Library Research VANESSA LAWRENCE – VANESSA.LAWRENCE@CARLETON.CA
Library research workshop ◦ Getting started ◦ Creating a search ◦ Choosing “good” results ◦ Changing your search
What are you looking for? How do you decide what is a “good” result? ◦ Depends on the research context
What are you looking for? Different types of research use different types of information ◦ Books, journal articles, news articles, and websites are some sources you might use Different types of research need a different amount of information A good researcher always looks for authoritative information ◦ Related ◦ Reliable ◦ Readable
Getting started Do “pre - research” to understand the research context and: ◦ Narrow down a research topic ◦ Find synonyms for search keywords Encyclopedia articles ◦ Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, but is it reliable? ◦ The library has academic encyclopedias Textbooks and class readings Library subject guides and course guides
Creating a search Search for sources on your topic by deciding what key ideas are important ◦ Research topic Key ideas ◦ What are the advantages and opportunities of artificial intelligence? artificial intelligence, advantages, opportunities Search using key ideas in (parentheses), joined together using “AND” ◦ (artificial intelligence) AND (advantage) AND (opportunity) More key ideas will find less results
Creating a search Brainstorm or research some synonyms for your key ideas ◦ More synonyms will help find more results Use synonyms as keywords to describe each idea, joined together using “OR” ◦ (artificial intelligence) AND (advantage) AND (opportunity) (“artificial intelligence” OR ai OR “machine intelligence”) AND (advantage OR benefit) AND (opportunity OR application) If a keyword is one idea but more than one word, you can use “quotation marks” to search for the words in the same order you wrote them
Activity: Creating a search Write down a research topic you’re interested in Write down the keywords, and think of some synonyms ◦ Share your ideas with a partner, and think of words together Create a search with some key ideas and synonyms you can think of ◦ (key idea OR synonym) AND (key idea OR synonym)
Choosing “good” results The most important part of searching is to actually find information that answers your question. Look for results that are: ◦ Related ◦ Reliable ◦ Readable Remember that you probably won’t find one perfect result, but look for a few sources that will help you make an argument
Choosing “good” results Find results that are related to your topic ◦ Check that your keywords show up in the title and summary ◦ Read the summary and ask: ◦ Are the keywords in the right context? ◦ Look at the book or article keywords to find the main ideas
Choosing “good” results Find results that are reliable sources ◦ Make sure the content type is useful for your research question ◦ Make sure the information isn’t out of date ◦ If the information is from a website ◦ Find the source of the information ◦ Ask “Why did the author write this?” ◦ Compare to library sources
Choosing “good” results Find results that are “readable” information for you ◦ Make sure you have access to the full text ◦ If you are looking at a print book, is it in the library? ◦ Make sure the writing isn’t too technical ◦ Can you understand the summary?
Choosing “good” results Once you find a good source, write down the citation ◦ The citation will help you find it again ◦ The citation will help your instructor find it, to make sure you did good research
Activity: Choosing “good” results In a group of three: Choose a “good” results from the list ◦ Make sure it fits with the research context Make an APA citation for it Make sure you can explain why it is a “good” result ◦ Is it related, reliable, and readable? How do you know?
Changing your search Look carefully at the results of your search to find out how to improve it We can change keywords, change the search options, or search in a different database
Changing your search Change your keywords based on the words in the titles and summaries that show up in your results Look at the “good” results to find new synonyms to add to your search Look at the not-so-good results to find things that don’t fit your research at all ◦ You can remove synonyms or keywords that don’t help from your search Look for different keywords in your research question
Changing your search Change your search with the options in Summon to find more “good” results Narrow down your results by limiting the content types ◦ You might want to start with Book / eBook Limit results to the discipline you’re studying to find results related to your topic If your results are out-of-date for your research, limit the publication date
Changing your search Sometimes you can find results that are more related or reliable for your search topic by searching in a different place Look on Google Scholar to find results in many subjects, like Summon Look at course guides and subject guides to find subject-specific databases Look at the list of “Databases by Type” to find specific content types ◦ News databases are usually better than Summon to find news articles If you don’t need academic information, try looking in Google ◦ Be careful to make sure the source of the information is still reliable
Activity: Changing your search Look carefully at the search keywords and the search results How would you change the search to find more “good” results? Write one thing on a piece of paper, and make a snowball.
Remember… Start with background research to narrow your topic and learn the context ◦ Wikipedia, encyclopedia articles, or introductory books Decide what you’re looking for – what does a good result look like? Turn your research topic into key ideas and synonyms ◦ (keyword OR synonym) AND (keyword OR synonym) Choose “good” results that are related to your topic, reliable for the context, and readable for you Change your search and try again to find even more “good” results
Ask for help If you need any help with your research, you can always ask for help at the library ◦ Visit the Research Help Desk or call 613-520-2735 ◦ Email me, Vanessa Lawrence: vanessa.lawrence@carleton.ca
Recommend
More recommend
