Great keywords
Posted on October 23, 2008
Filed Under databases, paper topics, questions, research assistance | 1 Comment
First-Year Writing students are learning how to uncover the best keywords for their research. A student in one a section I’m working with told me her topic and she admitted to not knowing what keywords to use when searching a database.
She started with “overweight kids” as a topic. My first question to her was, “What are some synonyms for “overweight” and “kids” that are more professional-sounding? She thought for a while, and realized that “fat” wouldn’t cut it, and neither would “chunky.” I helped her out by suggesting “obese.” For “kids,” right away she decided that “children” was the word she should use, and, sure enough, plugging in “obese” and “children” gave her lots of articles on her topic.
When I say, “lots,” I mean hundreds. Actually, I really mean thousands. She still needed help narrowing down that topic. If you’re getting hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands results, the big bell in your head should be ding-a-linging like crazy, telling you that something’s missing– a third keyword.
So at that point we had some choices. She speaks with an accent, and so I told her she could focus her research on her home country. She didn’t fall in love with that idea, so I said, “Well, how about something that you think is making these kids overweight?” Then came a long, “Ooohhhh,” and she said, “watching t.v. instead of playing outside.”
That was it. She totally understood what we did– how we moved from her original keywords, which were not bringing up the money hits, to using more professional synonyms that are database-friendly.
You can do it, too! What are some keywords you figured out for your topics? Go ahead and reply with them here!
Happy researching!
Missy
Library Labs begin this week!
Posted on September 22, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Don’t forget, students, to come to a library lab if you need more help finding articles or navigating databases. The schedule is over there on the right. More library labs will be added so check back again soon!
–Missy
Update: ENC LibGuide
Posted on August 10, 2008
Filed Under LibGuide, resources | Leave a Comment
The ENC LibGuide is now populated with lots of information and resources. It’s a little text-heavy at the moment… I’m working on getting some good images to supplement/replace text. If anyone has any ideas for images or for improvement in any part of the LibGuide, please post a comment here!
Thanks!
~Missy
ENC resources: 3rd floor Library West
Posted on July 22, 2008
Filed Under 3rd floor, opposing viewpoints, research assistance, resources | Leave a Comment
Eyes bugging out of your head? Seeing pixels when you close your eyes? Still trying to find a paper topic? Take a laptop break and pick up some Opposing Viewpoints from the Ready Reference shelves behind the Research Desk in Library West. Yes, they’re just like the database we use on the Project Starters webpage, except they’re books!
There are more books like them on those shelves, too– plus your research assistance desk is right there, so you can get some help with narrowing down your topic ideas and finding sources for your papers.
See you in Library West!
Missy
Common Reader
Posted on July 16, 2008
Filed Under common reader program | 3 Comments
TAs, if your class is made up of first-year students, chances are they’re reading When the Rivers Run Dry by Fred Pearce. It’s this year’s common reader book. We can help you think of research topics that relate to the book to use in your class!
More on the LibGuide
Posted on June 6, 2008
Filed Under LibGuide | 1 Comment
I’m working on one right now. It’s not published yet but by the time I finish my desk shift today, it will be. Yes, that’s how slow we are this Friday afternoon!
I hope everyone will contribute to its content, and I’ll reply here with the link very soon. The pages appear in tabs. As of right now, I worked on the databases page.
~Missy
Libguide
Posted on June 6, 2008
Filed Under LibGuide, resources | 4 Comments
There are so many things on the library website that I wish we could gather together to make it easier for the ENC1101 and ENC1102 students to research. What do you think about putting together a libguide just for them?
–jana
Spot-on dot-coms
Posted on May 23, 2008
Filed Under questions | Leave a Comment
Yesterday a student in my ENC 1102 class asked me to show the class how to find scholarly articles using .org or .edu websites because she and her classmates aren’t allowed to use .coms as sources for their papers. This question came at the very end of class after I spent 45 minutes showing them how to find articles in databases found on our project starters webpage. The project starter databases are .com sites, for the most part.
I explained that “.com” is a designation for businesses, unlike “.edu,” which is reserved for websites for schools, colleges, and universities, et cetera. I told the class that we pay money to have access to these databases, which makes them a business. The databases provide students with the academic journals they need to support their research, so yes, these dot-coms are spot-on scholarly resources.
The question surprised me, to say the least! I hope the students understand the differences between .com sites that provide quality material, and would still be acceptable sources for papers, and .com sites that would not be ok to use. If anyone has any more questions, please ask your instructor or hop on Ask A Librarian to ask somebody in the library for advice.
~Missy
Theme thinking
Posted on May 19, 2008
Filed Under design | 1 Comment
I’d like to settle on a theme. I’d also like to learn more information on what WordPress upgrades we have with our package, if any! Like, can we change font colors? It’d be so great if we could :^) .
I’ll have to do some more research to figure out my little conundrum. Hmm, I wonder if I can find any scholarly sources related to my research topic?
Blib
Posted on May 16, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments
To serve the University Writing Program TAs and students better, the libraries have initiated a mentoring program. ENC TAs will have a mentor librarian who will work with them one-on-one, offer training sessions and workshops, and help incorporate library research into their syllabi.
This blog is a place where students and TAs can post questions and receive answers. Visit our FAQ section to read about the most common questions or problems.
