Heterick Memorial Library offers numerous resources to students including over 400,000 items in its catalog, access to 20 million items through OhioLink, and 260 databases. The library instruction covers a seven step research process including developing a topic, finding background information, using catalogs and databases to find books, periodicals, and websites. Key databases recommended are Academic Search Complete for multi-disciplinary research and America History and Life for historical topics. Students are shown how to effectively search, evaluate sources, and cite their work.

1. Arlington High School:
New York City
KATHLEEN BARIL, DIRECTOR HETERICK MEMORIAL LIBRARY
JENNY DONLEY, KNOWLEDGE ARCHITECT AND CATALOGING LIBRARIAN

2. Welcome to Heterick Memorial Library!

3. What we will cover
•How to construct a research strategy
•How to evaluate websites
•How to find books in the library’s catalog
•How to use library databases to find information
from periodicals, newspapers and journals on your
topic.

4. What the library offers:
•~400,000 items in POLAR, the ONU library catalog
•~20,000,000 items in OhioLink
•260 Databases
•400+ print periodicals
•Tens of thousands of electronic journal titles
•Juvenile, Young Adult, and Graphic Novel collections
•DVDs, CDs, streaming audiovisuals, and streaming music

5. How to do research:
Seven Steps of the Research Process
Step 1: Identify and develop your topic
Step 2: Find background information
Step 3: Use catalogs to find books and media
Step 4: Find internet resources (if appropriate for the assignment)
Step 5: Use databases to find periodical articles
Step 6: Evaluate what you find
Step 7: Cite what you find
Amended with permission by the Librarians at the Olin and Uris Libraries of Cornell University

6. How to start your research
•Identify main concepts or keywords
•Test the topic – look for keywords and synonyms and related terms
for the information sought
• Subject headings in catalogs
• Built-in thesauri in many databases
• Reference sources
• Textbooks, lecture notes, readings
• Internet
• Librarians, instructors

7. Concept mapping

8. Critically analyzing web sources
CRAAP test
Currency
◦ Timeliness of the information
Relevance/Coverage
◦ Depth and importance of the information
Authority
◦ Source of the information
Accuracy
◦ Reliability of the information
Purpose/Objectivity
◦ Possible bias present in the information

9. Background research
•Background research = Reference and Encyclopedias
•Library catalog

10. Library Catalog Content
Materials commonly listed in catalogs:
•Books and E-books
•Maps
•Music Scores
•Audiovisual materials
•Government documents
•Increasingly links to resources on the Internet
Not newspaper and magazine articles

11. POLAR – Library’s Catalog

12. Major Types of Searching by Concept- Keyword
•Looks in several locations (usually subject, article title,
abstracts or contents)
•Does not require an exact match
•Generates comparatively large number of hits (not precise)
•Good if you are not familiar with terminology

13. Major Types of Searches by Concept- Subject
•Looks in one place – subject
•Usually requires an exact match between your term
and a pre-set list of terms
•Precise
•Can be used after keyword search has identified
specific subjects

14. POLAR: Library Catalog
In the material’s record:
1. Click on subject headings to
find more books on the same
subject.
2. Contents are usually the
names of the chapter titles,
scan to decide if you want to
check out the book.
3. Sometimes a summary or
abstract is included that
provides a brief synopsis of the
book.

15. Databases
•Used mostly for locating newspaper and magazine
articles.
•Some databases are multidisciplinary and some
are subject-specific.
•Some are available to general public via InfOhio
and OPLIN.

16. Find articles – databases

17. Magazines or Popular Periodicals
• Glossy pages and lots of pictures
• Edited by magazine editors
• Articles usually written by staff journalists
• Short articles
• Targeted to general audiences
Scholarly Journals/Periodicals
• Peer-reviewed
• Longer
• Citations/Bibliography
• Written by scholars, experts in the field of study
• Targeted to scholars, students in a particular field of
study
Popular Versus Scholarly Journals

18. Find Articles - Databases:
Boolean Operators
Use Boolean operators in library databases and catalogs when searching to find
more relevant results.
AND – Use for narrowing a search.
Example: Woodstock and Jimi Hendrix
OR – Use to expand a search.
Example: United States or America
NOT – Use to exclude a search term.
Example: Mexico not New Mexico

19. General Database:
Academic Search Complete
Limit your search by date,
language and type of
publication.
Refine your search by
changing keywords and
looking for relevant subject
headings in the results.

20. Finding Articles – full text articles
Academic Search Complete (+ all Ebsco
Databases)

21. Databases: America History and Life
America History and Life uses
the same interface as
Academic Search Complete.

22. Printing, Downloading, Saving
•The library’s catalog and most databases allow you to mark
entries and then save or e-mail them.
•If you have a flash memory device, you can save articles to
it.
•Today, you should be able to print without charge in the
labs.

23. Primary vs Secondary Sources
Primary Sources: Contemporary accounts of an event from a person
who experienced the event. Original documents.
Examples:
•Diaries, letters, memoirs, journals
•Speeches
•Newspaper or magazine articles (written not long after the event
occurred)
•Photographs, audio or video recordings.

24. Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Secondary Sources: Interprets or summarizes primary
sources.
Examples:
•Books
•Journal articles

25. Proquest Historical Newspapers:
New York Times
Find primary source articles in this
database.

26. Final tips for research
•Brainstorm keywords so you have a number of terms to search with.
•Do background research to get a good overview of your subject.
• Carefully evaluate all web resources you use for scholarly research.
•Find books in the library catalog and find articles in databases.
•Evaluate what you find and make sure it fits your research needs.
•Do not forget to cite your sources!
•Good luck!