ENG 101 Using the library & finding information Martin Crabtree MCCC Library

Agenda Finding books Important places in the library Electronic searching Databases available fro the library Using web information –Finding things on the web –Deciding if what you find is any good Giving credit to the author

Finding Books Books are put on the shelves grouped by subject. You may be familiar with the Dewey Decimal System which is used by many school and public libraries. MCCC like most colleges uses a different system called the Library of Congress (LC) system. The LC system used both letters and number

Library of Congress System Organizes knowledge into 21 broad categories. The 21 categories (labeled A to Z, but missing I, O, W, X and Y) are further subdivided by adding one or two additional letters and a set of numbers. The first letter of a Library of Congress (LC) call number indicates the general subject area. The second letter indicates the specific subject section within the general category.

Library of Congress vs. the Dewey Decimal Systems Dewey Decimal System Ancient Olympic Games: PER Fiction books are all in the same place: F DIC Biography books are also in the same place: B EDI Library of Congress Ancient Olympic Games: GV23.S Fiction books are part of the system: PZ3.D55 T3 Biographies are mixed into the collection: TK140.E3 J75

Your Student ID card is also your MCCC library card. First you have to fill out a short form at the library to be entered into the system. You also need your ID card to use the computers in the library.

Using the catalog to find what we have in the MCCC library

Finding books in the library Using the online card catalog The catalog is available online. Used to find books, videos and other materials both in the MCCC collection and the Mercer County Public (MCL) libraries. You can have materials from MCL brought to the college. Deliveries arrive Tuesday and Friday afternoons. (DVD’s not available from MCL)

Link to the catalog is on the library’s web pages.library’s web pages.

The New Catalog In June 2008, both MCCC and the Mercer County Public Library began using new catalog software. Though the catalog is up and running, we will be fine-tuning it through the summer. Let’s take a look at the catalog.

Getting Around in the Library

Important Places in the Library The Reference Desk The Circulation Desk The Stacks

The person at the reference desk will help you find what you need The Reference Librarian will help you to: Do database searches Find books, periodicals and other materials Find useful web resources

At the Circulation Desk You can: Check out book here. Get textbook for use in the library Get videos & current newspapers here. Get materials (books, journal articles, etc.) that your professor has set aside here Ask for help in your research

There are 2 kinds of stacks The Reference stacks: –Holds the reference books –These books do not circulate The General Collection Stacks –Holds the books that you can check out

Yes, the library has computers for you to use!

The library’s computer lab To use the computer lab you need to sign in & have your student ID with you. You can use the computers for research as well as for , writing papers, spread sheets, etc. Bring you own disks, CDs, thumb drives, etc. to save your work.

The library’s computer lab Anything saved on a computer’s hard drive will be erased once the computer is turned off. Printing costs 10¢ a page (you can also articles to yourself). There is a lab assistant there to help with computer usage questions. You’ll need to go to the reference desk for research questions.

Big changes coming to the MCCC Library The Library building will be going through a major renovation starting later this summer. The library will be in a temporary location during this time.

Becoming More Efficient at Searching Electronic Resources

Starting An Electronic Search Keywords Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and web search engines. With a possible topic in mind, generate a list of words (keywords) that describes or would commonly be used when discussing your topic. Write this down if it helps. For example: –Ozone –Layer –Depletion –Atmosphere –Hole

Starting An Electronic Search Boolean Searching/Logic Boolean searching - Connecting keywords with the terms –and –not –or For example –eagles NOT football –(car or automobile) and exhaust More Terms = Fewer “Hits”

Searching More Than Just Keywords Phrases & Truncations To search for a phrase, use quotation marks –“survival of the fittest” Truncations allow for searching related words all at once –The * is usually used. For example: child* would include: child, children, childhood, childproof, etc.

Searching More Than Just Keywords Field Limiters Database field limiters allow you to specify your search within varied parameters for example: –Only full-text articles –Only peer reviewed (scholarly) publications –Date (or date range)

Let’s take a quick look at how Boolean searching can help

Electronic Databases at the Mercer Library

Electronic Databases In General Over 60 databases available Not every article is available full text though many are Abstracts (summary) is often available when full text is not

Electronic Databases In General Accessible at any computer on the MCCC/JKC campus network Most are available off campus, though you do need to use a password. Can print/ /download articles

Accessing the databases when you are not on campus

Accessing Databases Remotely You can access most of the databases from any computer with internet access. To log on to the databases, use your: –student ID number (no dashes) –your last name (include punctuation here)

Remote Login Screen Use your student ID number & last name

Some of the databases available from the MCCC Library

Academic Search Premier EBSCOhost - Academic Search Premier –Broadest of the databases covering everything from science to the humanities –includes both general interest & scholarly/professional journals –Not every article full text –Need Acrobat Reader for some articles Oxford Reference Online –Contains a number of reference sources including: encyclopedias, quotations, maps, and more.

More Databases A number of subject specific databases are available covering: –Business (ABI/Inform) –Newspapers (Academic-Universe: News) –Criminal Justice (Criminal Justice Periodical Index) –Architecture (Architectural Index) –Education (Proquest Educational Journals) –more Also other resources –Encyclopedia Britannica –Oxford English Dictionary

Using the World Wide Web

Using the internet/world wide web Before using the web for most college research, try using databases first: –You will have fewer hits to go through –You’ll likely find some good information quickly –The information is always high quality The internet & web are not the same thing

Some things to consider when searching the web Everything is NOT on the web and may never be No search engine covers the entire web The “invisible web” is huge! Though there has yet to be consensus, estimates put the size of the invisible web at at least 2 times bigger than the “visible” (or surface) web.

Searching the World Wide Web Search Strategy Searching the Web is much like database searching: –Put together a list of keywords describing the information you desire –Use Boolean logic (and, not, or) to better define your search, use double quotes for phrases, etc. When searching the web, also: –Consider which search engines/sites may best suit your search needs. Different search engines yield different results. –Use the search engine’s advanced search to select limiting parameters (language, date, domain, etc.)advanced search

Evaluating Web Sites Is this stuff any good?

Evaluating Web Sites Quality varies greatly from site to site YOU are the sole evaluator of the quality of information a site provides

Five Web Info Evaluation Criteria 1.Accuracy - is it reliable? 2.Authority - is author qualified on subject? 3.Objectivity - is the information biased? 4.Currency - is the information “new” enough? 5.Coverage - does the info completely cover the topic?

Using Wikipedia

Wikipedia is sometimes a useful source of information in some instances But, the information contained here is not inherently scholarly information. Wikipedia is probably best at covering pop culture topics as well as obscure subjects not well represented in scholarly publications. Let’s look at an entry for organ donation.organ donation

Think about it… Would you want you doctor to base his/her diagnosis or your lawyer you defense in court bases on information they got from Wikipedia?

The Bottom Line… Buyer Beware The web contains a vast amount of information…but not everything Anyone can put information on the web, hence the quality of web information varies greatly YOU will often be the only person to decide if the quality of the info you find on the web is good

Using the information you find...and giving credit where credit is due.

Using the Information You Find Always give credit to the author or creator of the information that you use. This includes the actual facts, conclusions, and ideas that an author presents. It also includes actual the words that he/she has used.

Plagiarism can take many forms Plagiarism is the presenting of someone else’s intellectual work as your own. It may be done deliberately, but it may also be done without your realizing it. The copying, word for word, from a book or an article is the most blatant form of plagiarism.

Plagiarism when paraphrasing or writing a summary Incomplete paraphrasing or summarizing another’s work could cause plagiarizing without your realizing it. To prevent this, you should avoid:  Using the original sentence structure.  Simply substituting a few words here and there.  Using any of the author's key words or unusual words. Let’s look at an example...

Good paraphrasing It takes some effort to do a good job of paraphrasing. One helpful method is to: 1. Read the original sentence 2. Without looking at the sentence, try writing the idea of the sentence in your own words 3. Look back at the original sentence again to see it you haven’t used too much of the original language -Adapted from “Avoiding Plagiarism”, at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia webpage:

Citing your sources

When you are presenting your research you will need to give a list of your sources In order to make it easier for others to understand what sources you have used (and to possibly look at them themselves), specific formats have been developed to standardize this process

Using the MLA format You will be using the MLA (Modern Language Association of America) style. The latest MLA manual is available in the library: –MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers at: LB 2369.G (in the reference collection & on reserve). The manual is not available on line.

Added MLA & APA info is at the Research & Report Guides link Research & Report Guides

Now it’s your turn…