Research Tips

I enjoyed working with you all yesterday. Below are brief answers to your questions, since we didn’t get a chance to cover them all in class. Feel free to post additional questions if you have them.

What is the best use of Issues and Controversies?

• Issues and Controversies, as well as CQ Researcher, are online magazines which cover hot topics in the news each month. These databases can help you find background information and statistics on your topic.  However, you can only use one article from either of these databases because all of the articles in each of these databases are coming from the same magazine. Other databases, such as ProQuest Central and Expanded Academic contain articles from a wide variety of sources (newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals), so you can use multiple sources you find in these databases in your papers.

How do I cite a video or audio file? Like an interview or a news report.

• To cite video or audio files, look at the examples on LCC Library’s MLA Media Sources webpage or Moffit Library at UC Berkeley’s How to Cite Media webpage.

How does one exactly know if they’re using a journal or not? How do you know if the articles you are using are peer reviewed?

• You can look your article up in the database Ulrichsweb.com, a directory of journals and magazines. Check for the referee shirt and the Document Type. If you like, read more about specialized sources.

How do I properly cite a blog article?

• See this example of how to cite a blog on the LCC Library Citing Sources guide.

Are there any tips for doing a good phrase search?

• If you put your search terms in quotation marks, such as “school violence,”  the computer will search for these words as a phrase.  Read more about phrase searching in the Library’s LINKS tutorial.

How do you access LCC’s Research Databases through the MSU Library?

• I’ll look into this and get back to you…

Can you use alldata in places other than west campus?

• No, you are correct that AllData is only accessible from West Campus. Unfortunately, our license for the database restricts access to West Campus.

Why does academic one file not have the articles for some searches. How do I find the article and not just the citation?

• Take a look at #2 on your blue Writing 122 handout for the answer to this question. You can check the box, limit to articles with full-text, so that you only retrieve articles where the entire article is available. Or follow the steps below to find the full-text of the article.
  

If only an abstract or citation of an article is available in the research database you are searching, look for one of the links below to search for the full text in a different database:

• Full-Text Options
• Check for Full Text via Article Linker
• Find Full text

The Find Articles web page also provides options to search for the full text of an article. Use the:

Electronic Journals list to check if the journal the article appears in is available in a different database.

Library Catalog to check if the library has a paper or microfilm copy of the magazine or journal.

Interlibrary Loan to request a copy of the article from another library.

Why can I never find an article specifically about what I am looking for? This makes me want to choose very common and general topics for my argument and makes finding articles tedious and annoying.

• I hope some of the search strategies we used in class will help you find articles about your specific topic.  If you need more practice creating a search strategy, try to LINKS online tutorial.

I can’t ever re-find the articles I find on the databases. How do I find articles by their title that actually finds the exact one again?

• If you can’t remember which database you found an article in, follow the steps below:

1.   From the Library homepage click on Find Articles

2. Click on Electronic Journals in the right column.

3. Type the title of the journal you are looking for (not the article title).

4. Click on the database in which this journal is located.

5. Once you are connected to the database, type the title of your article in quotation marks. This should take you back to the article.<-->

Post one question about doing research that you would like answered in today's library session. OR Post a tip for other Writing 122 students about doing research. read on

Since the last library session, what is one thing you have learned about doing research? What is one question you would like answered about doing research? Which ... read on

Please share one tip with other Writing 121 students about doing research. read on

Please post a research tip for other Writing 121 students. read on

Please post a research tip for other Writing 121 students at LCC. read on

You have five minutes to post one tip for other writing 121 students about doing library research. Explain your tip as if you were talking ... read on

1. Website to evaluate together as a group Garlic Health Benefit http://www.raysahelian.com/garlic.html 2. Websites to evaluate by row Evaluate the website assigned to your row based on the CARS ... read on

With a partner or on your own, describe one search strategy that you are familiar with or that you learned in the session today either ... read on

Choose one of the videos below to learn about the difference between scholarly and popular periodicals, as well as the peer review process. Identify Your Sources ... read on