PLS 201: Research Methods

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PLS 201 Research Methods

• Dr. Jungkun Seo
• Ms. Beth Kaylor
• Day 1

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Library Stats

• 1.5 million items
• Over 20,000 videos
• PBS Videos on NCLIVE
• Over 10,000 CDs
• Over 500,000 books
• Over 25,000 periodicals
• 1,600 physical/the rest online
• Books with JK or JX call number4,000.

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Getting Help

• Well teach you how to find and evaluate sources.
• We never know what youll ask!
• 21,000 questions last year
• Reference Desk
• 9am-9pm
• In person, phone, email, chat
• RAP
• NCKnows 24/7
• Ask a Librarian

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Technology

• My Library Record/PIN
• Database access
• EReserve
• Due dates, renewal
• Place holds
• Other Registrations
• ILLiad
• netLibrary
• Toolbar
• Ready access to library and UNCW web pages.
• Download to your PC/laptop

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Lit Review Choosing a Database

• Likely publication types?
• Book-length analysis
• Scholarly studies
• Current/contemporary reports
• How an event unfolded
• Partisan viewpoints
• News/opinion magazines, newspapers
• Government documents
• Polling data
• Statistics

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Books Where do you look?

• Randall Library Catalog
• Local and Consortium
• Place holds for UNCP FSU
• WorldCat
• 9,000 libraries
• Which libraries own
• ILLiad
• Internet sites
• Google Books
• Amazon/BN/Bookfinder/ABEBooks
• Book Reviews in periodicals

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Scholarly Studies

• Databases
• A-Z
• Subject
• Full-text or Index-Abstract?
• JStor, Project Muse, Wiley
• Public Affairs Information Service (Current
  Archive)
• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
• CIAO Columbia International Affairs Online
• Academic Search Premier (Ebsco)
• Limit to peer reviewed/Academic journals
• Google Scholar

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News Opinion Magazine Articles

• Academic Search Premier,
• What document type gets opinion?
• Opposing Viewpoints
• Ethnic Newswatch (until October)
• Alternative Press Index (Current Archive)
• Lexis-Nexis Academic

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Newspaper Articles

• Lexis-Nexis Academic
• Newspaper Source (Ebsco)
• ProQuest Newspapers
• New York Times (current archive)
• Americas Newspapers

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Finding articles Does the library have?

• Heaney, Michael T. and Fabio Rojas., Partisans,
  Nonpartisans, and the Antiwar Movement in the
  United States. American Politics Research 35
  (2007) 431-464.

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Finding articles Does the library have?

• Xenos, Michael and Amy Becker, Moments of Zen
  Effects of The Daily Show on Information Seeking
  and Political Learning. Political Communication
  26 (2009) 317-332.

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Database Exploration

• Answer 5 basic questions
• Pick a database
• Explore the scope
• Full-text or index/abstract?
• Document types?
• Articles, books, chapters, documents,
  dissertations?
• Subjects?
• Time period?
• Geography?
• Due Wednesday