SenecaYork Learning Commons James Buczynski, Jane Foo

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Seneca_at_York Learning CommonsJames Buczynski,
Jane Foo

• EAC 150Guide to Research

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Overview

• What is information?
• How to start your research
• Using the Learning Commons to find good
  information sources for your assignments

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Starting Your Research

• What kind of information am I looking for? Facts?
  Research? News? Current? Historical?
  Local/National/International?
• Where and how do I search for this information?
• Once I have found some information, how can I
  tell if it is useful? How do I find more similar
  information?

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1. Define a Topic
2. Write aResearch Question
Ice cream is it good for our health?
Ice cream history, social science, business
4. ChooseAlternate Keywords
3. Choose Keywords
Ice cream, nutrition, health benefit(s)
Sweets, frozen yogurt, diet
5. Build a SearchStatement
Ice cream AND health
Creating an Effective Search
6. Execute the Search
Select the correct resource(s)!
7. Review theSearch Results
Title, author, subject terms, references,
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Using Boolean Operators

• OR - broadens a search
• Diet or nutrition
• AND - narrows a search
• Ice cream AND nutrition
• Ice Cream AND diet
• words here narrows a search even more
• ice cream
• (wildcard) simplifies a search
• Nutrition
• NOT excludes specific terms
• ice cream and NOT frozen yogurt

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Published Sources

• Books
• Periodical articles
• Newspaper articles
• Film
• TV recording
• Interview
• Where can you get these types of sources?
• How will this affect how you cite your source?
• What about the Internet?

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Information Formats

• Available in print, electronic or other types of
  media
• For example, an article could be
• ? published in a magazine like Macleans (paper)
• ? duplicated in a periodical index (electronic)
• ? made available on the magazine's website
  (electronic)

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Research Tips

• Who
• Is the source reputable or authoritative? Is the
  source primary or secondary?
• What
• An article from a newspaper, magazine, journal,
  encyclopedia?
• Where
• Found in a library catalogue, a subscription
  database, or on the Internet?
• When
• Do you need current, up-to-date, or historical
  information?
• Finding more information
• Good sources of information will lead you to
  other sources, e.g. a bibliography or references
  at the end of an article.

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Reliable Information Sources

• At Seneca, we offer
• The Learning Commons / Library
• http//learningcommons.senecacollege.ca
• Published information and research help
• Learning Centre (tutors)
• In-depth help in several subject areas (Don
  Mills)
• Seneca Student Helpdesk
• Quick technical trouble-shooting

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Accessing Learning Commons Online

• http//learningcommons.senecacollege.ca
• At Seneca
• From your home computer using
• Seneca as your Internet Service Provider (ISP)
• Any other ISP
• gt use your e-mail username and password to
  remotely access the electronic research databases

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http//learningcommons.senecacollege.ca
GlobalNavigationLinks
MajorTasks
SpecialResources
QuickLinks
Departments
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Library Catalogue

• The Library Catalogue allows you to
• Search or Browse for our print books and
  periodicals
• Search by title, author, subject and more
• Use Quick Limits to narrow down your results by
  campus or material
• Sort search results by author, title, or date
• Renew books online
• Save your searches or specific records

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Find Magazine Newspapers
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Find Magazine Newspapers

• Marriage and Family ? Canadian Content, General /
  All Subjects, Media Information Studies, News /
  Current Events, Social Sciences, Statistics
• Medicine ? Health, Media Current Events,
  Science Technology
• Media and the Electronic World ? Canadian
  Content, Media Information Studies, News /
  Current Events, Science Technology
• Crime ? Canadian Content, Law, Media
  Information Studies, News / Current Events
• Nutrition ? Health, News / Current Events,
  Science Technology
• Education ? Canadian Content, Education, News /
  Current Events
• Genetics ? Health, News / Current Events, Science
  Technology
• Environment ? News / Current Events, Science
  Technology

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Research by Subject
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Research by Subject

• 65 Senecas program-specific subject areas
• customized research resources online
• research databases
• full-text magazine and journal articles
• full-text Books
• direct access to the Library Catalogue (BIBCAT)
• Internet sites
• quick reference
• other online resources (e.g. course-specific
  resources)

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Research by Subject

• Marriage and Family ? try Sociology, Psychology
• Medicine ? try Health, Nursing
• Media and the Electronic World ? try Library /
  Information Science, Broadcasting Journalism
• Crime ? try Law, Law Enforcement
• Nutrition ? try Nutrition
• Education ? try Adult Education, Early Childhood
  Education
• Genetics ? try Biology, Biotechnology, Genetic
  Engineering
• Environment ? try Environmental Studies

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Plagiarism and You
According to the Seneca College Student Handbook,
plagiarism is the inclusion of anothers
words, phrases, sentences or entire passages in
work which you claim as your own. Consult LCO
-gt Getting Started -gt Plagiarism (Information
for Students)
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Citing your Information Sources

• When conducting research, you must properly
  acknowledge the sources of information you have
  used...
• This is commonly referred to as a
• Works Cited Page/List or Bibliography.
• LCO -gt Quick Reference Tools -gt Bibliography
  Style Guides -gt
• Seneca College Library MLA Style Guide
• Seneca Guide to Integrating Quotations (MLA Style)

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Quick Reference Tools

• Dictionaries
• Directories
• Encyclopedias
• Government Resources
• Grammar Guides
• Map Atlases
• Periodic Tables
• Quotations
• Reference Metasites
• Statistics / Demographics
• Thesauri
• Time / Calendars
• Weather

• Acronyms Abbreviations
• Almanacs Factbooks
• Associations Societies
• Bibliography Style Guides
• Biography
• Calculators, Converters Measurements
• Canadian Citizenship Resources
• Career Employment
• Clip Art/Graphics
• College/University Information

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Getting Started
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Online Lab

• Please use your EAC 150 Research and
  Documentation Assignment/
• If at any time you need any help with your
  research, come and talk to us at the Reference
  Desk!