CSIS6/LIB6
Research Skills - Lesson 16

Review

Roadmap for a Research Project

Encyclopedia article for background information

There are several online encyclopedias available through the Internet now. Remember the Encyclopaedia Britannica that we looked at back in Module 6? The Gavilan Library subscribes to this encyclopedia, which means you can use from home or any other Internet-connected computer if you have a Gavilan Library card or student i.d. card. The icon for the encyclopedia is at the bottom left of the big blue database box.

Remember to read the directions on that login page to see if you use the first 5, 6 or 7 numbers on your library or i.d. card.

The search box will take phrase searches (without the quotes) and Boolean searches (with the AND between terms). When you hit the GO button, you'll get a list of results that have your search terms in them. Be sure to scan that list for dates. In the case of genetically modified food, probably the latest research would be best, since this is a quickly changing and growing field.

And remember, the Britannica site will give you the citation format at the bottom of the page:

Books for more in-depth information

Encyclopedia articles are great for quick facts, names associated with issues, timelines and broad general descriptions.

Books have the space to develop a topic, discuss several aspects, and go much deeper than broad general descriptions. Finding books on your topic, and looking through the table of contents, will give you ideas for specific aspects that you might be able to focus on. This is a way to narrow your topic.

You can get to the Gavilan library catalog of books by clicking on the upper left corner icon on the library homepage, the one with the little pile of books. Or just click on the icon to the right.

When you click the search button, you'll get a list of every book that has those two words in exactly that order.

When I took this picture, this book was not on the shelf, already checked out by the student. Since then, the book has been returned and your result list should show this book as available.

Next, on a new line, is the date of publication (circled in blue in the image to the left). This one is 2007. That number below the date:

SB123.57 .T494 2007

is the call number, the address of where the book is sitting on the shelves.

The call number, S494.5.B563 P74 2003, is the address of the book, or where on the shelves this book lives. Each bookcase is marked with letters, like S-SB, to let you know which call numbers are shelved on that particular bookcase.

WorldCat

WorldCat is the grand OPAC of the world, the largest network of library content and services. WorldCat lets you search the collections of libraries in your community and thousands more around the world.

You can link to it directly from the Gavilan Library homepage, or from the icon to the right.

Notice that I've changed the search from Everything to Books (circled in red), and that I've surrounded my search terms with quotation marks, to search this as a phrase.

The good part about having to give a password is that WorldCat now knows where I'm coming from. When I search for "genetically modified food", it automatically gives me a list of libraries close to Gilroy.

Writing a Citation for a Book

Follow this format for the print book on your list. Notice that word Print at the end of the citation.

Periodical Information - CQ Researcher

CQ Researcher is noted for its in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology and the economy. Reports are published weekly in print and online 44 times a year by CQ Press, and your Gavilan Library has a subscription so you can take advantage of this wonderful resource.

The icon for CQ Researcher is on the top center of the database box on the library homepage.

genetic engineering and food

and click the Go button. You'll be given a list of issues that contain your words. These articles are always presented in a consistent, reader-friendly organization with an introductory overview; background and chronology on the topic; an assessment of the current situation; tables and maps; pro/con statements from representatives of opposing positions; and bibliographies of key sources.

From my list of resources, I've chosen the one that's fairly recent, Slow Food Movement, published in 2007. Pay attention to those dates on the right side of your result list.

The front page of each article gives you an introduction, plus links to jump quickly to any part of this in-depth report (boxed in red on the left side of the screen). Each one of those links takes you to another part of this 12,000 word issue, and each part is packed with relevant facts and opinions about the topic, from both sides of the topic.

Click on the pro/con link for this issue, and you'll get a page where a question has been posed to two different experts in the field -- one pro and one con. What was the question for this article?

I've also circled the CiteNow! link at the top of the page, right side, also in red. Be sure to click on the MLA format:

Glazer, S. "Slow food movement". CQ Researcher, 14 May 2009: 73-96. CQ Researcher Online.

Web. July 16, 2010.

We start with the author's name (last name first, then first initial). Next is the title of the article, in quotes and a period. Next is CQ Researcher, followed by the date, a colon, and the page numbers. Next is the name of the website, italicized again, then the word 'Web', and finally the date I accessed the page. We no longer have to give the URL.

1. Encyclopedias will give us fast, accepted facts, names and other terms related to the topic.
2. Books will give us in-depth treatment of the topic. But because of the time involved in writing and publishing a book, the information can be a year or more old, which means no latest theories, no cutting-edge developments.
3. Periodical articles, like CQ Researcher, or like articles you can find using Ebscohost, give you more current information. These articles are printed in hard copy and selected by an editor. There is a filter between you the reader and the information. Someone is deciding that this article is worthy of being published. That same person is deciding that other articles are not worthy, and we never see those articles. This could be good or bad. But now we have
4. Internet articles. On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog. There is no person deciding what is worthy and what isn't. Anyone with access to an Internet-connected computer can post a website. This means you get all that information that, for one reason or another, was never published. Hundreds and thousands of websites, a never-ending supply.

And that's why it's so important to be able to check some basic things about a website before you put too much faith in it.

• Who wrote it,
• Who is the supporting institution,
• Are there references given, or something to check,
• Is there an inherent bias, and
• How recent is the information.

We can search on one of the many Internet search engines. The websites will be posted by governments, big companies, news agencies, non-profit organizations, advertisers, Monsanto, or the gal next door who has strong opinions about genetically-modified food and knows how to post a website.

Internet Sites

Use either one of the links above to search for "genetically modified" AND food, and see what you come up with. And think about those 5 questions.

The one I came up with was

This website has no obvious author, even if I click on the Home button. It is basically a site to sell the book Seeds of Deception, written by Jeffrey Smith. There is nothing about who Jeffrey Smith is, and there is no date that the webpage was created, although there is a link to testimony given in May, 2007. The link to information about rBGH in dairy products does have this paragraph about Jeffrey Smith:

Is Jeffrey Smith one of the original reporters? Is this one of those stories that never got published, not because it isn't true, but because there is too much money or power invested in keeping it out of the media? You get to decide, but you'll be a more careful consumer of information if you keep in mind those questions:

• Who wrote it,
• Are there references given,
• Who is the supporting institution,
• Is there an inherent bias, and
• How recent is the information.

To write an MLA citation for this website with no author, we give the title (in quotes), followed by the name of the website, Seeds of Deception. We should be putting in the date next, and then the supporting institution, but we don't have either of these, so we put our crucial word Web, followed by the date we accessed the page.

"US Consumers Have Been Given a False Sense of Security About the Safety of Our Food Supply".

Seeds of Deception. Web. July 16, 2010.

• .gov - Government sites, webpages put up by various government agencies.
• .org - Non-profit organizations, such as the Red Cross and the American Rifle Association.
• .com - Commercial sites. Most large companies and many many small companies maintain their own websites, providing info about their services or products or just their opinions.
• .edu - Education sites. These are usually educational institutions beyond high school: 2-year and 4-year colleges, universities, research institutions.

Look at each site linked below and analyze them, using their domain name ending and the 5 questions to ask about websites. See if you can find the pieces for each one that you would need to write an APA citation.

Review

Many students beginning a research project run from one topic to another, one source to another, trying to find information on a vague idea they have. They complain that they spend hours and get no closer to information they can use. They are 'spinning their wheels' and making no progress.

The research process, unfortunately, starts this way -- lots of ideas, lots of information, new terms, new names, which lead to even more ideas. This last module uses a road map you can use to begin your research. With these 4 steps, you can refine your topic to something small and manageable, and find out what information is available on your topic.

1. Start with reference books (encyclopedias, manuals, etc.) for a general overview and background. Many reference articles will give you names, terms, and controversial ideas about your topic.
2. Use the library OPAC (online catalog) to locate books on your topic. Full-length books have the luxury of being able to completely develop a subject. Or you might find one chapter that talks exclusively about your topic. Use the index in the back of the book for specific pages that mention your keyword.
3. Use journal and periodical databases (like EbscoHost or CQ Researcher) for more recent information, and for more finely focused information.
4. Use an online search engine (like Google) or subject directory (like IPL) to find websites on your topic. Websites have added another dimension to available information, from specific organizations to individuals with strong opinions or stories to share.

Suppose you had to write a 10 page essay on genetically-modified foods. Genetically-modified foods is a huge topic, but using the steps you've gone through here, and the information from these varied sources, you would easily be able to refine your topic to some aspect that caught your interest: rBGH additives to dairy products, terminator genes, Monsanto, the Slow Food Movement, or any other more narrowly-focused aspect of genetically-engineered food. This narrowing of your topic is the first and most important step in researching your topic.

And you also have a very good idea of what information is out there on your new topic.