There are live links to the web sites listed in this document on the Library Resource Page. Take a look at the Subject Guides

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1 Research Project~Gassert~ Grade 10 Sources to Consider: Please use the Library Resource Page: Bookmark the Site Links to the Library Web Site are on the Student Turtlenet and the Student TASD Web Pages. There are live links to the web sites listed in this document on the Library Resource Page. Take a look at the Subject Guides Caffarelli 1

2 Gather your search words Decide on your topic. Think of keywords to aid your search. Find related words or synonyms. Use a dictionary or thesaurus. Look in the subject headings of articles you locate for additional vocabulary words or hyperlinks connected with your topic word. Caffarelli 2

3 Books Destiny Library Search EBSCO ebooks Thousands of e-books and advanced searching ability (POWER Library) Google Books - Search the latest index of the world's books. Find millions of great books you can preview or read for free. ACCESS PA (Find a Book) - A Pennsylvania interlibrary loan program. Expect to wait 5-10 days for the library items. (POWER Library) Caffarelli 3

4 Books EBSCO (POWER Library) Google Scholar Find academic and journal articles and patents. Sweet Search SIRS DISCOVERER (POWER Library) Caffarelli 4

5 Public Libraries Check out the resources at your local libraries (try the web resources of the Reading Public Library) You will need a Berks County Library Card # or quickly apply for an e-number for access to most of the resources. Caffarelli 5

6 Note: Remember to use Control/F. Fill in the find box with your keywords in order to pinpoint the information you need in lengthy documents. Caffarelli 6

7 Try the SIRS Discoverer POWER Library Subject Browse section to drill down from a general to a more specific topic. Remember: While in school POWER Library Databases are seamless, but from home you must access it through a public library web page. Google your local public library and look under the tab Resources.

8 SIRS Issues Researcher Leading Issues Caffarelli 8

9 Other resources News.Google.com - access to historical news source (see note below) Note: News archive content refers to content older than 30 days. See this article about searching for archived news. Use the pull down menu on the Search bar to do an advanced search. groups results and provides side bars of related subheadings. Caffarelli 9

10 Other Resources Search specific, reviewed web sites for teens. Access to a librarian for questions (use the ASK A LIBRARIAN Action Button). Caffarelli 10

11 Other Resources intute.ac.uk help in finding good web sites for research and study. Note: Closed in July Archived material only - mines information from databases, electronic journals, electronic books, bulletin boards, mailing lists, online library card catalogs, articles, directories of researchers, and many other resources. Science Direct - full-text scientific database offering journal articles and book chapters from nearly 2,500 journals and 26,000 books Caffarelli 11

12 MLA Citations Use NoodleTools. There are instructions posted on the right sidebar of the Library Resource Page If you do not want to use the full program, you may create one or two citations by using NoodleTools Express at /login.php. Copy and paste the citation into your paper. Caffarelli 12

13 MLA Citations The Reference Tab in Microsoft Office Word. Use OWL Purdue. Go to the right side bar on the Library Page. Caffarelli 13

14 Boolean Operators Sometimes a search can be overly general (results equal too many hits) or overly specific (results equal too few hits). To fine tune your search, you can use AND, OR, and NOT operators to link your search words together. These operators will help you narrow or broaden your search to better express the terms you are looking for and to retrieve the exact information you need quickly. Caffarelli 14

15 Search Tips Do a subject search instead of a keyword search. To narrow your search use the word and between keywords. To broaden your search use the word or between your keywords Place a phrase in quotation marks. It will force the search engine to find the words right next to each other. Caffarelli 15

16 Searching Tips." EBSCO Help. N.p., EBSCO MasterFILE-Main Edition. Web. 10 Sept. Caffarelli <

17 USING THE "AND" OPERATOR: If you have a search term that is too general, you can append several terms together using "AND". By stringing key terms together, you can further define your search and reduce the number of results. Note: Unless you define a specific search field, the result list will contain references where all your search terms are located in either the citation, full display or full text. For example, type emergency preparedness AND disaster to find results that refer to both high risk and injury. Caffarelli 17

18 USING THE "OR" OPERATOR: In order to broaden a search, you can link terms together by using the "OR" operator. By using "OR" to link your terms together you can find documents on many topics. Linked by this operator, your words are searched simultaneously and independently of each other. As an example, search emergency preparedness AND disaster OR planning to find results that contain either the terms "emergency preparedness" and "disaster", or the term "planning". Caffarelli 18

19 USING THE "NOT" OPERATOR: In order to narrow a search, you can link words together by using the "NOT" operator. This operator will help you to filter out specific topics you do not wish included as part of your search. Type: emergency preparedness AND disaster NOT planning to find results that contain the terms "high risk" or "injury", but not the term "trauma". To further define your results, type: emergency preparedness AND disaster AND planning to constrict the search to include all Caffarelli 19 terms linked by the "AND" operator.

20 What is a Controlled Vocabulary, and A controlled vocabulary makes a database easier to search. Since we have many different ways of describing concepts, drawing all of these terms together under a single word or phrase in a database makes searching the database more efficient how is it useful? An example you may be familiar with: A search for "Car Dealers" leads you to a note to see Automobile Dealers." At a basic level, this is how a controlled vocabulary system works. Caffarelli 20

21 SU Controlled Vocabulary Searching Caffarelli 21

22 Using Controlled Vocabulary Often people will try a keyword search first, and if they find they are not quite getting the results they expect, then they will then look at using the thesaurus to identify the preferred terms for their particular topic. Cafeteria: Use School Lunches Food-School Children Serving Size: USE Portion Caffarelli 22

23 Evaluating a Web Site Try to avoid.com sites Use.edu,.org and.gov Look for an author s name and the author s credentials. Look for a date of publication. Look for who is sponsoring the web site. Caffarelli 23

24 Cite Your Sources Develop the time-saving habit of citing your source as you take notes. Paraphrase your notes. Put quotations marks around quotes. Remember to keep a balance of print and online sources. Caffarelli 24