How To Conduct Scholarly Research January 20, 2010 Rocky Mtn. College RMCAD of Art + Design RMCAD RMCAD How To Conduct Scholarly Research January 20, 2010

2008 Americans consumed 3,600,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes of information at home last year. That’s 3.6 zettabytes! The report states that the average person in the U.S. consumes 34 gigabytes of content and 100,000 words of information in a single day. That’s just at home. How Much Information? 2009 Report on American Consumers Roger E. Bohn & James E. Short Global Information Industry Center University of California, San Diego TMI!!

Dr. Walter L. Warnick, Director DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information Special Libraries Association Annual Conference June 16, 2008

“When people do a Google search there’s an awful lot of content that’s not there. In fact, the people who try to estimate how much of the Web is Googleable, the estimates are never higher than 10% of the entire Web, meaning 90% is non-Googleable. And those estimates sometimes are a fraction of 1% is Googleable, meaning over 99% is non-Googleable.  All those estimates though . . . are estimates, but everybody agrees the great majority of the Web is non-Googleable.”   Dr. Walter L. Warnick, Director DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information Special Libraries Association Annual Conference June 16, 2008

Dr. Walter L. Warnick, Director DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information Special Libraries Association Annual Conference June 16, 2008

Blogs Wikis Videos Podcasts Sites Feeds The Web is young and we are in the midst of an information explosion: an era when anyone can publish information that is not critiqued or evaluated. As a student you need to decipher what is high-quality and scholarly content, and what is not. Blogs Wikis Videos Podcasts Sites Feeds

Appropriate Use of Wikipedia GOOD FOR: NOT GOOD FOR: A starting point and overview of a topic Main/central argument to your topic Finding better sources in the references Complex topics Scientific, cultural, or popular information Controversial topics Timely events: cite date and time Political topics Cite it ONLY if you already have made your case with peer-reviewed resources: The primary or only reference to a topic Comparing to your paper after it is finished “Wikipedia is not just an encyclopedia of knowledge. It is better thought of as a combination of encyclopedia and ‘blog.’ It is the world's blog.” From: http://www.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/ayliu/courses/wikipedia-policy.html

Encyclopedia of Life is a similar Web resource. points (hyperlinks) to original sources includes references the site’s “About” statement: This project brings together several of the world’s leading natural history institutions, botanical gardens, and libraries, including: Biodiversity Heritage Library The Field Museum of Natural History Harvard University Marine Biological Laboratory Missouri Botanical Garden Smithsonian Institution

Scholarly Articles

http://www.youtube.com/education?b=400 Search: interior design lecture Scholarly Articles Good articles will usually have an abstract. Read the intro and conclusion and then decide if it’s relevant. Even if it’s not relevant to your topic, think about saving it for another class. Search for a term within the text or .pdf There should be some “big” words. In other words, you should have to use a dictionary (I recommend dictionary.com). Save as something you will be able to identify later—databases usually assign alphanumerical file names. Multimedia Resources Excellent information can be cited from podcasts and video lectures. They should be from an expert, reputable organization, or university. Your manual of style has directions on how to cite media. Check out YouTube.edu, Vimeo, and others but . . . !!Be wary of regular YouTube as anybody can upload a video and they may not be very knowledgeable!! http://www.youtube.com/education?b=400 Search: interior design lecture

Contains scholarly resources Set your “Scholar Preferences” to Denver Public Library and you can access DPL’s articles remotely (if you have a library card—if not, GET ONE!) If pressed for time, look for full-text .pdfs Use the “Advanced Scholar Search” for more specificity

Look at the results for the search “leonardo da vinci” on the Look at the results for the search “leonardo da vinci” on the Google and then in Google Scholar. Look at the results for the search “interior design architecture” in Google and then in Google Scholar.

Databases Read the About tab. Mission states: to excel in the broad dissemination of high-quality scholarly content …

Select these functions Databases Select these functions

735 full-text scholarly articles were retrieved. Databases 735 full-text scholarly articles were retrieved. Save this search to your social bookmarking tool, email it to yourself, or create an alert.

Databases Use the history tab to keep track of what you have already searched for. You can print or save the search terms you’ve tried, and come back later without starting over.

Databases DPL has 105 databases. You can conduct a very broad search this way, and you may retrieve some quality articles, but for a more thorough search you should access each database separately.

Scholarly Books University Presses Other Publishers Conduct a search: Read scholarly books and you could be just like me someday. University Presses Examples: Harvard University Press Princeton University Press Cambridge University Press Indiana University Press Link to Google search: "University Press" Other Publishers Conduct a search: Routledge http://www.routledge.com/ Wiley-Blackwell Publishing http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-350001.html What a dweeb.

books.google.com A lot of books have limited previews and you can search inside. This can help you decide if it’s good quality or if you want to get it from a library. Click the “find in a library” link. If the book is in the public domain, the entire book can be accessed. Use the e-Books links on Digication and check out e-Books remotely from DPL. .

“Learning is about how to make wise choices.” The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Report on Digital Learning Cathy N. Davidson and David Theo Goldberg © 2009 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Now go make good choices or you’ll end up wearing lame wigs and posing for clip art like me.

contact me anytime: tinajayroe@gmail.com