Searching & Evaluating Resources

Rhetoric 1302Hillary Campbell

WWW vs. Periodical Databases

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

Searching the Web

Government information/Web sites Associations & organizations Commercial sites Current news (limited) “Specialty” sites

Searching Periodical Databases

Greater concern for authoritative sources

More powerful “advanced” searching

Need to research articles Need newspaper archives/backfiles

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

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

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

Group Concepts

Group concepts together by parentheses or quotation marks

“incarceration rates” “state of Texas”

or

(incarceration rates) (state of Texas)

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

Examples

African w American rate n3 crime “state of Texas” which is the same

as state w of w Texas

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

Examples

“African American” AND “crime rate”

“Hispanic” OR “Latin American”

(“crime rate” OR “incarceration rate”) AND minorities

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.

Examples minorit*

minority minorities

Wom?n women woman womyn

“incarceration rate*” AND minorit*

OR

Crim* AND wom?n

Evaluating Sources (ABC’s)

Audience Authority Bias Currency Scope

Audience

What age group/education level/political affiliation/etc. is the audience?

Is this for a person with in-depth knowledge or a layperson?

Authority

Does the author’s name appear on the Web page?

What are his/her credentials? Does the author provide contact

information?

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?

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?

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?

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.

Selecting Your Database(s)

Choose by subject http://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!

Popular magazines & Scholarly Journals

What’s the difference?

Popular Vs. Scholarly 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

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.

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 – Turabian http://juno.concordia.ca/faqs/turabian.html

Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgement by Dartmouth College http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sources/index.html