ENGL 102: Research

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ENGL 102 Research Resources

• a presentation
• Megan Lowe, Librarian

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Introduction

• This presentation will walk you, step-by-step,
  through the research process. It will use the
  following thesis as its object
• Marijuana should be legalized
• for medicinal purposes.

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Step 1 Making It Work

• Okay, so you have a topic now you have to
  make it manageable. Or, as my hero Tim Gunn would
  say Make it work! You have to break the topic
  down into smaller concepts to make it easier to
  research.
• You wouldnt eat a pizza whole, would you? No,
  you cut it into slices. So thesis pizza,
  slices keywords.

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Making It Work Keywords
Marijuana should be legalized for medicinal
purposes.

• Marijuana
• Legalized
• Medicinal
• Purposes
• Cannabis
• Legalization
• Medicine
• Medical
• Medical marijuana

• Law
• Treatment
• Seizures
• Migraines/headaches
• Cataracts
• Pain relief
• Chemotherapy
• Case study (case studies)
• Doctors

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Making It Work Keywords

• Keywords can be used in
• The ULM Library Catalog
• The ULM Library Databases
• Even on the Internet!
• You combine keywords together using certain words
  called operators. They are
• AND (this is the most common operator)
• OR
• NOT

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Making It Work Keywords

• So a keyword search for our topic could look
  like any of these search strings
• marijuana AND legalization AND medicine
• marijuana AND medicinal AND legal
• marijuana AND treatment AND law AND seizures
• Order is not important, but spelling is, so be
  careful.

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Step 2 Resources

• This part depends on a variety of things
• Has your professor set a specific number of
  resources to use?
• Has your professor said you can only use certain
  kinds of resources?
• What kind of topic do you have? Is it more
  scientific or more pop culture?
• The answers to these questions will guide you
  toward the kinds of resources you need to
  consult.

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Step 2 Resources

• There are different kinds of resources
• Books
• Individual chapters/essays in books
• Articles
• Newspaper articles
• Magazine articles
• Journal articles
• Websites and web documents

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Step 2 Resources
Resources generally fall into two categories

• Popular
• Written by journalists
• Usually covers broad topics, fields, issues, or
  disciplines
• Usually appeals to a wide audience
• Everyday language, slang, even profanity
• LOTS of ads
• NOT RESEARCH ORIENTED

• Scholarly
• Written by experts
• Focuses on a particular field, topic, or
  discipline
• Intended for others in that field or career
• Proper language, technical vocabulary
• No ads
• RESEARCH ORIENTED

SCHOLARLY IS THE BEST TO USE FOR SPEECHES AND
PAPERS!
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Step 2 Resources

• So, the best resources for your speech, paper,
  debate, or presentation are
• Scholarly books
• Scholarly chapters/essays in books
• Scholarly articles (these come from journals
  mostly, sometimes newspapers)
• Scholarly websites and web documents
• The worst resources are popular books and
  articles from magazines, and websites NOT created
  by experts

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Step 3 Finding Resources

• This is the part thats really the most
  time-consuming. Everybody thinks research is
  hard it really isnt. It just takes time.
• Make sure you keep a list of keywords youll
  find as you go along that some words work better
  than others. If you keep a list, you can make a
  note of whats working and whats not.
• Get organized. This will help, too.

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Step 3 Finding Resources

• One step at a time dont try to find everything
  all at once. Pick one type of resource and pursue
  it first.
• Dont assume youll be able to find everything
  right away sometimes it takes a little digging
  to find the right resources. Its better to have
  the right resource than the first item on a
  results list

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Step 3 Finding Resources

• And most importantly, remember if you need help
• JUST ASK A LIBRARIAN FOR HELP!
• Thats what were here for we want to help YOU!
  All you have to do is ask.

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Finding Resources Books

• Books are still excellent sources of info they
  can provide a manageable introduction to a topic
  or a comprehensive overview
• In ULMs collection there are print books and
  electronic books (AKA ebooks)
• Print books are not better than ebooks, and
  ebooks arent better than print books
• All books are looked up the same way via the ULM
  Library Catalog

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Finding Resources Books
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Finding Resources Books
legalization and marijuana
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Finding Resources Books
All electronic resources will have this icon.
Clicking on it will open the electronic resource.
Some electronic resources, like ebooks, will
require login information.
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Finding Resources Books

• Books in STACKS can be checked out. The first
  letter of the call number tells you which floor
• A F 2nd floor
• G P 3rd floor
• Q 4th floor
• R Z 5th floor
• Other collections will have the floor they are
  located on listed under Location.

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Finding Resources Ebooks

• Finding ebooks works the same way as finding
  print books
• The Library has a collection of ebooks called
  NetLibrary when you search the Catalog,
  NetLibrary is automatically searched
• If you plan to use NetLibrary from home, youll
  need a NetLibrary account which MUST BE SET UP ON
  CAMPUS

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Finding Resources Ebooks
Clicking on URL will open electronic content.
This applies to electronic government documents,
electronic periodicals, and electronic books.
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Finding Resources Ebooks
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Finding Resources Ebooks

• You can also search NetLibrary independently of
  the Catalog
• so, if youre off-campus and need books, you can
  go straight to NetLibrary and find books
• But remember you must have a NetLibrary account
  in order to access NetLibrary books off-campus!
  And you MUST create the account while youre ON
  CAMPUS

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Finding Resources Ebooks
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Finding Resources Ebooks
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Finding Resources Ebooks
This can be whatever you want it to be you make
it up!
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Finding Resources Ebooks
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Finding Resources Articles

• Articles are a great source of information they
  tend to be more up-to-date than books, and they
  can be way more focused on a specific topic
• Articles come out of periodicals like journals,
  magazines, and newspapers focus more on journals
  when doing research

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Finding Resources Articles

• Like books, articles and periodicals in the ULM
  Library come in two flavors print and
  electronic, though there are more electronic ones
  than print ones
• You access articles and periodicals through the
  databases you can look up journals in the
  Catalog but you cant look up articles, so
• its best to start with databases for articles

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Finding Resources Articles
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Finding Resources Articles
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Finding Sources Articles
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Finding Sources Articles
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Finding Sources Ebscohost
Read the descriptions they will tell you what
subjects the database covers. Then pick the
databases that apply to your topic or issue.
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Finding Sources Ebscohost

• Databases selected for this demonstration
• Academic Search Complete (full text)
• Alt HealthWatch (full text)
• CINAHL Plus with Full Text
• Health Source (full text)
• MAS Ultra (full text)
• Medline

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Finding Sources Ebscohost
These will make your life much easier they will
narrow the results.
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Finding Sources Ebscohost
The article must say full text or its not full
text easy as that!
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Articles Ebscohost
This will cite the article for you!
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Articles Ebscohost
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Articles Off-Campus Access
CWID
This is your birth month and your birth year. The
PIN cannot be changed.
MMYY
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Articles Off-Campus Access

• Ebscohost is just one database that we have we
  have a total of 75 databases
• They may all look differently cover different
  topics and provide various levels of access
  (some are full text, some are not) however,
  they all pretty much work the same way
• If you arent sure where to start, ASK A
  LIBRARIAN FOR HELP!

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Step 4 Putting It All Together

• Once youve located your resources whether that
  means checking out books or printing articles or
  saving them to your jump drive then comes the
  easy part extracting the information you need
• Its a good idea to bookmark useful pages in
  books or highlight awesome quotes in articles
  this way you can more quickly get back to good
  information

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Step 4 Putting It All Together

• In order to quickly get through books
• Check the Table of Contents go directly the
  chapters that apply to your topic
• Check the Index sometimes the indexes will list
  individual topics and issues, and you can go
  straight to the pages that apply to your topic
• To get through articles quickly
• Skim the article first, then go back to the
  useful sections and read more closely
• Some databases will highlight your search terms
  in the article pay attention to that!

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Step 4 Putting It All Together

• Make sure you use the information youve gathered
  responsibly and in context
• Dont cram a bunch of quotations into your
  speech, paper, or argument use quotations
  thoughtfully and for emphasis. Your professor is
  not going to give you a better grade because
  youve jammed 100 quotes in your paper.

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Step 5 Presenting the Project

• This is the part the librarians cant help you
  with, unfortunately. At this point its all you.
• But if you want a librarian to proof your paper
  or speech ahead of time, all you have to do is
  ask!
• Good luck!

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Q A Time!
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ENGL 102 Resources FYI

• Presentation URL
• http//www.ulm.edu/lowe/ENGL102.ppt
• OWL _at_ Purdue MLA Style
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/55
  7/01/
• Contact
• http//www.ulm.edu/lowe
• lowe_at_ulm.edu

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Thanks for your attention!

• If you need help, you can call the Reference
  Department at [phone]
• email us at reference_at_ulm.edu
• or you can visit us at the Reference Desk on the
• first floor of the ULM Library.