keywords,articles, evaluation

1. Laksamee Putnam
lputnam@towson.edu
Research & Instruction Librarian
http://bit.ly/tsemwarnerfall2015

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!

3. A quick plug…
 Programming for Latino
Americans: 500 Years of
History
 National Endowment for
the Humanities (NEH)
and the American
Library Association
(ALA)
 Library exhibit and
collection coming!
 Check the library
calendar for more info!

4. Agenda
 Discussion
 Background reading/Internet searching
 Keywords
 Evaluating Resources
 Finding Articles

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 credible
resources?
 How do you evaluate the
information you find
while researching?
 Why is it important to
support your argument
with valid sources?
Pew Research Center. (2015) Chapter 3: Attitudes and
beliefs on science and technology topics. Public and
Scientists’ Views on Science and Society. Pages 37-57.
http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2015/01/PI_Scienc
eandSociety_Report_012915.pdf
Dickson, E. (2014) I accidentally started a Wikipedia
hoax. The Daily Dot.
http://www.dailydot.com/lol/amelia-bedelia-
wikipedia-hoax/

6. Today I Learned (TIL)
 In Reddit people share “headlines” in TIL format
 Which resources are “good”
 Which resources are “bad”
 How do you know?

7. Today I Learned (TIL)

8. Today I Learned (TIL)

9. Check for CRAP
Currency
Reliability
Authority
Purpose/Point of View

10. Check for CRAP
 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?
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library
http://www.flickr.com/photos/helloeveryone123/3937374193/si
zes/m/in/photostream/

11. Check for CRAP
 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?
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library
http://www.flickr.com/photos/schnappi/5930145952/sizes/l/in/photostream/

12. 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
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library
http://rantchick.com/a-doctrine-on-respect/

13. 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
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/5484085301/sizes/m/in/
photostream/

14. Which words?
 Take a look at these pictures.
What do you see?
 Go here and fill in a word to
describe each picture
A
D C
B

15. Keywords are critical!
 Sample topic:
 What peaceful protest methods occurred during the
Ferguson trial?
 First, break the question down into key concepts:
 Concept #1: peaceful protest
 Concept #2: methods
 Concept #3: Ferguson

16. More on keywords…
 Expand your list to include synonyms then add
to it once you have done some background
reading.
 What peaceful protest methods occurred during
the Ferguson trial?
Peaceful protest methods Ferguson
nonviolent action
passive resistance
social movement
Gene Sharp
formal statement
symbolic public act
Michael Brown
United States
police violence

17. Putting it all together…
 What peaceful protest methods occurred during the
Ferguson trial?
Peaceful protest OR nonviolen* action OR passive resistance
AND
“Gene Sharp” OR formal statement OR “symbolic public act”
AND
Ferguson OR USA OR police violence
Peaceful protest methods Ferguson
nonviolent action
passive resistance
social movement
Gene Sharp
formal statement
symbolic public act
Michael Brown
United States
police violence

18. Create keywords
 Write your research topic on your worksheet
 Group members help fill in key concepts and synonyms
 Give the worksheet back to the original owner

19. Searching the library
 CookOneSearch
 American History
 MasterFile
 Communication & Mass
Media
 SOCIndex
 Will also search for
BOOKS
 Other resources
 News Bank
 Sage Knowledge
 VAST
 CQ Researcher
Utilize the TSEM Course Gateway to remember the resources

20. Finding Articles
 Features to remember
 Yellow Findit button
 Citation creations
 So many filters!
 Email yourself
 Also as you are searching
 Take a look at the article citations
 Make note of additional keywords

21. Find a book and article
 Use your keywords in Cook One Search
 Find a book
 Find an article
 Enter your results on your worksheet
 Make sure it’s a book here at TU
 Can you read the full text of the article you found?

22. Thanks for listening!
 Next library session:
 Time to research Food movements
 Annotated Bibliography and APA Citation Style

23. 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