FWS Library Orientation

The online portion of your library orientation consists of two parts: this slide show, and a brief multiple-choice quiz. Please complete the quiz after viewing the slides. A copy of your quiz score will be emailed to you. Please keep a copy of the email in case your professor asks for it. The APU Libraries will also receive a copy of your score (with your identity concealed) for assessment purposes.

To navigate the slide show, move your mouse over the lower right area of the screen, or use your space bar or arrow keys. Click here for a printer-friendly text-only version.

Questions about this activity? Contact Rebecca Russo at rrusso@apu.edu.

The APU Libraries: Resources and Services

• The next few slides will introduce you to the resources, services, and people available to help you with library research.
• Material from this presentation will appear on the Library Orientation quiz, so be sure to read each slide carefully.

About the Libraries

• There are three Libraries at the Azusa campus:
  • William V. Marshburn Library (liberal arts and sciences, music, and business)
  • Hugh & Hazel Darling Library (computer science, education, nursing, professional psychology)
  • James L. Stamps Theological Library (biblical studies, theology, philosophy, church history, and ethics)
• Specialized collections include:
  • Special Collections and University Archives (Darling)
  • Media Center and Test Collection (Marshburn)
  • Children's Literature Collection (Marshburn)
  • Denominational History Collection (Stamps)

Library Resources

• The APU Libraries own more than 215,000 books and media items, 1,800 print periodical titles, and more than 630,000 microforms.
• The Libraries also subscribe to more than 100 online databases, which include more than 12,000 full-text periodical titles and 23,000 electronic books. These online periodicals can be accessed from any internet-connected location.
• Visit the Library Web site to access the Library Catalog and online databases.

Library Services

• The Libraries provide many services for you:
  • Circulation: Learn more about borrowing and renewing books.
  • Course Reserves: Professors can set aside books and articles for the exclusive use of their classes.
  • Technology: Computers, printers, and copy machines are available in all 3 campus libraries.
  • Interlibrary Services / LINK+: The Libraries will borrow books and articles from other libraries on your behalf.
  • Consortium Services: As an APU student, you may be able to visit and borrow materials from other libraries through one of our cooperative agreements.

Library Help

• Library faculty and staff members are dedicated to helping you locate and use information. Don't hesitate to use the following sources of help:
  • The Research Guides and Tutorials Web site offers research guides and tutorials to help you locate good resources.
  • Contact one of our 11 subject liaison librarians for subject-specific research assistance.
  • Get research assistance by phone, e-mail, or live chat through the Research Help Web page.

Welcome to the APU Libraries: Summary

• The last few slides covered:
  • Library facilities;
  • Library resources;
  • Library services; and
  • Library help.
• The next few slides will give you an introduction to the library research process.

An Introduction to Library Research

• The next few slides will guide you through the process of selecting a research topic and developing a research strategy.
• Material from this presentation will appear on the Library Orientation quiz, so be sure to read each slide carefully.
• Note: This presentation is based in part on a handout created by Deborah Moore of Glendale Community College.

1: Details of the assignment

• Identifying the amount and types of sources your assignment requires will help you choose the right online research tools.
• Before you begin developing a strategy for searching the library catalog and databases, you should clarify several things about the assignment.

1: Details of the assignment

1. What type of assignment is it?
   (Research paper, essay, opinion paper, review, or other?)
2. How long does your paper need to be?
3. How many sources do you need for your bibliography?
4. What types of information do you need?
   (Statistics, Web pages, books, articles, images, audio/video clips, or other?)
5. Do you need current or historical sources? Or both?

2: Selecting a topic

• Now you're ready to begin library research.
• All research begins with choosing a topic.
• Research topics can come from many sources: personal interest, current events, or course assignments.
• The hardest part of this stage of the research cycle is selecting a topic that is appropriate in scope and complexity for the intended result--not too broad or too narrow.

2: Selecting a topic

• For example, a topic like "employee retention" is much too broad for a basic term paper. Hundreds of thousands of books, articles, and web sites have been published on retaining employees.
• You can narrow a broad topic by adding additional concepts to it, like examining your topic in the context of a particular place, time period, population, or event.

2: Selecting a topic

• Limiting your topic (employee retention, for example) to a particular aspect, such as employee retention for female law enforcement officers, will help you get more focused results from your research.
• If your topic is too narrow and you are not finding enough information, try using fewer concepts.

3: Research questions & keywords

• After you've identified and narrowed a research topic, you should re-state it in the form of a research question.
• Phrasing your topic in the form of a question helps to direct your research process.
• Asking whether a fact or statistic directly answers your research question can help you find the most relevant information for your topic.

3: Research questions & keywords

• A good research question also leads to a direct answer in the form of a thesis.
• A sample research question might be:
  What are some strategies for improving employee retention among female law enforcement officers?
• This question might lead to the following thesis in the final paper:
  Recommended strategies for improving employee retention among female law enforcement officers include: flexible benefits and scheduling, diversity training, and...

3: Research questions & keywords

• A good research question also helps you pull out the different concepts your research will cover.
• Our example, What are some strategies for improving employee retention among female law enforcement officers? has 3 distinct concepts:
  • Employee retention
  • Female
  • Law enforcement officers

3: Research questions & keywords

• These concepts will become the search keywords you will use in the Library Catalog and online article databases.
• Keep in mind that not every author will use the same keywords to describe a topic: one author might write about "police officers," and another might use the phrase "law enforcement officers."
• For this reason, you will want to identify some synonyms and related terms for each of your keywords before you start searching.

3: Research questions & keywords

• For example:
• Employee retention
  • Synonyms/related terms: recruitment, promotion, advancement, loyalty
• Female
  • Synonyms/related terms: women, mothers
• Law enforcement officers
  • Synonyms/related terms: police, sheriff, cops

4: Search strings

• Once you've identified your search terms and synonyms, the final pre-search step is to combine those terms into search strings.
• Online search tools like the library catalog and databases require a specific format for search statements, including the use of words called Boolean operators.

4: Search strings

• Boolean operators are the words AND, OR, and NOT.
• Placing these words between your search terms will help you find books and articles that are targeted to your research topic.
• Let's look at some examples.

4: Search strings

• The Boolean operator AND gives you more targeted results by requiring that two or more terms all appear within the title, abstract, or table of contents of a book or article.
• Let's imagine we are looking for information on workplace discrimination.
  • A keyword search in the library catalog for "discrimination" returns 423 titles.
  • A keyword search for "discrimination AND workplace" returns only 12 titles, but those 12 are much more relevant to our topic.

4: Search strings

4: Search strings

• The Boolean operator OR is the opposite of AND. OR generally gives you more search results by requiring either one term or another to appear in a book or article.
• OR works best when you are looking for synonyms or related terms.
  • For example, a keyword search in the library catalog for "recruitment" returns 62 titles.
  • A keyword search for "recruitment OR retention" returns 141 titles.
  • A keyword search for "recruitment AND retention" returns 17 titles.

4: Search strings

4: Search strings

• The Boolean operator NOT (sometimes known as AND NOT) reduces the number of search results by returning only those books and articles that don't include a particular term.
• Use NOT carefully, as it could eliminate potentially relevant results.
• NOT works best when your search returns many irrelevant results, especially from a completely unrelated field.

4: Search strings

• For example, a keyword search in the library catalog for "recruitment" returns 62 titles. Many of these titles focus on education.
• The keyword search "recruitment AND NOT education" eliminates any titles that address education, and reduces our results list to 36 titles. These titles tend to focus more on recruitment in the business field.

4: Search strings

Introduction to Library Research: Summary

• The last few slides covered:
  • Identifying the details of an assignment;
  • Selecting a topic;
  • Identifying research questions, keywords, and synonyms; and
  • Developing search strings.
• The next few slides will give you an introduction to different information formats.

Information Formats and Their Characteristics

• The next few slides will help you understand the differences between information formats, so that you can choose the appropriate online research tools.
• Material from this presentation will appear on the Library Orientation quiz, so be sure to read each slide carefully.

Information Formats: Introduction

• There are essentially three categories of scholarly information: books, journal articles, and so-called "grey literature"--anything that appears outside "traditional" publishing channels, including dissertations/theses, reports, presentations, manuals, Web sites, etc.
• In the next few slides, we'll examine these formats in more detail.

Books

• Books are a scholarly format familiar to most people. But did you know that there are different types of scholarly books?
• A book on a library shelf may be one of three types: a reference book, a monograph, or an edited volume.
• Reference books (encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, directories) contain background information about a variety of topics, and are not designed to be read all the way through.

Books

• Reference books are a good place to start your research, as they offer brief overviews of your topic, and will usually direct you to additional sources.
• Monographs are usually written by one author on a single topic.
• Edited volumes contain chapters addressing a general theme. Each chapter is written by a different author, then compiled into one volume by an editor.

Books

• Although these three types of books are quite different in scope and purpose, there are some common features.
• Books are often quite lengthy, which generally means that they cover issues thoroughly and provide lots of background information. This is especially true of scholarly monographs.
• Second, books take a long time to move from the writing stage to the library shelf. This long process often means that the information in books is historical in nature.

Articles

• Unlike books, which are generally published once and occasionally re-published in new editions, periodicals are information formats that are published with new content on a regular basis.
• The contents within these periodicals are called articles.

Articles

• Although the key distinction of periodicals is that they are published on a regular basis, they do appear with varying frequency.
• For example, articles could be published daily in a newspaper or online, weekly/monthly in a magazine, or quarterly in a scholarly journal.
• Because articles are generally shorter than books, and published more frequently than books, they are generally more likely to contain current information than books.

Articles

• Periodicals may be "popular" or "scholarly."
• Facts about popular periodicals (i.e., magazines):
  • Articles are intended for a broad, general audience.
  • Articles are usually written by people who work for the publisher and who may or may not have training in the field they discuss.
  • Articles are often illustrated and appear alongside advertisements. They are intended to help sell the magazine, as well as to inform the public.
  • The editor and publisher are the only people who judge the articles before they are printed. Articles may reflect the opinions of the editor or publisher.

Articles

• Facts about scholarly periodicals (i.e., journals):
  • Articles focus on a specific subject and address a specialized audience.
  • Articles are written by one or more authors with knowledge of and training in the field or discipline.
  • Articles are presented in a specific way. They usually include abstracts and cited references, and are usually not illustrated, although there may be charts, graphs, or tables.
  • Scholarly journals do not usually contain advertising, because their publication costs are covered by membership and subscription fees.

Articles

• Visual/contextual clues can help you determine whether an article is popular or scholarly:
  • Length: Scholarly articles are usually lengthy and detailed; popular articles are often short.
  • Bibliography: Scholarly articles always cite sources; popular articles usually do not.
  • Author information: Scholarly articles list the author's name and background; popular articles may not.
  • Physical appearance: Popular articles usually contain ads and photographs; scholarly articles usually don't.
• If in doubt, ask a librarian whether a particular article is considered scholarly.

Grey Literature

• In general, the term "grey literature" describes scholarly content that is not published through traditional book or periodical channels.
• Grey literature is often produced by government agencies and universities, and can include such diverse formats as dissertations/theses, reports, presentations, manuals, pamphlets, and Web sites.
• Grey literature is often difficult to locate, but librarians can help you track down these obscure sources.

Information Formats: Summary

• The last few slides covered:
  • Books;
  • Articles; and
  • Grey literature, including Web information.
• The next few slides will introduce you to some strategies for evaluating the quality of information.

Evaluating Sources

• The next few slides will give you some criteria for evaluating information resources, so that you can select the best information for your research projects.
• Material from this presentation will appear on the Library Orientation quiz, so be sure to read each slide carefully.

Evaluation: Part of Research

• Locating resources, whether in the library or online, is only one step in the research process.
• Evaluation and critical thinking about the resources you find is just as important as locating them.
• At the very least, you should evaluate your information for three qualities:
  • Currency
  • Relevance
  • Authority

Evaluating for Currency

• "Currency" refers to the age of an information source. Is it up-to-date, or outdated?
• The importance of currency can vary depending on the type of research you are doing.
  • For example, if you are doing medical, statistical, or legal research, you will want to find the most current information possible.
  • Currency may be less important for historical or literary research, but you will still want to become familiar with the most current theories in any field.

Evaluating for Currency

• It is fairly easy to determine the currency of printed sources like books and articles: simply look at the date of publication.
• The library's catalog and databases can contain sources that are decades and even centuries old! Be sure to look at the publication date for any sources you find there.
• Determining the currency of Web information can be a bit more difficult.

Evaluating for Currency

• Some Web sites do not indicate when the information was last updated. Here are a few tricks you can use to determine currency:
  • Look at the site's source code (go to your browser's "View" menu and choose "Source" or "Page Source.")
  • Run the site's URL through the Internet Wayback Machine (www.archive.org). This will show you how many times the site has been updated since it was first published.
• However, if you encounter a Web site with no publication date, you should be wary of using the information it contains.

Evaluating for Relevance

• "Relevance" refers to how well a source's information applies to your topic.
• The importance of relevance can vary depending on the type of assignment you have.
  • For short research papers and argumentative essays, you should look for sources that contain highly relevant facts, statistics, and examples.
  • Longer papers, theses, and dissertations will require you to connect ideas and apply theories, so you should look for information that is both directly and indirectly related to your topic.

Evaluating for Relevance

• The key question to help you determine whether a source is relevant is, "Does it offer evidence I can use to support my thesis?"
• Your ability to determine whether a source is relevant will improve as you become more familiar with the literature in your field of study.

Evaluating for Authority

• "Authority" refers to the creator of an information source, and his/her qualifications.
• The definition of authority can vary depending on your field of study, but the need to use authoritative information is the same for all disciplines and assignments.
• This type of evaluation can be difficult, but your ability to determine the authority of a source will improve as you become more familiar with the literature in your field of study.

Evaluating for Authority

• Determining authority requires knowledge about the author of a source.
• To learn more about an author:
  • Look at the information given in the source. Does the person have a degree in their field? Are they trained in the research methods of their discipline?
  • Look at the "methodology" section of the source. What research techniques did the author use?
  • Do a Google search for the author (put quotation marks around his/her name). Is the author respected in his/her field? Also try searching Google Scholar to see how often the author is cited by others.

Evaluating for Authority: Books

• Determining the authority of published books is usually straightforward, especially if you develop some knowledge of the major authors and book publishers in your field.
• Some general tips:
  • Books published by university presses (such as the University of California Press) are usually considered more scholarly than those published by independent or commercial presses.
  • Publishing houses can sometimes have political agendas. Try searching Google for the publisher to determine its possible biases.

Evaluating for Authority: Articles

• Researchers usually make a distinction between articles in "popular" sources, and articles in "scholarly" sources.
• Review the "Information Formats" slides for some simple criteria to help you determine whether an article comes from a popular or scholarly periodical.
• Pay special attention to articles that are described as "peer reviewed" or "refereed."

Evaluating for Authority: Articles

• In academic research, peer review is considered the highest standard of authority for published articles.
  • Peer reviewed articles are evaluated by a panel of subject experts before they are published.
  • These reviewers assess the author's methodology and findings, and determine whether the article makes an important contribution to the author's field.
• To determine whether an article is peer reviewed, ask a librarian or look up the journal information using the Periodical Finder.

Evaluating for Authority: Web Sites

• Determining the authority of Web sites can be difficult, due to the decentralized and often anonymous nature of the Web.
• Part of the problem is that Web content is incredibly varied and often lacks the traditional indicators of scholarly authority.
• Anyone can put up a Web site, so the results you find through Google could be anything from a personal home page, to the online version of a scholarly journal.

Evaluating for Authority: Web Sites

• A distinction should be made between the public Internet (i.e., Web sites that are freely accessible to anyone) and the online research databases available via the library Web site.
• Research databases contain electronic versions of journal and magazine articles that are not free on the Web; because databases are linked to recognized scholarly sources, they are generally more trustworthy than a public Web site like Wikipedia.

Evaluating for Authority: Web Sites

• The public Internet is not necessarily bad, but as with any information source, Web content requires critical thinking.
  • Wikipedia is great for finding general information on topics, but because it can be edited by anyone, you shouldn't rely on it for scholarly research.
  • Similarly, Google has many good features, including Google Scholar, an interface for searching scholarly sources.
  • Also, most government information is now published online and can be best accessed through Google (click "Advanced Search" and use the domain .gov).

Evaluating for Authority: Web Sites

• Because Web content is so uneven, it is important to evaluate the information you find online.
• The next slide lists some questions you should ask before using a Web site in your research.

Evaluating for Authority: Web Sites

• Who published the information? What is their purpose for doing so?
  • Hint: look at the domain. If the URL ends with .gov or .edu, the site is hosted by the government or an educational institution. URLs ending in .com are usually commercial in nature.
• How current is the information?
• Can you find other sources to confirm the information given?
• Are sources cited so you can track down the original information?

Information Formats: Summary

• The last few slides covered three criteria for evaluating information sources:
  • Currency;
  • Relevance; and
  • Authority.
• Please take a few moments to review this tutorial if necessary (hover your mouse over the lower right portion of the screen to return to individual sections), then proceed to the FWS Library Orientation Web page to complete the multiple-choice review quiz.

Thank You!

• You've completed the FWS Library Orientation Tutorial. We look forward to meeting you at your library orientation session.
• Please contact us if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions about this tutorial.