Using the Library 2014
- 1. USING THE LIBRARY and the computer An Introduction to Term Paper Research
- 2. Two types of sources Periodicals--published from time to time with changing content. Individual pieces that appear in periodicals are usually called articles Non-periodical sources such as books, websites, films etc.
- 3. Periodicals Because periodicals will probably be the most common type of source used, we will discuss them first.
- 4. Two formats for periodicals Print—traditional hard copy and/or microform images of the print versions Electronic – electronic versions of print publications, publications designed for the web, articles from print sources archived and made available as part of database products like Academic Search Premier, JSTOR etc. Pdfs (show original paging, photos etc) Html provides text but does not retain paging and may or may not have photos, graphics etc.
- 5. Types of Periodicals Local Newspapers National Newspapers Magazines Journals
- 6. Local or Regional Newspapers Local newspapers are focused on serving a particular city or region. Libraries will subscribe to their own local newspapers, but usually not others Use Honolulu Star Advertiser index at the state library to browse or search full text of the local papers from 1996 Web searching will also bring up recent local articles.
- 7. Local Newspapers Why use a local paper? Essential for a local issue—will provide the most in-depth coverage. Local newspapers also feature editorials on national or international issues or discuss an issue as it impacts their community. Newspaper source, and Regional Business News are database services that provide access to local/regional newspapers.
- 8. Accessing Local/regional Newspaper databases. Go to Campus Pipeline. Go to Databases Click news and current events Newspaper Source Plus Regional Business news (if business topic)
- 9. National Newspapers Offer significant coverage of national and international news as well as local news Ordered in print by most libraries--ours are on 5th floor Each a newspaper has its own website but rather than search each newspaper’s electronic archive individually you may prefer to use a database that includes these sources. National newspaper articles will also come up in web searches
- 10. Identifying National Newspaper articles We have the New York Times back to 1851 in its own database (use for historical topics or more recent ones). Academic Search Premier and Newspaper Source Plus both include citations from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and full text articles from the Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post and USA Today.
- 11. Online News There are many online news sites, some of which reprint the print version and others which exist only online. Virtually every newspaper has it own site. Search engines offer headline news Wire services UPI http://www.upi.com/ Reuters http://www.reuters.com/ Seldom in-depth enough to be good sources for research so I don’t recommend including them as sources
- 12. Magazines Magazines are periodical publications intended for a popular audience and usually published weekly or monthly » » They may have a somewhat specialized audience » Kala (accountants in Hawaii) Teacher (K-12 teachers) Or They may have a broad audience » Newsweek, Time, People
- 13. Magazines for Research? Most magazine articles will have limited usefulness as sources for academic research. In newsmagazines, look for cover stories or other in-depth features, as well as columns and analysis. Consider more intellectual magazines like Commonweal, The Atlantic Monthly, Harpers, Commentary, The Nation, National Review, National Geographic, Scientific American, The New Yorker. (These are all suitable for WRI 1200 papers).
- 14. Finding Articles in Magazines Academic Search Premier from Campus Pipeline Military and Government Collection from Campus Pipeline Topic Search from Campus Pipeline
- 15. Online magazines Many print magazines have web versions which you can search by key word. Rather than searching at the individual sites use a general search engine Online only magazines Slate.com Salon.com
- 16. Journals Journals are periodical publications aimed at a scholarly or professional audience, often published quarterly. Journals are good academic sources—so long as they are not too technical for you to understand. Note that you need to retrieve the full article, not just the abstract. Some journals provide only abstracts online.
- 17. Finding Articles in Journals From Campus Pipeline –Libraries— Databases or at library terminals Academic Search Premier JSTOR (all full text in pdf) Project MUSE Various indexes for specific subjects, see list under Databases
- 18. Reading the journal articles Often the full text is available. If not, the database will simply give information about the journal article but you will still need to find a copy to read it. Click on SFX to see if HPU has the full text available. You may be able to get it online or may need to go to the library for a print or microfiche copy If we don’t have it, try UH. Go to the voyager catalog (from Local Libraries) and search for the journal name
- 19. Non-periodical sources Books Websites Government Documents Television programs/videos Interviews with experts
- 20. Finding Books Local Library Catalogs Include HPU Libraries Meader (downtown) Atherton (Hawaii Loa) UH-Voyager (University of Hawaii) HSPLS (Hawaii State Library) You can access all of these catalogs from Campus Pipeline libraries page
- 21. Library of Congress Subject Headings These are the headings under which books are catalogued and which many indexes use to organize articles. One way to find out the appropriate LCSH for your topic is to use the large red books that list all the headings. These are found in the topic assistance center in Meader Library or in the reference section of any library. This method involves trial and error browsing.
- 22. Library of Congress Subject Headings Another method is to do a key word search first and then see what subject headings are given for useful sources. Then do a subject search on those headings.
- 23. Resources in the catalog Traditional books (find by call numbers) 3rd and 5th floor Electronic books (click on link) Audio-visual resources (some are streamed from Films on Demand), others require you to get them from the 5th floor
- 24. Considering books Is the book out of date? Can you find a collection of essays by different authors on your issue? (several sources at once!) By reading the introduction and the table of contents you can figure out if a book is likely to be useful and which parts to read first. Try to avoid just reading a paragraph or so that contains our key word
- 25. Bookstores You may want to check a big bookstore site like Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble These sites often provide brief reviews that could help you determine if a book is what you are looking for. Then you can try to get the book from the library. Of course, these sites will also sell some books of dubious credibility—
- 26. Google books You can also search for and read excerpts of books on Google books. Since not all the pages will be part of a preview—it’s best to try to see if you can find an electronic or physical copy of a useful book you find there. Books.google.com
- 27. Using the Internet Use Search Engines to find specific pages on your topic. Google, yahoo, ask.com etc. You can use advance searching to specify the domain (.edu or .gov for example) or try Google scholar from the Databases page.
- 28. Some Kinds of Websites Online periodicals have already been discussed. Advocacy sites are often good, but look for sites on both sides to avoid getting biased information. Often these sites have good links Organization sites don’t usually say much but may provide links to good sources. Scholarly project sites or directories can provide in-depth sources
- 29. Some Kinds of Websites Beware of Student projects. People’s personal websites. Blogs/associated content or similar Commercial sites. Term paper mills. Very poor quality if its free Easy to get caught
- 30. Pitfalls of Web Research Search engines will return much irrelevant data Reliability of many sites is questionable Can be difficult to find in-depth sources, especially for academic topics Transient or outdated sites
- 31. Government Documents Some can be found in library catalogs Loc.gov Example– collection of congressional hearings Educational collections from the library of congress Congress.gov Useful when you are working with a legislative issue or court case. You can get congressional testimony and full texts of bills.
- 32. Television and Video Shows like 48 Hours,Nightline Nova etc. may have trasncripts or episdoes online Check out the school’s video collection. Go directly to Films on Demand which searches segments as well as titles.
- 33. Interviews You may want to try to arrange an inperson or telephone interview with someone in the field you are researching or someone who works with an organization relevant to your issue. Sometimes you can find and cite published interviews.