ACS102

Week FiveWith Librarians

Diane Granfield, Don Kinder and Sonny Banerjee

Overall Objectives

• Give you the Library know-how and research smarts to help you succeed in the program

• To see the Library as your search engine

• Provide a framework for thinking critically about information sources

What to expect …Today:• Looking at information critically• Small group exercise: comparing and

contrasting sources of information• Orientation to the Library Web site

Thursday: • Tips for library research• Hands-on lab session focusing on assignment

Bibliophobia: What is it?

You are not alone

THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT INFORMATION

• What does this mean?

• Why is it important?

• How to go about doing it.

Critically thinking about information (in the context of library research)

• Examining and breaking down information into parts

• Is the information source worth using in your research?

• One of the core skills of the research process is to determine the relevance and authority of a given resource for your research.

• Analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating …

A miner or a sponge?

“Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.”

- Samuel Johnson

How do we come to know something?

• Experiential knowledge

How do we come to know something?

• Logic

How do we come to know something?

• Authority

The Library and Authority

• Libraries are based on authority

• Storehouses of what people have said and thought (2nd hand knowledge)

Making the shift from sponging to sifting through what you find …

Addressing the issue of authority in library-based material

Thinking critically about:

• Magazines

• Scholarly journals

• The web

in a small group exercise …

Small Group Exercise

• Comparing and contrasting journals, magazines and web sites

• Hone a critical eye for appropriate sources for research papers and essays

• Consider the uses – strengths and weaknesses - of each source for doing research

“Small” Group Exercise

1. Who was this written for? Or Who would read this? 2. Who are the authors? 3. Publisher or organization? 4. Where can you find this or buy this? 5. What does it look like – physical characteristics? 6. What distinguishes the magazine/journal/website from

the other sources? 7. When and why would you use each type of source in

your assignments, essays, etc.

Articles in Journals and Magazines

At first glance:

• Author’s name

• When was it published?

• What type of publication did the article appear and who was the intended audience?

Magazine? Journal? Trade Publication?

Looking Closer at popular magazines

What makes it a magazine?

• Range from the highly respected to general interest to “alternative”

• Written for a general audience• Inexpensive and readily available• Articles are shorter and contain no

bibliographies• Written by staff writers or journalists or ?• Often published on glossy paper with (lots of)

advertising

Examples of Magazines

When to use popular magazines

• Assignment requirements• Understand the topic better• Get perspectives that might not be available

elsewhere• Identify major researchers and major issues • Compare and contrast biases and points of view• For major research papers use them sparingly

and carefully, if at all

Looking closer at scholarly journals

What makes it a journal? • Reviewed by experts in the field: PEER

REVIEWED• How can you check if it is peer reviewed?:

Ulrich’s International Periodical Directory• Written for researchers and professionals in a

particular field• Written to report the results of research • Articles are long and will contain bibliographies or

footnotes• Looks boring – plain paper, no pictures, no ads

Why use scholarly journal articles?

• Assignment requirements• Up-to-date, often more timely than books• Tend to be narrower in scope than books• They update the research in a field• They are written by people who are doing

the research• Compare and contrast biases and points

of view

Examples of Scholarly Journals

A few other considerations in evaluating books and

periodicals• Objective reasoning (Facts? Opinion?

Propaganda?)

• Coverage

• Primary or secondary in nature?

• Writing style

• Evaluative reviews

The Web as a source of information

At first glance:

• Authors name

• Date information

• Page address: .com, .edu, .org, .ca, .gov, ~joeblow, etc.

• Title of page

Evaluating a web page• Authority• Purpose/Intended Audience• Current? Updated?• Objectivity vs Bias• Support• Is the web the right place to do your

research? • Check out: Duke University Site

Cite what you find

• Plagiarism is to be avoided!• When in doubt, cite it.• Have Word open to organize your

sources, processes, quotes and thoughts • Use appropriate style guides

recommended by your Professor• Library has online and print guides• The Writing Centre• Refworks

TFYQA!

• “Think for yourself question authority …”

- Timothy Leary

…true learning remains a slow process (It took Pharaoh ten

plagues to finally get it!)

While access is turbo-charged…