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ENG 101

ENG 101. Using the library & finding information. Martin Crabtree MCCC Library. Agenda. Finding books Important places in the library Electronic searching Databases available fro the library Database Info ≠ Web Info Giving credit to the author. Finding Books.

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ENG 101

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  1. ENG 101 Using the library & finding information Martin Crabtree MCCC Library

  2. Agenda • Finding books • Important places in the library • Electronic searching • Databases available fro the library • Database Info ≠ Web Info • Giving credit to the author

  3. Finding Books • Books are put on the shelves grouped by subject. • You may be familiar with the Dewey Decimal System which is used by many school and public libraries. • MCCC like most colleges uses a different system called the Library of Congress (LC) system. • The LC system used both letters and number. For example: PZ3.D55 T3

  4. Finding books in the libraryUsing the online card catalog • The catalog is available online. Used to find books, videos and other materials both in the MCCC collection and the Mercer County Public (MCL) libraries. • You can have materials from MCL brought to the college. Deliveries arrive Tuesday and Friday afternoons. (DVD’s not available from MCL) • You will need to have your student ID card to borrow books or use the computer lab in the library

  5. Link to the catalog is on the library’s web pages.

  6. Getting Around in the Library

  7. Important Places in the Library The Reference Desk The Circulation Desk The Stacks

  8. The person at the reference desk will help you find what you need The Reference Librarian will help you to: • Do database searches • Find books, periodicals and other materials • Find useful web resources

  9. At the Circulation Desk You can: • Check out book here. • Get textbook for use in the library • Get videos & current newspapers here. • Get materials (books, journal articles, etc.) that your professor has set aside here • Ask for help in your research

  10. There are 2 kinds of stacks • The Reference stacks: • Holds the reference books • These books do not circulate • The General Collection Stacks • Holds the books that you can check out

  11. We have computers too!

  12. The library’s computer lab • To use the computer lab you need to sign in & have your student ID with you. • You can use the computers for research as well as for email, writing papers, spread sheets, etc. • Bring you own disks, CDs, thumb drives, etc. to save your work.

  13. The library’s computer lab • Anything saved on a computer’s hard drive will be erased once the computer is turned off. • Printing costs 10¢ a page (you can also email articles to yourself). • There is a lab assistant there to help with computer usage questions. • You’ll need to go to the reference desk for research questions.

  14. Searching Electronic Resources

  15. Starting An Electronic SearchKeywords • Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and web search engines. • With a possible topic in mind, generate a list of words (keywords) that describes or would commonly be used when discussing your topic. Write this down if it helps. • For example: • Ozone • Layer • Depletion • Atmosphere • Hole

  16. Starting An Electronic SearchBoolean Searching/Logic • Boolean searching - Connecting keywords with the terms • and • not • or • For example • eagles NOT football • (car or automobile) and exhaust • More Terms = Fewer “Hits”

  17. Searching More Than Just KeywordsPhrases & Truncations • To search for a phrase, use quotation marks • “survival of the fittest” • Truncations allow for searching related words all at once • The * is usually used (! For Academic Universe databases) . For example: • child* would include: child, children, childhood, childproof, etc.

  18. Searching More Than Just KeywordsField Limiters • Database field limiters allow you to specify your search within varied parameters for example: • Only full-text articles • Only peer reviewed (scholarly) publications • Date (or date range)

  19. Let’s take a quick look at how Boolean searching can help

  20. Electronic Databases at the Mercer Library

  21. Electronic DatabasesIn General • Over 60 databases available • Not every article is available full text though many are • Abstracts (summary) is often available when full text is not

  22. Electronic DatabasesIn General • Accessible at any computer on the MCCC/JKC campus network • Most are available off campus, though you do need to use a password. • Can print/e-mail/download articles

  23. Accessing Databases Remotely • You can access most of the databases from any computer with internet access. • Use your student ID number (no dashes) and your last name to log into the databases. i.e. • If you are already using a library issued password and ID number, they are still valid too.

  24. Remote Login Screen Use your student ID number & last name Use your previously issued User ID & password

  25. One Useful Databases • EBSCOhost - Academic Search Premier • Broadest of the databases covering everything from science to the humanities • Most heavily used database at MCCC • Includes both general interest & scholarly/professional journals • Not every article full text • Need Acrobat Reader for some articles • Let’s take a look at it.

  26. More Databases • A number of subject specific databases are available covering: • Business (ABI/Inform) • Newspapers (Academic-Universe: News) • Criminal Justice (Criminal Justice Periodical Index) • Architecture (Architectural Index) • Education (Proquest Educational Journals) • more • Also other resources • Encyclopedia Britannica • Oxford English Dictionary • AP Photo Archive – News & historical photographs

  27. Database information vs. web information

  28. What is a databases? • A collection of electronically searchable information (frequently, but not limited to, periodical articles) that is accessible via the internet • Access to this information is by paid subscription only (paid by the library). • It is accessible via the internet, but it is not truly web information.

  29. Database info ≠Webpage info • Though both use a browser (like Netscape or Explorer) the information is not the same. • Database info comes from known sources of information such as Newsweek or The New York Times. • Web information can be put up by anyone hence the quality of this information varies greatly from site to site.

  30. Database info ≠Webpage info • Accuracy: Editors & fact checkers insure this for periodicals, can’t tell if it’s done for many websites. • Authority: Articles are written by experts or people who have researched a subject, with web info it can be hard to tell if the writer is an expert. • Objectivity: Periodicals strive to give an unbiased presentation of information, some websites can be very opinionated

  31. Database info ≠Webpage info • Currency: Periodicals always have a given date (i.e. Spring 2002, January 2005), often you can’t tell how old web info is. • Coverage: Periodical articles, especially journals cover their subject thoroughly (though sometimes it can be very narrow), web info tends to be abbreviated (20 page journal articles are common, 20 page web pages are not).

  32. Using the information you find ...and giving credit where credit is due.

  33. Using the Information You Find • Always give credit to the author or creator of the information that you use. • This includes not only the actual facts, conclusions, and ideas that an author presents but also the words that he/she has used.

  34. Plagiarism can take many forms • Plagiarism is the presenting of someone else’s intellectual work as your own. • It may be done deliberately, but it may also be done without your realizing it. • The copying, word for word, from a book or an article is the most blatant form of plagiarism.

  35. Plagiarism when paraphrasing or writing a summary • Incomplete paraphrasing or summarizing another’s work could cause plagiarizing without your realizing it. • To prevent this, you should avoid: • Using the original sentence structure. • Simply substituting a few words here and there. • Using any of the author's key words or unusual words. • Let’s look at an example...

  36. Good paraphrasing • It takes some effort to do a good job of paraphrasing. • One helpful method is to: 1. Read the original sentence 2. Without looking at the sentence, try writing the idea of the sentence in your own words 3. Look back at the original sentence again to see it you haven’t used too much of the original language -Adapted from “Avoiding Plagiarism”, at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia webpage: http://www.usip.edu/writing/plagrsm.shtml

  37. Giving credit using the MLA format • You will be using the MLA (Modern Language Association of America) style. • The latest MLA manual is available in the library: • MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers at: LB 2369 .G53 2003 (in the reference collection & on reserve). • The manual is not available on line. • For more in the MLA style, go to Research & Report Guides link on any MCCC Library webpage and click on MLA.

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