Library Services for St FX Students Suzanne van

Library Services for St. FX Students Suzanne van den Hoogen, MLIS Angus L. Macdonald Library, St. FX May 2015

Why do you think libraries are important?

Introductions What is a Librarian? A Librarian is an expert in information management and retrieval. Librarians have a Master’s degree in this field and have received specialized training in organizing information (cataloguing, metadata), searching for information (understanding of search functionalities of databases), evaluating information, and teaching these skills to others. The St. FX Library has 8 librarians who work in these areas. What is a Liaison Librarian? A Liaison Librarian is the Librarian who has been appointed to a specific department, to assist both faculty and students in searching for resources, learning about the library, working out reference lists, or understanding how to use the various library search tools. Students may contact their Liaison Librarian whenever they need advice or assistance.

Who are we?

What can a Librarian teach students? How to use the Library, Library website, databases, etc. How to search and locate books , articles and more! How to create annotated bibliographies and literature reviews How to cite in numerous citation styles

Information Literacy Critical Thinking Search Strategies Evaluating Information

The Physical Library ü Reference Desk ü Study Rooms ü Study space/Quiet space ü Extended Hours ü Loaner Laptops ü Computer Lab, Printers ü TSG

The Virtual Library ü Subject Guides ü Library Catalogue ü Live. Help ü Document Delivery ü Distance Students ü Study Rooms ü Need Help? ü Ref. Works

Question the facts! CRITICAL THINKING

Critical Thinking You must demonstrate that you are willing to examine popular beliefs, assumptions and opinions and weigh them against facts. Support your thesis statement with research. Analyse your assignment questions: • What does this question mean? • How much detail does your professor require? Where do I begin? • Read about your topic • Know your subject matter • Brainstorm ideas • Think about Key Words & Key Concepts • Write your thesis statement

Getting what you want when you want it! EXPLORING EFFECTIVE SEARCH STRATEGIES

Finding Information: Where do you go first?

Search Strategies Keywords Phrase Searching Boolean Operators Wildcards Domain/Site Search File Search Synonym Search

Key Words Select your key words carefully • 17 th century women’s shoes, is much narrower than “Antiques” • Avoid using words like “A” “An” or “The” • Examples: – When were the Acadians expelled from Nova Scotia? – When do Asiatic lilies bloom?

Phrase Searching “ ” • To search a string of words as a “phrase”, simply use quotation marks around your search terms. • Atlantic + Ocean or “Atlantic Ocean” • Adult+ Education or “Adult Education”

Boolean Operators OR AND (+) NOT (-) Broadens your search Narrows your search Makes your search more precise

Boolean Operator: OR Example: You are looking for information on where to go to UNIVERSITY? College University College OR University

Boolean Operator: AND (+) Example: What is the relationship between health and exercise? Health Exercise Health +Exercise Health AND Exercise

Boolean Operator: NOT (-) Example: You are looking to get a new pet. You want to look for information on cats, but NOT dogs Cat Dog Cat –dog Cat NOT Dog

Wildcards: * $ ! ? • Also known as “Truncation” or “Stemming” • Wildcard Symbols may vary: – – * $ ! ? Example: Teen* teens teenagers

Wildcards: * ? $ ! • Wildcards also allow us to search for the answers to specific questions, or variations of specific words • Examples: “Thermometer was invented by *” “Traffic light was invented by ? ” Wom? n (women, woman) Note: Remember to verify the wildcard symbols used by individual databases

Domain/Site Search • You can limit your search to a specific domain (site). • Domains are “indicators” within a web address that identify the “source” or “location” of the information you are searching. Sample of Top-Level Domain Codes: • • • . ca. com. coop. gc. gov. info. int. org. net Canada Country Code company cooperatives government Canada government US information international organizations organization network

Domain/Site Search Strategy Example #1 Enter your search term with the domain code: • health. org • library. com • family. gc. ca Example #2 You can also search a specific website by entering your search term with the URL: • “Albert Einstein” site: amazon. ca • tuition site: www. stfx. ca

File Search You can search for specific file types on the WWW Examples: Word Document: Power. Point: Adobe Acrobat: Excel Spreadsheet: . doc/docx. ppt. pdf. xls/xlsx

File Type Search Strategy: filetype: ppt “Earth Day” filetype: doc “Earth Day” filetype: pdf “Earth Day”

Synonym Search ~ You can search for synonyms by using the tilde symbol immediately preceding your search term: ~ Examples: ~cow ~drugs ~exercise ~pollution

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff EVALUATING INFORMATION

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources Scholarly • • • Journals Written by experts Evaluated by experts: “Peer Reviewed” Authoritative Source Usually include: – Credentials of the Author – Abstract – Bibliography – Specialized vocabulary – Reference List Popular • Magazines • Written by journalists, students, popular authors, or no author listed • Flashy covers • Advertisements • Brief articles • Trade Journals: Business, Finance, Industry (Written by experts, but may not be peer reviewed) • Newspapers

Question! ü Is this source reliable? ü Is this source current? ü Have opinions changed? ü What are the current trends in this research area? ü Are there any gaps in the research? Is something missing? ü Who is the author? ü Are they an expert in this field? ü Do they represent multiple points of view or do they express bias for their own point of view?

HOW DO I REMEMBER WHAT QUESTIONS TO ASK?

C R A P Currency How recent is the information? Can you locate a date when the resource was written/created/updated? Based on your topic, is this current enough? Why might the date matter for your topic? Reliability What kind of information is included in the resource? Is the content primarily opinion? Is the information balanced or biased? Does the author provide citations & references for data? Authority Can you determine who the author/creator is? What are their credentials (education, affiliation, experience)? Who is the publisher or sponsor of the work/site? Is this publisher/sponsor reputable? Purpose / Point of View What’s the intent of the article (to persuade you, to sell something)? For Web resources, what is the domain (. edu, . com, etc. )? How might that influence the purpose/point of view? Are there ads on the Web site? How do they relate to the topic? Is the author presenting fact or opinion?

Questions?

Thank You! Suzanne van den Hoogen svandenh@stfx. ca 867 -4535 Liaison Librarian for: • Adult Education • Anthropology • Education • Political Science • Sociology