1. IDHP 110
Laksamee Putnam
lputnam@towson.edu
Research & Instruction Librarian
Slides:
http://slidesha.re/YaQciE

2. First…
 Laksamee Putnam
 lputnam@towson.edu
 Cook Library Reference:
 410.704.2462.
 IM/email
 Phone: 410.704.3746.
 Twitter: @CookLibraryofTU
 Albert S. Cook facebook profile!
 Slides: http://slidesha.re/YaQciE

3. A quick plug…
 Palestinian Literature: The Needed
Background
 When: Sunday, February 17th from
4-5:30pm
 Where: Cook Library Room 507
 What: Dr. Salam Mir, Associate
Professor of English at Lasell
College, will speak about some of
the pivotal works of Palestinian
Literature.
 This program will also introduce the
Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim
Journeys

4. Agenda
 Part 1 - Discussion
 Background reading/Internet searching
 Keywords
 Evaluating Resources
 Part 2 - Discussion
 Finding Books
 Finding Articles
 Research time

5. Wikipedia Woes and Google Gaffs
 What are the pros and
cons of so much
information being
online?
 What do you do to be
sure you’re finding a
credible source?
 How do you evaluate
the information you find
while researching?
 Why is it important to
support your argument
with valid/scholarly
sources?
Google Analytics (2012) Google analytics in
real life – Site search.
http://youtu.be/cbtf1oyNg-8
DuckDuckGo (2012). There are no “regular
results” on Google anymore.
http://vimeo.com/duckduckgo/bubble

6. Web “Pre-Searching”
 Why start your search online?
 Find background information
 Help solidify research topic
 Find new terminology to use as keywords
 Find links and/or citations to other sources

7. Through out the lesson:
Fill out this spreadsheet
 http://bit.ly/11WGgvl
 Choose your research topic
 Genetic engineering and cloning to reduce
disease incidence
 Healthcare for persons without health insurance
 Ethics in care in a culturally diverse society
 Ethical treatment of humans/animals during
drug testing
 Complementary vs. traditional medicine
approaches to health care
 Issues in the overuse of Antibiotics

8. Improve Google
Autism and vaccines
 Advanced Google
searching
 Duck Duck Go?
Body image and girls
 Cook Library’s
Guide to the Web

9. Keywords are critical!
 Sample topic:
 Which age is childhood obesity in the
United States the highest?
 First, break the question down into
keywords:
 Which age is childhood obesity in the
United States the highest?

10. More on keywords…
 Expand your list to include synonyms then add
to it once you have done some background
reading.
 Which age is childhood obesity in the United
States the highest?
age obesity United States
childhood overweight USA
youth BMI U.S.A.

11. Combine your keywords
Boolean “search connectors”
AND OR NOT
For example:
obesity AND children
Combining >1 topic
BMI OR body mass index
Combining synonymous terms

12. Additional Search Tips
 Use truncation!
 Educat* finds
 Educate
 Education
 Educating
 Educator
 Etc…
 Phrase Searching…
 Use quotations to
keep a keyword
phrase intact (words
will be searched in
the specific order)
 Examples:
 “advanced
practice nurses”
 “long term care”

13. Evaluate what you find
 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

14. Currency
Reliability
Authority
Purpose/Point of View
Check for CRAP

15.  Currency
 How recent is the information?
 Can you locate a date when the resource
was written/created/updated?
 Based on your topic, is this current enough?
 Why might the date matter for your topic?
Check for CRAP
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library

16.  Reliability
 What kind of information is included in the
resource?
 Does the author provide citations &
references for quotations & data
 Where am I accessing this information?
Check for CRAP
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library

17.  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
Check for CRAP
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library

18.  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
Check for CRAP
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard
Library

19. Continue your research!
 Take a few minutes to complete your first
worksheet
 Ask if you have a question!
 Next: Part 2

20. Real research is complicated
 Can you think of any
examples of a
“magical database”
with all the answers?
 Where do you find
books/articles for your
classes here at Towson
University?
 How many places do
you look?
 Why are scholarly
articles important for
your assignment?

21. Finding Books
 How did your book
search go?
 Plenty of relevant
information in print
 Use broad keywords

22. Finding Books

23. Finding Books

24. Finding Articles
 How did your article
search go?
 Scholarly – Peer
Reviewed
 Use specific
keywords
Card Catalogue. [Photographer]. Retrieved from
Encyclopædia Britannica Image Quest.
http://quest.eb.com/images/115_2838287

25. Finding Articles

26. Finding Articles
 Content providers you should use:
 CINAHL Plus with Full-text
 Medline
 Health Source Nursing/Academic
 Health Reference Center Academic
 ERIC
 Education Abstracts
 Social Science Citation Index
 Social Science Abstracts
 PsycINFO

27. Finding Articles
 Features to remember
 Yellow Findit button
 Citation creations
 Email yourself
 Also as you are searching
 Take a look at the article citations
 Make note of additional keywords

28. Continue your research!
 Complete your second worksheet
 Then please fill out this survey:
 http://bit.ly/11WBEVV
 Next library session:
 Read article – prepare with discussion
questions
 Plagiarism and APA citation style

29. Questions?
 Feel free to contact me:
 Laksamee Putnam
 lputnam@towson.edu
 410.704.3746.
 Twitter: @CookLibraryofTU
 Or any reference librarian:
 Visit Cook Library Reference Desk
 410.704.2462.
 IM – tucookchat