Explorations 160

Research Paper Survival Workshop

Holly HendriganLiaison Librarian, Explorations

10 February 2010

Today’s workshop

1. Developing your topic

2. Finding background information

3. Using the catalogue to find books and media

4. Searching indexes to find periodical articles

6. Peer reviewed journals

7. Citing what you find, and how to avoid plagiarism

Developing your topic

• Pay very close attention to the words used in the essay topic

• Identify the main concepts• Greek tragic theatre is often said to be

“cathartic.” Create an argument about the cathartic function of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. Use three scholarly sources, of which at least one makes reference to the social function of the theatre in Ancient Greece.

Conceptualize your topic

• Greek tragedy• Catharsis• Sophocles• Oedipus Rex• Social function of theatre

Use Boolean logic

AND : connects concepts Oedipus Rex AND catharsis– LIMITS your search

OR : searches for additional related terms (Sophocles OR Greek theatre) – EXPANDS your search

NOT : eliminates certain termsOedipus NOT Antigone – TARGETS your search

Putting it together

• In a perfect information world:• Sophocles AND “oedipus rex” AND catharsis

AND greek tragedy AND “social function of theatre”

• …from one source

• In the imperfect information world we live in: researchers need to search different places, and synthesize results

Finding background information

• Enables understanding of the assignment, the text, and criticism of the text

– Eg, What’s catharsis? What’s a leit-motif? What’s an “official” definition of a parody?

– SFU Library Research guides: Background information

– Routledge dictionary of literary terms

Using the catalogue

• Tip: keyword searching is a blunt instrument– Keywords include the fields: author, title, subject,

table of contents, notes.– Recall vs relevance: high recall (many titles) is

usually at the expense of high relevance (useful titles)

Keyword search: greek theatre social

Using indexes

• Gale Literary Database

• See also EXPL 160 Research Guides: Books and Articles

News sources

• Provide context and information • Use sparingly (not peer reviewed)• Sometimes, they’re all that is available• Sometimes, they lead you to experts who

might have written something scholarly

Cited reference searching

• Following bibliographies of relevant articles can be very efficient

• Forward and backward span• Web of Science: only indexes the most highly

regarded journals

Peer Reviewed journals

• A journal is refereed or peer reviewed if its articles have been evaluated by experts before publication. The experts advise the journal's editor for or against publication of the articles. Peer review insures that the research described in a journal's articles is sound and of high quality.

Citing what you find

• MLA Bibliography used to structure your citations

• Give credit where it is due, whether you’re quoting or paraphrasing

• Take the Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism tutorial if you’re unsure

• See EXPL 160 assignment guide for links

Summary

1. Developing your topic / devising your search strategy

2. Finding background information

3. Using the catalogue to find books

4. Searching indexes to find articles

6. Peer reviewed journals

7. Citing what you find, and how to avoid plagiarism

Questions? More help

• Me: hah1@sfu.ca• Surrey reference desk open 10-6• Ask Us form on guide: phone, e-mail, chat