Welcome to Week 3!

Information Data which has been recorded classified, organized, related or interpreted within a framework so that meaning emerges. From the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 2003.

22,567 Is this information?

We just won $22,567 dollars. Is this information?

Link to Video

Research Systematic, painstaking investigation of a topic, or in a field of study, often employing hypothesis and experimentation, undertaken by a person intent on revealing new facts, theories, or principles, or determining the current state of knowledge of the subject. From the Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science.

Link to the tutorial

What’s in the jar?

Melvil Dewey

Complete Handout given in class and on Class Wiki

Link to Interview

Google is not all that bad for finding simple information. It's the bigger stuff we have to worry about. Questions like "Why does racism exist?" or "What is the current population of mountain lions in the San Gabriel Mountains?" are not so easy to find with a simple entry of words into Google. It takes a little time. And of course, the sources that we come across in any situation need to pass the CRAAP Test!

Link to the video

Wikipedia information is good for Presearch. It is not good to cite Wikipedia in a college paper. Wikipedia builds its pages on subjects in a collective way. Professionals as well as amateurs are permitted to start an account and edit a page. Wikipedia hires and accepts volunteers to look for errors and to work on improving information found on their pages. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that no matter how good the information you find on Wikipedia seems to be, it will always fail the CRAAP Test! Why? Because there is no Authority. Wikipedia may be the sponsor of the information, the actual author(s) are not known

One nice thing that Wikipedia does, though, is it encourages References and/or Notes to the sources from where the information was found (near the bottom of each Wikipedia page). A lot of times, the sources are from the Web. That makes it convenient for us in our Presearch to jump from Wikipedia to a more credible source (we hope!)

In the image above, you will see the that the numbers in the text (called In-Text Citation) match with the number in the Reference/Notes list. The Reference/Notes list in Wikipedia is very useful for us to begin our journey out of Presearch and into Research, assuming the information cited on the Wikipedia page passes the CRAAP Test.

Words in the bank!

KEYWORDS A "Keyword" is (according to Memidex) "a significant word used in indexing or cataloging." For us, a keyword is simply a word that is related to a subject that we are researching.Memidex For example: a keyword for California Quail is "bird" - although it may be too broad to really help with a search. A better keyword is "wildfowl" because it is what type of bird a quail is. The goal is to find good keywords that will help narrow down results when searching so that we can find better sources.

SYNONYMS "Synonym" is defined as (according to Memidex) "two words that can be interchanged in a context". For us, synonyms are two words that have the same meaning related to the subject we are researching. We all describe things in similar ways using different words, and so it is good to remember that a word you would use do describe something might be described with a synonym by someone else.Memidex For example: if you use the word "beautiful" to describe the California Quail but I use the word "lovely", then we are two different people who agree that the California Quail is pleasant to look at, using synonymous terms to describe the bird. Synonyms are what we look for in a thesaurus and can also be very helpful to try as keywords related to your subject for topic.

JARGON "Jargon" is a word that has a definition (according to Memidex) of "specialized technical terminology characteristic of a particular subject." For us, jargon is simply the specialized words that relate to our subject.Memidex For example: a jargon word for the California Quail is "Phasianidae" which is the family of birds that include pheasants, quails, and partridges. It is very helpful to become familiar with the jargon surrounding the subject of your topic. Jargon words can prove to be good keywords.

Plagiarism

According to Memidex, plagiarism is defined as: Memidex Noun (piece of writing) a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work (copyright infringement) the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own

In any course, it is unethical and illegal to copy work and turn it in as your own. It will result in direct action that will damage your academic career. Remember that there is a reason for citation other than just to avoid plagiarism. It is all about sharing the sources you found! Research is a journey that should be shared, not stolen.

Link to Form Online Complete Handout given in class and on Class Wiki

Link to Web Site

Complete Handout given in class and on Class Wiki

Homework Go through the two separate tutorials “The Research Process” and “Using Gale Virtual Reference Library” on the Mt. SAC Library Website: Print out the certificate at the end of each tutorial for credit next week. Complete the Chapter 2 Reading Quiz due next week. Read Appendix A in the Badke Textbook. Choose a topic for your Annotated Bibliography.