Literary Analysis and
Composition 2014-2015
Monday, March 16
Composition 5.2
Study Island!
Composition 5.2
• What are our lesson objectives?
• What will I be able to do by the end of this lesson?
• I will be able to:
• Use non-circulating materials.
• Use the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature
and/or other indexes.
• Use the card catalog and the computer catalog.
• Analyze the reasons and evidence.
• Determine the argument.
• Recognize irrelevant information.
• Identify and use the steps in the writing process:
prewriting, writing, and revising.
• Make bibliography cards for all print and nonprint
sources.
• Use a search engine.
• Use the Internet.
Keywords and Pronunciation
• almanac : a book published each year containing facts and
information on a wide variety of topics
• atlas : a reference book consisting of maps and geographical
information
• bibliography card (BIH-blee-AH-gruh-fee) : a note card on
which a researcher writes the source of a piece of
information
• call number : an individual identifying number given to each
item held by a library
• domain name : the part of an Internet address stating the
general type of site, such as .com, .org, .edu, or .gov
• microfiche (MIY-kroh-feesh) : a sheet of film on which many
pages of printed material are stored
• search engine : software that searches for websites, usually
by keywords
Finding information
• Catalogs
• A library’s catalog is a list of all the materials that the
library contains. Most libraries have two catalogs: a
computer catalog and a card catalog. The computer catalog is
usually more up-to-date and contains more recent materials.
• The card catalog is a great resource for finding older
materials—ones published before the computer age.
• Every item in the catalog has its own entry showing basic
facts such as the author’s name, publisher, date, and call
number.
• Card catalog entries look very similar to computer catalog
entries. Remember that the catalog contains more than just
books. It also contains entries for magazines, CDs,
videotapes, and other materials the library owns.
• The catalog also lists the library’s noncirculating materials-things you must use in the library building rather than
borrow.
• Library Sections
• A library has two main sections: the circulating section and
the reference section. In the circulating section, you look for
materials to take home. In the reference section, you work in
the library on materials that must remain in the library.
• However, they may sometimes be printed out or photocopied
for home use. Noncirculating materials are often among the
most valuable you will find for your research.
• Noncirculating Sources
• The encyclopedia is usually the best place to get started on
research. The reference section contains well-known
encyclopedias such as World Book and Britannica, and it
may also contain encyclopedias on specialized subjects such
as music or philosophy. Specialized dictionaries, such as the
Dictionary of American Biography, which lists the basic facts
about the lives of thousands of Americans, also belong in the
reference section.
• Other useful noncirculating sources include atlases for
geographical topics and almanacs for statistical records that
change year by year.
• Periodicals, including newspapers and magazines, may be
important to your research. Many libraries keep back issues
of periodicals, issues published in the past. Often, back
issues are kept in the form of microfiche; each page has been
photographed on film, and a machine called a microfiche
reader is used to read the periodical. The library may have a
separate microfiche catalog.
• To find periodical articles on your topic, use the Readers’
Guide to Periodical Literature. This series lists every article
published in major magazines. The Guide is updated every
month. The New York Times has its own index in book form,
called The New York Times Index. Your library also may
have computerized records and copies of periodicals. Many
libraries contain other indexes on special subjects and
directories of businesses and professions. Your librarian can
help you find materials by using these reference guides.
• Online Internet Research
• The Internet can provide much of the same information you
would find at the Library, and you do not have to leave home
to find it.
• One of the first things you need to know is how to find
information. A search engine helps you do that job. Four
search engines are listed. Google is a general search engine
that anyone might use. The other three are search engines
that are mainly for students.
• Student-Friendly Search Engines
• • Gogooligans
• http://www.gogooligans.com/
• • KidsClick!
• http://www.kidsclick.org
• • AskKids
• http://www.askkids.com
• General Search Engine
• • Google
• http://www.google.com
• Website Reliability
• When you use the Internet, you need to be very careful to
make sure the information you are getting is reliable. Now
that almost anyone can create a website, it is easy to
stumble upon websites that contain opinions and untruths
disguised as facts.
• How can you tell that a website is reliable? The first clue is
the domain name.
• The label .gov means “government,” and the label .edu
means “educational organization,” such as a university. Sites
of these types usually contain reliable facts. The label .org
means ”organization” and can refer to anything from a
wildlife charity to a political party. The reliability of the
information depends on how much you trust the
organization itself. The labels .com and .net indicate that
they are commercial websites and are used by businesses
and individuals. These are usually the least reliable
websites as research sources.
• To determine whether a website is reliable, you may have to
visit the site itself and get a feel for what’s there. Here are a
few tips for recognizing a good website--or a bad one:
• • Look for contributors who have reliable credentials, such
as “Harvey Jones, Professor, University of Wisconsin–
Madison.”
• • Check the grammar, spelling, and writing style on the site.
Errors and awkwardness are signs of a nonprofessional
website.
• • Attractive graphics are a sign that the site has been
carefully created, probably by a group rather than an
individual.
• • Excessive expressions of emotion, opinions, and
stereotyping are tip-offs that the information on a site may
be biased.
• • What links does the site contain? A reliable site will offer
links to other reliable sites, not to “junk” sites.
• Bibliography Cards
• When you find a source of information on your research
topic, you want to make sure you can find the source again
whenever you need it, so you should create a bibliography
card for every source. Use index cards for bibliography cards.
• Here is the basic information that belongs on bibliography
cards:
• • Books: call number, author’s name, title, publisher, date
and place of publication
• • Magazine articles: author (if known), title of article, name
of magazine, date of issue, page numbers
• • Encyclopedias: author (if known), title of article, name of
reference work, date of edition
• • Website: author (if known), title, date created, sponsoring
institution, date visited, URL
Examples of Bibliography Cards
Let’s Go to Study Island!