OKANAGAN COLLEGE Department of Communications CMNS 143: Technical Communication II Section 002 Intro

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OKANAGAN COLLEGEDepartment of CommunicationsCMNS
143 Technical Communication IISection 002
Introduction to the Library Research Process

• Gilbert Bede
• Communications Liaison Librarian
• 250-762-5445 Local 4751
• gbede_at_okanagan.bc.ca

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Class Poll

• How many of you use the library?
• How many of you have had library research
  instruction before?
• Where do you usually start when you are
  conducting your research?
• Library
• Google
• Wikipedia
• Other
• Do you usually find the information that you are
  looking for?
• Do you find yourself getting frustrated because
  you cant find the information that you need?

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Report vs. Thesis

• Report
• The subject and purpose of your paper is
  organized around the views of other authors

• Thesis
• You are presenting hard empirical evidence to
  support your research hypothesis

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Learning How To Prepare A Research Paper

• Before you race off and start searching
• Choose an appropriate subject
• It is appropriate if it appeals to you
• It is acceptable to the intended reader
• Limit your subject properly
• Sports ?Olympics ?Winter Olympics ? Vancouver
  2010 Olympics ?Athletes Village ? Funding

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Central Idea

• Once you have decided on your subject and the
  purpose of your paper focus on setting down the
  central idea on your paper
• One rule of thumb that may help you is to develop
  a working title for your paper
• How the world wide economic down turn negatively
  impacted the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games
  Athletes Village

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Why Develop a Outline?

• It will get you focused
• It will help contribute to the unity of the
  composition
• Result in a better organized paper
• Important details / arguments that you want to
  communicate to the reader will be more clearly
  understood
• You will be better prepared to search out and
  discover the information you require
• You will be better prepared to discuss your
  information requirements with others
• It will save you time in the long run

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Outline

• Central idea The actual cost of the Vancouver
  2010 Olympic Village have yet to be identified
  and as result are creating a stress related
  situation the public, VANOC, the City of
  Vancouver and the Government of BC.
• Introduction Because of the economic downturn in
  the world economy the original funding plan for
  the Olympic Village was no longer viable. A new
  funding plan needed to be developed. As a
  result, at this point in time actual final costs
  of completing the Olympic Village are not known.
• Background
• Information on the original financing proposal
• Information on how the financial downturn
  impacted the original financing proposal
• Current Situation and Analysis
• The Olympic Village needs to be completed
• The City of Vancouver is ultimately responsible
  for ensuring this
• The City of Vancouver needs to raise financing
• To do this required the BC Government to amend
  the City of Vancouver Charter to allow them to
  borrow money
• The City of Vancouver is now actively involved in
  identifying new financing
• The public is worried that they will have to pay
  more for the 2010 Olympics
• Conclusion As of yet no final financial figure
  is available that identifies the actual cost of
  the Olympic Village for the 2010 Vancouver Winter
  Olympics
• Reference List / Bibliography

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Transforming Your Outline Into A Search Strategy

• In developing your plan you should start asking
  yourself a number of questions
• Where would I find the information I need
• Do I need a Book?
• Do I need a Scholarly article?
• Should I interview someone?
• Who else has written on this subject?
• How much time do I have?
• How will I know if the information I discover is
  up-to-date and authoritative

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Scholarly (Peer Reviewed)

• Authority Is the information authored by
  experts with credentials and / or scholarly or
  professional affiliations? Look for Author
  information such as advanced degrees and
  university affiliation, past and current
  positions in industry, government, etc..
• Publication How is the information published? A
  magazine is slick and glossy with many
  advertisements. Magazine articles are just a few
  pages. There is little author information in
  magazines. Peer-reviewed journals are not slick
  and have few advertisements. The articles tend to
  be long with tables, graphs, and data. The
  article will have several sections such as
  literature review, methodology, results and
  conclusions. Does the article have a
  bibliography, endnotes or footnotes? Almost all
  scholarly publications (e.g. books and articles)
  will have citations. Is there an editorial board
  and instructions on how to submit articles.
• Ulrichs
• Source -Some of the best sources for scholarly
  information arePeer-Reviewed Journals, Books,
  Theses/DissertationsStatistical Data Sets, etc.
• Less Scholarly SourcesSome sources that are less
  scholarly and do not have as much high quality
  academic information should be evaluated
  independently on the basis of authority,
  publication, and source.Magazines , Newspapers,
  some aspects of the Web, etc.

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Starting Points
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Print vs. Pixels

• How many of you think everything is online in a
  digital format?
• Google estimates that it will take over 300 years
  to digitize all of the information currently
  available in print
• Always be aware that the full-text may not be
  available
• Print Collection
• Interlibrary Loan

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My Kingdom For The Right Keyword

• The primary method used for searching for
  information is through the use of keywords
• There are many different ways of describing the
  same thing in the english language
• Create a list of possible keywords that you may
  want to try

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Trebuchet

• Trebuchet -- Design or Mechanics
• Siege Engine
• Catapult
• Medieval Artillery
• Medieval Missile Launchers
• Levered Artillery
• Applied Retromechanics
• Siege engine dynamics
• Force and Energy

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Spaghetti Bridges

• Spaghetti Bridges
• Bridges -- Design and construction
• Bridges -- Cable-stayed Design and construction
• Bridges -- Aerodynamics
• Bridges -- Maintenance and repair
• Bridges Vibration
• Structural Engineering Design
• Structural failures
• Suspension bridges
• Didactic Games In Engineering Teaching

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Sea to Sky Highway Environmental Impact

• Highway 99
• Sea-to-Sky Highway
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• Environmental Assessment Office (BC)
• Environmentalist
• Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics
• Opposition

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Testing Modifying Your Keywords

• Sometimes your keywords are highly successful
• Sometimes you have to modify them
• When you find information that looks like it
  could be useful read it critically
• Look for alternative keywords
• Look for related concepts
• Check for Reference List or Bibliography

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How to Read a Paper

• ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review Volume
  37 ,  Issue 3  (July 2007)

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Off Campus Access
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The Library Web Page
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Library Catalogue
http//library-1.okanagan.bc.ca/
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Article Databases
http//www.okanagan.bc.ca/administration/students/
library/research/findarticles.html
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E-Journals
http//cufts2.lib.sfu.ca/CJDB/BKOC/browse
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The World Wide Web
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Google vs. Google Scholar
http//scholar.google.ca/schhp?hlentabws
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QPLegaleze
http//ezproxy.okanagan.bc.ca/login?urlhttp//www
.eln.qplegaleze.ca/
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Government Documents
http//www.google.ca/advanced_search?hlen
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How do I know when I have Enough Information?

• Have you discovered information that supports the
  arguments described in your Outline
• Have you been able to determine the authority of
  all your sources
• You run out of time

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APA Style Guide

• http//www.okanagan.bc.ca/Assets/Departments(Admi
  nistration)/Library/PDFs/apa.pdf

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Getting More Help

• Gilbert Bede
• 250-762-5445 Local 4751
• gbede_at_okanagan.bc.ca
• Or
• Come and Visit Us in the Library

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Questions