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Welcome to the Colby-Sawyer College
Information Literacy Tutorial
This tutorial is designed to teach you how to start your research,
how to find the best sources and how to properly cite them.
Please send all feedback to Carrie Thomas, College Librarian
cathomas@colby-sawyer.edu
This tutorial was modeled after the
Pilot Information Literacy Tutorial
Healey Library, U Mass., Boston.
http://www.lib.umb.edu/WebTutorial/
Many thanks to them for allowing us to use it.
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Choose a Tutorial
Getting
Started
Obtaining
Materials
Help
Finding
Books
Finding
Articles
Citations & Evaluation
Plagiarism of Sources
Finding
Websites
Quizzes
See Blackboard
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Getting Started
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Getting Started with research
After completing this module,
you will be able to:
State a Topic
Refine a Topic
Identify Keywords and Concepts
Create Search Strategies
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Begin Chapter One
CONTENTS
• Select a Topic
• Refine a Topic
• Develop a Research Question
• Organize a search strategy
• Refine or limit a search
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Beginning your Research
A research topic should be:
•Manageable : Do some preliminary investigative work to see if
there's too much (or too little) information on the topic you've
selected.
•Related to your personal interests : Choose a topic
related to your personal interests. It's likely that you'll put more
effort into researching a topic that piques your curiosity and more
effort can mean a better grade.
Selecting a topic:
Usually your professor will assign a topic to research. However,
there are times a professor will ask that you select a research topic
of your own. This can be difficult if you don't have any direction.
Here are some tips to help you get started,
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Get your feet wet!
If you are just starting research in a totally new area, you
might want to get some background information on the
field first. You can investigate sources such as these for
ideas:
 CQ Researcher
 Subject Encyclopedias
 Websites
 World InfoZone
 Hot Paper Topics
 Speech and Term Paper Topics
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REFINING A TOPIC
When refining a topic you need to think about the
scope of your subject. If you are writing a short
or medium length paper you can not cover a
huge topic adequately.
If your topic is too broad, you will be
overwhelmed with information: Conversely, if
your topic is too narrow you will be frustrated
trying to find information.
Ask yourself these questions:
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Too Broad or Too Narrow
Is my topic too broad?
Too Broad
Narrower
Prevention programs for
domestic abusers
Domestic abuse
Psychological impact of abuse on
children
Abuse and teenage mothers
Is my topic too narrow?
Too Narrow
What is the effect of cigarette
advertising on anorexic
teenage girls?
Help
Broader
Cigarette advertising and
teenagers
Advertising and body image
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Exercise in Determining Scope
How widespread is drug Too Broad
abuse among
Too Narrow
adolescents today?
Manageable
How does trade affect
the economy?
Too Broad
Too Narrow
Manageable
What is the average air
speed velocity of the
un-laden swallow?
Too Broad
Too Narrow
Manageable
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Developing a Research Question
State your topic in the form of a question so it’s easier to identify the
main concepts
Research Question
What health effects are associated
with polluted drinking water?
Main Concepts
•Health effects
•Water
•Pollution
Try this fun exercise in finding the main topics!
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Exercise In Finding The Main Topics
How many college
Alcoholism
students are engaged in Binge Drinking
binge drinking today?
College Students
How does education
play a role in reducing
the recidivism rate of
juvenile offenders?
What have been the
results of various sign
language experiments
with chimpanzees?
Help
Juvenile Education
Gang Violence
Recidivism
Sign Language
Animal Testing
Monkey Brains
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To be sure you have located all the resources available on
a topic, check for synonyms of your main concepts
Water
•Rivers
•Lakes
•Oceans
•Bays
•Harbors
Pollution
•Pollutants
•Waste
•Sewage
•Runoff
•Acid rain
•Oil spills
Risk Factors
•Disease
•Reactions
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Further Refinement
These techniques work in most databases and on the web
Phrase Searching
Use “ ” or select as a phrase in a pull down
menu.
Examples: “acid rain” , “Martin Luther King”
Nesting
Use Parentheses ( ) to nest search terms.
Example:
(bay or harbor) and pollution
Truncation
Use a symbol to search work variants.
Truncation symbols vary but the CSC Library
catalog uses the *
Examples:
Pollut* = pollution, pollutants, polluting
Limiters
Often you can limit your results by date, type
of publication (article, dissertation), language
or other factors
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Congratulations!!
You are done with this chapter!
Please exit to the Blackboard
site to review the quiz questions.
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Finding Books
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Finding Books
After completing the chapter you will be able
to:
 Discover what books the Library owns by searching the online catalog
 Understand several ways to locate books.
 Learn Title and Subject searching
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THE LIBRARY CATALOG
A Library Catalog is a database of the books, newspapers,
magazines and journals ( NOT articles) the Library owns.
This catalog, like the other web based tools we will show
you, is available 24/7.
See the
Library
Catalog
link
upper
left
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This is the opening page of the CSC Library Catalog.
"All Title Browse" is the first choice offered but you can
search by author, subject or other variables by clicking on
the arrow.
There are many ways to search the catalog... click here to
see....
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SELECTING A SEARCH METHOD
These are some of the options available on the Basic Search screen.
Choose...
Title - (Browse or Keyword)
Author - (Browse or Keyword)
Serial Title - (Browse)
Subject - (Browse or Keyword)
If you know a title of a book
If you know an author of a book
If you're looking to see if the library
subscribes to a periodical
If you need to look for a subject
We will focus on these 2 search techniques:
•Title
•Subject
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Doing an All Title Browse search for the word "environment" brings up 25
titles where the word environment is the first significant word in the title
(ignoring the initial A, An or The in a title).
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All the information
you need to find the
book on the library
shelves
and to cite it in a
bibliography is listed
here.
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The section of
the library
where the
book is
shelved
See
explanation
of call
numbers
later
If book is checked
out the date due back
will appear here
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A Title Keyword search for "environment" produces 236 results.
As you can see - the word "environment" may occur anywhere in the title,
not as just the first word.
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Let's try another type of search.
If you don't know the title of a book but want to find any books about a topic You can do a Subject Keyword Search
You will use this search when looking for books on a topic or subject.
When you run a subject keyword search for the words "violence" and "mass
media" - you come up with a list of 13 titles the library owns that have those terms
in the titles or subject headings - let’s see how that works…
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Let’s look at title # 2 – “Where do you draw the
line?”
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When you click
on the title, the
catalog record
shows that the
book is
available.
The left hand side of the
page gives you the
opportunity to look at more
titles by this author or other
books in related subjects.
Clicking on Mass media censorship
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Brings you to 4 other titles, two of which did not show up in the earlier search!!
In this way you can move around in the catalog finding other titles that may be
useful to you.
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CALL NUMBERS
Every book in the CSC Library has a unique number assigned to it. Think of that "call
number" as the address that allows you to locate the book.
A call number is actually a code of letters and numbers used to identify the subject matter of
a particular item, and its exact location on the shelf.
The material in the CSC Library is classified according to the Library of Congress (L.C.)
Classification System.
Click here for a brief look at an outline of the "L.C." classification system
The call number can be found on a label on the spine of a book. It will look something like
this:
QA
General Subject Area
76.64
More Specific Subject Area
.S72
Author Or Title
1996
Year Published
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In order to locate a book, you must understand how the numbers are filed.
In the examples below, the call numbers are arranged as they would be on the shelf from left to right....
Find the classification letter, then the number:
Q
Q
QA
QA
101
115
76
76.64
.M39
.S82
.H67
.N497
1985
1975
1992
1986
The second section of the call number is the Cutter number which is used to indicate the author or title.
Cutter numbers (like classification numbers) are filed first alphabetically, then numerically.
However, since they follow a decimal point - they are in decimal order.
Help
LA
LA
LA
LA
278
278
278
278
.B6
.B615
.B69
.C7
1992
1989
1985
1976
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Congratulations!!
You are done with this chapter!
Please exit to the Blackboard
site to review the quiz questions.
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Finding Articles
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Finding Articles
After completing this module, you will be able to:
1. Identify a popular magazine and a scholarly journal
2. Learn where to find periodical indexes and how to choose which one to
use
3. Use periodical indexes to find articles on a topic
4. Find the articles and journals in the CSC Library
.
Contents
•What are Periodicals?
•Scholarly Journals vs. Popular Magazines
•Using Indexes to locate articles
•Print Indexes
•Deciphering index information
•Finding Articles using Citation Information
•Requesting Articles from Other Libraries
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WHAT ARE PERIODICALS?
Colby Sawyer College Library subscribes to 600 periodicals in paper format
and has access to another thousand or so in electronic format.
Periodicals include journals, magazines and newspapers that are published at
regular or periodic intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.).
Articles provide:
•Up to date information
•Information specific to your topic
•Research studies
•Opinions on current issues
•References to other sources
•Current Statistics
•Book, film and music reviews
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Scholarly Journals vs. Popular Magazines
Scholarly Journals
•Are written by scholars in a
particular field
•Have bibliographies and/or
cite sources
•Report original research
(not personal opinions)
•Use a specialized vocabulary
•Are often "peer reviewed" or
“refereed” which means
approved by a group of
experts
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Popular Magazines:
•Are targeted toward a general
audience
•Often have a good deal of
advertising
•Rarely include references to
other works
•Written by journalists and staff
writers
•Can include opinions on
current issues
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Popular Magazine
Article Titles
•Try to catch the
reader's attention
•Are often short and
funny
•Can sound like a
newspaper headline
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Scholarly Journal
articles:
•Tend to be more specific
•Can be quite long
•Describe the subject being
discussed
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How do I tell the difference?
•
Scholarly Journals often have titles that include the words: Journal,
Quarterly, Studies, Review, Bulletin
•
Sometimes you need to look though the periodical to determine it's nature.
Quiz: Scholarly vs. Popular magazines
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Scholarly vs. Popular
A scholarly journal is one that is read mostly by specialists
in the field
True
False
Is the “New England Journal of Medicine” considered a
scholarly or a popular journal?
Scholarly
Popular
“US News and World Report” is considered…?
Scholarly
Popular
“Rolling Stone” is considered…?
Scholarly
Popular
“Quarterly Review of Sociology” is considered…?
Scholarly
Popular
You will need to use an index to locate an article on a particular topic...
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USING ONLINE INDEXES TO LOCATE JOURNAL ARTICLES
What is an online periodical index?
•Gives you keyword access to the articles published in journals
•Lists the basic information you need to find the article and to
cite it in a bibliography or footnote (Journal Title, Article Title and
Author, Volume, Date, Page Numbers)
•Sometimes includes an abstract or summary of the article and
sometimes includes the full text of the article.
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Finding the right
index:
•On the Information
Resources Library
Homepage click
on "Online
Databases"
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Clicking on the "Online Databases" link
Opens this page listing all the databases the library
carries
Each entry has a brief explanation of the contents
of that database.
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PRINT INDEXES
Most online indexes have limited coverage - only the last 20
years or so.
Where do you look if you want to find??
* A journal article published during the Great Depression of
the 1930's ?
* A war correspondent's tales of World War II?
* A spectator's account of the Civil Rights protests of the
1960's?
Printed and bound journal indexes have been published since
the late 1800's so you can use them to find articles printed
over a century ago. These volumes can be found in the
Reference section of the library on the main floor.
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Examples of print indexes:
•Art Index
•Readers Guide to
Periodical Literature
•Book Review Index
Whether you are looking
in a print or online journal
index, the principles of
citation deciphering are
the same...
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DECIPHERING INDEX INFORMATION
Index entries come in three forms:
Basic Citation
Citation with Abstract
Citation with Full Text
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BASIC CITATION
Contains all the information you need to locate an article in the library
and to cite an article in a bibliography.
It includes basic information such as:
•article title
•author(s)
•journal title
•publication date
•volume and issue numbers
•page numbers
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CITATION WITH ABSTRACT
•Includes all the basic information as before plus a summary or abstract
(length and detail depends on the index or database)
•Abstracts help you determine if an article is really related to your topic.
They can also help you determine the scope of the article (scholarly,
opinion piece, etc.).
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CITATION WITH
FULL TEXT
•Includes all the
information as
before plus the
entire text and
sometimes all
photos from the
article.
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ACADEMIC
SEARCH PREMIER
Is one of the more
popular databases
or online indexes
The Basic Search
Screen has one
window to fill in with
a keyword or phrase
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Advanced
Search Screen
Gives you three
windows to fill in
with keywords,
author names,
journal titles, or
subject headings
Help
Click here to try the online EBSCOHost
tutorial
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IF IT'S NOT AVAILABLE IN FULL-TEXT - DOES
THE LIBRARY OWN IT?
Let's say you found the following citation in a
periodical index:
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Don't assume that because you are using one of our databases,
that we have every article listed. Periodical indexes don't always
tell you if the library has a particular journal. But, they do give
you all the information you need to find the article such as:
•Journal title
•Volume and date
•Starting page
With this information, you can search the CSC Library Catalog
to see:
•If the library currently subscribes to the journal
•If the library has back issues, including the one you need
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Search the Library Catalog
•Use the "Serial Title Browse" search function to search for the journal title.
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The library owns "Conservation Biology" from 1994 to the present.
The December 2003 issue you need will be shelved on Level 1
Learn what to do when the library doesn't seem to have
what you need...
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WHAT IF THE LIBRARY DOESN'T OWN IT?
The Colby-Sawyer College Library doesn't own every journal. If you
can't find a copy of the article
•Electronically in full-text
•Here in the library in paper or on microfilm
That doesn't mean you can't get a copy of the article.
You can:
1. Check with a Reference Librarian to see if there is another library in the
area that has the journal.
2. Request the article from Interlibrary Loan
You'll learn more about obtaining materials not held by the CSC Library in
chapter five: Obtaining Materials
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Congratulations!!
You are done with this chapter!
Please exit to the Blackboard
site to review the quiz questions.
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Finding Websites
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Finding Websites
After completing this module, you will be able to:
•Define the Internet and World Wide Web
•Successfully use Internet resources for research
•Evaluate Internet resources
Contents
•Internet Terminology
•URL Basics
•What's on the web?
•Search Engines
•Subject Directories
•The Invisible Web
•Subject Guides
•Web Site Evaluation
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INTERNET TERMINOLOGY
What is the Internet?
The Internet is a global network connecting millions of computers.
This vast network of networks permits its users to exchange
electronic mail, transfer files of texts, images, and sounds, and run
programs on remote hosts
.
What is the World Wide Web? The Web consists of files (called pages, home pages, or web
pages) containing links to documents and resources
throughout the Internet.
The Web relies primarily on hypertext as its means of information
retrieval.
What is a web page?
.
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A web page is a file that is viewable by a web browser.
It may contain links to other pages, images, sound files
A collection of web pages is usually called a web site.
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URL BASICS
Each page on the Web has a unique address called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
The URL gives you a general idea of where the resource originates and who is responsible for creating it.
The address also hints at the type of resource and whether or not it will be of value to you.
Let's look at the following sample URL, which is the address for the library's resource page:
http:// www.colby-sawyer.edu /information/index.html
1
2
3
1.. Protocol
All Web addresses begin
with http which stands for
HyperText Transfer Protocol,
the set of standards used by
computers to transfer
hypertext files (Web pages)
over the Internet.
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URL BASICS
Each page on the Web has a unique address called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
The URL gives you a general idea of where the resource originates and who is responsible for creating it.
The address also hints at the type of resource and whether or not it will be of value to you.
Let's look at the following sample URL, which is the address for the library's resource page:
http:// www.colby-sawyer.edu /information/index.html
1
2
3
2. Domain
This section identifies the computer on which the
Web page is located. From this information, you can
determine the entity which supports that computer, as
well as the general type of organization that entity is.
www indicates that this computer is acting as a Web
server.
colby-sawyer is the college's domain name
edu is the top level domain - it tells us what type of
organization is running the website
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URL BASICS
Each page on the Web has a unique address called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
The URL gives you a general idea of where the resource originates and who is responsible for creating it.
The address also hints at the type of resource and whether or not it will be of value to you.
Let's look at the following sample URL, which is the address for the library's resource page:
http:// www.colby-sawyer.edu /information/index.html
1
2
3
3.. Path
The last part of the URL is the path . The domain has
identified one computer out of the millions of computers
connected to the Internet, but it's the path that pinpoints one
specific file on that computer.
In our example, the path is information/index This tells us
that we are looking in a directory (or folder) on the host
computer called "information" and the filename is '"index"
The . html is known as a file extension and tells us what type
of file it is. In this case, it's a hypertext file (web page).
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Below are four major categories of Web sites which can be
distinguished by the top-level domain.
DOMAIN
ADDRESS
.edu=
http://www.harvard.edu
WEBSITE
educational institution
.com=
http://www.microsoft.com
Commercial site
.org=
http://www.ama-assn.org
Organization or
association
.gov=
http://www.fbi.gov
Federal government site
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There are other less-common top-level domains as well, such as
.mil (military) and .net (network access provider).
And some new domains coming into use:
.biz (businesses) and .museum
You will also occasionally see two-letter codes at the end of the
domain. These are country codes, which have been assigned to
identify and locate files stored on host computers in countries
around the world. Some examples:
.ca = canada
.uk = united kingdom
.de = germany
.mx = mexico
.au = australia
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What’s on the web
The web is currently estimated to contain billions of documents. It is not
indexed in any standard vocabulary (unlike a library's catalogs which
assign Library of Congress subject headings to their documents).
This fact can make finding relevant information very difficult.
The web is useful if you are searching for…
•Government information: state, national, and international
•Statistics; brief reports; and studies
•News and current events; press releases
•Information on educational institutions, companies, and non-profit
organizations
•Directions, schedules, addresses and phone numbers
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How do you find a relevant web
site?
Unless you already know the address
or URL of a web page, you will
have a hard time finding what you
need on the web.
To find information, you need a
search tool. These search tools
allow you to search or browse the
web in a variety of ways.
Types of Search Tools
Search Engine
Subject Directory
Invisible Web
Subject Guide
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SEARCH ENGINES
A Search Engine is a program that searches documents
for specified keywords and returns a list of the
documents where the keywords were found.
Use a search engine when...
•You have a narrow or obscure topic or idea to research
•You are looking for a specific site
•You want to search the full text of millions of pages
•You want to retrieve a LARGE number of documents
on your topic
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Search Engine Characteristics:
Searches the full-text of selected Web pages
•Search by keyword
•No browsing, no subject categories
•Databases compiled by "spiders" (computer-robot programs) with
minimal human oversight
•Size varies from small and specialized to over 90% of the
indexable Web.
Popular Search Engines:
Google
Alta Vista
Hot Bot
Ask
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SEARCH ENGINES - SAMPLE SEARCH
More search engine tips...
•Different search engines will give you different results. Try
more than one.
•Use + in front of a word or phrase that must be included in
your results, or a - in front of words that you don't want to be in
your results.
•If you are looking for a specific phrase, enclose it in quotation
marks.
Search Format Examples:
"victorian literature"
+"Martin Luther King Jr." +childhood
+bass -fishing
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GOOGLE search
engine
The Google search
engine is one of the
most powerful tools
for searching the
web.
It will list the web
sites that are the
most popular (the
ones with the most
links to them) first.
These are usually
the higher quality
web sites.
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Other Search
Tips:
If you are
searched for
pictures try
clicking on the
"Images" tab in
Google
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If you get
too many
results try the
Advanced
Search
Screen
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SUBJECT DIRECTORIES
A Subject Directory is a service that offers a collection of links to
Internet resources submitted by site creators or evaluators and
organized into subject categories.
Directory services use selection criteria for choosing links to
include, though the selectivity varies among services.
Most directories include a search engine mechanism to query the
service.
You should use a subject directory when...
•You have a broad topic or idea to research
•You want to see a pre-selected list of sites on your topic that are
recommended or annotated by experts
•You want to avoid viewing low-content or low quality documents
that often turn up on search engines
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Subject Directory Characteristics:
Hand-selected sites picked by editors, more or less carefully
•Organized into hierarchical subject categories
•Some directories are annotated with descriptions
•Browse subject categories or search using broad, general terms
Popular Subject Directories
Yahoo
About.com
Librarian's Index
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INVISIBLE WEB (SEARCHABLE DATABASES)
You should use the invisible web when.. .
•You want dynamically changing content such as the latest news, job postings, available airline
flights, etc.
•You want to find information that is normally stored in a database, such as phone book listings,
directories of lawyers, collections of laws, etc.
•
The CSC library subscribes to many databases that will lead you to articles, statistics, marketing
information and other research needs. See the links under “Online Databases”
For further explanations of the Invisible Web –
see the Berkeley tutorial at:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/InvisibleWeb.html
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SUBJECT GUIDES
Web pages of collections of hypertext links on a subject
You may locate subject guides with searches in both subject
directories and search engines.
You should use a subject directory when...
•You want a list of sites that have been compiled and evaluated by
"expert" subject specialists.
•We have compiled a list of subject directories useful to CSC students
under:
" Research Links" on the library's web site
Other Subject Guides
•
Help
Argus Clearinghouse
•
Suite 101.com
•
Academic Info
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HOW TO EVALUATE WEB INFORMATION
Unlike journal articles and books that go through an editorial process and
peer review, anyone at a computer can publish a Web site. To critically
evaluate a site, do the following:
Determine the site's purpose
•Is it to inform, to present opinions, to report research or sell a product?
•For what audience is it intended?
Identify the site's author
•Are qualifications, experience, and/or institutional affiliation given?
•Look for a "Contact Us" button or a homepage link to identify the web site's
author(s)
•Determine who supports the site.
government sites end in ".gov"
non-profit organizations end in ".org"
university sites end in ".edu"
commercial sites end in ".com"
Information from a site labeled with the domain names ".org" or ".edu"
may provide a different viewpoint than information from a site labeled
".com" will.
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Consider the site's authority
•Does the web site contain documented facts or personal opinion?
•Beware of personal pages - those with a ~ (tilde) in the URL.
•Are sources of information cited? Does the site look as if it's been created by
a professional (no typos, spelling errors or messiness)?
•Has the information on the page been transcribed from another source? If
yes, this indicates second-hand information; check the original source. Did you
get to this site via a link from a site you know and trust?
Check the site's timeliness
•Is the content up to date? Is the date of creation or most recent revision
clearly shown?
•Are all the links on the page current or are there many dead ends?
Consider the site's content
•What aspect of your topic does the site not cover? Can you use this site to
support a position you plan to take in your paper?
•How are the links on the site's pages relevant and appropriate to the purpose
of the site?
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EXAMPLES OF GOOD & BAD WEBSITES
EXAMPLE ONE: SMOKING AND HEALTH
Role of Media in Tobacco Control
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00030959.htm
Who is the authoring agency and what is their authority?
Secondhand Smoke: the Big Lie
http://www.smokingsection.com/issues1.html
Who is the authoring agency here?
EXAMPLE TWO: AIDS
Gender and HIV/AIDS
http:www.genderandaids.org
The United Nations is a trustworthy author on this topic
True But Little Known Facts about Women and AIDS
http://147.129.226.1/library/research/AIDSFACTS.htm
Be sure to scroll to the bottom!
Thank you to Susan E. Beck at New Mexico State Univ.
for providing these examples
See her web page for more information on evaluating web sites
and other examples of good and bad sites.
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You are done with this chapter!
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site to review the quiz questions.
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Obtaining Materials
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Obtaining Materials
After completing this module, you will be able to:
•Locate materials not held by the Colby-Sawyer
Library.
•Request materials through Interlibrary Loan.
•Find other libraries from which you can borrow
materials.
•Identify people and places for assistance.
Contents
•Obtaining Books not in the Library
•Obtaining Articles from Journals not in the Library
•Library Consortia
•Library & Reference Hours
•Off-Campus Access to Library Resources
•Location of Library Materials
•Key Library Departments
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Locating Books
Can’t find the books you need?
Don’t worry!
You have many options
Interlibrary Loan
ILL works with a national network of libraries to order copies of articles
from periodicals and books unavailable at the CSC Library.
There is no cost for this service for faculty, staff and students.
Most orders take two weeks, though some may take longer.
Fill out an ILL form at the Reference Desk (main floor),
or online at :
http://www.colby-sawyer.edu/information/library/index.html
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Other Area Libraries
If you want to go to another area library to get a book, start by searching the
area libraries’ catalogs. Choose Other Library Catalogs from the CSC Library
Homepage. The NH state catalog as well as other catalogs are listed there.
Check the status of the book to be sure it is available.
The CSC Library is a member of a state-wide university library consortium
described at the end of this module. You may borrow books from any of the
NHCUC libraries with a valid CSC student ID card. Regulations and restrictions
will vary at each school.
Library of Congress
There is a link to the Library of Congress on the CSC Library homepage as well.
Although you may not borrow books from the Library of Congress, it is the
world's largest library and you may use the catalog to investigate what is
available in your subject area. If you find any titles you would like to read, you
may fill out an ILL form (either in paper in the library or online) and the library
staff will try to borrow it from another library for you.
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Locating Articles
If you need a copy of an article
Check the CSC library catalog to see if we carry the journal.
If not, you may fill out a paper Interlibrary loan form
at the reference desk or an online form .
Some items to consider:
•It will take 2 days to 2 weeks to get the article, depending on which library
owns it and whether they email, snail mail or fax the photocopy to us.
•Make sure you fill out the form as completely as possible. We need:
Journal Title
Article Author and Title
Volume number and Date of journal
Pages numbers of article
ILL requests that are lacking some of this information may take longer to
process and fill.
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If you found an article during one of your EBSCOHost
searches
(see Chapter 3 of this tutorial)
You simply click on the interlibrary loan link under the article
citation to fill out the ILL form there. The form will come to the
library via email once you click "Submit" and the library staff
will try to obtain it for you.
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New Hampshire College and University
Council
Colby-Sawyer College is part of a state wide consortium of colleges
and universities. A current CSC student, faculty member or staff
member may borrow books at any of the colleges listed below with a
valid CSC ID card. Loan periods and other regulations are set by
each library. There is a free van service to return books to a library if
you are unable to return them in person.
•Daniel Webster College
•Franklin Pierce College
•Keene State College
•New England College
•Southern NH University
•Plymouth State University
•Rivier College
•Saint Anselm College
•UNH - Durham
•UNH - Manchester
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Library Hours
MONDAY - THURSDAY
8 am - 11 pm
FRIDAY
8 am - 9 pm
SATURDAY
10 am - 9 pm
SUNDAY
10 am - 11pm
Click here for extended finals period hours, vacation hours, summer
or holiday hours or call: 526-3685
For other questions, you may call:
Reference Desk: 526-3687 Circulation Desk: 526-3685
You may email us a question: reference@colby-sawyer.edu
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LOCATION OF LIBRARY MATERIALS
DEPARTMENT
LOCATION
PHONE
Archives
Main Floor (level 3)
526-3687
Audio Visual materials Level 2
Circulation
Main Floor (level 3)
Curriculum and
children’s materials
Level 2
Interlibrary Loan
Main Floor - Reference
Microforms
Level 1
Periodicals
Levels 1, 3, 5
Reference
Main Floor (level 3)
Reserves
Main Floor - Circulation 526-3685
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526-3685
526-3687
526-3687
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You are done with this chapter!
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site to review the quiz questions.
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Citations & Plagiarism
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Citations & Plagiarism
After completing this module, you will be able to:
•Identify the components of a bibliographic citation
•Recognize a variety of citation styles
•Create footnotes and bibliographies for your work using
citation style manuals
•Avoid plagiarism
Contents
•Plagiarism
•Avoiding Plagiarism
•Quoting & Paraphrasing
•Citations
•Citation Styles
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PLAGIARISM
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Research skills enable you to effectively locate and
evaluate relevant information.
However, you need to remember to give credit for
the information you use in your assignments.
When you forget to cite your sources, you are
guilty of plagiarism.
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What is Plagiarism?
•"To take ideas from another and pass them off as one's own." -Webster
•Submitting someone else's work (in whole, part, or paraphrase) as
one's own without fully and properly crediting the author.
•Submitting as one's own, original work material that has been
produced through unacknowledged collaboration with others.
What is Cybercheating? (Hint: It's another form of Plagiarism)
•Cutting and pasting someone else's webwork and submitting it as
your own.
•Downloading essays, papers, speeches etc. from the web and turning
them in as your own.
•Buying essays, papers, speeches etc. from the web and turning them
in as your own.
Plagiarism in the Headlines
Colby-Sawyer Policy on Academic Honesty
Do you know what Colby-Sawyer's policy on academic honesty is?
Click here to read about it in the Student Handbook (p.16).
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RECENT PLAGIARISM HEADLINES
•
Title: Failure to credit others’ words breaks cardinal rule.
Author(s):
Source: Baltimore Sun ;01/08/2006
(Sun columnist, Michael Olesker, resigns after 27 years at the newspaper)
•
•
Title: UMKC dean is put on leave after plagiarism accusation
Author(s): Kavita Kumar
Source : St. Louis Post Dispatch; 06/22/2005
(Dean at Univ. of Missouri is accused of lifting significant portions of a
commencement address from other writers)
•
Title: Psychiatry professor is being investigated.
Author(s):
Source: BMJ: British Medical Journal ; 01/07/2006, Vol. 332 Issue 6
(Two medical journals have retracted articles they published by Dr. Raj Persaud
after allegations of plagiarism)
So how do you avoid plagiarism?
Let's go to the next page and see...
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AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
How Can I Avoid Plagiarism?
Pay Attention. Be a careful writer. Make sure you are presenting your own ideas
and give credit to others when you use their ideas.
Ask for Help. Talk to your teachers about what constitutes plagiarism. If you have
questions, take specific examples.
Cite Information Accurately . Make sure you follow the proper citation manual for
your assignment. The manuals have tons of examples for you to follow. If you don't
have a manual, go to the library or look on the web. All the manuals are in those
two places.
Plan Ahead. Don't wait until the last minute to research and write a paper. This is
when people make mistakes and may plagiarize unknowingly. This is also when
people might be tempted to purchase papers online or get a friend to write a
speech.
Be Strong. If you see others cheating, have courage to tell them it is wrong.
Plagiarism hurts us all as students, scholars, and members of the CSC community.
Try this interesting plagiarism quiz!
To effectively avoid plagiarism, you need to learn the principles of quoting and
paraphrasing
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Is This
Plagiarism?
Yes
No
Yes and No
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Is This
Plagiarism?
Yes
No
Yes and No
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Is This
Plagiarism?
Yes
No
Yes and No
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QUOTING & PARAPHRASING
Quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
are three methods that allow you to
ethically incorporate another author's
writing into your research, as long as
you cite your sources accurately.
Remember these guidelines...
•
Quotations must match the source
word for word. They must be
attributed to the original author.
•
Paraphrasing involves putting a
passage from source material into
your own words. A paraphrase must
be attributed to the original source.
•
Summarizing involves putting the
main idea(s) into your own words,
including only the main point(s).
Summarized ideas must be attributed
to the original source.
When you quote, paraphrase, or borrow
someone else's ideas for a research
paper you must cite your sources .
Careful documentation takes time and can
be a real bore to do, but there's no
ethical way to avoid it
To use quotes or paraphrases in your
work you need to understand citations
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CITATIONS
What is a citation?
A citation is information about a resource.
It is the key for finding and identifying the article or book.
It always includes:
•Author
•Title
•Date of Publication
•Publisher or Journal name
Citations vary depending on the type of resource.
For example, citations of book chapters include the chapter title and book title.
Article citations include the article title as well as the journal name.
Citations do two things:
1. Give credit to a source.
2. Provide the information you need.
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Where can you find citations?
Everywhere!
You'll find them in: books, articles, websites, on-line
and print indexes.
Typical citations include footnotes, bibliographies,
works-cited pages, parenthetical references
Let’s look at some citation styles now
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CITATION STYLES
There are lots of style manuals to choose from.
Talk to your instructor to determine the appropriate
citation format before you start your research paper.
Style manuals including the Blair Handbook may be
found at the Reference Desk and the Circulation Desk.
There are also numerous online guides to citation style.
Here are the most commonly used style manuals...
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For term papers in the Social
Sciences and Sciences:
Publication Manual of the
American Psychological
Association, (2001).
Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association.
CALL NUMBER: REF BF76.7 .P83
American Psychological Association
Citation Examples
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For term papers in the
Humanities:
Gibaldi, Joseph.
MLA Style Manual and
Guide to Scholarly
Publishing . New York:
Modern Language
Association of America,
1998.
CALL NUMBER: REF PN147
.G444 1998
Modern Language
Association Citation
Examples
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Another popular style guide:
Turabian, Kate L.
Manual for Writers of Term
Papers, Theses, and
Dissertations . Chicago:
University of Chicago Press,
1996.
CALL NUMBER: REF LB2369
.T8 1996
Turabian Style
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Electronic Citation Style
Walker, Janice R. and Taylor,
Todd.
The Columbia Guide to Online
Style .
New York: Columbia University
Press, 1998.
CALL NUMBER: Reference
PN171 .F56 W35 1998
Columbia Guide to Online Style
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Citation Machine
This link will take you to a web
site where your citations will be
formatted for you.
Citation Machine
The next (and last) chapter will help you
evaluate your sources. You are almost done!!
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Congratulations!!
You are done with this chapter!
Please exit to the Blackboard
site to review the quiz questions.
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Evaluation of Sources
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Evaluation of Sources
After completing this module, you will be able to:
•Evaluate information that you find in print sources
•Evaluate information that you find on the Web
•Learn to apply evaluation criteria
Contents
•Why Evaluate?
•Evaluation Criteria
•Evaluating Periodicals
Newspapers & Popular Magazines
Opinion Magazines
Trade Journals
Scholarly Journals
•Evaluating Web Sites
•Web Evaluation Example
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WHY EVALUATE?
When you do research, you want to find the best information to
support your ideas. This requires careful evaluation of the
information.
Evaluate information...
•To find the most relevant information for your assignment.
•To add quality and reliability to your research.
•To find expert views, opinions, and research on your topic.
•To weed out unreliable, biased, and incorrect information.
•To make sure you get the information your professor is seeking.
There are some specific things to look for when you
examine information...
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EVALUATION CRITERIA
Apply the following evaluation criteria to all types of information
(print, broadcast, and Web).
Authority
Currency
Scholarly
Objectivity
Relevancy
Primary vs.
Secondary
Help
Identify whether the authors are experts in their field. You
may need to check biographical sources, to see if your author
is a recognized authority, such as: Biography Index, Who's
Who, or Contemporary Authors. For web resources, identify
the website's sponsor (university, company, organization, or
individual)? Determine if the source contains a bibliography;
this may indicate that the author incorporates research
published by others.
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EVALUATION CRITERIA
Apply the following evaluation criteria to all types of information
(print, broadcast, and Web).
Authority
Currency
Scholarly
Objectivity
Relevancy
Primary vs.
Secondary
Help
Current information is important, especially in the sciences,
unless you are doing historical research. What year was the
work from your source produced? For web resources,
determine when the site was last updated.
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EVALUATION CRITERIA
Apply the following evaluation criteria to all types of information
(print, broadcast, and Web).
Authority
Currency
Scholarly
Objectivity
Relevancy
Primary vs.
Secondary
Help
Note the source where the information appears. Is it a
scholarly journal? Does it include a bibliography? Is the book
publisher a university press or other reputable publisher?
Check review sources such as Book Review Index, or the
online Literature Resource Center. Check Literary Market
Place for questions about a publisher.
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EVALUATION CRITERIA
Apply the following evaluation criteria to all types of information
(print, broadcast, and Web).
Authority
Currency
Scholarly
Objectivity
Relevancy
Primary vs.
Secondary
Help
Use reasonably presented information. Does the source
material appear accurate and balanced, or is it heavily biased
in one direction or another?
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EVALUATION CRITERIA
Apply the following evaluation criteria to all types of information
(print, broadcast, and Web).
Authority
Currency
Scholarly
Objectivity
Relevancy
Primary vs.
Secondary
Help
Make sure the level of information is appropriate for your
research. Is it directed at a specialized or general audience?
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EVALUATION CRITERIA
Apply the following evaluation criteria to all types of information
(print, broadcast, and Web).
Authority
Currency
Scholarly
Objectivity
Relevancy
Primary vs.
Secondary
Help
Primary sources are sometimes required in your research.
These are firsthand, or original records of events including:
diaries, letters, artwork, data sets, statistics, survey results,
or case studies. The secondary aspect of sources comes into
play when there is interpretation, analysis, or restatement of
these events or materials in order to explain them.
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EVALUATING PERIODICALS –
NEWSPAPERS & POPULAR MAGAZINES
First you need to identify the type of information
you need for your assignment, then find the
appropriate publication in which to find this
material.
Press Space Bar
Newspapers & Popular Magazines
•Written by journalists who sometimes consult
with experts
•Include coverage of current events and hot
topics, often broad in treatment, and easy to
read
•Usually include advertising and illustrations,
and may be attractive and entertaining
•Do not usually provide references (i.e. a
bibliography)
•Can be a source of useful background
information, particularly when there is little other
information on a topic available elsewhere
•Not scholarly
Help
Most news oriented
magazines and
newspapers try to
present unbiased
information. If you
are looking for
opinions, you may
want to try an
opinion magazine
such as Christianity
Today and The New
Republic .
Next Slide
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EVALUATING PERIODICALS - OPINION
MAGAZINES
Opinion Magazines
•Fall between popular and scholarly
periodicals
•Intended for the educated reader, but
not necessarily the scholar
•Opinions or viewpoints on cultural or
political affairs, usually with particular bias
•Good for comparing points of view. Look
at a review of the same book in both The
Nation and The National Review to see
vast differences of opinion.
Opinion magazines typically have a
narrow focus
Let’s learn more about scholarly journals, the
most important type of journal for college
assignments…
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EVALUATING PERIODICALS SCHOLARLY JOURNALS
Scholarly journals are often required
for academic assignments.
•Articles are written by experts
•Often include reports of original
research
•May be "peer-reviewed" or
"refereed," meaning the articles have
gone through a critical selection
process by scholars in the field
•Often include an introductory
abstract
•Include citations and bibliographies
•Considered primary source material
if presenting results from the author's
original research
Try this exercise on choosing your sources!
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Topics and Types of Periodicals
Match the topic with the source that will provide the most appropriate
information
For a review of a current
movie
Scholarly journal
Newspaper or popular magazine
Opinion magazine
For original research on
college students and
stress
For research on medical
treatments for AIDS
Scholarly journal
Newspaper or popular magazine
Opinion magazine
Scholarly journal
Newspaper or popular magazine
Opinion magazine
For a conservative
article on the ethics of
cloning
Scholarly journal
Newspaper or popular magazine
Opinion magazine
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Topics & Types of Periodicals
Note : Please be aware that the journal categories we just
covered are somewhat arbitrary. You still need to use your own
critical skills to distinguish between editorials, letters, reviews, and
research material, regardless of the category of journal in which
the information appears.
Evaluation Tool : Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory
(Reference Desk - Z6941 .U56)
Lists important information about periodicals (ISSN number,
publisher, subscription price, etc.) and it often lists the category
(scholarly, trade, etc.) that best describes the periodical.
It also has a list of refereed or peer reviewed journals.
Let’s move on with a discussion of different
types of web sites…
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EVALUATING WEB SITES
Like periodicals, most web sites fall into several major
categories :
 Advocacy
 Business
 News and Entertainment
 Federal Government
Advocacy: Organizations or
associations attempting to influence
public opinion. Facts and figures may
be biased by the position of the
organization. Be sure to check when
the site was last updated to ensure that
the figures are up to date. Mostly useful
for analyzing the organization in
question.
 Education
 Personal
Help
Domain is usually .org
Ex. Amnesty International
(www.amnesty.org)
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EVALUATING WEB SITES
Like periodicals, most web sites fall into several major
categories :
 Advocacy
 Business
 News and Entertainment
 Federal Government
Business : Commercial sites often provide
information, perhaps with bias, and with the
larger motive of selling you something.
Domain is usually .com or .biz
Ex. Sun Microsystems
(http://www.sun.com)
 Education
 Personal
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EVALUATING WEB SITES
Like periodicals, most web sites fall into several major
categories :
 Advocacy
 Business
 News and Entertainment
 Federal Government
 Education
News or Entertainment: Company or
organizational attempt to provide current
information as a public service. These sites
typically include advertisements and may ask
you to subscribe for full access. Sites may
also provide games, music, movie reviews,
etc.
Domain is usually .com
Ex. CNN
(www.cnn.com)
 Personal
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EVALUATING WEB SITES
Like periodicals, most web sites fall into several major
categories :
 Advocacy
 Business
 News and Entertainment
Federal Government Information :
These sites tend to present factual
and statistical information. Graphics
are usually at a minimum and
specific facts may be difficult to
tease out of the site.
 Federal Government
 Education
Domain is .gov
Ex. United States Census
(http://www.census.gov)
 Personal
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EVALUATING WEB SITES
Like periodicals, most web sites fall into several major
categories :
 Advocacy
 Business
 News and Entertainment
 Federal Government
 Education
 Personal
Help
Education: These are sites hosted
by a school, college or university.
Best place to look for information on
that institution, its sports teams,
faculty, students. May also have links
to course syllabi, bibliographies,
online databases, etc.
Domain is .edu
Ex. Colby-Sawyer College
(www.colby-sawyer.edu)
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EVALUATING WEB SITES
Like periodicals, most web sites fall into several major
categories :
 Advocacy
 Business
 News and Entertainment
 Federal Government
 Education
 Personal
Help
Personal : Individual home
pages are usually for the
promotion of individuals, their
ideas, hobbies or their work which may be entertaining,
informative, or useless. Use
with caution!
Domain is usually .com or .edu.
URLs often contain a tilde ~
(http://http://home.att.net/~peter
spages/alcohol2.htm/~andy.brou
wer/ennio.htm)
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WEB EVALUATION
Let’s look at some websites and apply
the criteria we have been discussing
We have picked three web sites on the same topic,
ENCRYPTION. Look at each web site listed below and
try to answer the questions posed
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Click on the url listed below and answer these questions:
Spacebar
for questions)
Who is the author?(Press
Clicking
on the Home
Icon takes us to a
page that indicates the authoring agency is a new media
organization that publishes a newsletter.
Why are there so many ads? As a commercial web site, they
need to generate income – does this compromise what they
publish?
Is this information biased? You would need to check some
other sources – web pages, encyclopedias, etc. to determine if
this info is accurate.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/encryption.htm
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/politics/special/encryption/encryption.htm
Look at this site from the Washington Post – it
contains articles from the newspaper and can be
used (and cited) as you would any other
newspaper article.
Would you expect this article to be biased?
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http://www.crypto.com
Now look at this web site
from a Univ. of Penn.
professor.
He may know his stuff,
but finding a specific piece
of info on this site will be a
challenge.
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Congratulations!!
You are done with this chapter!
Please exit to the Blackboard
site to review the quiz questions.
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Here are examples of some
of the interesting
subject encyclopedias at the
CSC Library
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