Post on 23-Dec-2015
SMALL GROUP COMMUNICATION
Research & Resources
Presented by Megan Lowe, Coordinator of Public Services
Where to Begin? At the Beginning!
Let’s say you need some research resources for a project or speech or paper. You have a topic, and you know you need resources, but you aren’t sure how to get started.
Your impulse would be to start with the Internet, but instead, first consider what you need to find:
quality, credible articles about or related to smoking policies on college campuses
The Topic
This presentation will walk you, step-by-step, through the research process. It will use the following thesis as its object:
Smoking policies on American college campuses need to change.
Making the Topic WORK for YOU The topic – also called a thesis or research
statement – is the backbone of your paper From the thesis statement, you can generate
keywords Keywords are the most important parts of your
thesis statement and are what you use to conduct searches when looking for resources (but we’ll talk more about keywords and keyword searching later)
One more thing – keywords composed of more than one word are keyword phrases and need to be put in quotation marks: “smoking policies”
More on Keywords
Don’t limit yourself to the words in the thesis: include synonyms, phrases, and related words, too
Policies = rules “Public health” “No Smoking policy” Smoking / “chewing tobacco” / cigars
Example Keyword Breakdown
Smoking policies on American college campuses
smoking
tobacco
policy
“smoking
policy”
American
“United States”
college
university
campuses
More on Keywords
So a keyword search for our topic could look like any of these search strings (which are combos of keywords with operators, AND, OR, and NOT):
college AND smoking AND policy
university AND tobacco AND policies
smoking AND America AND campus AND policy
Order and capitalization are not important, but
spelling and number are, so be careful.
NEXT STEP: *NOT* Searching YET
That’s right – we’re not searching yet. Hold your horses! There’s something you need to know.
Know how most professors (and librarians) cringe when you use Google and other search engines and rely too heavily on websites for your research?
The reason for this is that the Internet is NOT moderated or quality-controlled, and there’s a lot of GARBAGE and RUMOR and outright MISINFORMATION floating around.
*NOT* Searching YET
You don’t want to write a paper or conduct research with GARBAGE, RUMOR, or MISINFORMATION, do you? OF COURSE NOT!
You wouldn’t feed a baby GARBAGE, would you? OF COURSE NOT!
You would feed a baby healthy, safe, clean food, right? RIGHT!
Think of your paper like a baby – you want to fill it with healthy, safe, clean things!
*NOT* Searching YET
“healthy, safe, clean things” = scholarly, peer-reviewed, research-oriented resources
There ARE scholarly, peer-reviewed, research-oriented resources on the Internet – but it usually takes extra effort and time to find them
However, starting with the Library’s resources means that you’re heading straight for those resources right out of the gate – the Library is CHOCK-FULL of scholarly, peer-reviewed resources!
So…what are scholarly resources?
Written by experts Focus on a particular field, topic, or
discipline Intended for others in that field or career “Proper” language, technical vocabulary No ads RESEARCH ORIENTED
* Journals are scholarly
POPULAR resources are the opposite
Written by journalists Usually cover broad topics, fields, issues,
or disciplines Usually appeal to a wide audience Everyday language, slang, even profanity LOTS of ads NOT RESEARCH ORIENTED
* Magazines and newspapers are popular
A few more tips…
DO create a list of keywords DO underline/highlight/bookmark DO take notes/sticky notes DO get organized
DON’T multitask DON’T procrastinate DON’T plagiarize
LET’S DO THIS
We know we need scholarly resources on our topic
Smoking policies on American collegecampuses need to change.
We know keywords and search strings we can use.
We have the skills we need to get started.
So we start with the Library’s websitehttp://www.ulm.edu/library
After the Searching’s Done…
You have the resources you need, either digitally or physically, if you’ve printed them out
This is when underlining/highlighting comes into play, as well as notes and sticky notes
Documentation is also important, in order to avoid plagiarism – several of our databases (like Ebscohost) will generate citations for you
Need a Hand?
If you need help with the research process – at ANY point in the research process – you can ask the librarians for assistance – that’s what we do!
We also check documentation (quotations and citations) for accuracy
If you’d like someone to check your writing (grammar, spelling, and syntax), you can go to the Write Place on the 1st floor of the Library
RECAP
When doing research, make sure you have a manageable (narrow) topic
Create a list of keywords and search strings
Bear in mind that you need scholarly resources, which can be found in the Library
Search the Library’s resources using the keywords and search strings, bearing in mind the tips we discussed
Make sure you document your resources!
RECAP
Select databases based on your research needs – for a topic like the “no smoking” policies on college campuses, education databases work well, but so would health sciences (think outside the box)!
Use parameters like “scholarly/peer-reviewed” and “full text” – and even publication date – to make the results lists more manageable
Some databases will create citations FOR you – take advantage of that for accurate citations!
RECAP
The librarians can help you with research, from start to finish!
The librarians can also help you with citations and documentation
The Write Place can help you with writing – they can check spelling, grammar, and syntax
All of these services can be found on the 1st floor of the Library (that’s also where you check out books, study rooms, and make copies)
Library Databases for COMM
EDS – comprehensive search of electronic resources
Ebscohost Academic Search Complete Communication and Mass Media
Complete Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
Collection JSTOR
Remember, if you need research help, all you have to do is ask the librarians. You can…
Visit the Reference Desk, Library 1st floor Email us at reference@ulm.edu Call us at (318) 342-1071
Thanks for your cooperation!