe or analyze the primary sources.
Examples of secondary sources include: dictionaries,
encyclopedias, textbooks, and books and articles that interpret
or review research works. Print and online resources.
Tertiary Sources, e.g., indexes and abstracts, serve to locate
secondary and primary sources. An index will provide a citation
which fully identifies the work: author, title of article, title of
journal or book, publisher and date of publication.
Article Databases
Popular
Government
Scholarly
Lexis-Nexis
Lexis-Nexis
Newspapers and
Magazines
(Full-Text)
ABI Newstand
FirstGov
Academic Search Elite
CQ Researcher
ERIC (Index)
Full-Text
Newspapers and
Magazines
Academic Search Elite
Full-Text
Expanded Academic
ASAP
Full-Text
Expanded Academic
ASAP
Full-Text
Full-Text
Need a book?
1. Search the Library's online catalog. Start with a keyword
search in the Web version of the catalog. If you find a book
that looks interesting, note the subject headings and search
again using those words
2. If the first search does not retrieve useful books, try using
variant spellings and related words
3. If too many titles were returned to review, click the sort
button to see the most recent titles. Select a title that seems
promising by clicking on the title in blue (Hyperlink).
4. Write down the floor location of the book and the call number
where the book will be found on the shelf
How Call Numbers Work
Need an article?
1. Start with a keyword search in one of the full-text electronic journal
databases like Academic Search Elite (EbscoHost) or Expanded
Academic ASAP (InfoTrac).
2. If the first search does not retrieve useful articles, try using variant
spellings and related words, for example, college students or university
students. If you retrieve too many articles, you may need to narrower
or topic (make it more specific)
3. Click on the peer-reviewed or refereed box if the article needs to be
from a scholarly, expert or academic journal. Click the full-text box to
retrieve only full-text and articles. It is possible to limit the search to
articles written in a certain year or range of years.
Types of Periodicals:
Scholarly Journals
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Authors are authorities in their fields.
Authors cite their sources in endnotes,
footnotes, or bibliographies.
Individual issues have little or no
advertising.
Illustrations usually take the form of
charts and graphs.
Types of Periodicals:
Scholarly Journals
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Articles must go through a peer-review or
refereed process.
Scholarly/academic articles that are read by academic or scholar
"referees" for advice and evaluation of content when submitted for
publication. Referees recommend to the editor/editorial board
whether the article should be published as is, revised, or rejected. Also
sometimes know as "peer-reviewed" articles.
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Articles are usually reports on scholarly
research.
Articles use jargon of the discipline.
Popular Magazines
and Newspapers
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Authors are magazine staff members
or free lance writers.
Authors often mention sources, but rarely formally
cite them in bibliographies.
Individual issues contain numerous advertisements.
There is no peer review process.
Articles are meant to inform and entertain.
Illustrations may be numerous and colorful.
Language is geared to the general adult audience
(no specialized knowledge of jargon needed).
Evaluating Print Resources
Every book, periodical article, or other resource should be
evaluated to determine its quality and its relevance to your topic
and the nature of your assignment.
Use the criteria below to help you evaluate resources.
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Authority
Content & Coverage
Timeliness
Accuracy
Objectivity
Evaluating Internet Resources
World Wide Web sites come in many sizes and styles. How do you distinguish a
site that gives reliable information from one that gives incorrect information?
Below are some guidelines to help.
Types of Web Sites: the url is a key
.gov
.edu
.org
.com
Authority
Content & Coverage
Timeliness
Accuracy
Objectivity
Internet Resources vs.
Surfing the Web
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Internet Resources include:
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Internet accessible databases and journals
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Use a Web interface
Usually require subscription
 Exception: ERIC Wizard
Equivalent to print indexes and journals
Authoritative and reliable
Surfing the Web:
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Use free search engines
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E.G.: Yahoo, Google, HotBot
Critical evaluation required
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Anyone can put up a Web page!
Evaluating Web pages
(http://library.csun.edu/mwoodley/Webeval.html)
Use Databases to Find
Resources
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Books – online catalog
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Articles – index, abstracting service, or
full-text database
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CSUN Library Online Catalog
Find Articles and More
Web pages – search engines
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Internet Search Tools
Basic Search Strategies:
Words to Search by
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Jargon
Keyword
Controlled vocabulary – Subject
words/phrases
Choosing keywords to
search
If one keyword does not work, try variations on the keyword
Teen
Job interviews
teenage, teenager, adolescent,
adolescence
student or students
employment interviewing,
employment interviews,
employee interviews
If too many titles are returned, try searching more specific keywords
Key Words
Controlled Vocabulary
Basic Search Strategies:
Putting concepts together
“English mathematician who
helped establish modern
symbolic logic and whose
algebra of logic, now called
Boolean algebra, is basic to
the design of digital computer
circuits. “
Boolean Operators:
and, or, not
"Boole, George" Encyclopædia Britannica
http://search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=82823 [Accessed
August 18, 2002].
George Boole, 1815-1864
Basic Search Strategies:
Putting concepts together
Boolean operator and
Teenagers
Sex
Education
Venn diagrams serve as a visual expression of the Boolean
operations
Basic Search Strategies:
Putting concepts together
Boolean operator or
Lesbians
Gays
Basic Search Strategies:
Putting concepts together
Boolean operator not
and
Body Image
School
Behavior
not
Adults
Truncation
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Symbol used at the end of a word to retrieve variant
endings of that word.
Allows you to search the "root" form of a word with
all its different endings.
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For example: teen* will retrieve: teens, teenage,
teenagers, teeny-bopper
However: tee* will retrieve all the above, but also teeny,
teem, teeth etc.
Truncation symbols vary between all the databases
Wildcards
Some databases allow for wildcards to be
embedded within a word to replace a single
character. For instance, in InfoTrac, you can
also use ? within a word to replace a character.
For example:
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Colo?r retrieves color, colour
wom?n retrieves woman, women
Searching Tips
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Articles
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Journal
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Titles: Look in indexes and full-text databases to
find titles of articles
Subjects: specific for the article
Titles: Look in Online Catalog to see if we own
Subject access: very broad subject headings
Book
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Titles: Look in online Catalog to see if we own
Subject access: general terms that describe the
book as a whole
Citations – How to Read and
Record
Online Style Guides:
http://library.csun.edu/crussom/bibcit.html
ERIC Citation
TI: Relative Reading Achievement: A Longitudinal Study
of 187 Children from First through Sixth Grades.
(title of article)
AU: Phillips, Linda M ; Norris, Stephen P ; Osmond,
Wendy C ; Maynard, Agnes M
(author)
SO: Journal of Educational Psychology; v94 n1 p3-13
Mar 2002
(journal title and publication information)
AN: EJ644659
MLA Citation
Phillips, Linda M., Stephen P. Norris, and Wendy C. Osmond.
“Relative Reading Achievement: A Longitudinal Study of 187
Children from First through Sixth Grades.” Journal of Educational
Psychology 94.1 (March 2002): 3-13.
Contact Information
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Kathy Dabbour kathy.dabbour@csun.edu or
677-4706
Mara Houdyshell mara.houdyshell@csun.edu
677-2277
Lynn Lampert lynn.lampert@csun.edu
677-7104
Mary S. Woodley mary.woodley@csun.edu
677-6302