Post on 23-Dec-2015
Information Literacy
Jen Earl: Academic Support Librarian- HuLSS
Aim and Objectives
Objectives:• Analyse your question/topic• Link keywords together using Boolean operators (linking
words).• Search, locate and access relevant resources.• Conduct searches in SOLAR.• Be aware of quality EU websites and databases
Aim:Identify and locate relevant information and resources for your assignments.
Search Practicalities
Passwords
• Many resources require Athens login.
• Check the ‘password.txt’ file on your F: Drive.
Objectives
Add better marks slide
Where to start – your information need
Why are you
conducting the search?
What type of information
are you looking for?
What do you already
know?
What depth do you need to go into?
Where can you look for
information?
Finding Information
Essay example: Analyse the strengths and weaknesses
of the EU’s Security Policy.
Finding information
What do you do now?
What’s wrong with Google?
Nothing! Good for lots of things but remember:
• Who/why and when was it written?• Too much information• Linking to full-text• Quality, quality, quality………………
Where to look
SOLAR ‘library collections’
• Books (print and electronic)
• Journals• DVDs
SOLAR ‘Articles etc’ and
‘Databases’
• Electronic journals articles
• Databases• Electronic
Newspapers
Internet
• Subject gateways
• Google Scholar• Organisations• Government
publications
Analysing your search topic
What is the topic about? What are the key phrases or words?
Answer: Analyse the strengths and weaknesses
of the EU’s Security Policy.
Example : Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the EU’s Security Policy.
Analysing your search topic
Brainstorm – think of additional words, terms, phrases that relate to each keyword or concept.
Example:
Eastern Europe - specific area?
Security – national security, terrorism, safety measures, threat.
EU – European Union, Europe
Planning your search strategySet limits for your search
Date eg. after 2000Language eg. English onlyType of document eg. Journal articles only or case studies, directives, treatiesPlace of publication eg. United Kingdom
Linking the words together
AND
OR
NOT
Boolean operators
AND, OR
European Union AND treaties Decision making OR policy
making
Exercise 1: defining your topic•Choose a topic or essay title you’re currently studying
•Fill the exercise sheet with your keywords, thinking about how to link them and any alternative words you could use
Sources: Books
• SOLAR searches books and e-books• Demo
Sources: journals
Academic journals:
• Up-to-date material
• Very specific
• Written by experts in their field
• Often “peer-reviewed”: judged by other experts to make sure information is valid and correct
How to find an article when you’ve been given a reference
18
Hill, Christopher. (1993) The capability-expectations gap, or conceptualizing Europe's international role. Journal of Common Market Studies, Vol. 31,3, pp. 305-328.
Sources: Journal Articles
• How to use SOLAR to find articles on your topic.
• Complete Exercise 2 on your worksheet.
Exercise 2: finding articles
•Using the keywords you chose in exercise 1, search for articles in SOLAR
•Note down one reference you find on the exercise sheet
Sources: Databases- What is a database?
•Electronic ‘filing cabinet’•Holds a range of information eg articles, research papers•Specific to your topic•Provides access to “peer-reviewed” journals not available over the Internet for free
Examples include…
Databases
JSTOR – full text journal articles covering history and political sciences. (Digitized from the first issue onwards)
Academic Search Premier - database designed for academic institutions. The database includes full text for 1800 publications
Nexis - provides full-text online access to worldwide newspapers.
Demo and exercise
EU Websites
Europa: http://europa.eu/– portal site of the European Union– up-to-date coverage of European Union affairs – Official Journal of the EU- via EUR-Lex– access the websites of each of the EU
institutions– find out about the policies administered by the
EU under the powers devolved to it by the Treaties.
– Contains more than 6 million documents!
Finding European Council conclusions using EuropaEuropean Council (June 2002), Presidency
Conclusions of the Seville European Council, 21-22 June 2002, SN 13463/02, (Brussels: General Secretariat of the Council)
Europa >Official Documents>European Council presidency conclusions
EU Legal Documents: Westlaw
Access via SOLAR- need Athens username and password
Can search for EU cases, treaties, legislation, case law and background information
Can browse for content i.e. cases by court, legislation by type or use search function
Evaluating your results
Is the information reliable & appropriate? Do they answer your essay / research question? Ask yourself:
– Who is the author? Are they biased?– How authoritative or credible is the information?– Who is the intended audience?– How accurate is the information?– Has there been any form of quality control?– Has the resource been reviewed?– Does the author provide a bibliography of sources used?
Recording your results - Bibliographic Citations
Books - note the author, title, publisher, place & date of publication, and relevant page nos.
Journal Articles - note the author, article title, journal title, publisher, volume & part no., date & page no.
E-Journals:Follow the above format for print journals, but include the words [Electronic version] after the title of the article.
Web sources - note the author (if known), title, URL & date last visited the site.
Help and support
Jen Earl & Maree GreenAcademic Support Librarians for Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences
earl-green@salford.ac.uk
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