1. Change Project Research Orientation 2016

2. What are we doing today? Search skills for Change Project:
Keywords
Modifying a search
Evaluation
Citing sources in MLA 8
This is for classes that have already had a basic intro to the library (checkouts, holds, renewing, etc)

3. Research in the Change Project
Over a quarter of your Change Project grade depends on research!
For the Annotated Bibliography Assignment you need: At least 3 different sources of at least 3 different types
For the Research Report you need: At least 5 sources of at least 3 different types

4. Research starts with questions…
A scientist observes an environmental problem. What kinds of things do they need to find out?:
Brainstorm in groups and then together, add to slide. Make sure they hit: How big of a problem is it? What’s causing it? Where is it a problem? What are the effects/impact of it? What’s the science behind the problem/how does it work? How can we fix it?

5. Use keywords, not whole sentences
How does solar power work and how can it save money and help our environment?
Solar power
Solar power cost
Energy costs
Solar power benefits
Renewable energy
Green energy
Green technology
Sustainable power sources
Tip: Try to guess the keywords that researchers would use to describe that topic.

6. Brainstorm keywords for your topic…

7. …Then you find information
Book Reference Periodical Website Interview Pamphlet Video Gov’t Report

8. Modify Your Search
Look at your results, and change keywords to get better results!
If you find TOO FEW sources, try BROADER or MORE GENERAL keywords:
Motor oil pollution in storm drains
Water pollution
Don’t settle for bad sources!

9. Modify Your Search
If you find TOO MANY or IRRELEVANT sources, try NARROWER or MORE SPECIFIC keywords:
Endangered species
Burrowing owl
Endangered species Fremont, CA

10. Try Using Keywords in the Library Catalog to Find Books
Have students find one book on their practice Change Project topic and bring it back to their table.

11. Smarter Web Searching
Discuss what cartoon means

12. How do I know if a source is reliable?

13. Authority WHO created the source and are they an expert on my topic?
Truncate (shorten) the URL back to the .gov, .edu, .whatever…
Find the About Us section
Decide if the author or organization is an expert
Authority: An author may be an organization, not a person. Stop & show examples of this with one topic. Show students how to find the “About Us” section of different websites and how to truncate a URL to get back to the home page. For the truncated URL, choose a site from Google that has no links to the home page—like one of those floating PDFs they always find

14. Bias
WHY did they create it? Are they trying to educate you, persuade you, or sell you something?
Look for balanced sources
whose purpose is education
FrogsSee Kaur file. Some students may have already seen

15. Currency WHEN did they create it? Is it too old for your topic?
How recent does your source
need to be for that topic?
Types of e-waste we can recycle
List of greenhouse gases
Statistics on what percentage of beach litter is plastic
Description of how wetlands help clean our water
Show students how to find date on bottom of page (most websites) or below byline of periodicals. Discuss dfference between “last reviewed/updated” (what we want) and copyright date (which is often just auto-updated without the content changing). Also have one example where there’s NO date—what detective work can we do to determine the approx date? Ex: if they mention the nuclear accident in Fukushima Japan, we know it’s after 2011; if they cite sources that have dates, that also gives a clue.

16. Your turn: Evaluation
1. Dihydrogen monoxide, 2. Kaur’s list

17. Parts of a citation

18. Citing A Website (Web Document or Page from a Website)
“The Problem with Marine Debris.” California Coastal Commission, State of California, July 2016,

19. How to find citation info on a website
#3: Publisher
How to find citation info on a website
#2: Site title
#1: Page title

20. Use “About Us” to find publisher:
Give the most complete date that you can.
Use n.d. if no date.

21. Date at top or bottom of site
Look for most recent date
“Posted,” “Last updated,” “Reviewed,” not copyright date
Day, abbreviated month, year:
29 Aug. 2016 x

22. Helpful Website Hints
“Page Title” and Site Title (Container) are different
Common to have no author. Leave it out.
For the publisher, look for the organization that made the site.
You need the “last updated” date, not the copyright