1. Laksamee
COSC 111: FINDING Putnam
lputnam@tows
INFORMATION USING COOK on.edu
Research and
LIBRARY Instruction
Librarian

2. TAKE AWAY…
 Web “Pre-searching”
 Evaluations – Check for CRAP
 Search strategies and Search tips
 Finding books: Cook Library Catalog
 Finding articles: Databases

3. WEB “PRE-SEARCHING”
 Why or why not start your search online?
 Respond here: http://bit.ly/COSC111web

4. WEB “PRE-SEARCHING”
 Why not start your search online?
 The Invisible Web
 http://goshen.libguides.com/beyond_googling
 Can you trust this information?
 TED video:
 Online filter bubble – Eli Pariser
 http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html

5. TRY THESE WEBSITES OUT
 Go to one of the websites below and analyze it
 http://bit.ly/cosmicweb1
 http://bit.ly/cosmicweb2
 http://bit.ly/cosmicweb3
 http://bit.ly/cosmicweb4
 http://bit.ly/cosmicweb5
 http://bit.ly/cosmicweb6
 http://bit.ly/cosmicweb7

6. CHECK FOR CRAP
Currency
Reliability
Authority
Purpose/Point of View

7. CHECK FOR CRAP
Currency
 How recent is the
information?
 Can you locate a date
when the resource was
written/created/updat
ed?
 Based on your topic, is
this current enough?
 Why might the date
matter for your topic?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/helloeveryone123/393737419
3/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library

8. CHECK FOR CRAP
Reliability
 What kind of
information is included
in the resource?
 Does the author
provide citations &
references for
quotations & data
 Where are you
accessing this http://www.flickr.com/photos/schnappi/5930145952/sizes/l/in/photostream/
information?
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library

9. CHECK FOR CRAP
 Authority
 Can you determine who
the author/creator is?
 What are their
credentials (education,
affiliation, experience,
etc.)?
 Who is the publisher or
sponsor of the
work/site?
 Is this publisher/sponsor
reputable http://rantchick.com/a-doctrine-on-respect/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library

10. CHECK FOR CRAP
Purpose/Point of
View
 Is the content
primarily opinion?
 Is the information
balanced or biased?
 What is the purpose
of the information? Is
it to inform, teach,
sell, entertain or
persuade
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/5484085301/sizes/m/
in/photostream/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library

11. PREPARING TO SEARCH
 Articulate your topic
 Brainstorm
 Strategize where to search

12. research skills ≠ needle in the haystack

13. FORMULATING A KEYWORD SEARCH
1. Choose a Topic

14. FORMULATING A KEYWORD SEARCH
1. Choose a Topic
 The success of Apple products

15. FORMULATING A KEYWORD SEARCH
2. Narrow/Broaden your search

16. FORMULATING A KEYWORD SEARCH
2. Narrow/Broaden your search
 How Apple created and marketed its products successfully

17. FORMULATING A KEYWORD SEARCH
3. Identify the key concepts

18. FORMULATING A KEYWORD SEARCH
3. Identify the key concepts
 Apple
 Marketing
 Created
 Products
 Success

19. FORMULATING A KEYWORD SEARCH
4. Consider synonyms/alternative spellings for terms
 Apple  Products
 Marketing  Success
 Created

20. FORMULATING A KEYWORD SEARCH
4. Consider synonyms/alternative spellings for terms
 Apple  Products
 Apple Inc.
 Brand
 Mac
 Invention
 Marketing
 Iphone
 Market
 Advertise  Success
 Retail  Achievement
 Created  Fortune
 Innovate  Fame
 Design  Progress
 Build

21. SIMILAR IDEAS….DIFFERENT WORDS
Cellphone
Cell phone
Cellular telephone
Wireless phone
Mobile
Smartphone

22. FORMULATING A KEYWORD SEARCH
5. Formulate your search utilizing various combinations of your
words
 String them together using AND/OR/NOT
 Truncate *
 Phrase searching

23. BOOLEAN SEARCH CONNECTORS
AND OR NOT
For example:
spam AND internet security
Combining >1 topic
OLED OR organic light emitting
diodes
Combining synonymous terms

24. WHAT AND DOES…
spam AND internet security

25. WHAT OR DOES…
organic
OLED light
emitting
diodes
OLED OR organic light emitting diodes

26. DON’T FORGET: TRUNCATION HELPS
technolog* finds…
technolog y
technolog ies
technolog ists
technolog ical
technolog ically
…etc!

27. PHRASE SEARCHING
 Use quotations to keep a keyword phrase intact (words will be
searched in the specific order)
 Examples:
 “Bank of America”
 “Cisco Systems”

28. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER…
 How Apple created and marketed its products successfully?
Apple Market* Success
“Apple Inc.” advertise innovate
Mac retail progress
Apple OR “Apple Inc.” OR Mac
AND
market* OR advertise OR retail
AND
success OR innovate OR progress

29. FORMULATING A KEYWORD SEARCH
6. Limit your search
 Appropriate date range
 Subject
 Publication type

30. SEARCH TERMS AND KEYWORD REMINDERS
 Keywords come from the search question
 Use Boolean “search connectors” to combine keywords in
ways that capture the results you need
 Use broader terms/concepts when looking for BOOKS.
 Use narrower terms when looking for ARTICLES.

31. FINDING BOOKS
 Towson Catalog
 Collection and Call
Number
 USMAI Combined
Catalog
 Requests
 TU WorldCat
 Interlibrary Loan
(Illiad)

32.  From:
 Scholarly Journals
 Magazines (inc. Trade Publications)
 Newspapers SEARCHING
DATABASES
G o to a s u b j e c t
 Peer-reviewed articles in g a tew ay a n d
multiple journals choose one
a p p r o p r i a te f o r
yo u r to p i c
 Journals
 Towson: 64 journals with the words
“Computer Science” in the title
 Databases
 Computer Science Index: 500
journals on a variety of topics

33. LET’S START SEARCHING!
 Come up with keywords for your topic
 Find a website – Check for CRAP
 Find a book – Check for CRAP
 Find an article – Check for CRAP
 As you are finding information on your topic please fill in the
Google Doc worksheet
 http://bit.ly/COSC111schmitt

34. QUESTIONS?
 Feel free to contact me:
 Laksamee Putnam
 lputnam@towson.edu
 410.704.3746.
 Or any reference librarian:
 Visit Cook Library Reference Desk
 410.704.2462.
 IM – tucookchat