Library 150
Information Literacy & Research Skills
E. Chisato Uyeki
Fall 2006: Week 1
September 22, 2006
Getting Started
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Introductions
 3x5 cards
Review Syllabus
Library Services, Mission, & Library Web
3x5 cards
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Name
Major & grade level
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Email
Telephone Number(s)
Why you are taking Library 150 and what you
hope to learn
PLEASE WRITE LEGIBLY
3x5 cards
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E. Chisato Uyeki (Chisa)
MLIS and
BA in Women’s Studies
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cuyeki@calstatela.edu
323-343-4824
Information Literacy skills and knowledge
needs and interests of LIBR 150 students
Support students in learning and being
empowered in information access, retrieval,
and evaluation
Searching and Researching
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Evolving and dynamic process
Often time consuming
Can be frustrating
Good planning and note taking pays off in
the long run
Finding what you are looking for:
1) Know what it is you are looking for
2) Look in the right place
The Research Process
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Read and understand the assignment
Choose a topic (know what you are looking for)
Develop a research statement or question
Identify the type of information that is needed
 i.e., statistics, background, analysis, personal stories
Understand & identify appropriate resources
(knowing where to look)
 General background info- books, magazines,
newspaper articles
 Analysis and Research- scholarly journals and books
 Firsthand Accounts and Original Evidence- primary
resources
The Research Process (more)
Choose the right tool to find the resources
(Also knowing where to look)
 Books = Catalog
 Articles = Databases and bibliographies
 Not sure = Ask a librarian
 Develop a strong search query
 Decide on search terms (including alternate terms) and
how to combine
 Search
 Evaluate search results
 Revise search depending upon the results
 Locate the items that you need
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Choosing Topics
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Interesting?
Do pre-searching to help decide
Not too narrow and not too broad
A good match with the assignment
Narrowing a Topic
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Too broad?
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Automobiles in America is too broad
The role and representation of automobiles
in Beat Literature is manageable
Narrow your focus
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Time period
Place
Person/Group
Concept/Event/Aspect
Research Question and Keywords
Research Question (the topic as a question) and
then choose keywords:
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How did the automobile affect the
rapid growth of US metropolises and
changes in lifestyle?
Research Question and Keywords
Research Question (the topic as a question) and
then choose keywords:
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How did the automobile affect the
rapid growth of US metropolises
and changes in lifestyle?
Sample research statement or question:
How did the automobile affect the rapid growth of
US metropolises and changes in lifestyle?
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Key concepts for sample research statement:
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Automobile
Metropolises
Lifestyle
Rapid growth
Helpful alternate terms for the sample key concepts:
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Automobile, automobiles, car
Metropolises, cities, city, suburbs, communities
Lifestyle, mobility, freedom, and luxury
Rapid growth, development
In Class Exercise
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Complete the first 4 steps
Academic Disciplines
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Branches of knowledge which are taught or
researched at the college or university level
Ways of organizing knowledge
Provide particular perspectives
Have evolved & changed over time
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Intersections have spurred new fields & interdisciplinary
studies
Often grouped into Science, Humanities, & Social Sciences
Communicate through the discipline specific
scholarly literature, associations and learned
societies
Major Disciplines
Humanities
Social Sciences
Natural Science
Languages& literature
Religion
Philosophy
Visual Arts
History …
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Sociology
Anthropology
Economics
Political Science
Criminal Justices
Psychology …
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Biology
Botany
Physics
Chemistry
Astronomy
Mathematics
Different Disciplines Mean Different
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Ways of knowledge creation
Vocabularies
Methods of information dissemination
Information cycles
Research strategies / sites of investigation
Information Cycles
How Information Becomes Knowledge
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Idea
Background research
Research plan
Research
Communicate findings
Findings made available (Indexing)
Interpretation by others
In Encyclopedia, textbook, popular materials
Disciplinary Perspectives : Automobile
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Humanities
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Social Science
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Visual Arts -- Product design
History -- The impact of automobile on changes of lifestyles
Criminal Justice – Motor Vehicle Codes
Sociology – Automobile ownership and resulting social change
Science
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Physics – car making materials
Chemistry -- Carbon dioxide in gas
Humanities
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Methods of information dissemination
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Research strategies / sites of investigation
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Libraries, museums, archives …
Research Goals
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Historians: letters, newspapers, photos,
manuscripts, archives, books, journals articles …
Analysis and interpretation of works or evidence to
learn broad truths
Retrospective
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Current, 20, 100, 2000 …
Social Sciences
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Methods of Investigation
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Research strategies / sites of investigation
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Libraries, field, lab …
Research Goals
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Varies-experiments, tests, surveys,
fieldwork, case studies …
Varies
Retrospective
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Current, and some retrospective
Natural Sciences
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Methods of Investigation
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Research strategies / sites of investigation
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Laboratories, libraries …
Research Goals
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Varies-experiments, tests,
Verifiable data, experimental results
Retrospective
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Last 5 years
In Class Exercise
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Complete final step- disciplines