Searching & Evaluating Resources Rhetoric 1302 Carol Oshel Reference Librarian 972-883-2627...
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Transcript of Searching & Evaluating Resources Rhetoric 1302 Carol Oshel Reference Librarian 972-883-2627...
Searching & Evaluating Resources
Rhetoric 1302Carol Oshel
Reference Librarian972-883-2627
Internet / the Web
Contains text, images, sound and video
Numerous hits with many duplicates Anyone can publish pages on the web Unregulated source of information
Searching the Web
Government information and websites Associations and Organizations Current news Background info / preliminary research
Always search the web with a critical eye
Electronic Databases or Indexes
Index journal articles, books, newspaper articles, dissertation etc.
Cover a variety of topics – some subject specific (e.g. ERIC – education)
Some are full text When you are looking for articles on a topic start here
Searching Periodical Databases
Need to research articles, especially scholarly
Greater concern for authoritative sources
More powerful “advanced” searching
Need newspaper or journal archives/backfiles
Popular Magazineor
Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journal
Tutorial at:
http://www.utdallas.edu/%7Ecxo025000/scholarlyjournalsfirstpage.htm
Selecting Your Database
Choose by subject Or from the alphabetical list
(descriptions given for individual databases)
Ask a Reference Librarian
Developing a Search Strategy
Select a topic Identify keywords Identify synonyms Group concepts and add
connectors (Boolean) Use truncation and/or wildcard
keys if available
Selecting a Topic and Determining Keywords
After deciding on a topic, (Define/Evaluate yourself – culturally, as a leader, racially, etc) write down the topic in the form of a sentence or question.
Is there a typical middle-aged, first-born, female, Anglo-Saxon? Yes, you’re looking at one.
Look at your question and pull out the most important words.
Identifying Synonyms(Use a thesaurus)
Take your keywords and find other words that also describe your topic. Also write down narrower and broader terms to help refine your search.
First-born – birth order, sibling rivalry Female – sex, gender English - English, race, national
heritage, nationalism Discrimination, qualities, characteristics,
englishness, culture, immigrant, personality
Group Concepts
Group concepts together by parentheses or quotation marks
“Anglo Saxon” or “english”
“first born” or “birth order” personality OR traits OR characteristics
Add connectors Connectors (Boolean)
AND-both terms must appear together in the record (narrows search)
OR-either term appears in the record (broadens search)
NOT-placed before term omits all records featuring this term in them (use NOT carefully – it may omit results that you had not intended)
Examples
(birth order OR first born) AND personality
Using Academic Search Premier
Using a Subject-Specific Database
Try english AND personality
In PsychInfo
Broaden or Narrow the Search
Try english AND national AND identity
Then try english national identity (as a phrase) in
Sociological Abstracts
Evaluating Sources (ABC’s)Crucial for Web
Searching!
Audience Authority Bias Currency Scope
Audience
What age group/education level/political affiliation/etc. is the audience?
Is this for a person with in-depth knowledge or a layperson?
Authority
Does the author’s name appear on the Web page?
What are his/her credentials? Does the author provide contact
information?
Bias
Is the source objective? Could the writer’s or the
organization’s affiliation put a different spin on the information presented?
What is the purpose of the source?
Currency
When was the work published? When was the work last updated? How old are the sources or items
in the bibliography? How current is the topic? If a Web page, do the links work?
Scope
What does/doesn’t the work cover?
Is it an in-depth study (many pages) or superficial (one page)?
Are sources and statistics cited? If a site, does it offer unique info
not found in any other source?
Choose Your Sources Wisely
No matter how much time and effort that you put into your paper, it will be only as good as the sources that you use
Choose a variety of sources (reference materials, journals, essays, books, statistics, documented research, letters)
Use magazines to add interest, emotion, humor, opinion, etc.
I think genetic testing should be done because then there wouldn’t be so many diseases.
Experts in the treatment of multiple sclerosis say more children are being diagnosed with MS, an autoimmune disease… (USA Today) . If you were the mother of one of these children, would you be for or against gene therapy, if gene therapy could cure your child?
(this is NOT academic research)
Citing your sources MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style,
and other citation manuals available at the Reference Desk.
Links from Other Useful Web Sites (Library Page)
Copies may be available in Main Stacks
Need help citing? The Writing Lab can help.
Other Library Services Telephone
Reference 972-883-2955
Monday – Thursday 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Friday 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Sunday 1:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
E-mail Reference “Ask A Librarian”
http://www.utdallas.edu/library/reference/erefform.htm
By appointment with a reference librarian
Contact Loreen Phillips loreen.phillips@utdallas
.edu Stop by the reference desk
and ask
Ask a UT System Librarian-Chat
Monday-Thurs. 12:00-6:00 pm; Friday 12:00-4:00 pm CST
http://www.lib.utsystem.edu/students/ask.html
CREDITS
The University of Texas at Dallas LibrariesAn Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action University
P. O. Box 830643 Richardson, TX 75083-0643 972-883-2955
Original content created by Stephanie Isham & Matt Makowka.
Updated September 2005 by Carol OshelEdited by Susie Kutchi