Quick Intro to Library Research

Sociology of YouthSOCI 2221

Jeff LilburnPublic Services LibrarianMount Allison University Libraries & Archives

Today’s Class

• How/where to search for:–Newspaper and magazine articles– TV and Radio news/program transcripts–Blog posts

• Search strategy and keyword selection

To search for a newspaper or magazine or journal

• Use the Mt.A Library Catalogue to find out which newspapers and magazines are available in print in the Library or in digital format in a full-text library databases.

• You can also use Journal Finder to find out if a newspaper or magazine is available in digital format in a library database.

To search for articles (and more)

• Individual articles published in newspapers, magazines and journals are not indexed in the Library Catalogue.

• Indexing of news articles (and in some cases, transcripts of TV and radio news broadcasts, blogs, and other sources) is provided by the databases listed on the Indexes and Databases by Subject: News page.

Where to start

• LexisNexis Academic, Eureka.cc, Canadian Newsstand, CBCA and Alt-Press Watch (the latter three are accessible via ProQuest) are good places to start when searching for media materials such as newspaper and magazine articles and news transcripts.

Canadian Newsstand (ProQuest)

Canadian Newsstand Major Dailies• Includes major city & national papers such as:

Montreal Gazette, Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald, Globe & Mail, National Post, Toronto Star

Canadian Newsstand Atlantic• Includes Atlantic region papers, including papers

from Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John.

CBCA Complete (ProQuest)

• Includes titles such as Canadian Dimension, This magazine, The Tyee, older issues of Adbusters, and more (over 500 periodicals and daily news sources, plus indexing to another 1,100 titles)

AltPress Watch (ProQuest)• Access to approx 200 independent and

grassroots newspapers, magazines, and journals.

• Includes titles such as Mother Jones and UTNE, transcripts to various NPR shows, but not many Canadian titles

• Canadian topics are still covered. Example:quebec and student and (protest* or demonstration*) = 500 items

Eureka.cc

• Includes Canadian and International news sources, blogs, TV transcripts (CBC and CTV), Radio transcripts (CBC As It Happens, World at Six) and more.

• Small local papers such as the Sackville Tribune-Post

LexisNexis Academic

• Canadian, U.S. and international news sources• TV & Radio News Transcripts, including: ABC,

CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, Fox, CTV and NPR • Blogs (including NYTimes blogs)• Can browse “Sources” and limit to “Canada”

and “News” to see a list of Canadian newspapers, magazines & journals, etc.

• Can limit search to editorials & opinions

Search Tip

• Combine keywords using “Boolean Operators”– Use AND to retrieve resources with all terms– Use OR to retrieve resources with any terms– Use NOT to eliminate unwanted terms

Example:quebec and (youth or students) and (protests or

demonstrations) not violence

Search Tip

Truncation Symbol• $ in the Library Catalogue• * in most library databases• ! in LexisNexisExample:

Canad* will find: Canada, Canadian, Canadians, Canadiana, canadien…

Beyond AND, OR, & NOT: NEAR/n

Use to find documents containing two search terms, in any order, within a specified number of words apart.

– Example (ProQuest): youth N/3 activism

Note: this operator varies from one database to another:

Eureka.cc uses %n. Example: youth %3 activism

LexisNexis uses W/n. Example: youth W/3 activismalso: W/s same sentence; W/p same paragraph

Keyword SelectionKeyword selection matters. Search strategy matters.

Keyword Selection

• Don’t rely on just one or two searches• The first words used to describe a topic are

probably not the only words you could use to search for information on that topic

• Take time to think about other ways to search for information on your topic (to find items that were not retrieved the first time)

• The sources you find first or most easily may or may not be the best sources for your topic

One word can make a differenceEureka.cc search limited to blogs: (youth or student) %3 demonstration* AND

quebec = 22 documents (youth or student) %3 protest* AND Quebec =

124

One word can make a differenceEureka.cc search limited to blogs: (youth or student) %3 demonstration* AND

quebec = 22 documents (youth or student) %3 protest* AND Quebec =

124 (youth or student) %3 (protest* or

demonstration* or strike* or march) AND Quebec = 188

How to Get Help

• Ask me: jlilburn@mta.ca• Research Help Desk– In Person: Mon.-Thurs. 9:00-5:00 & 6:30-10:00;

Fri. 10:30-4:30; Sun. 1:00-4:30– Email: infodesk@mta.ca– Live Chat: Chat link on the Libraries’ home page– Phone: 364-2564

Keyword Selection

Sample essay topic:

Discuss the depiction of the poor in the works of American playwrights.

What are the relevant keywords?

Keyword Selection

Sample essay topic:

Discuss the depiction of the poor in the works of American playwrights.

What are the relevant keywords?

Keyword Selection

Sample essay topic: Discuss the depiction of the poor in the works

of American playwrights.

However…Keyword search:

poor and american and playwrights = 0 items !

Keyword SelectionWhat to do…Try using synonyms, related words (broader or more

specific), variant spellings (theatre, theater), etc.

In other words: try to account for the various ways different authors may express the same or similar ideas or topics.

Keyword SelectionOur original keyword search:

poor and american and playwrights = 0 items

Using synonyms and related words:(poor or poverty or class) and (america$ or united

states) and (play$ or drama or theatre or theater) =

44 items!

How to Evaluate Search Results

• Do the resources you have found fit your requirements?– Evaluating Information

How to Use Information

• Writing Guides• Citation Guides