English 1213Dr. Collins

Session 2The Research Process, Searching Techniques, andFinding Books

Part 1

Research

Process

Assignment Objectives

1. Poems: Joyce Kilmer’s Trees, Emily Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop for Death, and one poem of your choice

2. Bibliography: Brooks and Warren, source for third poem, one additional paper source which could discuss the function of imagery in poetry, additional commentary sources, and one Internet source (includes articles in electronic format).

3. Sources: Primary (poems) and Secondary (commentaries/criticisms)

4. Length: 3 ½ to 4 ½ pages plus works cited page; enough source material for writing

5. Deadlines: ??? (Assignment Calculator)

Gadget Break

Assignment ePlanner

(P.A.W.) Time management tool

Research Steps Step 1—analyze Kilmer & Dickinson Step 2—visualize your objectives Step 3—select your third poem and analyze all

three together Step 4—develop a thesis statement Step 5—brainstorming for keywords Step 6—develop a search strategy Step 7—search for resources Step 8—evaluate information from resources

Part 2

Searching

Techniques

Identifying Keywords

Identify the significant terms and concepts that describe your topic from your thesis statement or research question.

These terms will become the key for searching catalogs, indexes, and databases for information about your subject.

Keywords

Flexible terms Easy searches Less accurate

searches

Keyword Phrases

Single concept, multiple words

Some electronic resources require keyword phrases be enclosed with punctuation Quotation marks Parenthesis

Keyword Phrases

Basic phrase Proper names Hyphenated words Famous quotes Poem titles, book

titles, titles of collected works, etc.

(literary symbolism) “Joyce Kilmer” (self-evident) (to be or not to be) “Main Street and

other poems”

How “AND” is used

AND (narrows) poetry and imagery poetry and imagery and “joyce kilmer”

How “OR” is used

OR (expands) imagery or symbolism trees or wood or forest

AND & OR together imagery or symbolism and poetry poetry and imagery or symbolism or

allegory and “joyce kilmer”

How “NOT” is used

NOT (excludes) imagery not art nature not human

AND, OR & NOT together poem and symbolism or imagery not art

Boolean Operators

Connect keywords only Must be placed between keywords AND

Narrows your search OR

Expands your search with synonymous terms NOT

Excludes words from your search If used too much, it can work against you!

Class Activity

“Shuffle Up and Deal”

Truncation (Wildcards)

Non-universal symbols used in searching

Common symbols: * ?

Used with a root word Used to replace a

vowel or single character

Truncation (Wildcards)

Root Word- looks for multiple endings of a word, in this case it takes the place of ‘OR’ poet? poet, poets, poetry, poetic

trees and poet or poetry or poetic trees and poet?

Truncation (Wildcards)

Singular/Plural- replaces a vowel or single character in a word, in this case it takes the place of ‘OR’ analys*s analysis, analyses

poetry and analysis or analyses poetry and analys*s

Part 3

Finding

Books

Library Catalog

Search for books, e-books, and videos Renew your borrowed items Accessible from off-campus with no

restrictions Operates best with

the presented search

techniques

E-Books

NetLibrary 1 user/book In library catalog Account

Ebrary Multiple users/book Autonomous Personal Bookshelf

Open WorldCat

Search for books and videos International resource Accessible from off-campus with no

restrictions Provides CiteMe and

WorldCat Apps for

Facebook

Reference Materials

Almanacs, dictionaries, handbooks, and encyclopedias are useful tools for finding quick facts, statistics, or a broad overview of your topic.

If you don't know much about your topic already, these tools can be a good place to start.

Additional Assistance for You

Cart of Reference Materials Handout (listing of cart materials) During library instruction, the cart will be

upstairs with class Outside of class the cart will be

downstairs, behind the Reference Desk Info on your third poem/author, you will

need to find it on this cart or in the Reference Collection

End of Session 2

Thank You

for listening