LIB 1015 - Francoeur - Fall 2011

Grading

Effort in in-class activities (as well as participation in class discussion of assigned readings) counts for 25% of your grade. If you don't speak up in class on any given day, you will be expected to write a short post on the course blog (with a relevant question, insight, opinion, etc.) or write a useful comment on any other post on the course blog.

Definitions

Finding Books & Articles

Finding Tools

Full Text Journal tool

  • This tool is found on many different pages on the library website and is used to figure out which database might have full-text access to a journal, magazine, or newspaper you are interested in.

Library Catalog

  • There is a search box for the catalog at the bottom of the library's home page. You can also find links to the catalog on many different pages of the library website.

    • CCCLibraryStaff. "Understanding Call Numbers." YouTube. 20 Aug. 2010. Web. 7 Sep. 2011.

Library Databases

  • Use these to find articles, reports, data, encyclopedia and dictionary entries, and more.

Classroom Activity

  1. See the blog post, "Class Activity: Using the Catalog to Find Books"
  2. Find the course reading by Weaver and Bimber for September 19
  3. Do the attached worksheet below (time permitting)

Basic Search: AND vs. OR

Parentheses and Multiple Search Boxes

Using AND, OR, and Parentheses in a Search You want to find articles that talk about novels or fiction that take place in Asia or are about Asia in some way. Using novels, fiction, and Asia as your keywords, there are two ways to enter your searches correctly and more than a few ways to do it wrongly.

Using Parenthesis with AND and OR Searches - Google Docs.png by sfrancoeur on AviaryUsing Parenthesis with AND and OR Searches - Google Docs.png

Research Questions

Topic Development

Topic Development: Concept Maps & Keywords

Topic Development: Learning from What You Read

Classroom activity using article by Bing Pan et al ("In Google We Trust: Users' Decisions on Rank, Position, and Relevance").

  1. Each group should make their own copy of this worksheet in Google Docs that outlines the article
  2. Share the copy of that worksheet with Stephen
  3. Complete the worksheet following the instructions on it

UPDATE (13 October 2011)

Here are the worksheets as completed by the 4 groups:

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Pro

Google is making us stupid (or shallow or superficial)

Con

No, Google isn't making us stupid (or shallow or superficial)

Making a Database with Microsoft Excel

Field Searching

  1. Each group of 2 students should make their own copy the Google Doc worksheet below and share it back to me.
  2. Follow the instructions on the worksheet.
  3. Be prepared to discuss your group's completed worksheet.

Controlled Vocabulary-In Class Activity

October 26 (Wednesday)

  1. Make a copy of this controlled vocabulary worksheet in Google Docs
  2. Follow instructions on the worksheet
  3. Share your team's worksheet with me
  4. Each team will present to the class

October 31 (Monday)

  1. Go to WorldCat -- advanced search screen
  2. Find one book that is related to your research topic (you may need to find a book that is broadly related, so for example if you are doing a question about AdWords, you might need to look for books on the subject of advertising in general)
  3. Make sure that what you found is a book (use the "Format" filter on the left side of the search results page to limit your search to "Book")
  4. Using the Email link on the record for the book you found, email me the link to the book (use my Gmail address: stephen.francoeur at gmail.com)

Controlled Vocabulary (videos, links, etc.)

Calderone, Michael. Interview by Bob Garfield. "The Semantics of the 'Ground Zero Mosque." On the Media. WNYC, New York. 20 Aug. 2010. Web. 31 Aug. 2010.



Larger version of "controlled vocabulary" image


Full screen view


Search Engines




Deep Web

A World of Databases

Full screen version of "World of Subscription Databases" slide presentation


In class activity

  1. Log into the class blog
  2. Go to the A-Z list of databases on the library website
  3. Pick two databases to analyze for a post you'll write on the blog. The first database should have a name that begins with the first letter in your first name; the second database should have a name that begins with the same initial letter in your last name.
  4. Analyze both databases by reading the description of it on the library website, by reading the help pages within the database, and by running searches in it to see what's actually there.
  5. In your blog post, use sentences to answer the following questions about each database:
  • What subject specialities does this database seem to have (use broad subject words that are as general as the names of academic departments here on campus: anthropology, accounting, English, etc.)
  • What formats of information do you mostly find when you run searches (articles, reports, books, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, numerical data, something else?)
  • Is there controlled vocabulary that you can find in this database?
  • What is one surprising or unique feature in this database that you haven't seen before?

Scholarly vs Popular

Classroom activity

  1. Class will be divided up into two-person groups.
  2. Each group will make a copy of this worksheet in Google Docs and share their copy with Stephen
  3. Each group will analyze the articles linked to on the worksheet and decide whether they are scholarly or popular sources.

Citing Sources

Using any of the tools or guide below, create accurate MLA citations for the six items below. Record the citations in a post on the class blog (make sure you give your blog post a title that distinguishes it from those of your classmates).

  1. This book by Lawrence Lessig.
  2. This article from a database
  3. This article from an open access journal
  4. This video on YouTube
  5. This page from the Facebook website
  6. This newspaper article


Paraphrasing, Citing, and Plagiarism

Testing Summon

  1. Using the link below, go to the not-yet-publicly launched database, Summon, and use it to find articles for your assignment.
  2. When you've searched for 10 minutes, compose a document in Google Docs and share it with me. Answer the following questions in your document:
    1. In what ways is Summon similar to other database we have used this semester?
    2. In what ways is Summon different from other databases?
    3. What situations would you be more likely to use Summon for searching instead of the library's other databases?
    4. What situations would you be more likely to use other databases instead of Summon?
    5. What do you like about Summon?
    6. What do you dislike?
    7. What things failed to work for you in Summon (searches that didn't work, links to articles that didn't work, etc.)

Students and Information Literacy

Class activity

Write a blog post on your own and then work on a group one with two other classmates. Details on this activity can be found on this post on the blog.


Subject Guide

Profile Photo
Stephen Francoeur
he / him / his
Contact:
Newman Library
Room 421
Baruch College
151 E. 25th Street
New York, NY 10010

(646) 312-1620