Transcript Basic Research

Research Plan
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Be prepared. Know your assignment.
Find background information
Identify search terms
Find books
Find articles
Find websites
Cite your sources
Background Reading
& Brainstorming
Textbooks
Encyclopedias
Professors
Newspapers
Topics
Keywords/Subjects
• List possible search terms
– Keywords (include related
terms)
– Names of countries/cultures
– Names of organizations
– Names of people
Think of synonyms and
alternative ways of
expressing each concept.
Finding Information
Finding Information
What’s out there
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Books
Newspapers/Magazines
Journals
Websites
Finding Books
Use a CATALOG to find books
The library catalog is called
BEARCAT.
http://library.mercer.edu
When you search BEARCAT, you
will find books that are located
in the library or another Mercer
Library.
Let’s Find Books
This is the Regional Academic Center Libraries’ website!
Use the library catalog to find books
This is the library catalog!
Journal “Scholarly” Articles
The main purpose of a
scholarly journal is to report
on original research or
experimentation in order to
make such information
available to the rest of the
scholarly world.
Scholarly Journals
How do I tell?
• May contain graphs and
charts.
• Written by a scholar in the field
or by someone who has done
research in the field
• Always cite their sources in the
form of footnotes or
bibliographies
• No glossy pages or pictures
• No advertisements
Examples of Scholarly Journals
“Popular” Magazines
• The main purpose of
popular periodicals is to
entertain the reader, to sell
products (their own or their
advertisers), and/or to
promote a viewpoint.
Articles are fit for, or
reflecting the taste and
intelligence of, the people
at large.
Popular Magazines
How do I tell?
• Slick, glossy and attractive in
appearance.
• Lots of graphics (photographs,
drawings, etc.).
• Articles are usually very short,
written in simple language .
• Generally little depth to the
content of these articles.
Examples of Popular Magazines
Finding Articles
To find Articles, use a database or
index
• A database is a collection of
citations for articles or similar
information
• Some databases will contain full
texts of articles
• Some databases are specific
(such as Education or Business)
and some cover many subjects
Finding Articles
• Choose the appropriate
database
• Find a citation
• Check to see if your library
has the journal
• Locate the journal
Try these Databases
• JSTOR - An online archive containing back
issues of scholarly journals in many
disciplines. All scholarly. Full text available
• Academic Search Complete - A
comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary
full-text database, with more than 5,300
full-text periodicals, including 4,400 peerreviewed journals. Includes full text
• Research Library (at ProQuest) - Provides
abstracts and indexing for over 2,600, as
well as full text for over 1,700 scholarly
journals and general magazines. Includes
full text
To find articles, choose a database.
This is one way to find a list of available databases.
Questions?
Thank You!
Julie Poole – 678-547-6379
Douglas Library – 678-547-6461
Henry Library – 678-547-6316
Douglas Library Hours:
Monday - Thursday: 2-10pm
Saturdays: 11am-3pm
Henry Library Hours:
Monday – Thursday: 1-10pm
Saturdays: 11am-3pm