Forming a Game Plan for College-Level Research & Developing Search Skills Jason Dupree Assistant Professor MLIS, University of Oklahoma BFA, Phillips University Head of Public Services Al Harris Library

Today’s To-Do’s 1.Understanding Your Assignment 2.Learning with Visual Literacy 3.Mastering Search Techniques

Part 1 Forming a Game Plan

Known the components of your assignment Brainstorm & build your vocabulary Form a strategy – what terms are you using and where are you using them? –This is where information literacy comes in Select your resources & collect info Investigate your topic & refine your topic if necessary Read your sources & evaluate (collect new info if necessary) Document & cite your sources Analyze your research & write your paper

Part 2 Imagery & Themes

Visual Elements

Class Activity Keyword Building Worksheet 3 columns on back 1 st column – imagery from Kilmer 2 nd column – imagery from Dickinson 3 rd column – leave blank

Class Activity Imagery in Kilmer’s Trees I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

TREES I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. Beauty Mother & Child, act of nurturing, Gaea (Mother Earth) Religion Anthropomorphize Relationship, Emotion, Bond Author is an active participant, self criticism Weather, Seasons, Passage of Time act of creation

Class Activity Imagery in Dickinson’s Because… –Identify themes in Dickinson –Compare themes of Kilmer & Dickinson Use commonalities as a basis for locating 3 rd poem –Draft a preliminary thesis statement

Part 3 Searching Techniques

Define what you want to know “I am looking for poetry that focuses on nature as a symbol for life. ” Use this statement to choose keywords and key phrases

Define key words and phrases nature symbol life

Identifying Keywords Identify the significant terms and concepts that describe your topic from your thesis statement or research question. These terms will become the key for searching catalogs, indexes, and databases for information about your subject.

Keywords Flexible terms Easy searches Less accurate searches

Keyword Phrases Single concept, multiple words Some electronic resources require keyword phrases be enclosed with punctuation –Quotation marks – SWOSU Catalog –Parenthesis

Keyword Searching vs. Subject Searching Keyword –Flexible –Less accurate –Affected by Boolean Operators, Truncation Symbols and punctuation Subject –Rigid –Very Precise –Predetermined vocabulary established by the Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, and other groups

Subjects Predetermined terminology –Library of Congress –National Library of Medicine –American Psychological Assn. More challenging to use in ‘open’ searches Very precise

Boolean AND = Narrow OR = Expand NOT = Exclude

How “AND” is used AND (narrows) –poetry and imagery –poetry and imagery and “joyce kilmer”

How “OR” is used OR (expands) –imagery or symbolism –trees or wood or forest AND & OR together –imagery or symbolism and poetry –poetry and imagery or symbolism or allegory and “joyce kilmer”

How “NOT” is used NOT (excludes) –imagery not art –nature not human AND, OR & NOT together –poem and symbolism or imagery not art

Boolean Operators Connect keywords only Must be placed between keywords AND –Narrows your search OR –Expands your search with synonymous terms NOT –Excludes words from your search –If used too much, it can work against you!

Class Activity “Shuffle Up and Deal” –cards –“face card” –card and black –card and deuce –card and spade or diamond –“face card” and red not king –club not “face card” or ace

Truncation (Wildcards) Non-universal symbols used in searching Common symbols: * ? Used with a root word Used to replace a vowel or single character

Truncation (Wildcards) Root Word- looks for multiple endings of a word, in this case it takes the place of ‘OR’ –poet? –poet, poets, poetry, poetic –trees and poet or poetry or poetic –trees and poet?

Truncation (Wildcards) Singular/Plural- replaces a vowel or single character in a word, in this case it takes the place of ‘OR’ –analys*s –analysis, analyses –poetry and analysis or analyses –poetry and analys*s

Class Activity Keyword Building Worksheet 3 columns on back 1 st column – imagery from Kilmer 2 nd column – imagery from Dickinson 3 rd column – leave blank

Part 4 Finding Books

Dewey All of human knowledge is broken into Ten Major Categories

SWOSU Catalog

Open WorldCat

E-Books: Ebrary & Ebooks on Ebscohost 24/7 Full Text Searching* Highlight Markup Note Taking Embed links into text Online Bookshelf Multiplicity of Use

Library Services Interlibrary Loan –Online form (plan ahead) –Library borrows the item on your behalf OK-Share Card –Go to Circulation Desk & get a card –Present this card to any Oklahoma University/College –Check out books as if you were their student

End of Second Presentation Thank You for listening