My Research: Humanities Module 2

1. My Research: HumanitiesModule 2 Sharon Rankin Sean Swanick Helena Reddington [

2. The research mindset… “It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. Obviously those two modes of thought are in some tension. But if you are able to exercise only one of these modes, whichever one it is, you’re in deep trouble.” --Carl Sagan “The Burden of Skepticism.” Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 12, Fall 1987.

3. Skepticism in action…

5. Learning outcomes After today’s workshop, you will be able to: • Develop an effective search strategy for a research topic • Find relevant material for your topic using the library catalogue • Search general academic databases for article literature • Locate information beyond McGill

6. The Research Process It can seem long and circuitous… Clara M. Chu, “Literary Critics at Work and Their Information Needs: A Research-Phases Model,” Library & Information Science Research 21, no. 2 (1999): 263.

7. The Research Process Long and circuitous = normal… DON’T PANIC! Christine D. Brown, “Straddling the Humanities and Social Sciences: The Research Process of Music Scholars,” Library & Information Science Research 24, no. 1 (2002): 88.

8. Case study: The New Woman, 1890-1920 Cybill Shepard in the movie of Henry James’s1878 novella Daisy Miller

9. Case study: The New Woman, 1890-1920 By 1890 a new, more modern culture was emerging in the United States....As women pushed the boundaries of the private sphere to participate more fully in wage earning, education, the professions, or community service, the concept of “true womanhood” was pushed aside in favor of the “New Woman.” Lucille A. Adkins, "Women's Movement, United States, 20th Century," in The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, edited by Immanuel Ness. Blackwell Reference Online. Accessed February 12, 2013, http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/tocnode.html?id=g9781405184649_yr2011_chunk_g97814051846491608.

10. Sample research question How did the idea of the “New Woman” impact depictions of domesticity in American literature?

11. How questions influence search results High = lots of articles Broad Questions Retrieval (# of search results) Narrow Questions Low = very few articles Low = mostly irrelevant articles High = directly relevant articles Relevancy

12. Break it down: pull out key concepts How did the idea of the “New Woman” impact depictions of domesticity in American literature?

13. Generate synonyms and related terms Strategies: • Brainstorming • Concept maps • Reading articles and books • Mining bibliographies • Using thesauri and subject headings

14. Generating keywords

15. Your turn

16. Combine terms Boolean operators

17. AND

18. Boolean Operators AND AND

20. OR

21. Boolean Operators OR OR OR

23. NOT

24. Poetry American literature

25. Truncation NOTE: The symbols used will vary from one database to another. ? ! * # Use to retrieve variant endings or plurals Suffrage Suffragist Suffragists Suffragette Suffragettes Suffrag*

26. Wildcard NOTE: The symbols used will vary from one database to another. ! ? * # Use to replace character(s) within a word woman women wom?n

27. More advanced search techniques • Quotation marks • Use for phrase searching • Example: “New Woman” “First Wave Feminism” • Parentheses • Device that allows you to control the order of your search • Example: (“New Woman” ORsuffrag*)AND (domesticityOR marriage)

28. Putting it all together (“New Woman” OR “First Wave Feminism” OR “women’s suffrag*”) AND (domestic* OR marriage OR family OR gender OR sexuality) AND (“American literature” OR “American poetry” OR “Kate Chopin” OR “Willa Cather” OR “Mina Loy”)

29. Putting it all together

30. McGill WorldCat vs. Classic Catalogue

31. One Catalogue, two ways to search McGill WorldCat Classic Catalogue

32. Advanced Search – Classic Catalogue

33. Advanced search in WorldCat

34. Your turn

35. Library catalogue exercise

36. General academic databases

37. Off-campus access • http://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/connect • EZProxy– automatically! when you start from the library pages (such as WorldCat Local, e-journals search or A-Z list, subject guides, etc.) or Google Scholar. • VPN - Install it on your computer. Also a whole range of other University activities and services, such as buying and downloading software

38. Off-campus access Do any databases require a separate login & password? http://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/connect/passwords/databases

39. Off-campus access EndNote Web • In order to sign up for an EndNote Web account from off-campus, you need to first identify (authenticate) yourself as a McGill library user. You can do this using a special link to EndNote Web: http://proxy.library.mcgill.ca/login?url=http://www.myendnoteweb.com • After creating an account, you should sign in using this link if you want to access McGill’s article subscriptions through links you’ve saved in EndNote Web.

40. Your turn

41. Exercise • Using Boolean logic, run some searches in your subject area using one of the general academic databases. • Save at least one relevant article to your EndNote library.

42. Maximizing Google Scholar • Use the Google tips handout to have more control over your searches. • Set up Library Links in Settings. • If using citation management software, set up for direct export in Settings. • Take advantage of the Alert option.

43. Your turn

44. Exercise • Run some searches in Google Scholar. • Use at least 2 of the Google search tips from the handout. • If you are happy with the search results, set up an alert.

45. Searching in Google Scholar What will you get in your results? • Academic journal articles • Book chapters from Google Books • Theses and dissertations

46. Theses and Dissertations For more details: http://www.mcgill.ca/library/find/theses

47. Specialized Resources • Conduct a keyword search in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses to find a thesis related to your research. • Check the bibliography to see if any articles could be useful for your research • Search eScholarship to find a thesis supervised by your current supervisor, or by a professor in your department.

48. Access beyond McGill • Borrow in person from other libraries • BCI http://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/otherloans/CREPUQ • Interlibrary loan • COLOMBO http://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/otherloans/interlibrary

49. BCI (formerly CREPUQ)card: what is it? • Allows you to borrow books from other universities in Quebec and Canada. • Obtain a BCI card at any Library Services Desk on campus.

50. Interlibrary loan: what is it? • Use when McGill and other local universities do not have an item. • Administered through COLUMBO; instructions here.