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Library Research Practices in Education

Library Research Practices in Education. Lecture Three: Step 3 - The Literature Search. Review from Lecture Two. How does the formulation of the research topic help you in your research? What are some strategies to help you discover a topic?

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Library Research Practices in Education

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  1. Library Research Practices in Education Lecture Three: Step 3 - The Literature Search INST 250/4

  2. Review from Lecture Two • How does the formulation of the research topic help you in your research? • What are some strategies to help you discover a topic? • Why does one write up a preliminary thesis and outline? • How does a thesis differ from a research topic? INST 250/4

  3. A thesis statement is • A declaration • A statement that will control the paper’s direction • A sentence that will confine the paper’s content. • A thesis statement will propose a conclusion The author will defend/ try to convince the reader/ argue the thesis statement in the paper. INST 250/4

  4. Keywords Keywords are words or phrases Discrimination against young women in the classroom, known as ‘shortchanging” harms the women academically, socially and psychologically. INST 250/4

  5. Identifying Keywords Early intervention programsaimed at improving the literacy in children at risk of failure will lead to societal benefits. • early literacy beginning reading • programs intervention • at risk potential drop outs • benefits impact, advantages INST 250/4

  6. Tips for choosing Keywords • Be as specific as possible to describe the concepts in your thesis • Word endings adolescents or adolescence • Variant spellings behavior or behaviour • Avoid using words that have multiple meanings (homographs) primary present INST 250/4

  7. Lecture Three: Outline • Step 3: The Literature search • Facts vs Opinions • Locating scholarly information • Types of sources • Primary vs secondary sources • Library’s Online Catalogue • Searching CLUES • Known item search • Keyword search • Boolean operators and Wildcards • Limits INST 250/4

  8. The Research Process • Select your topic • Develop a preliminary thesis • Conduct a literature search • Create a working bibliography • Evaluate sources • Write the final thesis • Prepare the paper & bibliography INST 250/4

  9. Step 3: Literature Search Sources Library catalogue Indexes & abstracts Web sources INST 250/4

  10. Conducting the Literature Search • Multi-stepped and lengthy phase of research process • Focus will be on the use of database-driven retrieval tools: • Library catalogues • Subject-specific, multi-disciplinary, and specialized databases • Web-based search engines INST 250/4

  11. Facts vs Opinions Research papers contain both facts and opinions taken from outside sources • Fact • Denotes something that exists • Can be verified or proven • Example: Number of children who are reading below grade level by the age of eight • Opinion • Is an idea about a fact or another opinion • Is an interpretation, a deduction, or a supposition • Example: Reasons why children are reading below grade level A fact can be confirmed, whereas an opinion can be explained or defended but not proven definitively. INST 250/4

  12. Step 3: The Literature Search • Locating scholarly information • Primary vs Secondary Sources • Evaluating the information • Documentation • Currency • Review INST 250/4

  13. Primary Sources • A document or object that was created as the original original words of its creator/author ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS (excerpts or translations acceptable): Diaries, speeches, manuscripts, letters, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, official records, journals CREATIVE WORKS: Poetry, drama, novels, music, art, photographs RELICS OR ARTIFACTS: Pottery, furniture, clothing, buildings • Can quote more extensively from primary sources as they will have direct relevance to paper • http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/education/008-3010-e.html INST 250/4

  14. Primary Sources Examples • The Diary of Anne Frank - Experiences of a Jewish family during WWII  • The Constitution of Canada - Canadian History  • Pottery - Native American history  • Watercolour painting of Montreal – Canadian Art History • A journal article reporting NEW research or findings INST 250/4

  15. Secondary Sources • Secondary sources • Works about someone or about their accomplishments or findings • Discusses the primary sources • An interpretation, evaluation or analysis • http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/education/008-3010-e.html INST 250/4

  16. Secondary Sources Examples • A journal/magazine article which interprets or reviews previous findings  • A textbook   • An analysis of poetry • A biography • http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/education/008-3010-e.html INST 250/4

  17. Who cares? • “Doing research is all about trust. If you trust the person who created a secondary source, then there isn't a problem about using it. However, if you don't trust that person, if you think their version is a exaggerated or biased, or if you want to see the original evidence for yourself, then you have to go to the primary sources. “ • From http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/education/008-3010-e.html INST 250/4

  18. Primary or Secondary Source? • Newspaper • Blog post • Census data • Weather report   INST 250/4

  19. Library Catalogue - CLUES • What is in CLUES? • Books • Journals (Periodicals) • Video • Music • Reserve items • Theses • Special collections • Eresources – ebooks & ejournals • Indexes & abstracts INST 250/4

  20. Library Catalogue - CLUES • CLUES contains links to full-text purchased by the Library for Concordia students and faculty. • The first place to start your research! INST 250/4

  21. http://library.concordia.ca/ INST 250/4

  22. CLUES INST 250/4

  23. Search Options (with tips) • Preselected fields • Author • Title • Journal Title • Subject Heading • Call Number • Video Search • Advanced keyword • Author/Title • Government Document Number • ISBN/ISSN/Music Number • Other Number (OCLC) • Special Collections • Databases Search (Name & Subject) INST 250/4

  24. Now you try it…… • Known item search, use: • Search Options (with tips) INST 250/4

  25. Combining Your Keywords Boolean Operators Three operators that are used to logically combine keywords within a search statement AND OR NOT INST 250/4

  26. Boolean - AND • AND • Used between terms expressing dissimilar concepts • BOTH terms must appear in results • Example: Literacy AND elementary Literacy (1426 recs) Elementary (4442 recs) Total retrieved: 180 records INST 250/4

  27. Boolean - OR • OR • Used between terms expressing a similar concept • EITHER term must appear in results • Example: Literacy OR Reading Reading (5686 recs) Literacy (1426 recs) Total retrieved: 6734 records INST 250/4

  28. Boolean - NOT • NOT • Used to eliminate unwanted terms from search results • NOTed term(s) must not appear in the results • CLUES uses “AND NOT” • Example: Literacy NOT adult Literacy (1426 recs) Adult (2604 recs) Total retrieved: 1237 records INST 250/4

  29. Combining keywords using Boolean Using our keywords for the two main concepts… Early literacy beginning reading programs intervention …we can design the following search statement: (early literacy OR beginning reading) AND (programs OR intervention) INST 250/4

  30. CLUES INST 250/4

  31. Keyword Search: Commands • Phrase Searching • Use quotes around two or more words • Terms will appear side by side in the order specified • Example: “food security” • Wildcards Words may be right-hand truncated using an asterisk ('*') in place of other characters. The '*' wildcard may also be embedded in a search string. You may use '?' to replace a single character anywhere within a word. • Examples : environment* polic*, wom?n INST 250/4

  32. Keyword Search: Commands • Limiting fields • Those fields that contain information common to many records • Restrict search results by certain limits • Examples: Language, Date, Material type INST 250/4

  33. Now you try it…… • Arrange your concepts into a logically correct search statement: • (Inuit OR Eskimo) AND (Food or nutrition) AND Canad* • Use: Advanced Keyword • Look at the record to find your keywords – what colour are they? INST 250/4

  34. Modify search INST 250/4

  35. INST 250/4

  36. INST 250/4

  37. Now you try it…… • Arrange your keywords into a logically correct search statement: • Use: Advanced Keyword • Look at the record to find your keywords – what colour are they? INST 250/4

  38. Review • Beginning the literature search • Form judgments about the type and quality of information that is to be retrieved • Scan material to learn about purpose, scope, relevant ideas etc. • Takes notes on discoveries • CLUES • Fields in CLUES records • Keyword searches on CLUES • Use of advanced commands in Keyword search • Next week: Searching Subject headings INST 250/4

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