This document provides an overview of library resources and how to conduct research. It discusses the services available at the library, such as article databases, the library catalog, research assistance and group study rooms. It then demonstrates how to perform effective searches in article databases by determining essential concepts, brainstorming synonyms, and using Boolean operators like AND and OR. The document stresses finding relevant sources and avoiding irrelevant results by refining searches based on titles, subjects or other limits. Students are instructed to search a topic and email two relevant articles to themselves.

1. ENG 101 Danielle Carlock d.carlock@sccmail.maricopa.edu 480 425 6765

2. TODAY’S OBJECTIVES Review/Learn about the services available to you at the library Be able to find at least two articles on your topic using article databases Be able to find books using the library catalog

3. Announcing theScottsdale Community College LibraryResearch Award Prizes for the best research paper/project by a current SCC student: 1st place $300 2nd place $200 3rd place $100 Submissions can be from courses taken during Summer 09, Fall 09, and Spring 10. Submission forms will be available starting October 21st. Submissions are due by 4:00 p.m. on April 26, 2010. More information including information about past winners is available at: http://library.scottsdalecc.edu/researchaward

4. Get ready to Click Some slides will give you a chance to answer a question with your ResponseCard (“clicker”) Use only buttons 1/A through 0/J Press a button once; the display on your clicker will show your choice You can press a different button to change your answer as long as “polling: open” is displayed

5. Which of the following services does the library NOT provide? Printing & copying Wireless internet Research assistance Tutoring Laptop checkouts Group study rooms

6. Which of the following does the library NOT provide access to? All textbooks Electronic books Online journal articles Movies

7. If you need research help from a librarian you can Call the library Use chat Come to the reference desk Any of the above

8. In a college library, how are books arranged on the shelf? Alphabetically by author name Alphabetically by title By subject By size

9. Which tool is used to find books a library owns? Google Periodical database Catalog None of the above

10. Using article databases When you want to find newspaper, magazine, or journal articles on a topic use an article database These are specialized search engines available thru the SCC library website These search engines are not available freely thru the web (i.e. by googling)

11. Suggested databases Academic Search Premier Academic One File National Newspapers

12. Off Campus Login

13. HOW TO DO KEYWORD SEARCHES When using any type of search engine, do not type whole sentences, questions, etc. into search boxes. INSTEAD: DETERMINE WHAT YOUR ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS ARE

14. DETERMINING ESSENTIAL CONCEPTS Essential concepts Usually verbs or nouns They describe your topic Topic : How can social networking sites help people find jobs? What are the ESEENTIAL CONCEPTSin this topic??????

16. It is put between the essential concepts in the search

17. Ex: social networking AND jobs

19. EXERCISE 1 How many articles would you retrieve? Which ones? Which ones would not be retrieved? Why wouldn’t they be retrieved?

20. What’s the Point? What is the point of doing this exercise?

21. BOTTOM LINE There are many words in the English language to describe the same/similar concept We limited ourselves too much by not incorporating synonyms into the search

22. BRAINSTORMING SYNONYMS Synonyms/related terms for social networking: Synonyms/related terms for job:

23. OR Another command you give to the database It is put between synonyms EX: job OR employment It tells the database to look for articles in which either of the words appear

24. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER Formula for search statement: (all synonyms for key concept 1 with OR in between each) AND (all synonyms for key concept 2 with OR in between each)

25. OUR SEARCH STATEMENT

26. EXERCISE 2 Look at the article abstracts and determine how many we would retrieve now with our new search statement. How many?

27. STILL ONE MORE PROBLEM… Have you ever done a search using what you thought were the best keywords and still had a problem? What was the problem?

28. EXERCISE 3 Read over the article abstracts and create two piles: (1) articles that are relevant to our topic (2) articles that are not relevant to our topic

29. EXERCISE 3 Which articles were relevant to our topic? Why did the irrelevant articles come up? What can be done about this? Restrict search terms to article title only Use subject headings

30. SUMMARY Determine your essential concepts Brainstorm synonyms for each essential concept Create a search statement using AND and OR Conduct the search! If too many irrelevant hits, restrict to titles or use subject headings

31. Using one of the library databases, conduct a search on your topic. Find two relevant articles and email them to yourself

32. LIBRARY CATALOG Used to find books, movies, and periodicals (magazines, newspapers and journals) CANNOT BE USED TO FIND INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES FROM SCRATCH ON A TOPIC