Transcript Slide 1

OKANAGAN COLLEGE
Department of Communications
CMNS 143: Technical Communication II
Section 002
Introduction to the Library Research Process
Gilbert Bede
Communications Liaison Librarian
250-762-5445 Local 4751
[email protected]
Class Poll
 How many of you use the library?
 How many of you have had library research instruction
before?
 Where do you usually start when you are conducting your
research?
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Library
Google
Wikipedia
Other
 Do you usually find the information that you are looking
for?
 Do you find yourself getting frustrated because you can’t
find the information that you need?
Report vs. Thesis
 Report
 The subject and
purpose of your paper
is organized around
the views of other
authors
 Thesis
 You are presenting
hard empirical
evidence to support
your research
hypothesis
Learning How To Prepare A
Research Paper
 Before you race off and start searching
 Choose an appropriate subject
 It is appropriate if it appeals to you
 It is acceptable to the intended reader
 Limit your subject properly
Sports Olympics Winter Olympics  Vancouver
2010 Olympics Athletes Village  Funding
Central Idea
 Once you have decided on your subject and
the purpose of your paper focus on setting
down the central idea on your paper
 One rule of thumb that may help you is to develop a
working title for your paper
 “How the world wide economic down turn negatively
impacted the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games
Athletes Village”
Why Develop a Outline?
 It will get you focused
 It will help contribute to the unity of the
composition
 Result in a better organized paper
 Important details / arguments that you want to
communicate to the reader will be more clearly
understood
 You will be better prepared to search out and
discover the information you require
 You will be better prepared to discuss your
information requirements with others
 It will save you time in the long run
Outline
 Central idea: The actual cost of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Village have yet to
be identified and as result are creating a stress related situation the public,
VANOC, the City of Vancouver and the Government of BC.
 Introduction: Because of the economic downturn in the world economy the
original funding plan for the Olympic Village was no longer viable. A new funding
plan needed to be developed. As a result, at this point in time actual final costs
of completing the Olympic Village are not known.
 Background:
 Information on the original financing proposal
 Information on how the financial downturn impacted the original financing
proposal
 Current Situation and Analysis:
 The Olympic Village needs to be completed
 The City of Vancouver is ultimately responsible for ensuring this
 The City of Vancouver needs to raise financing
 To do this required the BC Government to amend the City of Vancouver
Charter to allow them to borrow money
 The City of Vancouver is now actively involved in identifying new financing
 The public is worried that they will have to pay more for the 2010 Olympics
 Conclusion: As of yet no final financial figure is available that identifies the
actual cost of the Olympic Village for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics
 Reference List / Bibliography
Transforming Your Outline Into A
Search Strategy
 In developing your plan you should start
asking yourself a number of questions
 Where would I find the information I need
 Do I need a Book?
 Do I need a Scholarly article?
 Should I interview someone?
 Who else has written on this subject?
 How much time do I have?
 How will I know if the information I discover
is up-to-date and authoritative
Scholarly (Peer Reviewed)
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Authority – Is the information authored by experts with credentials and / or scholarly or
professional affiliations? Look for Author information such as advanced degrees and
university affiliation, past and current positions in industry, government, etc..
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Publication – How is the information published? A magazine is slick and glossy with
many advertisements. Magazine articles are just a few pages. There is little author
information in magazines. Peer-reviewed journals are not slick and have few
advertisements. The articles tend to be long with tables, graphs, and data. The article
will have several sections such as literature review, methodology, results and
conclusions. Does the article have a bibliography, endnotes or footnotes? Almost all
scholarly publications (e.g. books and articles) will have citations. Is there an editorial
board and instructions on how to submit articles.
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Ulrich’s
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Source -Some of the best sources for scholarly information are:
Peer-Reviewed Journals, Books, Theses/Dissertations
Statistical Data Sets, etc.
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Less Scholarly Sources
Some sources that are less scholarly and do not have as much high quality academic
information should be evaluated independently on the basis of authority, publication,
and source.
Magazines , Newspapers, some aspects of the Web, etc.
Starting Points
Print vs. Pixels
 How many of you think everything is
online in a digital format?
 Google estimates that it will take over 300
years to digitize all of the information
currently available in print
 Always be aware that the full-text may not
be available
 Print Collection
 Interlibrary Loan
My Kingdom For The Right
Keyword
 The primary method used for searching
for information is through the use of
keywords
 There are many different ways of
describing the same thing in the english
language
 Create a list of possible keywords that
you may want to try
Trebuchet
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Trebuchet -- Design or Mechanics
Siege Engine
Catapult
Medieval Artillery
Medieval Missile Launchers
Levered Artillery
Applied Retromechanics
Siege engine dynamics
Force and Energy
Spaghetti Bridges
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Spaghetti Bridges
Bridges -- Design and construction
Bridges -- Cable-stayed Design and construction
Bridges -- Aerodynamics
Bridges -- Maintenance and repair
Bridges – Vibration
Structural Engineering & Design
Structural failures
Suspension bridges
Didactic Games In Engineering Teaching
Sea to Sky Highway
Environmental Impact
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Highway 99
Sea-to-Sky Highway
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental Assessment Office (BC)
Environmentalist
Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics
Opposition
Testing & Modifying Your Keywords
 Sometimes your keywords are highly
successful…
 Sometimes you have to modify them
 When you find information that looks like
it could be useful read it critically
 Look for alternative keywords
 Look for related concepts
 Check for Reference List or Bibliography
How to Read a Paper
ACM SIGCOMM Computer
Communication Review
Volume 37 , Issue 3 (July 2007)
Off Campus Access
The Library Web Page
Library Catalogue
http://library-1.okanagan.bc.ca/
Article Databases
http://www.okanagan.bc.ca/administration/students/library/research/findarticles.html
E-Journals
http://cufts2.lib.sfu.ca/CJDB/BKOC/browse
The World Wide Web
Google vs. Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.ca/schhp?hl=en&tab=ws
QPLegaleze
http://ezproxy.okanagan.bc.ca/login?url=http://www.eln.qplegaleze.ca/
Government Documents
http://www.google.ca/advanced_search?hl=en
How do I know when I have
Enough Information?
 Have you discovered information that
supports the arguments described in your
Outline
 Have you been able to determine the
authority of all your sources
 You run out of time
APA Style Guide
http://www.okanagan.bc.ca/Assets/Departments+(Administration)/Library/PDFs/apa.pdf
Getting More Help
Gilbert Bede
250-762-5445 Local 4751
[email protected]
Or
Come and Visit Us in the Library
Questions