English 1213 Jones

Prepared by:
Sarah Brick Archer
Assistant Professor of Library Services
Office: L308B
Phone: ext. #3267

General Library Tutorials

English Comp 1213:

General Overview for English 1213 -- Reviews basics skills such as the physical library, searching for books, and locating periodicals.
Research Strategy -- Provides steps and concepts involving the research process.
Evaluation of Sources -- Provides criteria for evaluating the quality of any resource.
Plagiarism -- Description of plagiarism and suggestions about how to avoid it.
Citations -- How to cite most common resources using MLA and APA

How is the NSU library organized?

Maps
Physical Overview to the Library CLIP Tutorial
Library of Congress
Hours

Why do research?

Research can lead to information; information can lead to knowledge, and knowledge is powerful. All of the informational resources available originated from someone being curious about something, exploring it, and sharing the findings.

Where does information come from?

The cycle of information is an interesting one. Research starts with an idea. Someone becomes curious about something and wants to explore it. Literature reviews are conducted, empirical evidence is gathered. The researcher may wish to cross disciplinary lines and take a literary theory and apply it to another field. The researcher writes an article. If the article adds to the body of knowledge or presents a new concept, a journal in that discipline might be interested in publishing it. Article submissions go through a reviewing process in which multiple reviewers will read and comment on the article. This is an example of a refereed journal article. If it passes the review process, the article is published in the journal. Indexers read journal articles and assign subject headings to the articles and place the citation in indexes (such as MLA Bibliography). Researchers comb indexes to find articles, and the whole cycle starts over. This is a cycle that occurs right here at NSU. Our faculty and students are publishing. You can become a part of the process, too. Exciting, isn't it?

The Flow of Information (from the University System of Georgia) depicts how information about an event can be represented in different types of resources. Understanding how information is disseminated helps to know where to look and the attributes of each format.

What are some possible topics that I could explore?

What is the role of the media in an election?

How do the debates effect the outcome of the election?

What role will the young voters play in the election?/ Is GenX conservative and GenY (or Millenials) liberal?

How does the rest of the world view the candidates?

Which issues are the most important to young people, to the world, etc.?

What role does the internet play in the 2008 election?

What roles do gender and race play in the 2008 election?

How do Oklahomans differ from the rest of the country over the election?

How do college students feel about the following: environment, economy, health care, war in Iraq, abortion, human rights, poverty, and nuclear proliferation?

How do I determine the quality of what I find?

1. Identify authors who are outstanding in their fields, determine the credentials of the author. Does the author have a degree in the field, is the author a professor?
2. Date of publication--is it recent? On Web pages, do the links work?
3. Does the publisher have a good reputation? Is it published by a professional association or university press? Is the journal refereed? On Web pages, check the domain (.edu is educational, .gov is government, .com is commercial, .net is network, .org is organizational)
4. How was the resource received by the critics?
5. Completeness of the material. Does the source have an index, bibliography?
6. Is the language slanted or biased?
7. Does it include well known facts or research studies? Is the information complete, accurate, objective?
8. What is the purpose of the resource? Is it for the general public, children, scholars? Is the goal to market persuade, educate?

How do I get materials not available at NSU?

Interlibrary loan is available free of charge in which books and copies of articles can be borrowed from other libraries. Allow approximately two weeks for interlibrary loan requests to be received.

How do I cite resources?

The CLIP Tutorial on Citations provides a good overview to citing resources. The M.L.A. Handbook for Writers of Research Papers is located on the first floor at the call number, Ready Ref. LB 2369.G53. Also, try the MLA Web site. For additional help in citing sources, try KnightCite Bibliography Machine.

Prepared by Sarah Brick Archer, October 21, 2008.
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