IN151 -- Critical Writing, Reading & Research 2
Research instruction sessions taught by librarians in Critical Writing, Reading, and Research 2 will be specifically geared toward helping you acquire the necessary research skills needed as you complete your research paper. Not only will the skills be useful to you this semester, they will be skills you can take along with you as you finish your degree here at Millikin.
One of the objectives of these classes is to introduce you to research that follows a logical process and provides you with end results that meet your best expectations. You will learn the important role of the inquiry process to research, how to manage the information you acquire in your research and further apply this to the creation of knowledge.
The Inquiry Process
- Beginning your search with the inquiry process will give you a much better sense of what you are looking for and where to look. These first steps can save you a lot of time and trouble in the long run.
- Start with background sources such as those in the library's Reference Collection to locate basic information about a topic, the terminology associated with a topic, and prominent dates, events, and people.
- What questions do you need answered about your topic? Questions are an excellent starting point for research. The following sites share some information on the value of questions:
Retrieving Information
Beginning your information search
Defining a search strategy and selecting the appropriate search terms is the first step in your research process. The following sites will help you understand how to select your keywords.
Using databases to retrieve information
- Most of the information we locate today is found using an electronic database. Understanding databases and how they function can improve your information retrieval.
- To retrieve the best information possible for your topic, you must be in using the best possible database. Selecting Sources will help you do just that.
Retrieving articles
- To select the best database for your topic, look at the Periodicals Database (by subject) list. Select your topic area on the left to view appropriate databases. In general, it is recommended you start with the database at the top of each subject list. Don't forget to look at the Multi-disciplinary category, included here are databases that are good for a variety of topics.
- Note the information provider of the various databases - those that have the same provider will have the same interface as your search.
- The Database Searching page provides a guide to help as you search for articles.
Retrieving books
- MILLINET is the library's online catalog. This is your starting point for locating books, videos, and music both in this library and 65 other academic libraries in the state of Illinois.
Retrieving Internet resources
Evaluating Information
- You will quickly discover that the faculty's expectations of the information resources you use will be at a much higher level than you have probably encountered in the past. Evaluating the quality and applicability of the information you retrieve will become your responsibility.
- Sometime during your freshman year you will probably be told to locate and read an article in a scholarly or academic journal. Do you know what the difference is between a magazine and journal? Each type of periodical has specific criteria and it is up to you to evaluate a title to see which category it falls under. The chart on our Is it a Magazine or Journal? page will help you determine the appropriate category.
- When using the Internet as a source in your research paper it is crucial that you apply evaluative criteria to all of the sites you use. (You may determine the validity of a site by applying the criteria available in Evaluating Internet Resources.)
Putting it all together
- Once you begin your research you will quickly find you need some assistance in keeping track of where you have looked for information, what has worked well, and what hasn't. Using the Strategy Checklist Part 1
 and Strategy Checklist Part 2  will do just that. Think of this as a research log of sorts that allows you to track where you have been on your research journey and what the results have been. Reviewing what you've done should provide you with additional insight into your research process. The completed Search Strategy Checklist is a course requirement.
- Citing your sources properly is also of utmost importance. See the Citing Your Sources page for links to online citations guides. You may also need to consult the print guides in the library. If you have in depth questions, visit the Writing Center in Room 203 on the second floor of the library.
|
