Introduction:

Leaning how to perform effective research is an ongoing process. Even librarians are having to relearn and revise their strategies based on new technologies and resources. The information presented here is just enough to get you started and familiarize you with the resources we have in the library. I'll be focusing on resources you'll need for your Paper One Assignment however, these tips and tools will easily work for any/all of your research needs. I also want to stress any of our librarians or library staff will be happy to help you if you have any questions. You can either stop by the library or call the reference desk at 828-5642.

Topic One: Library Website

The library's website is your portal to all the library's information. You will use the Alex Catalog to search for materials like Books or DVDs that physically reside in our building. The Library Databases A-Z page is where you will access our online databases. You will use these databases to access journal or magazine articles about your topic. Tutorials on how to use both resources are available online and I've linked to them below.

Video Tutorials

ALEX Catalog- Subject Search (How to search for materials ABOUT a specific topic)

EBSCO Search Tools- Narrowing Your Results (After you've performed a search in a database, how to narrow your results)

How-Tos

How to- ALEX catalog (Step by step instructions in how to perform a basic ALEX search)

How To- Academic Search Complete (How to search one of EBSCO's databases Academic Search Complete)

How To- JSTOR (How to search another useful online database JSTOR)

Note: Both the databases that I mentioned (JSTOR and Academic Search Complete) have the full text of articles available. Academic Search Complete also gives you the option to narrow your results to only scholarly (peer reviewed) journals.

Topic Two: Evaluating Sources

Especially on the Internet, it can be tough to decide whether a source is trustworthy. The links below provide you some guidelines on what to look for, but unlike the databases there is no single button you can push to weed out those sketchy sites.

It used to be a good rule that you should use .edu's, .org's, and .gov's instead of .com's, or .net's. However, now anyone can have a .org site, and anyone affiliated with a educational institution (including students) can have a .edu. While .gov's are still reliable, for the rest of the domains you have to do a site by site evaluation.

When evaluating a website you should look to see when it was last updated and if the author gives a list of sources they used. But, the most important characteristic to look at (and the most difficult to find) is the author him/herself. Who is the author of the information? Are they affiliated with any organizations or institutions? Why should you trust that they know what they are talking about? You can almost guarantee that there is some sort of bias involved, so what angle do they have related to the informatio? Authors normally don't come straight out and say that they are lying or making up information, so you have to look closely and if something seems suspect, then don't use that site.

Below are some links to help you evaluate.

How To's

How To- Evaluate Information

How To- Evaluate Websites

Topic Three: Help Finding Specific Sources

To give you some suggestions on what databases or print sources to use I've included a link to the library's Education Subject Guide and to a Resource Guide created specifically for your class. These should give you some ideas on where to get started. And, as I said before, the librarians at AML are always happy to help!

Contact Information

Cori Biddle (Information Literacy Librarian)- cbiddle@bridgewater.edu or 828-5415

Reference Desk- reference@bridgewater.edu or 828-5642