Carly Brake, Information Services Librarian SenecaYork Library

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Carly Brake, Information Services
LibrarianSeneca_at_York Library

• EAC 150
• Researching Authors

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Information Consumer Becomes Information Producer

• Starting your research
• References Sources
• Searching Databases
• -Journal, Magazine and Newspaper Articles
• Where else can you look? Other libraries to try!
• Internet Sourceswhats good out there?
• Citing Sources using MLA Style Guide

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Starting Your Research...

• 1. What kind of information am I looking for?
• 2. Where and how do I search for this
  information?
• 3. Once I have found some information, how can I
  tell if it is useful? How do I find more similar
  information? Evaluate!

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Basic Rules

• Know where to look.
• Not everything is online
• If you cannot find it in 20 minutes, ask for
  help at the Reference Desk
• Repeat, if necessary

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Beginning Your Research

• What kind of information am I looking for?
• Facts?
• Research?
• News?
• Current? Historical?

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Where can I find the information I am
looking for?
( Print / Paper/Electronic)

• Books
• Encyclopedias
• Directories
• Almanacs/Yearbooks
• Magazines/Journals/Newspapers
• Atlas

7. Internet/World Wide Web
Many sources are NOT online
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Sources of Information

• Sources of information are books, e-books,
  encyclopedia, directories, almanacs, articles
  from periodicals Internet sites.
• Current news, events, research periodicals such
  as newspapers, magazines, journals.
• Facts, definitions, summaries almanacs, atlases,
  dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias,
  handbooks, thesauruses, yearbooks.
• In-depth analysis of a subject bibliographies,
  biographies, guides, reports books.

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Sources of Information 2

• Journals
• - scholarly work
• - articles are written by experts in the field
  for a limited audience
• - abstract, keywords
• - references / bibliography
• - peer reviewed

• Magazines
• - popular work
• - written for layperson
• - glossy, coloured
• - many pictures and photographs
• - ads
• - available from supermarkets and convenient
  stores

VS.
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Sources of Information (3)

• Primary Sources
• Original document, contemporary account
• Autobiography
• Newspaper article reporting on an event
• Interview, speech
• Diary, letter, advertisements

• Secondary Sources
• Interpretation, summary of a primary source
• Biography
• Journal article
• Documentary
• Conference proceeding

VS.

• Tertiary Sources
• Interpretation, summary of secondary sources
• Encyclopedia, Dictionary

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What if you had to

• find information about the author
• Margaret Laurence

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http//library.senecacollege.ca
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Note how I am searching for Margaret Laurence as
a Subject. For works by him I can search by
Author. I can also search by Title or Quick
Search. I can also restrict my search by
location. Remember to invert authors name!
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Subject Search is very specific and you retrieve
items ABOUT the Author and their work.
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Request title to be brought to your campus
Citation information
Location
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What if you had to

• find information about the title
• That House in Manawaka Margaret Laurences A
  Bird in the House
• by Jon Kertzer

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Boolean

• AND - narrows a search
• Margaret Laurence AND Biography
• OR - broadens a search
• Margaret Laurence OR Canadian Writers
• NOT excludes specific terms
• Canadian writers and NOT Atwood
• or ? (wildcard) simplifies a search
• biograph biography, biographies,
  biographical
• phrase narrows a search
• Margaret Laurence

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Quick Practice

• Instructions
• Choose a topic you are interested in finding a
  book about
• Brainstorm one or two keywords you can use to
  search
• Find one book and one e-book by searching Seneca
  Libraries Catalogue.

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Start with a broad search. Refine if necessary.
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Try combining your authors name with other terms
using Boolean.
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Citation Information
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Reference Sources Online

• Biographygt Lives, The Biography Resource
• Encyclopediasgt The Canadian Encyclopedia Online
• Dictionariesgt The Concise Oxford Dictionary
• Reference Metasitesgt Oxford Reference Online

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Enter search terms in box
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Print Reference Sources

• Canadian Encyclopedia
• REF FC 23.C36 1999
• Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature REF PS
  8015.093 2001
• Canadian Whos Who REF FC25 .C35
• Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada REF
  PS8015.E53 2002

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http//www.tpl.toronto.on.ca
Anyone who lives, works or goes to school in
Toronto can have a TPL Library Card!
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Free Web
Information is business, and often, you get
what you pay for
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Bottom of the Research by Subject Literature page
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Evaluate!

• Authority/Credibility-Is there an author?, Who is
  the source of this information?
• Date-Is this info up-to-date?
• Bias- Is only one opinion presented?
• Relevant-Is this relevant to my research
  question?
• Reliable-Is the information supported with
  sufficient evidence? Is there a Bibliography or
  Works Cited page with references cited?

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www.whitehouse.org
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www.whitehouse.gov
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• When you find something, remember to cite your
  source every time!

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Plagiarism and you
According to the Seneca College Academic Policy,
plagiarism is
Plagiarism is using someone elses work (words,
images, ideas, phrases, signatures, or
computations) and presenting it as ones own,
instead of properly documenting every source.
(Office of the Registrar, 2005)
Office of the Registrar. (2005, September 29)
2005-2006 Academic Policy. Toronto Seneca
College of Applied Arts and Technology.
Retrieved November 7, 2005 from
http//www.senecac.on.ca/home/academic_policy/0506
_09_cheat.html
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And of Course...

• Ask for help at the Reference Desk
• 4164915050 Ext. 3038
• carly.brake_at_senecac.on.ca
• http//people.senecac.on.ca/carly.brake