 |
English 155
Library Research Skills
Lindsay Hansen
Finding Newspaper, Magazine, and Journal Articles:
The following databases and sources contain many full-text articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals from around the country, and the world. If the full-text is not available for the article you want to see, click the blue and red 
button or the "Find Text" link to see if the full-text is available in another database.
All databases can be accessed when you're off-campus. You need to log in with your Portal ID and password when you see this screen:
Finding Books
Use the Library Catalog (http://suncat.csun.edu) to find books, videos, music and which magazines and newspapers we subscribe to.
Learn how to search the Library Catalog: http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/i-opac.html
Research Strategies
It's a good idea to develop a search strategy for your research topic (http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/search.html).
Learn how to use Boolean operators and truncation in most databases, in order to narrow down or broaden your searches (http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/booleansearching.html).
Evaluate your search results:
Skim the list of article citations: Do your keywords appear in any of them?
Read article abstracts: How well does each article pertain to your topic?
What kind of information does each citation/abstract/article appear to provide about your topic? Is it a research findings report, critical analysis, editorial or commentary, news report, or investigative report?
Consider the currency of each citation--when was the article published? This will be more or less important, depending on your topic.
Scholarly v. popular: What kind of article is it? Many research assignments require you to find articles from scholarly journals (see below).
Scholarly Sources:
- Authors are authorities in their fields.
- Authors cite their sources in endnotes, footnotes, or bibliographies.
- Individual issues have little or no advertising.
- Articles must go through a peer-review or refeered process.
- Articles are usually reports on scholarly research.
- Illustrations usually take the form of charts and graphs.
- Articles use jargon of the discipline.
Popular Magazines and Newspapers:
- Authors are magazine staff members or freelance writers.
- Authors often mention sources, but rarely formally cite them in bibliographies.
- Individual issues contain numerous advertisements.
- There is no peer-review process.
- Articles are meant to inform and entertain.
- Illustrations may be numerous and colorful.
- Language is geared to the general adult audience (no specialized knowledge of jargon needed).
Evaluating Web Sites (should you believe everything you read online?)
What to look for (for a more detailed version go to: http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/eval.html) :
- Authority - Who is the author? What's his/her background, education, experience? Would you trust the organizations they are affiliated with? Can you find contact information? What is the domain name (eg .com, .edu, .org, .gov, .net)?
- Content & Coverage - What does it cover? Is it aimed at experts? Is the information relevant?
- Timeliness - When was it written? When was it last updated? Is the information still current?
- Accuracy - Can you check the information somewhere else? (Especially important for things like Wikipedia!) Has someone else reviewed the content? Does it include a list of works cited or other clues to how the information was found?
- Objectivity - Does the site have a bias? Are there advertisements or links to organizations that might be a clue? What does the domain name tell you about objectivity?
Avoiding Plagiarism (http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/plagiarism.html)
Cite your sources! Learn how to cite in MLA citation style. (http://library.csun.edu/Find_Resources/e-books/estylegd.html)
Contact information
If you have questions as you do research for your project in this class, go to Ask-A-Librarian (http://library.csun.edu/Research_Assistance/askus.html). You can get help at the reference desk, by phone, by chat, by text, or by email.
You can also contact me directly by email or phone.
Follow the Oviatt on Twitter!
Become a "Fan" of the Oviatt Library on Facebook!
Adapted from Susanna Eng-Ziskin's English 155 webpage.
18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge CA 91330 (818) 677-2285 |
 |
|
|