Effective Research Techniques Workshop for CMPT 322 Students

CMPT 322W: Library Research Workshop Shane Plante, Applied Sciences Librarian, Surrey shane@sfu.ca

Survey results (And: thanks!) • Conducting substantial, relevant research on your topic (30% are confident) • Coming up with a strong thesis (35%)* [ the SLC can help with this ] • Narrowing your topic (39%) • Identifying scholarly sources (43%) • Citing sources with APA style (48%) • Avoiding plagiarism (83%) n = 23 CMPT 322: research workshop

Agenda (derived from survey results) • Narrowing your topic • Finding what you need  [i.e., doing substantial, relevant research] • Identifying scholarly sources • Citing sources • Getting help CMPT 322: research workshop

Meet the CMPT 322W research guide CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “writing an abstract for your paper.” + “Clear arguments and chained logic.” CMPT 322: research workshop

Narrowing Two suggestions: • Background sources • Quick and dirty searching Tip: In general, you can only cover one idea per paragraph. • This can help to determine if your topic is too broad. CMPT 322: research workshop

Finding what you need Finding what you need on your topic often stems from three things: • Finding good keywords for your searches • Selecting the right search tools for the job • Cycling your search CMPT 322: research workshop

Finding good keywords Finding what you need on your topic often stems from three things: • Finding good keywords for your searches • Selecting the right search tools for the job • Cycling your search For example: Facebook http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracilawson/4575783486/ CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “Not sure how the commands work for search bars.” * * * CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools Finding what you need on your topic often stems from three things: • Finding good keywords for your searches • Selecting the right search tools for the job • Cycling your search http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebygomm/8685729580/ CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools What do you think would be the right tool(s) for finding the following documents on your topic? • A high-level, big picture overview • A book • Scholarly articles • A government report • Up-to-date information on the latest developments in Canada CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools These are the 3 search options on the Library’s homepage: CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools Fast Search Library Search SFU Library’s Russian dolls Catalogue http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/288377539/ CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools Another “quick and dirty” search tool Always access it through SFU Library; otherwise you’ll be asked to pay for articles http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/288377539/ CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “Finding the right journal libraries to search in.” CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools The library has hundreds of databases (i.e., journal article search engines), each of them with different content. The main types: • subject-specific databases (+ indexes) • multidisciplinary databases (+ indexes) (Examples of both types are listed on the CMPT 322 guide.) Some advice on picking the right one for your topic. CMPT 322: research workshop

Cycling a search Finding what you need on your topic often stems from three things: • Finding good keywords for your searches • Selecting the right search tools for the job • Cycling your search http://www.flickr.com/photos/wv/6918900587/ CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “Narrowing down how many links show up.” + “How to find related books or topics.” CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “Finding whether or not the SFU Library has access to a specific journal I'd like to get an article/paper/what-not from.” CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? Two methods: 50% vs. 100% CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “-finding scholarly sources (peer-reviewed) -sometimes very dry material that is peer-reviewed -boring to get through.” CMPT 322: research workshop

Identifying scholarly articles Do you think this article scholarly? Why/why not? • What are the differences between popular and scholarly publications? CMPT 322: research workshop

This journal is peer-reviewed, but this article isn’t. Here is the complete article. CMPT 322: research workshop

Evaluating sources CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “Finding authoritative sources on the internet.” CMPT 322: research workshop

- What information don’t you need to cite? - What information do you need to cite? Citing sources CMPT 322: research workshop

You need to cite each source in two places: In the body of the paper Called an in-text citation At the back of the paper In the list of References CMPT 322’s Research Guide includes links to SFU Library’s APA style guide It will likely answer 90% of questions; librarians (like me) can help you to answer the other 10% The very basics of APA CMPT 322: research workshop

Getting help The library provides many ways to get help: • In-person at the reference desk • Telephone • Email • IM • Text message • Student Learning Commons CMPT 322: research workshop

Effective Research Techniques Workshop for CMPT 322 Students