Week 5 (Feb 8-9-10): Finding Sources

In class (with Karyn Silverman, HS Librarian):

• Where do professionals in your field go for information?
• What are the leading publications and resources for those who specialize in this field?

Here are the categories of relevant sources (see this handout from Karyn for more detailed instructions)

1. Ask a professional
2. Search for academic journals, professional/trade publications – use databases
3. Search for websites from a leading association/guild/group – use directories
4. Search for blogs – Use Google or Technorati
5. Search for books – use LREI, NYPL catalogs, Google book search, etc.

Assignment due Feb. 17: Identify at least 5 leading publications/resources in your chosen field of focus. Try to find a variety of sources that cover both historical information and current activity in the field.  DO NOT include generic websites from unattributed sources (e.g. Wikipedia) or sources written for a general/lay audience (Time, New York Times, etc.).

Proposals have been reviewed by the Senior Project Committee and will receive a designation of Approved, Rewrite, or Approve with Revisions.  Check Moodle for feedback and/or  speak to Julia this week about what to do next.  REVISED PROPOSALS ARE DUE WEDNESDAY, 2/17.

Note – on Wednesday, February 17 all three sections will meet together in the library/Tech Center.  Please do not go to your study/free.

We have a number of databases accessible on the Charlton Library homepage

For remote access, a password is required.  Please see your LREI email for a message from Karyn with these passwords.

Seniors: Some helpful resources for you! [from Karyn Silverman, HS Librarian]

• Content, Authority, Relevance, Purpose, and Design (CARPeD)

• Content: Is the site current? Comprehensive? How is this information better or different than the info you have seen elsewhere? (Make sure there is more available than an encyclopedia would have.) Are there typos or other clear errors in the content?
• Authority and credibility: who is responsible for the site (author or agency), and what are the qualifications of that author or agency?
• Relevance: Is the information pertinent to your research? (Even great information is useless if it is irrelevant for your purposes)
• Bias or purpose: Can you tell what is fact and what is opinion?
• Design: Is it well designed, easy to read and navigate? Are the links live or dead? Are citations or references provided?

• Some tips on evaluating blogs (which do not get evaluated exactly like websites) can be found here:
  • http://21cif.com/rkitp/assessment/v1n5/valenza1.5_blogeval.html
  • With blog evaluation, authorship, audience, and context are crucial and bias should be recognized but is expected.

• A few links with additional details about evaluating sites and including a checklist you may print and use:

• From UC Berkeley, a checklist that helps break down authorship and authority: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
• Cornell’s very impressive breakdown for evaluation: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/webeval.html
• PDF checklist, from Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/pdf/evalhigh.pdf