3. A quick plug…
Library
workshops
Listed on the library
blog
Chicago Manual
Style
Image from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdkrebs/6812988187/
Wednesday, April
9th 4:00-5:30 – Cook
Library 317
5. Wikipedia Woes and Google Gaffs
What are the pros and
cons of so much
information being
online?
What do you do to be
sure you’re finding
credible resources?
New York Times (2013) If a Story Is Viral, Truth
May Be Taking a Beating
http://nyti.ms/1d7MUUB
Google Analytics (2012) Google analytics in
real life – Site search.
http://youtu.be/cbtf1oyNg-8
DuckDuckGo (2012). There are no “regular
results” on Google anymore.
http://vimeo.com/duckduckgo/bubble
How do you evaluate
the information you
find while
researching?
Why is it important to
support your argument
with valid sources?
6. Web “Pre-Searching”
Why
start your search online?
Find background information
Help solidify research topic
Find new terminology to use as keywords
Find links and/or citations to other sources
7. Improve Google
Planet formation and
Jupiter
Advanced
searching
Duck
Google
Duck Go
Olber’s Paradox and
Edgar Allen Poe
Cook
Library’s
Guide to the Web
8. Keywords are critical!
Sample
topic:
Does intelligent design serve a political role
in the classroom?
First,
break the question down into key
concepts:
Does intelligent design serve a political role
in the classroom?
9. More on keywords…
Expand
your list to include synonyms then add
to it once you have done some background
reading.
Does intelligent design serve a political role in
the classroom?
Intelligent design
creationism
Panda’s thumb
Discovery Institute
political
Board of Education
controversy
philosophy
classroom
education
K-12
curriculum
10. Create keywords
Enter
your research topic on your
worksheet
Pass it to a group member
Group member fills in keywords/synonyms
What
helped you find synonyms?
11. Search Tip #1
Boolean “search connectors”
AND OR NOT
internet AND children
Combining >1 topic
instruct OR teach
Combining
synonymous terms
Which is better?
12. Search Tip #2
Use
truncation!
Educat*
finds
Educate
Education
Educating
Educator
Etc…
13. Search Tip #3
Phrase
Searching…
Use quotations to keep a keyword phrase
intact (words will be searched in the
specific order)
Examples:
“Drake
Equation”
“protoplanetary disks”
14. Putting it all together…
Does intelligent design serve a political role in the
classroom?
Intelligent design
creationism
Panda’s thumb
Discovery Institute
political
Board of Education
controversy
philosophy
classroom
education
K-12
curriculum
“Intelligent design” OR creation*
AND
Politic* OR controversy OR “board of education”
AND
Classroom OR education OR curriculum
15. Create a search strategy
Using
the keywords on your worksheet
and the search tips mentioned here
create a search strategy
16. Evaluate what you find
Go
to one of the websites below and
analyze it
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb3
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb4
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb5
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb6
http://bit.ly/cosmicweb7
18. Check for CRAP
Currency
How recent is the
information?
Can you locate a
date when the
resource was
written/created/upda
ted?
Based on your
topic, is this current
enough?
Why might the date
matter for your topic?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/helloeveryone123/393737
4193/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
19. Check for CRAP
Reliability
What kind of
information is
included in the
resource?
Does the author
provide citations &
references for
quotations & data
Where am I
accessing this
information?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/schnappi/5930145952/sizes/l/in/photostrea
m/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
20. Check for CRAP
Authority
Can you determine who
the author/creator is?
What are their
credentials
(education, affiliation, e
xperience, etc.)?
Who is the publisher or
sponsor of the work/site?
Is this publisher/sponsor
reputable
http://rantchick.com/a-doctrine-on-respect/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
21. Check for CRAP
Purpose/Point of
View
Is the content
primarily opinion?
Is the information
balanced or
biased?
What is the purpose
of the information? Is
it to
inform, teach, sell, e
ntertain or persuade
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/5484085301/sizes
/m/in/photostream/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library
22. Group work:
Fill out this spreadsheet
http://bit.ly/tsemspring2014storrsws
Enter
your names and choose a research
topic for the group
Find a reliable website
Find a “bad” website
23. Thanks for listening!
Next
class:
Watch 2 more video and prepare for
discussion
Use your keywords to find books/articles
24. Questions?
Feel free to contact me:
Laksamee Putnam
lputnam@towson.edu
410.704.3746.
Twitter: @CookLibraryofTU
Or any reference librarian:
Visit Cook Library Reference Desk
410.704.2462.
IM – tucookchat
Editor's Notes
Aka it’s a good starting pointYou can read the wikipedia article… just don’t cite it
