library research what to ask? where to look? librarian anna jones
TRANSCRIPT
Library Research
What to ask? Where to look?
Librarian Anna Jones
All Research Papers Require Trustworthy Sources
Southwestern College’s databases:InfoTrac
LexisNexis
Good Web sources:http://ipl.org
We have subject specific lists in the library!
Use InfoTrac for medical subjects, persuasive papers, and general research
Username: lesday
Password: dayton
Access from anywhere
Click the InfoTrac icon on school computers, or log on from home or anywhere with an Internet connection:
http://infotrac.galegroup.com/Username: lesday
Password: dayton
What InfoTrac offers
Newspapers
Encyclopedias and dictionaries
Controversial issues
Journals & Magazines
New! Health Journals
Car repair
New! Disease & drug overviews
InfoTrac or LexisNexis will help organize your searchLimit results to full text, articles from peer-reviewed journals, or documents with Images
Search by subject, keyword, or entire document
Limit search results by date specifications
Limit search to a specific publication or publications
Organize the results
Results are organized by type:MagazinesAcademic JournalsBooksNewsMultimedia
Results can be sorted by:Publication Date Relevance
Results can be narrowed by:Document TypePublication TitleSubject
Check your results
Type of publication and number of results
You can read the articles you’ve chosen online or print them out
Information for the bibliography
Learn how long the article is right away
Download, Print, Email or Create a citation
InfoTrac and LexisNexis help keep your information organized
By marking useful documents you can:Print them all at one timeSave them all at one timeE-mail them all at one timeCreate a bibliography of all the documents you have marked
Marking your items keeps them organized and helps you remember which documents seemed the most relevant to your search
Select the format for citation
Your Instructors will probably want either MLA or APA style citations. If you aren’t sure, ask!
Federated Search option
Use this search bar to search multiple databases at once
One Search gives you a visual search option
Great option if you are a visual learner.
After performing your federated search, you’ll have to select the One Search button to get to the Visual Search display.
This will prompt you to enter your search phrase again.
Visual Search Example
LexisNexis
Best used for business administration and criminal justice
Resources Include:Newspapers & News Transcripts
Court Cases
Biographies of Living People
Company Profiles
Use LexisNexis Search Interface
Type Search Terms or Phrase here
Select the area that you want to search
Select your time frame
Select type of documents to search
Sample LexisNexis Article
Print, Save and Download Options
Library Book Catalog
http://swcollege.kohalibrary.com
To search the book catalog for any of Southwestern College’s locations, visit:
Do you know how to format properly?
The Librarian can show you how to:Adjust Fonts & Margins
Double Space your paper
Add Headers and Footers (including page numbers!)
Align your work
Check your spelling and grammar
You’ll Cite Your Sources in Two Different Places
Within the paperIn-text citations
At the end of the paperWorks cited page
Evaluating Websites
What does the domain name tell you?The end of the site address is important: .com, .edu and .org all mean different things!
Who is behind this site? Is it an organization or a private individual?
The American Heart Association or Joe Smith from Utah?
Why is this person/organization compiling this information?
Evaluating Websites
Does it provide a publication/copyright date? Depending on the topic, date can be very important!
Information on the Civil War may not need to be current. Healthcare reform information should be up to date.
Does it make sense to use this information in my report? Is it useful to my purpose?
Am I just repeating myself with this information?
Evaluating Websites
Do you have any reason to believe that this person is an expert in their field?
Do they list degrees or credentials?
How biased is this source? Do they stand to profit from the information on this site?
Toyota is obviously going to say good things about the company on the official site.
New Catalog:http://swcollege.kohalibrary.comInfotrac:http://infotrac.galegroup.com/
Username: lesdayPassword: dayton
Email librarian, Anna Jones