Research Methods 1

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RUES 710 Colloquium Professor Robert Jenkins
October 29, 2008

• Research Methods
• Nadia Zilper
• Curator. Slavic East European Collections and
  the Andre Savine Collection
• Department Head. Global Resources and Area
  Studies Collection Development
• nz_at_unc.edu
• http//www.lib.unc.edu/cdd/crs/international/slavi
  c/index.html
• University Library. University of North Carolina
  at Chapel Hill

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What do researchers do?
Find answers to questions What has
happened When it happened How it happened What
caused it What effect it had on society and/or
individuals From different perspectives
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Todays Topics
Part I Types of research materials Primary
sources Secondary sources Materials formats 3
universes of information Tools for finding
monographs and periodicals (bibliographic
information) Tools for finding articles
(bibliographic information) Full text
databases Where to begin? Part II Evaluation of
web resources Web sites Part III Practice session
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Part I. Types of Research Materials
Primary Sources A primary source is firsthand
testimony or direct evidence concerning a topic
under investigation. See more about primary
sources at http//www.library.yale.edu/ref/err/pri
msrcs.htmPRIMDEF

• Types of Primary Sources
• Original archival materials (documents)
• Published documents
• Diaries
• Memoirs
• Correspondence
• Travel accounts
• Maps
• Other

• Formats of materials
• Books
• Serials, periodicals
• Visual materials (photographs, films,
  paintings, drawings)
• Microforms (microfilm, microfiche,
  microopaque)
• Maps
• Scores
• Sound recordings
• Computer files (electronic)

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Part I. Types of Research Materials
Secondary Sources Secondary sources are
'descriptions of the event derived from and based
on primary sources.' Helen J. Poulton, The
historian's handbook (Norman, OK University of
Oklahoma Press, 1972), p.175-76. http//www.librar
y.yale.edu/ref/err/primsrcs.htmPRIMDEF

• Types of Secondary Sources
• Monographs
• Articles
• Web pages
• Other

• Formats of materials
• Books
• Serials, periodicals
• Visual materials (photographs, films,
  paintings, drawings)
• Microforms (microfilm, microfiche,
  microopaque)
• Maps
• Scores
• Sound recordings
• Computer files (electronic)

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Part I Three Universes of Information
Controlled Universe of Information
WorldCat over 1billion records held in
thousands of libraries around the world
ENDECA default
Online Library Catalog http//www.lib.unc.edu
materials available locally
Classic Catalog Use for materials published in
Ciryllic
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Library of Congress Transliteration
http//www.indiana.edu/libslav/slavcatman/trrus.h
tml
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Part I. Types of Materials in Digital Format.
Semi-controlled Universe of Information
Stand alone e-Journals free access and
Stand alone e-books free access and
Aggregators mostly
Commercial Databases mostly , some free access
Bib. information only
Bib. Information abstracts
E-journals
E-books
Full text
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Part I Three Universes of Information
Uncontrolled Universe of Information
Internet Web Sites
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Part I. Where to Begin?Searching For Monographs
in Library Catalogs

• Compile a Bibliography (list of materials
  relevant to your topic)
• Objective is to find Library of Congress subject
  headings pertinent to your research in UNC Online
  Catalog WorldCat.
• Think about sources that you already know (check
  syllabus, ask teacher).
• Find this title(s) in UNC Online Catalog
  WorldCat.
• Click on subject headings, do not forget to
  record them in your electronic file.
• Examine titles under this subject heading, find
  pertinent materials, check if there are more
  relevant subject headings, continue process.
• Read text and build vocabulary of terms, personal
  names, organizations and geographic names. This
  will be useful for searching databases.

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Part I. Where to Begin?Transliteration and
Library of Congress Name Authority

• LC Transliteration Tables http//www.indiana.edu/
  libslav/slavcatman/sltrans.html
• LC Romanization Tables http//www.loc.gov/catdir
  /cpso/roman.html
• 58 variations of transliteration of the last name
  ?????? (KHRUSHCHEV ?ccording to the Library of
  Congress transliteration system)

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Part I. Where to begin? LC Authority

• Library of Congress Form of Personal Names
• Maiakovskii or Mayakovsky?
• Library of Congress Authority http//authorities.l
  oc.gov/ look under Name Authority Headings
• Library of Congress Form of Corporate Bodies
• KGB or Komitet gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti? Or
  something else?
• Library of Congress Authority http//authorities.l
  oc.gov/ look under Name Authority Headings
• Library of Congress Subject Headings
• Look in UNC-Chapel Hill Online Catalog
  http//www.lib.unc.edu/webcat/index.html

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Part I. Where to Begin? Searching Techniques in
Electronic Bibliographic D-bases

• ABSEES (American Bibliography of Slavic East
  European Studies) contains bibliographic
  citations for journal articles, books, book
  chapters, book reviews, dissertations, and
  selected government publications
• Search by keyword or by LC subject headings (use
  vocabulary accumulated during work with Online
  Public Access Catalog and WorlCat and while
  reading identified texts in your area of
  interest)
• Analyze why records were retrieved and if they
  are pertinent to your research.
• Click on subject headings in retrieved records
  this d-base uses sort of Library of Congress
  subject headings
• Harvest subject terms of this particular database
  and use these d-base specific terms for narrowing
  down your searches. Use these terms with various
  terms found in readings.
• Historical Abstracts includes a targeted
  selection of hundreds of journals in the social
  sciences and humanities that are of special
  interest to researchers and students of history
• Use the same strategies as in searching ABSEES

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Part I. Where to Begin? Searching in Electronic
Full-Text English-Language Databases with Slavic
Subject Content

• Use Article Linker
• Provides access to full text articles hosted by
  other databases
• Article Linker functionality was added to all
  EBSCO bibliographic databases (NCLIVE and
  non-NCLIVE)
• Academic Search Premier Via EBSCOHost NCLive
  Covers popular and scholarly journal articles
  with many full-text articles.
• Academic OneFile - contains over 8,000 academic,
  trade, and general-interest journals, some Full
  Text
• JSTOR Via JSTOR - Contains Full Text JSTOR
  provides searchable .pdf files of important
  scholarly journal literature in nearly all the
  humanities and social sciences disciplines,
  international and foreign areas studies, and many
  of the sciences. Excludes most recent 2-5 years
  of currently available journals
• Project MUSE - full text of more than 40
  journals in the humanities, social sciences, and
  mathematics published by The Johns Hopkins
  University Press
• GenderWatch - full-text collection of
  international journals, magazines, newsletters,
  regional publications, special reports and
  conference proceedings devoted to women's and
  gender issues
• Transitions Online (TOL) is a source for
  in-depth analysis on all 28 countries of Central
  and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and the former
  Soviet Union

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Part I. Where to Begin? Searching in Electronic
Full-Text Russian Language Databases
Universal Database of Russian CIS newspapers,
newswires government and legal publications
Social Sciences d-base, and military
publications. Contains Full Text. Search in both
English and Russian Russian/CIS Statistical
Publications - Contains Full Text This database
contains electronic versions of publications from
the major Russian statistics agency Goskomstat
Rossii and its regional statistics agencies,
Statkomitet SNG, and statistical agencies of the
former Soviet Union (statistical yearbooks,
monthly analytical reports, regional statistical
information, and annual statistical abstracts).
Kodeks Legal Database - Kodeks Database is a
major source for Russian legislation comprising
hundreds of thousands of documents going back to
1991. It includes legislative acts issued by
approximately 200 executive, legislative, and
judiciary bodies in Russia. Access is provided to
current legislation as well as to outdated laws
and by-laws. This database is of great value to
business people, legal experts, researchers, and
everyone involved in economic cooperation with
Russia both at the state and regional
levels. Russian National Bibliography A
comprehensive bibliographic product of Russian
printed works from the governmental body, the
Russian Book Chamber. The Universal Database of
Russian National Bibliography (UDB) provides
bibliographic access to books, newspapers,
journals, book criticism and reviews, the arts,
sheet music, dissertations and maps. The UDB
covers publications by 21,500 publishers.
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Part I. Where to Begin? Searching in Electronic
Full-text D-bases for Books
ebrary Academic Complete Collection includes
more than 30,000 current e-books from leading
publishers. SpringerLink Via Springer-Verlag
- Contains Full Text This database includes
hundreds of journals and thousands of books from
one of the world's largest and most prestigious
publishers netLibrary Via NCLive - Contains
Full Text NetLibrary contains ebooks and audio
books.
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Part I. Where to Begin? University Library
Website

• University Library Website http//www.lib.unc.edu
  
• Subject Guides
• Tutorials
• Slavic East European Collections at UNC
  Chapel Hill Libraries http//www.lib.unc.edu/cdd/c
  rs/international/slavic/
• Guides

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Part I. Where to Begin? Overview

• Select a topic
• Think about sources you already know (check
  syllabus, ask teacher)
• Learn vocabulary that is pertinent to your topic
• Learn the administrative and political structures
  of the country during the time period that you
  are studying
• Find and write down Library of Congress subject
  headings useful for your research
• Establish LC FORM of personal and corporate names
• Use LC subject terms and forms of the names in
  searching d-bases
• Use various search terms and combinations of
  terms for the same subject.
• Remember that spelling of names in non-Roman
  script can vary (transliteration)
• Analyze results
• Develop searching strategies for specific
  databases
• Always have a thumb drive handy so you can
  download information that you find
• Use RefWorks

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Part II. Using Internet for Research

• OAIster is a union catalog of digital resources
  (Open Archive Initiative) http//oaister.umdl.umic
  h.edu/o/oaister/
• GOOGLE-books http//books.google.com/
• The World Wide Web Virtual Library. Russian
  History Index
• http//vlib.iue.it/hist-russia/sources.html
• Shers Russian Index http//bookmarks.yahoo.com
• Login RusIndex
• Password Pushkin1837

• OAIster is a union catalog of digital resources
  (Open Archive Initiative) http//oaister.umdl.umic
  h.edu/o/oaister/
• GOOGLE-books http//books.google.com/
• The World Wide Web Virtual Library. Russian
  History Index
• http//vlib.iue.it/hist-russia/sources.html

• OAIster is a union catalog of digital resources
  (Open Archive Initiative) http//oaister.umdl.umic
  h.edu/o/oaister/
• GOOGLE-books http//books.google.com/
• The World Wide Web Virtual Library. Russian
  History Index
• http//vlib.iue.it/hist-russia/sources.html

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Conclusions

• Understand in what universe of information
  searching is conducted
• Develop searching strategy accordingly
• Use relevant vocabulary, language and appropriate
  forms of personal, geographic and corporate names
  for each universe
• Approach findings critically
• Record your searches in electronic format
• Use RefWorks or Endnote to record your research
  OR
• Create a bibliographic web site or MS-Word files
  for your research projects

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Part III. Evaluation of Websites

• Credibility
• Who is the author? (look for a word about)
• Is there contact information?
• Bias - see the Library Web site
• Accuracy
• What are the criteria for text selection?
• Is the source of text or audiovisual material
  cited?
• What text encoding standards were applied?
• Currency and maintenance
• When was the last update made? If not available
• In Netscape, click on "View," and then "Page
  Info."
• In Internet Explorer, click on "File," then
  "Properties." At the bottom is a "Modified" date.
• Look for other clues in the text
• Do the links work?

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Part III. Evaluation of Websites

• Relevance - see the Library Web site
• Web site organization and design
• Is organization of the web site logical?
• Is navigation easy?
• Can you easily get to desirable information (with
  approx. 3 clicks)?
• Is there an archive of journal/newspaper issues?
• Is there a search mechanism available?
  With/without help?

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Practice