Walden University Academic Residencies: Library Resources and Search Strategies for Doctoral Research PhD Residency 1

Introductions! Lynn VanLeer Librarian at Walden 8+ years Colorado, remote like you! Previous life experiences: travelled with former Russian weapons scientists, alpaca farm, tamale kitchen, 12 years bookstores. Not a scary Librarian! Here to help! Faculty are here to assist as needed.

Session Learning Objectives Locate the Walden Library website and the databases relevant for students’ programs. Develop search strategies that deliver useable results. Evaluate resources within and outside the Walden Library.

Session Agenda Expectations for Doctoral Scholarship Challenges of Online Research The Walden University Library and its collections Databases for your subject Search tips and techniques Researching Beyond the Library

Doctoral Scholarship Information literacy: understanding when information is needed and what sort of information is appropriate Evaluate information to determine its validity and appropriateness. Evaluating Resources Guide Understand what peer-review is. Verify peer review.

Types of Scholarly Articles Empirical research articles: original research study Review articles: collecting and analyzing other articles on a topic to assess the state of research. Can include: literature reviews systematic reviews meta-analyses Opinion/Commentary Other types: Clinical trials, Case studies – may be found in Health Sciences, Business

Activity #1: Anatomy of an Empirical Research Article Access the example article: “Student Perspectives of Assessment Strategies in Online Courses” (Bailey) In small groups: Identify the features of an empirical research study Consider: How does this differ from other sources you might read? news article in a weekly magazine? For more information after the session: See the tutorial Anatomy of a Research Article Citation: Bailey, S., Hendricks, S., & Applewhite, S. (2015). Student perspectives of assessment strategies in online courses. Journal Of Interactive Online Learning, 13(3), 112.

Keys to Successful Online Research No single collection or search engine will cover everything. Start in the Library collections and then go beyond. Google Scholar offers wide-coverage – but limited ability to refine searches and no peer-review limiter. Not all articles will be freely available online; know your tools for tracking down the full text.

The Walden Library and Its Collections Find the Library website: library.waldenu.edu Also available through the student portal Explore the resources for your courses in: Course Readings Find the collections relevant to your research. Bookmark your subject research page. SEARCH DEMO!

Activity #2: Explore Your Subject Resources On the Library website: Click Select a Subject in the center, then Choose the subject area relevant to your research. Explore the databases listed there. Which may be useful to you? Explore the other resources listed. How might you use these?

Research Beyond the Walden Library Using Google Scholar effectively searches broadly – can find other studies, reports, etc. difficult to shape precise searches overwhelming number of results to review no peer-review limiter Other places to look: government websites research organizations remember to critically evaluate your sources Brain overload?? LUNCH!!! (if time, continue)

After Lunch: Activity #3: Find Resources on Your Topic (10-15 min) “Nothing’s been done on my topic” Tips for exploring your topic, developing search terms, and getting good results In small groups: Share a research topic that you would search. Help each other identify search terms and synonyms to build into the search and expand your results. What databases might you use for that search?

Final Assignment Take 2 minutes right now to reflect on what you learned from this session. Write down notes for your reflection assignment. Key Takeaways  Resources I Will Need  Next Steps for Improvement