Introduction to Resources @

Queen’s University Library

POLS 110 – October 2014

Gillian Akenson

Queen’s University Libraries

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Learning Outcomes

In today’s session you will learn how to:• Identify Political Studies resources using the library’s

website;

• Distinguish between a primary, secondary and tertiary

source as well as scholarly or peer-reviewed sources;

and

• Develop your research skills by learning to retrieve a

“known item” and identifying subject-related articles

using Proquest’s Political Studies database

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Resources

Primary Sources

Multimedia

Group Websites

Government Documents

Personal Websites

Popular Press

Journal Articles

Books

Images

Org/NGOs

Videos

Associations

Documents

Speeches

Reports

Census

E-Books

Dictionaries

Encyclopedias

Library

Subscriptions /

databases

Google

Scholar

Free

People

Newspapers

Magazines

Archives

Statistics

Audio

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Finding Information

Where do most people go first?

• The Internet: Google, Wikipedia

What are some of the advantages?

• Abundance of information

• Easy to search

• Wikipedia ranks among first ten results in top search engines for

health-related inquiries

• Current/timely

• Convenient

• Dynamic

• Low cost or free

• Google Scholar: “Cited by” tracking tool; Links to Get‐It@

Queen’s and RefWorks

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Finding Information on the Web

What are some of the drawbacks?• Sheer volume of information can be overwhelming

• Lack of specificity, irrelevant retrievals

• Date coverage often unclear

• Can be difficult to determine what information is

legitimate, authoritative, and unbiased

• Search engines index only a fraction of the available

information

• Search engines can’t access content within

databases

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Evaluating Information on the Web

Authority • Who wrote or published the information?• What are the credentials of the author? Is the author

affiliated with an academic institution? Or is the author backed by a known organization?

• What else has the author written?

Content Accuracy or verifiability of details is important.• How is the information documented? Facts and

statistics should have references.• Can the information be verified by another source?• How was the data gathered? Look for a description of

the process of selecting or approving information on the site under, editorial policy or selection policy.

Can you determine if the material is: • Aimed at a particular audience? Consumer, health

professional, researcher?• Cited or linked to other sources?

Currency/Timeliness Ask yourself:• Is this a rapidly changing subject area? • Does the page have a “last updated” date?

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Evaluating Information on the Web

Objectivity/Disclosure Look for links that say about us, about this site, or contact us.Can you determine: • Who is responsible for publishing the information? • Who has sponsored or funded the information? • If the author has a vested interest or bias?• Is the organization recognized in your field of study?• Advertisements should be labeled.• Is it clear that the content is coming from a non-

commercial source?

Organization/Layout • Is the order of the material clear and easy to find?• Is there a good index/table of contents? • Are the links to other pages working?

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Types of Information Sources

Primary sources are original materials/information

on which other research is based and are

published by the individual(s) who actually

conduct the research or observe the events in

question.

• Examples of primary information sources include journal

articles of original research, autobiographies, minutes,

letters, reports, theses, patents.

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Types of Information Sources

Secondary sources are written or compiled by

people who are not directly involved in the primary

research or events.

• Secondary sources analyze, evaluate, interpret, or

summarize information reported by researchers in

primary literature and often include a bibliography of

primary sources.

• Examples include journal review articles, literature or systematic reviews, biographies, textbooks.

For example: Group Politics and Social Movements in Canada

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Types of Information Sources

Tertiary sources make use of both primary and

secondary sources and synthesize the information.

• Tertiary sources provide what are considered to be

known facts.

• Examples include almanacs, encyclopedias,

dictionaries and handbooks.

For example: Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs

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Scholarly vs. Popular Writing

• Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals

• http://library.queensu.ca/inforef/tutorials/qcat/qeval.htm

• Scholarly Journals

• Have articles that are written by a scholar in the field, discipline

or specialty

• Report on original research or experimentation

• Have articles that use the terminology and language of the

covered subject

• Have articles that are footnoted and/or have a bibliography

• Are generally published by a professional organization or a

scholarly press

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Peer Review

“Peer review means that other scientific experts in the field check

research papers for validity, significance and originality – and for

clarity.” From: I don’t know what to believe – making sense of science

stories. http://www.senseaboutscience.org/data/files/resources/16/IDontKnowWhatToB

elievereprint2008.pdf

• Published articles may be referred to as having been refereed or

peer reviewed

• Those individuals conducting the review are called referees

• The popular press, such as news magazines (e.g. Maclean’s), news

papers, general magazines (e.g. Canadian Living), etc. often refer to

peer reviewed publications in their reporting, but their interpretations

of scientific research can be problematic

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Identifying a Citation

A citation is a short description of an information

source

• It contains all the information you need to be able to

locate the source again

• A citation can be for a journal article, web page, book or

a chapter within a book

• There are many different citation styles e.g. Vancouver

or APA, but the individual elements of a citation will

generally be the same

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Identifying a Citation

Book:Holmes RM, Holmes ST. Suicide : theory, practice, and

investigation. Thousand Oaks, CA ; London: Sage Publications;

2005.

note inclusion of publisher

Book chapter:

Sakinofsky I, Leenaars AA. Suicide in Canada with special reference

to the difference between Canada and the United States. In Suicide:

individual, cultural, international perspectives. 1997 Guilford Press.

(New York, NY) (Leenaars AA et al):112-26.

note inclusion of 2 sets of names, 2 titles, and chapter page

numbers

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Identifying a Citation

Journal Article:

Cheung AH, Dewa CS. Current trends in youth suicide and firearms

regulations. Can.J.Public Health 2005 Mar-Apr;96(2):131-135.

note inclusion of volume number and lack of publisher

include the words “Electronic version” following the article

title if you accessed the e-version of a print article

Web Page:

Health Department: Memorandums of Understanding. Available at:

http://www.itk.ca/health/MOUs-Index.php Accessed 10/30/2007,

2007.

note inclusion of url and retrieval date

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I need to find research on…

• How should the international community

respond to the problem of child soldiers?

Citation provided:

Blattman, Christopher. “Children and War: How “Soft’

Research Can Answer the Hard Questions in

Political Science.” Perspectives on Politics 10.2

(May 2012): 403-413

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Get started with SUMMON

Summon 1 + billion records

QCAT Library Catalogue Books, journals, music, government documents ...

Articles fromjournals, newspapers and magazines subscribed to by Queen's University Ubrary

?

Some Information found In specialized research

databases Is not flndable In Summon

CHARTING PATHS TO DISCOVERY

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Search Results: Your search for "Children and war how soft research can answer the hard questions" returned 3 results

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Relevance • ~ 0 Children and War. How "Soft~ Research Can Answer the Hard Questions in Political Science

by Blattman. Christopher online~

Perspectives on Politics, ISSN 1537-5927, 06/2012, Volume 10, 1ssue 2, PP-403-413 A review essay on the following books is presented: (1) Forgetting Children Born of War: Setting the Human Rights Agenda in Bosnia and Beyond by R Charli ___ Political Science, REINTEGRATlON, Humanitarianism, Children, Political scientists

12 Book Review: Full Text Online C~ed by 1 (Web of SCience"')

Children and War: How "Soft~ Research Can Answer the Hard Questions in Polit ical Science I Forgetting Children Born of War: Setting the Human Rights Agenda in Bosnia and Beyond

by Blattman. Christopher

NHfiU Perspectives on Politics. ISSN 1537-5927, 05/2012, Volume 10, Issue 2, PP- 403-413 A review essay on the following books is presented: (1) Forgett ing Children Bam of War: Setting the Human Rights Agenda in Bosnia and Beyond by R Charli ___ Political Science, article, War, Bosnia Herzegovina, Military Personnel

Journal ArtiCle: Full Text Online

References Annan, Jeannie, and Christopher Blattman. 2011. "R

integrating and Employing High Risk Youth in Libe~ ria: Lessons from a Randomized Evaluation of a Landmine Action Agricultural Training Program for Ex-Combatants." New Haven, CT: Innovations for Poverty Action. https://www.poverty-action.org/sites/ default/files/lma_impacts_ report_-_final. pdf, accessed February 17, 2012.

Annan, Jeannie, Christopher Blattman, Dyan Mazurana, and Khrisropher Carlson. 2011. "Civil War, Reinre~ gration, and Gender in Northern Uganda." journaL of Con ict ResoLution 55(6): 877-908.

I Finnemore, Martha, and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. "Inter~

national Norm Dynamics and Political Change." InternationaL Organization 52(4): 887-917.

Gates, ~COLL ~~:.. "~~-=:::-::-:_ ~ . ..: ;.._;~cg1ance: T he Microfoundations of Rebellion." journal of Conflict Resolution 46(1 ): 111-30.

Gates, Scott, and Simon Reich. 2010. Child Soldiers in the Age of Fractured States. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Gertleman, Jeffrey. 2010. "Africa's Forever Wars: Why the Continent's Conflicts Never End." Foreign PoLicy 178. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/20 10/02/ 22/africas_forever_wars, accessed Februa 17, 2012.

CHARTING PATHS TO DISCOVERY

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Finding More Articles: Political Studies

@ Proquest

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Questions?

Gillian Akenson

Research & Instruction Librarian

Stauffer Library, Room 107 ‘B’

Email gg2@queensu.ca

Visit the library’s Political Studies subject guide for more

information:

http://guides.library.queensu.ca/subject/politicalstudies