Assignments for the First and
Second Year That Build
Research and Information
Literacy Skills
PETAL
Winter Workshop
January 9, 2007
Marianne Simmons
Lavery Library
Research Skills
 Developing a search strategy
 Becoming familiar with major journals
 Becoming familiar with major reference works
 Improving analysis skills
 Citation mechanics
Developing a Search Strategy
 Topic Map
 Using Databases
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General Databases
Subject specific databases
Google Scholar
Assignment 1A
Topic Chart
(courtesy of Kim Davies SUNY Geneseo
TOPIC
Or
RESEARCH QUESTION
Break topic into major concepts
CONCEPT
CONCEPT
CONCEPT
Find synonyms and combine concepts to form a search statement
SEARCH STATEMENT
Look in the subject
thesaurus of
databases to find
subject headings
or descriptors in
place of keywords
Assignment 1A
Topic Chart
Should marijuana be legal in the US?
marijuana
DATABASES
•Academic Search Premier
•Proquest Research Library
•Medline
•Sociological Abstracts
•CQ Researcher
•Science Direct
legal*
SEARCH STATEMENT
marijuana OR cannabis
AND legal* AND
behavior OR harm OR
policy
behavior
MEDLINE THESAURUS
Marijuana OR
cannabis
Using Databases
Assignment 1B
 Using General Databases, Subject specific
Databases and Google Scholar
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Use one general subject database to locate 2 journal
articles that pertain to your topic
Use one subject specific database such as
Anthrosource (Anthropology) to locate 2 journal articles
that pertain to your topic
Use the advanced search of Google Scholar to locate
2 journal articles that pertain to your topic
Print the citations and abstracts (you should have 6)
Becoming familiar with major
journals in a field Assignment 2A
Examine a copy (published within the past 3 years)
of five of the journals listed
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American Journal of Sociology
American Sociological Review
Contexts
Electronic Journal of Sociology http://www.sociology.org/
Journal of Progressive Human Services
Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare
Prison Legal News
Race and Class
Social Forces
Social Science and Modern Society
Answer the following questions about each journal:
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Publisher
Is this publication refereed or peer reviewed
Intended Audience
Relevance to field of Sociology
Describe the advertisements
Describe the book reviews (if applicable)
Becoming familiar with reference
works in a field
Assignment 3A
 Select a topic
Find a relevant passage in a subject encyclopedia
Find a relevant passage in 2 other books located in the
reference area of the library
Write a short statement of the scope of these reference materials
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Find 2 scholarly journal articles on your topic
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Find one book title related to your topic
Find two websites relevant to your topic
Cite all these using correct APA format
Improving Analysis Skills
Assignment 4A
Looking Beyond the Headlines (courtesy of Lindsey LaPlant, SJFC)
 Find an article in the popular press or newspaper that
refers to a piece of research in psychology.
 Locate the original research in the scholarly literature.
 Describe your search strategy.
 Compare the popular literature’s description of the
research with the actual research.
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Was the original research portrayed accurately in the
popular literature?
Describe the similarities and differences.
Improving Analysis Skills
Assignment 4B
Moving beyond an overview of your topic (CQ Researcher)
 Locate a report in CQ researcher that is older than 5 years.
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Read the Outlook section of this report.
Describe the most recent research on this topic. That is, bring the
report up to date.
Was CQ researcher accurate with respect to future directions?
Did events or “breakthroughs” occur that challenge the accuracy of this
report?
 Examine the Chronology
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Update the chronology
 Look at the Pro/Con debate section of the CQ report.
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Would any arguments be different in light of new information or
historical events within the past 5 years?
Describe how arguments and conclusions might be the same or
different
Citation Mechanics
Assignment 5A
Practice proper citation format
 Select a topic
 Use an electronic database to locate 6
scholarly journal articles in your field
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Prepare an annotated bibliography
Prepare a works cited page
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Use APA format
Citation Mechanics
Assignment 5B
 Learning to use NoodleBib (citation software) APA Style
 Create a NoodleBib account.
You must use a library computer to create your account.
Once you have established a username and password, you
may access NoodleBib remotely off the library page.
 Convert Assignment 5A to a 6 paragraph paper.
 Use your topic as the title.
 Paste all 6 paragraphs of your annotated bibliography into
NoodleBib
 Save your work in your NoodleBib account and in one other
place
 Cite the source for each paragraph
 Prepare a Works Cited page
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