Writing & Rhetoric Conventions: English 301Library Resources & How to Use Them

Do you have a research project?

No! Check your syllabus or talkto your instructor.

Yes! Do you have a subject/topic for your research project?

Do you understand what the assignment requirements are?

Yes! Take your subject andcreate your research statement/

question

No! Check your syllabus or talkto your instructor.

Perform background research

Identify key concepts from yourresearch statement/question

Use these concepts to create listsof keywords.

Use these keywords to search

Books: Griffin Catalogue

Articles: LibraryDatabases

Web

Evaluate your search results. DoYour sources support your researchstatement or answer your research

question?

No! Start the process over.Yes! Now you can start taking

notes on your research and work on an outline for your paper.

Take your subject andrefine your research statement/

question

Perform background research

Identify key concepts from yourresearch statement/question

Use these concepts to create listsof keywords.

Use these keywords to searchGriffin Catalogue for Books,

Library Database for Articles, and the Web

Where to Find Background Information1. Dictionaries

• New Oxford American Dictionary available online from WSU Libraries• Concise Oxford Dictionary WSU Holland & Terrell Reference

PE1628 .C68 2001 2. Subject Dictionaries

• Dictionary of World History WSU Holland & Terrell Reference D9 .D53 2006

• Dictionary of Sociology available online from WSU Libraries3. Encyclopedias

• Encyclopædia Britannica available online from WSU Libraries4. Subject Encyclopedias

• International Encyclopedia of Adolescence WSU Holland & Terrell Reference HQ796 .I58 2007v.1-2

• Religion and the Law in America WSU Holland & Terrell Reference KF4783.A68 M47 2007

• Encyclopedia of Beat Literature WSU Holland & Terrell Reference PS228.B6 E53 2007

• Encyclopedia of Body Adornment WSU Holland & Terrell Reference GN419.15 . D46 2007

5. Hey Karenann, what about Wikipedia? • Personally, I think Wikipedia is fine if you want some background

information for yourself. Would I use it as a source for a paper? No. Why not? Ask yourself this. Is the person who’s writing this entry in Wikipedia an expert in his or her field. If you can’t say yes to that question I wouldn’t use it in a paper.

Assembling Key Words & Their Synonyms1. Dictionaries

• New Oxford American Dictionary available online from WSU Libraries

• Concise Oxford Dictionary WSU Holland & Terrell Reference PE1628 .C68 2001

2. Subject Dictionaries• Dictionary of World History WSU Holland & Terrell Reference

D9 .D53 2006• Dictionary of Sociology available online from WSU Libraries

3. Thesauri• Roget’s International Thesaurus WSU Owen Reference

PE1591 .R73 2001• Cassell Dictionary and Thesaurus WSU Holland & Terrell

PE1625 .C37x 19994. Subject Thesauri

• International Children’s Rights Thesaurus WSU Holland & Terrell HQ789 .D55 2000

• Multilingual Thesaurus of Environmental Terms WSU Holland & Terrell Z695.1.E62 M85x 1997

Where to Find Articles: General Literature Databases

1. Academic Search Complete2. Alternative Press Index3. Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective4. Humanities Int’l Index5. Social Sciences Index6. Web of Science• Social Sciences Citation Index• Science Citation Index

These resources are all available online through the WSU Libraries Articles Indexes/E_Journals page http://www.systems.wsu.edu/griffin/indexes.htm26

Where to find Articles: Some Subject-Specific Databases

Sociology, Anthropology, &Psychology

1. Anthropological Literature

2. Child Abuse, Child Welfare, and Adoption Database

3. Human Population and Natural Resource Management

4. Social Services Abstracts

5. Sociological Abstracts

6. Post Traumatic Stress

7. PsycARTICLES

8. PsycCRITIQUES

9. PsycINFO

Area, Ethnic & Women’sStudies

1. Ageline

2. America: History & Life

3. Contemporary Women’s Issues

4. Eskimo Database

5. Ethnic NewsWatch

6. Handbook of Latin American Studies

7. Women & Gender

Where to find Articles: Some Subject-Specific Databases

Business & Economics1. Business Source

Complete2. EconLit3. INFORMS Pubs Onine4. Source OECS

Education1. Education Full Text2. ERIC

Sports Studies1. SportDiscus2. Sport Business

Political Science• Congressional Lexis-

Nexis• CQ Researcher

Online• ICPSR• Left Index• PAIS International• Worldwide Political

Science Abstracts

Selected Databases by SubjectHealth & Medicine

1. ASCO Abstracts2. CINAHL3. Cochrane Library4. PubMed

Earth & EnvironmentalSciences

1. AGRICOLA2. GeoRef3. ENDEX4. Energy Citations

Science• ACS Journal Search

(Chemistry)• ARIBIB (Astronomy)• BIOSIS (Life

Sciences & Biology)• Fish & Fisheries

World (Ichtyology & fisheries)

• Index to American Botanical Literature (Botany)

• SciFinder Scholar

Web Resources1. Style Guides

• WSU Libraries Handouts: Style Guides http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/electric/search/category_results.asp?loc=handouts&cat=style

• WSU Libraries Virtual Reference Shelf: Citing Sources http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/RefShelf/citing.html

• APA Style Tips: http://www.apastyle.org/styletips.html• Chicago Manual of Style Online:

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/home.html2. Evaluating Information Resources

• UC Berkeley: Critical Evaluation of Resources http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/instruct/guides/evaluation.html

• Cornell University: Critically Analyzing Information Sources http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm

Searching Databases & CataloguesSearching tips that you can use with any database or library catalogue.

Boolean Searching: AND, OR, AND NOT• Use AND to narrow/focus searches• Why? Databases and catalogues will retrieve record

where all terms connected with AND appear

• Use OR to expand searches• Why? Databases and catalogues will retrieve records

where either term connected by OR appears.

• Use AND NOT to limit a search to one term and at the same time eliminate another term• Why? For example, you are looking for research on

eating disorders but in men. Your search may look like this “eating disorders” AND NOT women

• Some databases use NOT for the same function• Use AND NOT/NOT judiciously. You may eliminate

something you need.

Searching for Variant Endings and Spelling• Truncation uses a symbol, usually an asterisk (*),

to retrieve variant endings of a root word.• Environment* will retrieve environments,

environmental, environmentalism.• The vast majority of databases and catalogues

use the * to truncate, but some databases use other symbols like # or ?

• Symbols like the ? or * can also be used to search for variant spellings or plural forms as well.• Colo?r will retrieve both color and colour• H?emophilia will retrieve both haemophilia and

hemophilia• Most databases use either the ? or * to indicate

a search for variant spellings, but some databases use other symbols like #.

Searching phrases• When searching any catalogue or

database enclose phrases in quotation marks.• Why? The default function in catalogues

and databases is AND. • If you are looking for articles on vitamin c,

and don’t put it in quotes, you get every record with vitamin and c. That doesn’t sound so bad until you find that article on Vitamin B12 by Jane C. Public, PhD.

Grouping Searches• When grouping terms together catalogue

or database use parentheses.• Why? Parentheses “force the order”. They

instruct the database/catalogue to search the set in parentheses first.• If you sat in algebra class and said, I’ll never use

this again…

• You can still search for phrases using quotation marks, and you can tie groups of parentheses together with AND, OR, AND NOT to create complex searches

Putting Searches TogetherA. What is your question? This can be assigned by

your professor or one your come up with yourself.

1. “I’m interested in the effect of vitamin c on the common cold.”

B. Form your search strategy:1. Collect your keywords/key phrases together.2. Identify synonyms for those keywords/key

phrases.• For example, some synonyms for “vitamin

c” include “ascorbic acid” and “ascorbate” • Having trouble finding synonyms, try a

dictionary, subject dictionary, or thesaurus.

Putting Searches Together3. Group synonyms together using parentheses and

connect them with OR• (“vitamin c” or “ascorbic acid” or ascorbate)• (“common cold” OR influenza)• Remember, put quotes around phrases

4. Tie concepts together with AND.• (“vitamin c” or “ascorbic acid” or ascorbate)

AND (“common cold” OR influenza)C. Test your search strategy. Does it work?

1. Yes? Well done!2. No? Try refining your search, simplify your

search. Check your spelling.• “vitamin c” AND “common cold”

Searching Tips & Tricks• At first, choose databases that suit your topic. • Be adventurous. Try databases that may not be

obvious choices. Studying effects of PCBs in the environment? Try medicine or zoology.

• Use your keywords in all of the databases you use, but keep an eye on the subjects and keywords that the databases use. This will help you build your search.

• If you can search one database you can use them all. • All databases use some kind of keyword search,

even those that have their own thesauri like PubMed and ERIC.

• Don’t limit yourself to just online, full-text articles. Use FindIt@WSU to find if the article is available in print.

Evaluating Information Sources1. Is this original information? An original source,

written or published close to the time of the event, is a primary source. A secondary source analyzes, deconstructs, and comments on the primary source.• The State of the Union Address published in the

newspaper the next day.• The Unibomber Manifesto published in the

newspaper• Whenever possible, get the primary source that

the secondary source is analyzing.2. Is the information balanced and objective? Be an

informed reader and know that there are publications out there have their own inherent biases-political or cultural, liberal or conservative. • Use a variety of sources to maintain balance.

Evaluating Information Sources3. Is this an authoritative source? Some

publications carry more weight because they contain article written by scholars in the field, and are reviewed by scholars in the field (peer-reviewed). 3. A good indication the weight of a publication is

how often is it cited?4. Note, scholars disagree. Consider opposing

viewpoints before accepting any scholar’s view blindly.

4. Is the information timely? With some topics, particularly those in medicine, you want the most current information possible. With other topics you want a balance between current and historical research

ReviewIn this class we have gone over:

• The research process• Formulating your research

question/statement• Finding background information• Using subject specific databases for

articles

• How to use subject specific databases.

• How to evaluate the resources you find.

Karenann Jureckikjurecki@wsu.eduYahoo IM: k.jurecki335-8217