1. Introduction to Research for
Manufacturing Engineering Technology
Using the Library Resource Centre
Melanie Parlette-Stewart, BA, MLIS
Program Liaison
March 2013
2. I am . . .
Melanie Parlette-Stewart
LRC Program Liaison
School of Engineering and Information Technology
Email: mparlettestewart@conestogac.on.ca
Twitter: @ConestogaLib_MP
3. TODAY we will :
1. Improve your search skills through “pre-searching”
and “re-searching” to refine keyword strategies
2. Locate various types of resources to balance your
research with high quality information from the LRC‟s
collections
3. Understand the criteria you can use to evaluate
resources to ensure they are of good quality.
4. Discover resources to assist you in creating proper
citations
4. Off-Campus Access Visit the LRC to
PIN NUMBERS - You can use your PIN to: get your PIN.
• Access resources from Off-Campus Don‟t forget to bring
• Renew a book, place a hold your student card
• Review your account with the 2013
sticker on it!
5. LRC Homepage Research Help All Guides Engineering Technology
YOUR Research Guide Key Tabs:
• Articles from Databases
• Books . . .
• Cite Your Sources
• Contact Us
6. Today’s Research Topic is….
• Is there a relationship
Facebook use and academic
performance?
7. Finding a source to answer your
question . . .
• Where do we begin?
• Google
• Wikipedia
• Other suggestions…
8.
9.
10. Types of Sources
What’s the Difference?
Scholarly Journals Popular Magazines Trade Journals
• Scholarly research or projects. • General interest articles, entertainment, or • Industry related information, news and
• Illustrations are usually charts and graphs. information aimed at the consumer. Usually trends. Some illustrations.
• Authors are authorities in their field. Often colour photographs and illustrations. • Authors are industry experts, professionals,
professors or researchers. • Articles are usually written by magazine or practitioners who are not always
• Peer review process is in place where the staff, freelance writers, or may be identified
content of an article is reviewed by one or anonymous. • Typically no peer review or refereeing
more experts in the field. • No peer review or refereeing process. process.
Examples: Examples: Examples:
IEEE/ASME transactions on mechatronics Wired, Popular Mechanics ASME Mechanical Engineering Magazine
11. Choosing Better Sources
• How can you tell trustworthy information (the “better” information) from
less-trustworthy information (“worse” information)?
The CARS Test
• C redibility Look for believable, well written information that is free
of bias. Locate information about the author(s) and their credentials. How
credible are the authors, what is their level of expertise on this particular
topic.
• A ccuracy The information should be up-to-date, clear. You can
confirm accuracy by locating information from a variety of sources. Look for
a last updated date.
• R easonableness Information should be present objective and
balanced arguments.
• S upport Other sources should support the information found.
Always look for a reference list, bibliography or citations demonstrating
where the information came from.
12. Pre-Searching:
Thinking About Your Search
• What are the keywords or phrases in the
question that you would use in your search?
• Also think of synonyms and related terms….
13. Pre-Searching:
Academic
Facebook
Performance
Related Terms or Synonyms (words Related Terms or Synonyms (words
that mean the same as the first that mean the same as the first
term, above) term, above)
14. Let’s Research :
LRC Discover Tool
Facebook and Academic Performance
http://www.conestogac.on.ca/lrc/
15. Let’s Re/search:
Don’t forget
to Re/Search:
Full Text
Date
Source Type
Subject
16. Let’s Re/search:
Don’t forget to try using
other “PRE-SEARCHING”
terms:
Ex: Social Networks and
Media and Grades
. . . and
again: don’t
forget to
Re/Search:
Full Text
Date
Source Type
Subject
17. Balanced Research
Effective research taps into a variety of sources
Encyclopedias
Websites Books
Technical Scholarly
Papers Journals
Conference
Newspapers
Papers
Professional
Magazine (aka
Trade
Journals)
18. Citing our Sources
It's important to cite sources you used in your research for several reasons:
To show your reader you've done proper research by listing sources you
used to get your information
To be a responsible scholar by giving credit to other researchers and
acknowledging their ideas
To avoid plagiarism by quoting words and ideas used by other authors
To allow your reader to track down the sources you used by citing them
accurately in your paper by way of footnotes, a bibliography or
reference list
19. Let’s Cite our Sources:
Don‟t forget to check the
style guides to make
sure your citation is
correct!
20. Need more sources?
Explore the “Engineering
Technology” Research Help
Guide to discover Databases
focused on Engineering
Technology.
These database have:
Advanced Search Tools
Subject Specific Material
http://exploreguides.conestogac.on.ca/EngTech
21. Summary
Researching using the LRC
Use Discovery Search first
www.conestogac.on.ca/lrc
After that, try a relevant Research Help guide for links to even more resources to
search
http://exploreguides.conestogac.on.ca/EngTech
Use the “Cite” feature in each database
Remember no „citation generator‟ is ever perfect
Check it manually using the Writing Centre‟s resources for your Citations Style.
www.conestogac.on.ca/learningcommons/resources/writing.jsp
22. HELP AT THE A1109
LIBRARY
Visit the Service Desk
Email or Phone
Instant Messaging
Editor's Notes
How you can help them and how they can find you – leads into the ISEMP introduction
By listening and participating actively in today’s workshop, you’ll vastly improve your skills in information seeking, which will help improve your grades and help you to success in your academic career.
Student ID and PIN overview
Student ID and PIN overview
This will depend on the group of students and their assignment
We could find out all about this using Wikipedia, right?Perhaps start with Wikipedia – to get them to understand where you’re going with this, say “Wikipedia works for day-to-day questions, but why can’t you use just Wikipedia for all your research needs?” You’re looking for them to understand that a single source, regardless of what it is, is not enough for their research, even if it seems to provide all the answers they need…because it’s providing just one perspective, one author’s viewpoint. Facts may have been excluded or modified. You have to use a variety of sources to ensure you’ve got the best information, and the broadest perspective.List potential sources on the screen or on the board – the ones students suggest and you suggest will depend on the research topic
Do a quick search for your question, together. Have students look at the first page of results and see if they intuitively know the best from the worst (this can be just by the names of the links and their domain suffixes, or you could pick one or two (one good, one bad) and present the question openly (“Do you think this website is trustworthy, or not? Why or why not? Think about it and then we’ll discuss it.”). You could also do this with preselected websites which you lead students to with links. After the open discussion, present the CAARS/CRAAP acronym to fill in additional considerations. Could also do this in reverse, using the CAARS evaluation tool up front [depends on timing and audience]
Do a quick search for your question, together. Have students look at the first page of results and see if they intuitively know the best from the worst (this can be just by the names of the links and their domain suffixes, or you could pick one or two (one good, one bad) and present the question openly (“Do you think this website is trustworthy, or not? Why or why not? Think about it and then we’ll discuss it.”). You could also do this with preselected websites which you lead students to with links. After the open discussion, present the CAARS/CRAAP acronym to fill in additional considerations. Could also do this in reverse, using the CAARS evaluation tool up front [depends on timing and audience]
Do a quick search for your question, together. Have students look at the first page of results and see if they intuitively know the best from the worst (this can be just by the names of the links and their domain suffixes, or you could pick one or two (one good, one bad) and present the question openly (“Do you think this website is trustworthy, or not? Why or why not? Think about it and then we’ll discuss it.”). You could also do this with preselected websites which you lead students to with links. After the open discussion, present the CAARS/CRAAP acronym to fill in additional considerations. Could also do this in reverse, using the CAARS evaluation tool up front [depends on timing and audience]
Discuss the above as the two principle ways to find information through the library.Direct students to go the LRC homepage to get started. Proceed with search examples without additional slides.
This page links to the Contact Us page by clicking on the screen shot of Contact Us.