Using Library Resources

Joan TaylorReference LibrarianEnglish 1102 Spring, 2014

Engl 1102• Today’s Outcome : Appropriately use information to fulfill the identified need.

• LibGuides for You!• Types of Resources• Successful Search Strategies• Evaluate Resources• Avoiding Plagiarism • Citation Tools

LibGuides - Tools to help you!

http://clayton.libguides.com/

LibGuides INCLUDE: Featured LibGuides• Tutorials-- “how to” guides • Suggested resources • Books and e-books• Research databases• Quality websites • Quick help boxes

Start your research with a LibGuide!

Browse by Subject or Major

Browse by topic:

Keywords are …..

KEYWORDS

Everyday language

Easy to use

Flexible terms

Less accurate

Building a search strategy

Topic: What are the financial benefits of solar panels?

Break down the topic into keywords.

Keywords: financial, benefits, solar panels

Can you think of some other keywords or synonyms that we could use for this topic?

Find Alternative Keywords

Brainstorm for alternativewords.

Keywords: financial, benefits, solar panels

Alternative Keywords: cost, money, savings, advantages, solar energy, sun power

Did you know that AND is automatically used by Google and other search engines to combine terms?

Did you know that ‘”Boolean” is named after George Boole, a 19th century mathematician?

BOOLEAN Operators are connectors:

AND = narrows “women” and “hypertension”

OR = expands “hypertension” or “high blood pressure”

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Special Indexing Tools to Target Your Searching

Types of Indexes Subject Terms Medical & Allied Health Headings Thesaurus (Education, Psychology,

Medicine)

Subject Thesaurus

All About Books! Circulating Books• Authoritative coverage• Usually read “cover to

cover”• In depth coverage of

events, people, subjects• May be e-book format

Reference books• Background information• Usually not read “cover

to cover”• Quick facts, Encyclopedic

• Historical data• Topical overview• Timelines• May be e-book format

Journals, Magazines, and Trade Publications

Journals Magazines Trade Publications

American Sociological Review, Journal of Physical Chemistry

Newsweek, Ebony Aviation Today, Chronicle of Higher Education

Scholarly information-Primary Source-Unique researchSecondary Source-historical review of literature

Popular information Limited industry/business information- (i.e. airlines, construction, etc.)

For researchers/professors to stay current on a topic.

For casual readers seeking general information.

For practitioners, includes technical terms for that career field.

Illustrations include charts, graphics to support article

May include bright covers and advertising.

Glossy covers and pages

Longer articles, footnotes. Bibliographies.

Short articles. Advertising geared for the industry or business

Web Sources• Includes current news and trending topics!• Some access to open source (freely available) scholarly

publications• Government publications may include:

Reports Statistical data Maps Papers Interviews Links to other government agencies

Critically Evaluate All Information!

Clayton State University Library

What is GALILEO?• GeorgiA Library LEarning Online (GALILEO)• A shared resource for libraries in the State of Georgia• Includes library catalogs• Includes library research databases• Includes other core resources and free information for

everyone• Academic libraries (Public and private)• Technical college libraries• Public libraries• K-12 school libraries/media centers• Atlanta History Center

Off Campus access to GALILEOURL: http://clayton.libguides.com/offcampus

Discover GALILEO –Searches everything. Limit your search.

RefineSearch for CSU catalog

Just Searching in the CSU Catalog

Search in Gil-Find@ Clayton State University

Streaming video, eBooks, physical books in the CSU Library

Book- The citationTitle of Book

Place, publisher, date, (edition)

Author(s)

eBook Collections @ Clayton State Library

Search for Articles

GALILEO choices

AcademicSearch Complete

Search in Academic Search Complete (GALILEO resource)

Journal article –The citationTitle of article

Author(s)

Journal, date, vol. pages

Resources for position papersPublicagenda.org

Issues & Controversies (GALILEO)

CQResearcher(GALILEO)

Journal article

Quality of Selected Resources

• Evaluating Information is Essential!

• Establish validity, reliability, credibility, authorship, and integrity.• Authority• Who is the author, curator, publisher?• Accuracy• How reliable is the information provided?• Objectivity• What is the purpose of the resource?• Currency• How up-to-date is the resource?• Coverage• Does the resource contain information relevant to your topic?

Plagiarism

More Resources for You

Plagiarism Page – ENGL 1102 Citing Information (LibGuide-Legal Research)Library Library Research LibGuide-How to beginENGL 1102 English Composition II - Writing, selecting topics,

grammar, and other resources.

Ways to Contact a Librarian for Help!