WR121 Instructional Session
What are we talking about today?
- The progress you've made on selecting your topic.
- Where to click on the library website so you can effectively find what you need.
- How to search efficiently in library resources (and how that's different from what we might be used to).
- How to request articles and books.
- How to find help when we get stuck.
- And then we'll actually search!
What progress have you made on finding a topic that sparks your curiosity?
Share your question, thesis statement, big concepts...what makes you curious and what will you be learning more about as part of your research?
Let's talk about where to search when we use the library website.
There's a lot of information on the library homepage. What's the first thing you notice on this page?
Click here to view the library homepage live.
To see a road map for information that will help you make decisions about where to click on this page, click on the arrows in the image below:
Click here to view the library homepage live.
To see a road map for information that will help you make decisions about where to click on this page, click on the arrows in the image below:
There's a lot of information there, even with our road map! You know who's great at helping you sift through a lot of information? Librarians! Always feel comfortable asking for help in selecting where to search!
Let's practice picking places to search on the library website by playing a game! Click here to get started.
Let's practice picking places to search on the library website by playing a game! Click here to get started.
Let's talk about how to search efficiently.
When you search in a database you want to search only the most important words--I call it Hulkspeak, but you can call it whatever you want! The good news is, you already know how to search in a database if you've used a database like Netflix or Hulu before!
If I type in "I want to watch cooking shows" into Hulu, I get a bunch of stuff--but none of it is relevant to what I want to watch!
If I type in "I want to watch cooking shows" into Hulu, I get a bunch of stuff--but none of it is relevant to what I want to watch!
But if I just type in the most important word, "cooking," I get stuff that's a lot more relevant to what I want to watch!
Let's talk about how to get help!
When you search, you might find yourself getting stumped. That's totally normal, there's a lot to this whole research thing! To help you, the library offers a wide range of services. We'll help even if you're not using library resources, you just have to ask!
Now let's search!
You know where to click to find tools, how to search those tools efficiently, how to email and cite your sources--plus how to get help when you need it. Now let's use that information to search! To help you with a jump start (I'm a librarian, I can't help but help!) here are some tools to help you find the source types you need for this assignment:
- Academic Search Premier
- Check out the Current Events and Controversial Issues subject guide
- New York Times
- Your favorite news website
- Kanopy
- Statista
- Stitcher Top Shows List (you can filter by categories like News and Politics or Society and Culture on the left side)
- Or raise your hand and get some personalized recommendations from me!