Searching & Evaluating Resources

1. Searching & Evaluating Resources Rhetoric 1302 Hillary Campbell

2. WWW Contains text, graphics, sound, and video Anyone can publish pages on the Web. Numerous hits with many duplicates Unregulated source of information Periodical Databases Access to very specific information Relatively high degree of authority on the information found within No duplicates WWW vs. Periodical Databases

3. Searching the Web • Government information/Web sites • Associations & organizations • Commercial sites • Current news (limited) • “Specialty” sites

4. Searching Periodical Databases • Greater concern for authoritative sources • More powerful “advanced” searching • Need to research articles • Need newspaper archives/backfiles

5. Developing a Search Strategy • Select a topic • Identify keywords • Identify synonyms • Group concepts and add connectors (Boolean) • Use truncation and/or wildcard keys if available

6. Selecting a Topic and Determining Keywords • After deciding on a topic, write down the topic in the form of a sentence or question. • What is the relationship between minorities and the high incarceration rates in some states? • Look at your question and pull out the most important words. • Minorities / incarceration rates / states

7. Identifying Synonyms • Take your keywords and find other words that also describe your topic. Also write down narrower and broader terms to help refine your search. • Minorities – African Americans – Blacks – Hispanics – Latin Americans • Incarceration rates – prison rates – crime rates – prison counts • States – geographic areas – regions -- Texas

8. Group Concepts • Group concepts together by parentheses or quotation marks “incarceration rates” “state of Texas” or (incarceration rates) (state of Texas)

9. Proximity connectors • w or w5 (“with”) – searches for two terms in the order typed • n or n5 (“near”) – searches for two terms in any order • “ “ quotation marks – groups terms together as a phrase

10. Examples • African w American • rate n3 crime • “state of Texas” which is the same as state w of w Texas

11. Add connectors • Connectors (Boolean) • AND-both terms must appear together in the record (narrows search) • OR-either term appears in the record (broadens search) • NOT-placed before term omits all records featuring this term in them

12. Examples “African American”AND “crime rate” “Hispanic” OR “Latin American” (“crime rate” OR “incarceration rate”) AND minorities

13. Use truncation and/or wildcard keys if available • Both use a special key (*, ?, #, $) depending on the source used • Truncation - When key placed at end of term, all variations of word (from “trunk” onward) found. • Wildcard key – Replaces a single character and makes it a “wildcard” for any letter in the alphabet.

14. minorit* minority minorities Wom?n women woman womyn “incarceration rate*” AND minorit* OR Crim* AND wom?n Examples

15. Evaluating Sources (ABC’s) • Audience • Authority • Bias • Currency • Scope

16. Audience • What age group/education level/political affiliation/etc. is the audience? • Is this for a person with in-depth knowledge or a layperson?

17. Authority • Does the author’s name appear on the Web page? • What are his/her credentials? • Does the author provide contact information?

18. Bias • Is the source objective? • Could the writer or the organization’s affiliation put a different spin on the information presented? • What is the purpose of the source?

19. Currency • When was the work published? • When was the work last updated? • How old are the sources or items in the bibliography? • How current is the topic? • If a Web page, do the links work?

20. Scope • What does/doesn’t the work cover? • Is it an in-depth study (many pages) or superficial (one page)? • Are sources and statistics cited? • If a site, does it offer unique info not found in any other source?

21. Selecting a Search Engine • Use Search Engine Watch or Search Engine Showdown to find and compare. • Choose only 2 or 3 search engines and learn them well. • Use help screen/search tips to educate yourself on advanced options. • Familiarize yourself with the advanced search, if available.

22. Selecting Your Database(s) • Choose by subjecthttp://www.utdallas.edu/library/reference/subjectdata.html • Descriptions of each database are provided in the alphabetical listing • Ask a Reference Librarian – we know what’s best!

23. Popular magazines & Scholarly Journals What’s the difference?

24. Intended for a general audience. Articles written by journalists who may or may not have special training Articles do not have footnotes Magazines have advertising, photographs, and glossy pages For Profit Not Peer-reviewed Intended for an audience knowledgeable in the field Article are written by scholars, who’s names are listed along with credentials Articles are footnoted and list sources used No advertising, few photographs, and usually printed on plain paper Usually not for profit Peer-reviewed Popular Vs. Scholarly

25. Citing your sources • MLA, APA, Chicago Manual of Style, and other citation manuals available at the Reference Desk. • Copies may be available in Main Stacks • Need help citing? The writing lab can help.

26. On-Line Sources for citing • Citation Style Guides by Auburn University http://www.lib.auburn.edu/citations.html • Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism by Duke University http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/citing.htm • Online! Citation Styles by Bedford/St. Martin’s http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/citex.html • Documentation Guide – Turabianhttp://juno.concordia.ca/faqs/turabian.html • Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement by Dartmouth College http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/index.html