The Secret of Success:

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The Secret of Success Using the Library for
College Writing
Updated July 24, 2008
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Why should you use the library?

• Everything is not on the Internet.
• Everything on the Internet is not reliable.
• Librarians can help you with your strategy.
• We have a Masters degree in how to find things.
• A large part of the grade for papers depends on
  how well you research your papers and what
  sources you use.
• The library has a large number of reliable
  resources, including books, journals, and
  online database subscriptions.

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Get Help from the Library

• Come to the reference desk, Helm Library 1st
  Floor.
• Email or IM the Library.
• Extended Campuses Online Classeswww.wku.edu/lib
  rary/dlps/ext_camp.htm

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Your Personal Librarian

• We have librarians who work with every
  department.
• Your personal librarian is an expert in the
  subject.
• You can make an appointment with a librarian any
  time you have a paper or presentation in
  class.
• Your personal librarian will meet with you and
  show you what you need to start the paper.
• You dont even have to be a major!
• Your Personal Librarian can save you time and
  help you get better grades!

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Borrowing Library Books

• Use your WKU ID card to borrow books for four
  weeks.
• If the book you want has been borrowed, you can
  have it recalled.
• We have laptops you can use anywhere in the
  library for two hours.
• Audio Tours of the library.
• Listen on an MP3 player from the Circulation
  Desk.
• Or download it onto your own MP3 player.

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Library Research Tools

• Library Catalog TOPCAT http//topcat2000.wku.eduB
  ooks, Sound Recordings, Movies, Journal Titles
• Web-accessible Databases www.wku.edu/library/deans
  office/online.htmLog in with E-mail Username
  Password for off-campus access
• Government Documents59 of documents published
  by the U.S. Government
• Departmental Research Guideshttp//www.wku.edu/li
  brary/tip/rsrchguides.html

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Visual Performing Arts Library (VPAL)

• 2nd Floor Cravens Library
• Books about Art, Music, Dance, Photography,
  Theatre, Fashion, Costume, Dress, Interior
  Design.

• Popular classical musical recordings.
• Movies on DVD and VHS.
• Lila Greene Listening Library.
• Private listening viewing room.
• Musical scores librettos.
• Reserves, including electronic reserves.

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Books Articles On Reserve

• If your professor puts a class reading on
  reserve, you can use it in the library for two
  hours.
• The main reserve area is located on the second
  floor of the Cravens Building in the Visual
  Performing Arts Library.
• Many reserve items for education classes are
  located at the Educational Resources Center.
• Some items are also available as electronic
  reserves through Blackboard.

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Teaching Tools at the Educational Resources Center

• Curriculum guides lesson plans
• Juvenile book collection
• Laminating service
• Ellison letter machine
• Educational games, puppets, manipulatives

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What Sources Do Professors Want?

• Primary resources

• Created by people who actually saw or
  participatedin an event, or recorded their
  reactions immediately afterwards.

• Secondary resources
• Created by someone not present when the event
  took place or removed by time from the event.

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Types of secondary resources that professors like

• Reference books, including subject encyclopedias
  and handbooks.
• Books
• Scholarly journal articles (peer-reviewed
  journals)
• Articles written by scholars in the field, rather
  than general magazines written by journalists
• Reliable Web resources from governments or
  scholars in the field.
• But be sure that you verify the information and
  make sure it is reliable.

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Popular Magazines vs. Scholarly Journals
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Popular (Non-Scholarly) Magazines

• These are the ones that you can buy at the store
  and take home Car and Driver, Time, Newsweek,
  Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Sports Illustrated.
• Their purpose is to entertain or to provide
  current news.
• Written by journalists rather than scholars.
• DO NOT USE these when you write a serious paper.

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Opinion Magazines

• Good sources to read to collect ideas for
  writing papers.
• Articles are written from a particular point of
  view (Liberal, Conservative, etc.)
• You can quote in a paper WITH CAUTION as long as
  you recognize that articles are NOT OBJECTIVE.
• Some examples are Christian Century,
  Commonwealth, Nation, National Review, and New
  Republic.

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Trade Magazines

• NOT SCHOLARLYglossy magazines with ads.
• Written for people who work in a particular
  industry or occupation, their purpose is to
  discuss current trends and events.
• Many trade magazines publish one or more special
  issues each year which gather together useful
  information statistics, directory lists, or
  new-product announcements.
• Some examples are ADWEEK, Beverage Industry,
  Golf Course Management, Sales Marketing
  Management.

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Scholarly Journals

• Also called Peer-Reviewed or Refereed
  journals.
• Articles written by scholars in the field using
  technical language.
• Articles have little or no advertising.
• Articles contain charts and graphs, footnotes or
  endnotes, and references (bibliographies) citing
  the authors' sources.
• Articles read before publication by several
  scholars in the same field to make sure the
  article contains accurate information and that
  research described in the article was conducted
  properly.

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• Research Tools
• TOPCAT
• Databases
• TDnet
• E-Books
• Research Guides

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Electronic Journal Finder (TDnet)

• Tells which E-Journals the library has access to
  online from library databases and subscriptions.
• NOT a substitute for database searching
  (EBSCOhost, Sociological Abstracts, etc.).
• TDnet E-Journal Webpagehttp//www.wku.edu/librar
  y/ejrnloff.htm

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The Trail of Tears
Suppose that you were asked to write a paper for
history class on the Trail of Tears, President
Andrew Jacksons forced removal of the Cherokee
Indians from the Southeast. Where would you start?
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Step 1Use a general encyclopedia such as the
Encyclopedia Americana in print or online via
Grolier Online Encyclopediasfor background
information
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Step 2Use Subject Encyclopedias and Reference
Books
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• Step 3Use Books

TOPCAT, the librarys catalog, tells which books
and journals we own
Our Research Guides help you get started with
your research
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• Step 4Look for articles in journals

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• If you are on campus, click the Campus login
  button.
• From off campus, click the Off Campus Login
  button.
• Enter your WKU email username (the part before
  the _at_wku.edu) and your email password.

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Use databases to find out which journals have an
article on your topic.We have databases on
almost every subject.EBSCOhost databases are
used more at WKU than any other product.
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EBSCOhost is a commercial service that the
library pays for. It contains a number of
widely-used databases, many with the actual full
text of the article on the computer. Because the
library pays for EBSCOhost and other databases,
you dont have to put in your credit card every
time you want to read an article.
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• Academic Search Premier is a general,
  interdisciplinary database. It contains articles
  on all subjects.
• America History Life contains articles on
  North American history since 1492. This is a good
  database to use for articles about the Trail of
  Tears.

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AND means that we want to find articles that use
BOTH of these words. OR means that we want to
have articles with EITHER ONE of the words. NOT
means we want articles with NONE of the
words.Check this box if you want only articles
that have the full text available.Check this
box if you want only scholarly articles (articles
that have been peer reviewed).
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Jackson and Cherokee If we want articles that
talk about both Jackson and Cherokee, we put the
word AND between them
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We can also search for the Seminole, who were
also moved as part of the Trail of Tears.
When we put (Cherokee or Seminole) in the
parentheses ( ), the computerputs them together
first into a group of articles that have either
the word Cherokee or the word Seminole.
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Jackson and Cherokee or Seminole and Indian
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Jackson and (Cherokee or Seminole) and Indian
When we put (Cherokee or Seminole) in parentheses
( ), the computer will put them together first
into a group of articles that have either the
word Cherokee or the word Seminole.
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Your turn!

• You have been assigned to write a paper on the
  disparity between prison term sentencing for
  crack cocaine and powder cocaine. How do you
  search for this topic?

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Thank You!

• If you need any assistance whatsoever, please
  contact the Reference Desk at 745-6125 or at
  web.reference_at_wku.edu. We are always happy to
  help you!