WR 122: Composition: Argument and analysis

 

Instructors:

Tom DeSpain, tom.despain@pcc.edu

Kate Evans, kevans@pcc.edu


Librarian: Pam Kessinger
Term: Spring, 2009

 

Topic definition

Area of interest, to narrower aspects and related concepts

Review the related terms which EbscoHost Visual search identifies for your area of interest.

Look for the link to the Visual Search underneath the Advanced search boxes:

Visual Search in EbscoHost

 

Visual depictions of the connections between terms and sources can also be found in the web search engines such as Kartoo or Ujiko.

Contexts and broad frameworks: continuum of encompassing to narrower "controversies"

Try drawing out a concept map of ideological lenses and perpectives

Identify titles from a list of citations: who writes what, and why?

 

Classification numbers for books on the library shelves move from the general (330, Economics) to the specific (339.47, Consumer Behavior) by adding digits. Browsing the shelves will help you identify the contexts of your topic (economic, psychological, natural science, historical, for example). It is also a good way to locate books that you might miss if you don't identify all the possible keywords, related concepts or subject headings.

Electronic books (e-books) are not given classification numbers in our catalog. They are, however, given "subject headings," which link like-items together. Try the Keyword in Subject Heading search:

Keyword in Subject Heading search

The table of contents within a book will essentially outline areas of focus--key controversies--within a general topic.

PCC library also offers e-books, and sometimes Google Scholar will provide full-text of books.

Table of Contents

In the example above, key controversies within the area of children and teens as consumers include:

  • Children disempowered by what seemingly is "choice"
  • Influence of marketing and branding to children
  • Influence of tv on their consuming behavior
  • Influence of selling or advertising in schools

 

Keywords, to subjects, to search strategy

Publication cycle

Flow of Information (UCLA Library)

  1. Newspapers, Blogs, RSS: day of event
  2. Magazine articles: a week or two later
  3. Journal articles: a year later
  • examining theories
  • statistical analysis
  • reviewing government or public response

Books: two years or more later

  • ideological perspective
  • bibliography
  • scholarly analysis (historical, comparative, summative)

 

Click on the right | Databases by Subject

  • Schools of thought or "disciplines" grouped together
  • Use EbscoHost clusters for quick search in several databases at once

Set the "Scholarly" limit in EbscoHost databases to possibly retrieve research studies, to find more specific terminology, and to identify experts. The "Scholarly" limit cuts out the magazine and newspaper articles, and retrieves only sources from journals.

Decode the Result List: whoa, Nellie!

CQ Researcher is a database of reports on current social problems and issues. Each report provides an in-depth review of the topic, and finishes with a specific question, answered by people with opposite opinions.

We have gathered databases into subject categories at Databases by Subject

There are also subject-specific databases identified in each Subject Guide

Identifying authorities

 

Acceptance of work as foundational, new discovery, or provocative

  • Quoted as experts, or influential thinkers
    • CQ Researcher: Overview. Who is quoted? What organizations do they represent?
    • Notes after each chapter in a book can indicate authors assessment of the importance of the source
  • Key thinkers can be prominently referenced in book index
  • Frequently cited in journal articles -- look for "literature reviews" that are at the end of the articles
  • Citation tracing to identify key sources, e.g., Science Direct or CiteSeer

 

 

Professional affiliations of authors

  • Often given at the beginning of journal articles. The first name listed is usually the principal researcher on the project. Look also for the names of the institutions they work for, to use to find reliable websites.
  • Signed web pages, either names or emails, can indicate a legitimate website
  • (Job titles and organizations for the polar opposite "experts" in CQ Researcher: Pro-Con)

 

What about wikis, especially Wikipedia?

  1. Caveat from Wikipedia: Researching with Wikipedia
  2. Comparing Wikipedia and academic sources: a chart

 

Opinion and bias

How does terminology indicate bias?

Opposing Viewpoints database

What are the perspectives through which topics are framed?

Click on the right | Databases by Title

  • AltHealthWatch
  • v. Business Source Premier
  • v. JSTOR
  • v. PsychARTICLES...??

 

 

MLA documentation

Embedded examples:

 

RefWorks is available to save citations from all kinds of sources, and to create bibliographies in many different formatting styles.

  1. Export : look for the "export" option in various PCC Library databases, and designate RefWorks
  2. Login and password are required
  3. Citations are saved indefinitely

 

This page was created for a specific class. Visit Research to see all library-created subject guides and research tools.

 

Related:
Class Pages, Subject Guides A to Z