Assignments for the First and Second Year That Build Research and Information Literacy Skills

PETALWinter WorkshopJanuary 9, 2007

Marianne SimmonsLavery Library

Research Skills

Developing a search strategy

Becoming familiar with major journals

Becoming familiar with major reference works

Improving analysis skills

Citation mechanics

Developing a Search Strategy

Topic Map Using Databases

General Databases Subject specific databases Google Scholar

TOPIC Or

RESEARCH QUESTION

CONCEPT

Break topic into major concepts

CONCEPT

Find synonyms and combine concepts to form a search statement

CONCEPT

SEARCH STATEMENT

Look in the subjectthesaurus of

databases to findsubject headingsor descriptors in

place of keywords

Assignment 1A Topic Chart (courtesy of Kim Davies SUNY Geneseo

Should marijuana be legal in the US?

legal* behaviormarijuana

SEARCH STATEMENTmarijuana OR cannabis

AND legal* ANDbehavior OR harm OR

policyMEDLINE THESAURUS

Marijuana OR cannabis

Assignment 1A Topic Chart

DATABASES

•Academic Search Premier•Proquest Research Library•Medline•Sociological Abstracts•CQ Researcher•Science Direct

Using DatabasesAssignment 1B

Using General Databases, Subject specific Databases and Google Scholar Use one general subject database to locate 2 journal

articles that pertain to your topic Use one subject specific database such as

Anthrosource (Anthropology) to locate 2 journal articles that pertain to your topic

Use the advanced search of Google Scholar to locate 2 journal articles that pertain to your topic

Print the citations and abstracts (you should have 6)

Becoming familiar with major journals in a field Assignment 2A

Examine a copy (published within the past 3 years) of five of the journals listed

American Journal of Sociology American Sociological Review Contexts Electronic Journal of Sociology http://www.sociology.org/ Journal of Progressive Human Services Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare Prison Legal News Race and Class Social Forces Social Science and Modern Society

Answer the following questions about each journal: Publisher Is this publication refereed or peer reviewed Intended Audience Relevance to field of Sociology Describe the advertisements Describe the book reviews (if applicable)

Becoming familiar with reference works in a field Assignment 3A

Select a topic

Find 2 scholarly journal articles on your topic

Find one book title related to your topic Find two websites relevant to your topic Cite all these using correct APA format

Find a relevant passage in a subject encyclopedia

Find a relevant passage in 2 other books located in the reference area of the library

Write a short statement of the scope of these reference materials

Improving Analysis SkillsAssignment 4A

Looking Beyond the Headlines (courtesy of Lindsey LaPlant, SJFC)

Find an article in the popular press or newspaper that refers to a piece of research in psychology.

Locate the original research in the scholarly literature. Describe your search strategy. Compare the popular literature’s description of the

research with the actual research. Was the original research portrayed accurately in the

popular literature? Describe the similarities and differences.

Improving Analysis SkillsAssignment 4B

Moving beyond an overview of your topic (CQ Researcher)

Locate a report in CQ researcher that is older than 5 years. Read the Outlook section of this report. Describe the most recent research on this topic. That is, bring the

report up to date. Was CQ researcher accurate with respect to future directions? Did events or “breakthroughs” occur that challenge the accuracy of this

report? Examine the Chronology

Update the chronology Look at the Pro/Con debate section of the CQ report.

Would any arguments be different in light of new information or historical events within the past 5 years?

Describe how arguments and conclusions might be the same or different

Citation MechanicsAssignment 5A

Practice proper citation format Select a topic Use an electronic database to locate 6

scholarly journal articles in your field Prepare an annotated bibliography Prepare a works cited page

Use APA format

Citation MechanicsAssignment 5B

Learning to use NoodleBib (citation software) APA Style

Create a NoodleBib account. You must use a library computer to create your account.

Once you have established a username and password, you may access NoodleBib remotely off the library page.

Convert Assignment 5A to a 6 paragraph paper. Use your topic as the title. Paste all 6 paragraphs of your annotated bibliography into

NoodleBib Save your work in your NoodleBib account and in one other

place Cite the source for each paragraph Prepare a Works Cited page