Writing Seminar – Research Strategies

Professor Kathleen Baril

Heterick Memorial Library

Welcome to the Library

• Kathleen Baril, k-baril@onu.edu• Jenny Donley, j-donley.1@onu.edu• Kelly Kobiela, k-kobiela@onu.edu• Reference Email, reference@onu.edu

Librarians on duty:Monday – Wednesday

8:00 AM - 12PM, 1PM – 4:30 PM6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Thursday - Friday8:00 AM - 12PM, 1PM – 4:30 PM

What we will do today

•Learn how to construct a research strategy

•Learn how to use library tools to find resources

•Learn how to manage those resources

Construct a Research StrategySTEP 1: IDENTIFY AND DEVELOP YOUR TOPIC

STEP 2: FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION

STEP 3: FIND INTERNET RESOURCES (if appropriate for the assignment)

STEP 4: USE DATABASES TO FIND PERIODICAL ARTICLES

STEP 5: EVALUATE WHAT YOU FIND

STEP 6: PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER

STEP 7: CITE WHAT YOU FIND

How to start your research•Identify main concepts or keywords

•Test the topic – look for keywords and synonyms and related terms for the information sought◦ Subject headings in catalogs

◦ Built-in thesauri in many databases

◦ Reference sources

◦ Textbooks, lecture notes, readings

◦ Internet

◦ Librarians, instructors

Concept Mapping

A concept map is a visual map that breaks down a main idea into specific topics.

Background Research: Library Catalog POLAR

Search for

books, e-books

and reference

materials for

background

information on

your topic.

Find a book –POLAR: keyword search

•Looks in several locations◦ Subject

◦ Article title

◦ Abstracts

◦ Table of contents

•Does not require an exact match

•Generates comparatively large number of hits

•Good if you are not familiar with terminology

•Good for a beginning search

Find a book –POLAR subject search•Looks at the subject headings in the records

•Requires an exact match

•Provides a results list with related headings to use for broader and narrower searches

•Generates comparatively smaller number of hits

•Good if you are familiar with terminology

•Good for a next step after a keyword search

POLAR – results

ebook

Law Library

Heterick Library

Find Articles – Databases What is the basic definition of a library database?◦ A library database is an electronic (online) catalog or index◦ Library databases are searchable◦ The library subscribes to many databases so the ONU

community has access to these resources. When you’re searching a database, you are not searching “the web.”

What types of items are indexed by library databases?◦ Articles in Journals/Magazines/Newspapers◦ Reference Information (i.e. entries from Encyclopedias,

Dictionaries, etc.)◦ Books & other documents

Source: http://web.calstatela.edu/library/whatisadatabase.htm

Web research vs. library databases

Internet

o Material from numerous sources, individuals, government, etc.

o Search engines must work with material prepared without regard for specific software

o Quality of material varies

o Generally do not access for-profit information

o Content often anonymous and undated

Databases

Usually created by a single publisher

Content pre-arranged for easy searching

Quality-controlled by editorial staff

Most are available only to subscribers

Sources are usually identified and dated

Databases often focus on a specific subject or discipline, but some cover several areas

Find Articles - Databases

Magazines or Popular Periodicals• Glossy pages and lots of pictures• Edited by magazine editors• Articles usually written by staff journalists• Short articles• Targeted to general audiences

Scholarly Journals/Periodicals• Peer-reviewed• Longer • Citations/Bibliography• Written by scholars, experts in the field of study• Targeted to scholars, students in a particular field of

study

Popular Versus Scholarly Journals

Find Articles - Databases: Boolean Operators

Use Boolean operators in library databases and catalogs when searching to find more relevant results.

AND – Use for narrowing a search.

Example: love and peace

OR – Use to expand a search.

Example: love or loving

NOT – Use to exclude a search term.

Example: peace not peacekeepers

Find Articles : Academic Search Complete

Use limiters at the bottom of the page to narrow

your search.

Find Articles: Academic Search Complete - results

Clicking on PDF brings up the full text of the

article.

Clicking on FindIt@ONU, finds the full-text

article in another database or the library’s

catalog.

If unavailable at ONU, request

through Interlibrary Loan, article will

arrive via email in 2-4 days.

Find Articles: JSTOR• Go to the

advanced

search for more

options to

narrow and

refine your

search.

• Narrow to

Articles as

JSTOR

contains a lot of

book reviews.

Find Articles: JSTORFor articles unavailable in JSTOR, click on the title of the article and then on the linksource icon:

SEARCH

What is included?•POLAR

•Article-level searching for all EBSCO databases

•Article-level searching for a variety of other databases: JSTOR, Hoover’s, AccessPharmacy, etc.

•Title-level searching for most other databases: IEEE, CIAO, Proquest Nursing & Allied Health

•OhioLINK Central Catalog

Facets: limit your results

Manage information -RefWorks

Export to RefWorks

Most databases will have “export”

If there isn’t an export, check for “download”

Still need help?Librarians on duty:◦Monday – Wednesday

◦8:00 AM - 12PM, 1PM – 4:30 PM

◦6:00 PM – 9:00 PM

◦Thursday - Friday

◦8:00 AM - 12PM, 1PM – 4:30 PM