Understanding the Library

1
Understanding the Library

• Analytical and Rhetorical Writing
• Matt Barton

2
Research

• A great many of the writing projects you will
  encounter in college involve library research.
• Google, while valuable, isnt always the best way
  to find resources.
• Limiting your search to online materials may make
  a bad impression on your professors!

3
Library Research

• To use the library effectively, you must learn
  how to use online databases.
• Online databases let you search for materials
  that are available at the library
• You can get other materials with the Interlibrary
  Loan System.

4
Preparing for Research

• What kind of sources will you need?
• How many sources will you need?
• How long do you have to find sources?
• How can you be sure you have the best sources
  possible?

5
Kinds of Sources

• There are two basic types of sources you will use
  in college research papers
• Books may be more comprehensive, but they also
  tend to be general and more reader-oriented
• Journals may be more specific, but they also tend
  to be researcher-oriented
• Magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias and so on
  are typically not acceptable in college-level
  research papers.

6
The Library Homepage

• Your search will probably begin at the librarys
  homepage.
• Here, you can find books, articles, and all
  manner of helpful resources.

7
Finding a Book

• Here you can search by keyword, author, or title
• Books are great general resources.

8
Searching for a book

• There are four types of searches available
• Keywords
• Authors Name
• Title
• Subject
• You should learn how to limit searches to only
  the types of materials they will find useful.
• This requires learning about the advanced
  search.

9
Advanced Search

• Advanced search allows you to better define your
  searches.
• For example, you might search for Caesar, but
  limit the search to only books that do not also
  mention Shakespeare if you are not interested
  in the plays.
• You can also limit the location to your campus,
  or the format to only books.

10
Boolean Basics

• Boolean allows keywords like AND, OR, and NOT.
• Shakespeare AND Caesar
• Shakespeare OR Caesar
• Shakespeare NOT Caesar
• Use or ? for truncation
• Symbol symbolism, symbol

11
Browsing by Subject Area

• Once you get to an entry, scroll down to see the
  subjects it falls into.
• You can find other resources by clicking these
  links to find other books similar to the one you
  are currently viewing.

12
Find-a-Book Online Scavenger Hunt!

• Find a book about the movie Titanic.
• Find a book by John Percy Moore.
• Find the book that has this ISBN 156389341x

13
Article Databases

• If youre looking for articles, youll need to
  use a database like the Academic Search Premier.

14
Database Results
15
Databases

• There are many databases in each subject area.
  All of them are slightly different.
• You will need to take some time to learn what
  each one offers and the best ways to access its
  information.
• In particular, learn if you can restrict your
  searches to peer reviewed journals.
• This step will save you lots of time.

16
Limiting the Search
The MLA database is quite easy to use.
17
Searching Tips

• Try to think of a combination of words or a short
  phrase that your sources might contain.
• Avoid broad searches like Shakespeare or
  biology. Try to be as specific as possible,
  then broaden your search if you have no luck.

18
Searching

• Lets say youre writing a paper about psychology
  and Shakespeares Hamlet.
• First, try searching for psychology and
  Shakespeare and Hamlet.
• This search produced 17 results.

19
Intelligent Searches

• Rememberstart with very specific searches with
  lots of qualifiers, then gradually expand your
  search.
• If youre not having any luck, try synonyms of
  words or different ways to express the same
  thought.
• Also make sure you are spelling each search term
  correctly!

20
Network Research

• Take advantage of the scholarship networks you
  encounter during your research.
• Consult the works cited lists of each relevant
  article you find for other useful sources.
• Frequently cited works are importantif you dont
  reference them, you might damage your ethos.

21
Is it in the library?

• You can limit your searches to full text only if
  you are pressed for time.
• However, you may miss out on valuable sources!
• If one database does not have the full-text
  article you are looking for, try another one.
• You can also check the library stacks to see if a
  print version of the journal article is
  available.

22
Using Interlibrary Loan

• If a source isnt available in the library or
  online, you need to use ILL.
• You can get almost anything for free, but it can
  take up to 4 weeks.

23
Find-an-Article Scavenger Hunt!

• Find a scholarly journal article (full text)
  about plagiarism.
• Find three of the references cited in this
  article and see if they are available at SCSU
  (get call numbers).

24
Final Thoughts on Searches

• If you are having real difficulties using
  databases or finding sources, use the
  Ask-a-Librarian feature on the librarys
  homepage.
• However, learning to find sources and conduct
  research is a skill you must develop as a
  student dont expect someone else to do this
  work for you.
• Finally, dont expect an audience to accept a
  document that was obviously only researched by
  typing search words into Google. Academic
  audiences expect well-researched documents.