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History 4013: Research Strategies Literature Review Frederic Murray Assistant Professor MLIS, University of British Columbia BA, Political Science, University of Iowa Instructional Services Librarian Al Harris Library frederic.murray@swosu.edu
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American Southwest & Borderlands Cabeza de Vaca: 1528 - 1537
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SEE THE FILM
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American Southwest & Borderlands 19 th & 20 th Century Histories
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SlotkinReff
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Outline of session What is a literature review? Why review the literature? Plan your search/Keywords/Boolean Citations/Identifying//Reading/Tracking Choosing appropriate Sources/Databases Google Tricks Sample searches A good literature review…
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Major Concerns Topic Selection Narrowing the search Using the library effectively
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What is a literature review? “… a systematic…method for identifying, evaluating and interpreting the …work produced by researchers, scholars and practitioners.” FINK, A., 1998. Conducting literature research reviews: from paper to the internet. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage., p.3.
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Why review the literature? “…without it you will not acquire an understanding of your topic, of what has already been done on it, how it has been researched, and what the key issues are.” HART, E., 1998. Doing a literature review: releasing the social science research imagination, by E. Hart and M. Bond. London: Sage., p.1.
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Define what you want to know “I am looking for literature and sources that focus on Spanish exploration and settlement. ” Use this statement to choose keywords and key phrases
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Define key words and phrases Spanish Exploration Settlement or Mexican or Conquest or Colonization Accurate Search Requires Accurate Language
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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, databases and search engines for information about your subject.
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Boolean AND = Narrow OR = Expand NOT = Exclude
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Class Exercise Keyword Building Exercise Topic: Spanish Exploration & Settlements Thesaurus.com
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Spanish Exploration & Settlements Missions Jesuits Explorers Southwest Exploration Mexico TexasConquest Trade
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Books Al Harris Catalog Open World Cat Ebrary
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Open World Cat Meta search engine for online catalogs of libraries all over the world. Search for any book using a geographic location for the closest sources. Over 9000 libraries combined. If you find it in WorldCat, and it's not in our library, we can get it through ILL.WorldCat CREATE A USER ACCOUNT
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Ebrary: eBooks 24/7 Full Text Searching* Highlight Markup Note Taking Changeable Font Size Multiplicity of Use CREATE A BOOKSHELF
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Choose Appropriate Databases Google is not (usually) the answer Start with Library Resources for your Subject First Search a range of databases Think about the range of sources: books, journal articles, statistics, websites, conference reports…
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Journals Southwestern Historical Quarterly –Found in Project Muse (2006 to Current) Hispanic American Historical Review –Found in Project Muse The Southwestern Historical Quarterly –Found in JSTOR (1912-2007) Journal of the Southwest –Found in JSTOR
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Databases: Social Sciences JSTOR Project Muse America: History and Life with Full Text Historical Abstracts with Full Text And Many More…..
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JSTOR Includes archives of over one thousand leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Search by discipline: History
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Project Muse Peer-reviewed journals Wide variety of humanities and social science subjects Complete journal content, including charts, graphs, and images
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EBSCO Databases America: History and Life with Full TextAmerica: History and Life with Full Text Historical Abstracts with Full TextHistorical Abstracts with Full Text
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We think of citation patterns as the flow of information," says Carl Bergstrom, a biologist at the University of Washington. "That's what a citation is — the trace that an idea flowed from one place to another."
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Handout: Identifying types of citations Book Journal or Magazine Conference Reports Newspaper Article Website
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Handout: Reading citations A citation is a short, multi-part description of a specific information source. It provides the information that is needed to find a particular source. Journal citations contain such basic information as:
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Snowballing Building on the works of others A scholarly article will always have References/Bibliography A bibliography is always ripe for the picking…
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Tracking Citations
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Damp, Jonathan E., Stephen A. Hall and Susan J. Smith 2002 Early Irrigation on the Colorado Plateau near Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. American Antiquity 67: 665-676
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Tracking Citations Damp, Jonathan E., Stephen A. Hall and Susan J. Smith 2002 Early Irrigation on the Colorado Plateau near Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico. American Antiquity 67: 665-676
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The Citation Video
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Class Exercise Is it a book or a journal? Check the appropriate source –Open WorldCat/Ebrary/Al Harris Catalog –Periodicals List If the citation is an article, do we have access through the databases?
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How does Google Search work?
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Google Search PageRank (algorithm) –500 million variables –2 Billion Terms Bias? Popularity is a Proxy for Importance
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Personalized Search Google’s algorithm will suggest “what is best for you” – based on past searches. It’s as if we looked up the same topic in an encyclopedia and each found different entries.
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Personalized Search Find information that is most likely to reinforce your own worldview We begin to lose dissenting opinion/conflicting points of view Yet search seems neutral, objective, unbiased.
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Personalized Search & the Internet When ideology drives the dissemination of information, knowledge is compromised. Inadvertently we indoctrinate ourselves with our own ideas. Google is likely to direct you to material with which you already agree.
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SO WHAT?
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What are the repercussions for research carried out in an environment where Search itself is being compromised?
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GoogleGoogle: Improve Your Searches Site Specific Command What it does: searches only specific domains What to type: Zuni Indians site:edu Zuni Indians site:gov
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Google Scholar Google Scholar provides a simple way to search for scholarly literature. Search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations.
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Google Scholar Works best for Citations Restrictions to Content –Fee-based –Often your Library already owns material –We’re working on improving access
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Southwest History: Internet Resources Parallel Histories: Spain, United States and the American FrontierParallel Histories: Spain, United States and the American Frontier U.S.-Mexico Border Issues: A Selected Bibliography from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries' CollectionsU.S.-Mexico Border Issues: A Selected Bibliography from the Smithsonian Institution Libraries' Collections Exploring Hispanic History and Culture
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Review Keywords/Boolean Books: –Open WorldCat/Ebrary/Catalog Databases: –JSTOR/Project Muse/American History EBSCO Google Site Search/Scholar
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Class Exercise Divided into teams of four Find 2 articles & 2 books on Spanish Settlement and Exploration in the North American Southwest Use JSTOR/Ebrary/Open WorldCat Jot down Titles & Sources
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A good literature review… Goes beyond simply listing relevant literature Is a critical essay Assesses the range of literature available Is a critical summary of the literature Examines the background against which your own research is set Forms a significant section of your dissertation
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A good literature review… Offers opinions and personal response to the different writings Relates different writings to each other, compares and contrasts Does not take the literature at face value Shows an awareness of the theories and values that underpin the research Uses particular language: authors assert, argue, state, conclude, contend
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Questions? Contact me: –Frederic Murray 774-7113 frederic.murray@swosu.edu
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Thanks!
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