Posts Tagged: finding sources

Writing: A Manual for the Digital Age by David Blakesley and Jeffrey L. Hoogeveen

• Introduce the librarians
• Tour the library’s website
• Have students search for subject-area guides
• Interpret a search results page
• Differentiate between and practice author searches, title searches, and keyword searches
• Introduce both general and specialized databases

Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz

• Distinguish between library databases and the Internet
• Distinguish between subject headings and keywords
• Introduce advanced searches  (for library databases and Google)

The Academic Writer by Lisa Ede

• Teach students how to keep a research log, tracking their search terms and successful keywords
• Teach time management strategies, situating research within the larger writing process
• Teach students how to use Journal Finder and periodical indexes
• Introduce special collections

Meeting of Minds by Patsy Callaghan and Ann Dobyns

• Demonstrate and provide practice brainstorming key terms/concepts
• Introduce Boolean terms and other strategies for limiting and filtering results

Corollary Homework

Now that you have chosen one popular periodical and one scholarly journal for your project, you will compare their rhetorical elements. This exercise will help you develop ideas for your final rhetorical analysis paper. Please answer the following questions as specifically as possible:

1. What types of articles appear in each periodical?

2. Compare the author’s credentials from each periodical. What types of authors publish in each one?

3. What types of ads appear in each publication?

4. Considering article types and ads, describe the audience for each of these publications.

5. Do these periodicals use research? Are there citations? Which seems more solid?

6. Do any of the articles use visuals (graphs, photos, etc.)? What types? What are their purposes?

7. For which assignments would popular magazines be most useful as sources? For which assignments would scholarly journals be most useful?

8. Consider the answers for all of these questions. In a short paragraph, sum up the strengths, weaknesses, and purpose of each of these publications.

Name:

Section and Professor’s Name:

Individual Topic:

For this activity, you’ll search a subject area database for articles, choose and locate one article, and evaluate its content.

1. Search one database for articles related to your topic. What database did you choose and why? Please be specific. Think about how the scope and subject specialization of the database relate to your individual topic.

2. What search terms did you use?

3. Were you satisfied with your results? Why or why not? Please be specific.

Once you’ve identified your scholarly article, retrieve it from the library’s bound periodicals section. Using the print version of the article, answer the following questions.

Author:

Title of the article:

Name of the journal/magazine:

Volume number: Issue number:

Page number: Date of issue:

Today’s date (when the article was retrieved):

Read or carefully skim the article. Would this article be most appropriate for scholars or the general public or some other audience?  Explain your answer based on the presence of research, the formality of the tone, and/or biased perspectives.

Name:

Section and Professor’s Name:

Your individual topic:

For this exercise, you’ll browse the Belk Library popular periodical holdings, find one popular periodical that is closely related to your topic, and evaluate its rhetorical elements and content.

1. Jot down some keywords that relate to your topic. Focus in on a few keywords that might appear in a popular magazine’s title. For example, if your topic is Social Networking, you might look for Technology to be in the title.
2. Take your keyword list with you to the periodical section of the library and browse the popular stacks. Retrieve one popular publication that relates to your topic.
3. Read or carefully skim the article that relates to your topic. Would this article be most appropriate for scholars or the general public or some other audience?  Explain your answer based on the presence of research, the formality of the tone, and/or biased perspectives.