CMPT 322 W Library Research Workshop Shane Plante

CMPT 322 W: Library Research Workshop Shane Plante, Applied Sciences Librarian, Surrey shane@sfu. ca

Survey results (And: thanks!) n = 23 1) Conducting substantial, relevant research on your topic (30% are confident) 2) Coming up with a strong thesis (35%)* [ the SLC can help with this ] 3) Narrowing your topic (39%) 4) Identifying scholarly sources (43%) 5) Citing sources with APA style (48%) 6) Avoiding plagiarism (83%) CMPT 322: research workshop

Agenda (derived from survey results) 1) Narrowing your topic 2) Finding what you need [ i. e. , doing substantial, relevant research ] 3) Identifying scholarly sources 4) Citing sources 5) Getting help CMPT 322: research workshop

Meet the CMPT 322 W research guide CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “writing an abstract for your paper. ” + “Clear arguments and chained logic. ” CMPT 322: research workshop

Narrowing Two suggestions: 1) Background sources 2) Quick and dirty searching Tip: In general, you can only cover one idea per paragraph. – This can help to determine if your topic is too broad. CMPT 322: research workshop

Finding what you need on your topic often stems from three things: 1) Finding good keywords for your searches 2) Selecting the right search tools for the job 3) Cycling your search CMPT 322: research workshop

Finding good keywords Finding what you need on your topic often stems from three things: 1) Finding good keywords for your searches 2) Selecting the right search tools for the job 3) Cycling your search For example: Facebook http: //www. flickr. com/photos/tracilawson/4575783486/ CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “Not sure how the commands work for search bars. ” * * * CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools 1) Finding good keywords for your searches 2) Selecting the right search tools for the job 3) Cycling your search CMPT 322: research workshop http: //www. flickr. com/photos/ebygomm/8685729580/ Finding what you need on your topic often stems from three things:

Selecting the right tools What do you think would be the right tool(s) for finding the following documents on your topic? a) b) c) d) e) A high-level, big picture overview A book Scholarly articles A government report Up-to-date information on the latest developments in Canada CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools These are the 3 search options on the Library’s homepage: CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools Fast Search Library Search SFU Library’s Russian dolls Catalogue http: //www. flickr. com/photos/aussiegall/288377539/ CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools Another “quick and dirty” search tool http: //www. flickr. com/photos/aussiegall/288377539/ Always access it through SFU Library; otherwise you’ll be asked to pay for articles CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “Finding the right journal libraries to search in. ” CMPT 322: research workshop

Selecting the right tools The library has hundreds of databases (i. e. , journal article search engines), each of them with different content. The main types: – subject-specific databases (+ indexes) – multidisciplinary databases (+ indexes) (Examples of both types are listed on the CMPT 322 guide. ) Some advice on picking the right one for your topic. CMPT 322: research workshop

Cycling a search Finding what you need on your topic often stems from three things: http: //www. flickr. com/photos/wv/6918900587/ 1) Finding good keywords for your searches 2) Selecting the right search tools for the job 3) Cycling your search CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “Narrowing down how many links show up. ” + “How to find related books or topics. ” CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “Finding whether or not the SFU Library has access to a specific journal I'd like to get an article/paper/what-not from. ” CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? Two methods: 50% vs. 100% CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “-finding scholarly sources (peer-reviewed) -sometimes very dry material that is peer-reviewed -boring to get through. ” CMPT 322: research workshop

Identifying scholarly articles Do you think this article scholarly? Why/why not? – What are the differences between popular and scholarly publications? CMPT 322: research workshop

This journal is peer-reviewed, but this article isn’t. Here is the complete article. CMPT 322: research workshop

Evaluating sources Popular Scholarly Author No affiliation provided Affiliated with an academic / research institution Abstract No Yes Length Short Long Images For aesthetic appeal Research findings displayed as graphs, charts, etc. Language Easy to understand Elevated, specialized Citations None at all, or very few Yes, many Review Editor Peer-reviewed CMPT 322: research workshop

Are there any specific aspects of doing research that you find difficult to do well? “Finding authoritative sources on the internet. ” CMPT 322: research workshop

Citing sources - What information don’t you need to cite? - What information do you need to cite? CMPT 322: research workshop

The very basics of APA You need to cite each source in two places: • In the body of the paper – Called an in-text citation • At the back of the paper – In the list of References CMPT 322’s Research Guide includes links to SFU Library’s APA style guide – It will likely answer 90% of questions; librarians (like me) can help you to answer the other 10% CMPT 322: research workshop

Getting help The library provides many ways to get help: – In-person at the reference desk – Telephone – Email – IM – Text message – Student Learning Commons CMPT 322: research workshop