Research Skills

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Research Skills

• English 101
• Professor Saffioti-Hughes

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Goals for research

• Become familiar with research process
• Learn to search Library catalog
• Learn to search appropriate online databases
• Discern difference between magazines, scholarly
  journals, peer reviewed articles
• Become acquainted with Web resources and how to
  evaluate

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Things you should know to help you through your
research

• Understand that research is a process
• It may take a large portion of the time you
  devote
• to your assignment or project.
• How to build your research question
• How to locate the sources you need

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Steps in library research

• Pre-research
• Determine the information requirements
• for your assignment or project
• Find background information on your topic
• Build the question
• What do you want to say about your topic?
• Analyze the question
• Conduct the search
• Evaluate results

Repeat all steps as necessary
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Preresearch
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Determine the requirements of your assignment
Do you need information from a certain type of
publication? journals magazines newspapers governm
ent publications

• What type of assignment?
• Essay, report, research
• paper,oral presentation
• How much information do you need?
• an article
• a few books
• articles and books

Do you need information from a certain time
period? Current news sources, scientific
journals, etc. Older articles, historical
perspective
Do you need particular information
formats? statistics facts definitions opinions/edi
torials
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Consult all available sources

• Professors
• Recommended sources?
• Recommended subtopics?

• Textbooks
• Background information
• on your topic?
• Bibliographies or
• additional readings?

Assignments/syllabi Guidelines or specifics for
your assignment?
Classmates How are they approaching their
topics?
Librarians Recommend research strategies?
Recommend specific reference books? Construct
database searches? Locate resources?
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Building the usable question

• from General

I have to write a paper on obesity
adults
who
what
diet
where
obesity
topic
United States
when
the present
why
cause and effect
how
American lifestyle
to Specific
I want to write a paper on how the American
lifestyle contributed to the obesity epidemic
among American adults.
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Research question

• How has lifestyle contributed to agrowth in
  obesity among American adults?

• Key concepts
• obesity
• lifestyle
• adults

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Choose synonyms

• obesity
• overweight
• body fat
• weight
• unhealthy

• lifestyle
• activity
• exercise
• sedentary
• diet

• adults
• people
• Americans
• men
• women

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Combining search terms using
OR

• AND

• Broadens search
• Increases search
• results

• Narrows search
• Decreases search
• results

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lifestyle and obesity
Intersection
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adults or people
UNION
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Truncation

• Use
• child
• to retrieve
• child
• children
• childhood

Now were ready to search the Library catalog!
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Log onto the Librarys home page from the UWP
home page, or . . .
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. . .Log on to the Library home page directly
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Beyond the library catalog

• The UWP Library catalog will tell you what
  magazines, journals
• and newspapers the library keeps on the shelves.

• Databases tell what
• articles
• authors
• subjects
• are published in
• individual issues.

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database A large, regularly updated store of
digitized information (citations, abstracts,
full-text, directory entries, images, statistics,
etc.) organized for ease and speed of search and
retrieval. Most library databases are periodical
indexes or abstracting services.

• UW-Parkside Library has over 60 databases
  covering all academic disciplines

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Types of databases

• Index/Abstract databases
• Search fields within records
• Retrieve records and abstracts
• that lead to print articles

• Full text databases
• May search fields within records
• May search full text of articles
• Retrieve full text of articles

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Types of documents indexed

• Government documents

Tables of contents
Web sites
Research papers
Conference proceedings
Reference books
Photographs/images
Periodicals Journals / Magazines / Newspapers
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Browse current periodicals

• Over 1500 print periodicals in UW-Parkside
  Library
• Access to thousands electronic journal
  subscriptions in full-text

Popular Magazines
Scholarly Journals
periodical A publication with its own
distinctive title, containing articles, stories,
or other short works usually written by
different contributors, issued in softcover more
than once, usually at stated regular intervals.
Includes newspapers, newsletters, magazines, and
journals. (ODLIS Online Dictionary of Library
and Information Science)
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Rules of thumb for periodicals
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Quick review

• Search online databases to find citations or full
  text articles
• Know the difference between magazines and
  scholarly journals
• Determine which periodicals are appropriate for
  your project
• Consult the UWP Periodicals List to determine
  UW-Parksides print and electronic access journal
  holdings

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Using the Web for Research

• Why?
• Need time sensitive information
• Looking for materials too expensive or difficult
  to publish in print
• When?
• Decide that the Web is best place to find a
  resource. Dont use the Web because its easy!

REMINDER! ! Not everything is on the web!
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Searching the Web

• Search engines locate web pages by a term or
  phrase.

Search Engines Google http//www.google.com Alta
Vista http//www.altavista.com MetaSearch
Engine Ixquick http//www.ixquick.com
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Evaluating Web Sites

• Not everything can be found on the Web and not
  every thing found on the Web is good. Important
  elements to look for on page include

• Authors name
• Authors organization or position
• Authors affiliation
• Date of page creation or version (check for
  last updated)
• Indicators of quality

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Information Quality

• Examine the source and judge it by the following
  criteria

• Credibility Do you trust the source and
  authors credentials? Is there evidence of
  quality control?
• Accuracy Is the information current? Factual?
• Reasonableness Do you feel the author is fair,
  balanced and objective? Does the author have a
  bias?
• Support Is there a bibliography? Did the
  author supply contact information? What kind of
  documentation is supplied?

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You be the judge!

• The addresss domain sometimes gives a clue about
  a web site, but not always. Examine the web sites
  below. Which is the spoof?
• http//www.whitehouse.gov
• vs
• http//www.whitehouse.org

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Is this the real White House web page
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Or is this the official White House web site?
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Thank you!