USING THE LIBRARYand the computer

An Introduction to Term Paper Research

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.

Periodicals

Because periodicals will probably be the most

common type of source used, we will discuss them first.

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.

Types of Periodicals Local Newspapers National Newspapers Magazines Journals

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.

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.

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)

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

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.

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

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

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).

Finding Articles in Magazines Academic Search Premier from

Campus Pipeline Military and Government Collection

from Campus Pipeline Topic Search from Campus Pipeline

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

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.

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

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

Non-periodical sources Books Websites Government Documents Television programs/videos Interviews with experts

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

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.

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.

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

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

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—

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

Using the InternetUse 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.

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

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

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

Government Documents Some can be found in library catalogs

Example– collection of congressional hearings Loc.gov

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.

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.

Interviews You may want to try to arrange an

in- person 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.