What will we learn in this tutorial?
When you type an entire sentence or question
in Google it knows how to pick out the
important words. This is called a natural
language search.
This is why you can ask Google questions
and usually get okay results. Google's algorithms
rely on more than 200 unique signals that
make it possible to guess what you might
be looking for.
But, what if your professor requires
you to use a scholarly (peer reviewed)
article from a library database for your
assignments.
Library databases and catalogs do not work
the same way as Google. Natural language
searches in library databases often leave
students frustrated, annoyed and usually
reluctant to ask for help. Unfortunately,
library databases can't ignore the unimportant
words you include in your search -
it only confuses them - AND you!
And that's why keywords are so darn
important!
How do you use keywords to find articles
for your research? Keywords are index
terms. The word index comes from Latin,
meaning "pointer finger."
Index terms (keywords) point the way
for a computer to retrieve a particular
document from a database.
Keywords are words that describe your
topic. Keywords come from research
questions. Say you've chosen to write a paper about
the effects of violent video games on
people.
You could come up with a question like,
"Are people who play video games
at an increased risk of becoming violent?
Let's look at our research question and
choose the most important keywords
from it. Let's remove anything that doesn't
contain a specific meaning...These are
words database cannot ignore!
at an increased risk of becoming violent?"
"are, people, who, play, a, an, risk,
becoming, increased are not important -
play is just a word we use to describe
what people do - increased is tougher
because it gets at the relationship between
video games and violence, but if we use it
might exclude research that suggests video
games might decrease violent behavior.
This leaves us with the terms violent
and video games. These will be our keywords.
So, we've taken all we can from our original
question. Two keywords may be enough to
begin our research but it's always a good
idea to think of some synonyms we
could also use.
Synonyms are words that have the same
or similar meanings as our keywords.
A thesaurus might be helpful in finding
similar words or you can look at the subject
terms in articles that come up in your
search results.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a
thesaurus "is a book that lists words
in groups of synonyms and related
concepts."
We can also think of some Related terms.
These are words that don't mean the same
thing as your topic but they represent related
concepts. These can be broader or narrower
than your original topic.
A broader term for video games might be
media and behavior for violent would
also work.
using the database called Psychology
& Behavioral Sciences Collection.
Please follow along with me .
First, let's enter violent and video games
in the search box on the right side of the
screen. Notice, as you begin typing, the
database starts giving you suggested search
terms. It's okay to vary from your original
search if you see something that looks
better, but for now let's stick with our original
choice.
How many results did you get? Your results may vary from the correct answer but choose the number closest to your results.
Click on the article, titled "Video games:
The bad, the ugly, and the
(potentially) good."
What is wrong with using this article for our research?
What is the name of the journal in which this article can be found?
Click on Result List on top of the article
title to get back to our search results.
On the initial search screen there was a
Full Text and a Scholarly (Peer Reviewed)
Journals box. We forgot to click those
but we can still do it from the page we're on.
You might have to click the Results List to get
back to the correct page. Click the Full Text box
on the left side of the page.
Now how many articles do you have?
Let's click on the Scholarly
(Peer Reviewed) Journals box.
Now, how many articles are there?
Why do you think the number of articles didn't decrease more?
If you've used the college databases before,
you will probably recognize the format of
Psychology & Behavioral Sciences.
It is an EBSCO database - EBSCO is the
name of the company that distributes
these databases. This is important because
the college subscribes to over 60+ EBSCO
databases. Remember, all EBSCO databases
do your citation for you!
Click on the title of the article:
"Violent video games and delinquent
behavior in adolescents: A risk Factor
perspective."
You may have to use the scroll bar at
the bottom of the screen to move to the
right side of the screen.
Notice the toolbar on the right. There are
options to Add to your Folder, Print, Email,
Save, and the most important icon
is in the center and is called Cite All EBSCO databases do your citation for
you in 9 different citation styles
What citation style do all English classes use?
Click the Cite link and choose the MLA
Style format.
Please don't click the "Export to
Bibliographic Management Software"
at the bottom of the screen. If you were
actually using this you would Click the
Direct Export to RefWorks.
I will demonstrate it to show you
how easy it is to use RefWorks.
Since I have already registered and have
and account, my latest citation is imported
into RefWorks.
When you have all your sources imported,
click Create Bibliography at the top of the
page. There are options to choose which style
to use - you would choose the MLA 8th Edition
& there are a number of other options about
editing, formatting, etc.
When you finish this tutorial you would
first login to CougarWeb and click on the
Library tab at the top of the page.
In the center of the library home page
Choose the link that says Find Articles
in Databases - Journals, Magazines, etc.
On the next page, click on the letter R in
the alphabetical listing
page. It will take you further down the
page to the R's. Don't forget to print out
the Certificate of Completion if you are
viewing this tutorial for English Lab
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