BECAUSE WE LIVE IN BECAUSE WE LIVE IN AN AGE OF AN AGE OF

INFORMATION INFORMATION OVERLOAD, OVERLOAD,

EVERYONE NEEDS A EVERYONE NEEDS A SKILL CALLED . . .SKILL CALLED . . .

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INFORMATION LITERACYLITERACY

is the ability to efficiently find, critically evaluate, and

ethically use information from a variety of sources.

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INFORMATION INFORMATION LITERACYLITERACY

is a life skill--not just a skill needed

in school.

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EFFICIENTLY FINDEFFICIENTLY FIND“I find plenty of information . . . “

But are you really making an effort to find the best of what is available . . . or just settling for what you find first?

And are you using search strategies that increase your odds of finding the best sources faster . . . or just typing a word or two into a search box and hoping for the best?

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WHEN YOU SEARCH FOR WHEN YOU SEARCH FOR INFORMATION . . .INFORMATION . . .

• Do you think about the fact that a program is just looking for what you tell it to look for?

• Do you acknowledge that few (or no) results or irrelevant results may not mean that there is nothing available but may be because of how you searched?

• Do you try again if what you tried the first time doesn’t get good results? Because . . .

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THE PREFIX “RE” MEANS THE PREFIX “RE” MEANS AGAIN--AGAIN--

SO THE LITERAL MEANING OF RESEARCH IS TO

SEARCH AGAIN

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SEARCH STRATEGIESSEARCH STRATEGIES

Using various search strategies is one of the characteristics of a good researcher (but do understand that all strategies don’t

work in all information sources).

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WHAT YOU PUT IN THE WHAT YOU PUT IN THE SEARCH BOX MATTERSSEARCH BOX MATTERS

• SUBJECT—a specific topic like elephants, adoption, Charles Dickens, etc.

• KEYWORD—important words or phrases

• NATURAL LANGUAGE—a complete statement or question as if you were speaking to a person

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• SUBJECTSUBJECT - Pyramids• KEYWORDSKEYWORDS - pyramids

Egypt construction• NATURAL LANGUAGENATURAL LANGUAGE -

How were the pyramids in Egypt built?

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QUOTATION MARKSQUOTATION MARKS

Do you use quotation marks to keep a phrase together for more relevant search results? (For example, search for “animal rights” so that the computer searches for it as a phrase instead of two separate words).

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FINDFIND

Do you use the Find command (found under Edit in the toolbar) to help you determine whether a search result really is what you are looking for? (It shows you where your search term is located on a particular page.)

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ALTERNATIVEALTERNATIVE WORDINGWORDING

Do you try synonyms or more descriptive phrases? (For example, search for “capital punishment” instead of “death penalty”).

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MTHS INFORMATION SOURCESMTHS INFORMATION SOURCES• Destiny (this is a catalog of sources in our library—not an actual source of information itself)• Gale Student Resources in Context• Gale Virtual Reference Library• SIRS Issues Researcher• Opposing Viewpoints in Context• CQ Researcher• Issues & Controversies• Britannica Image Quest• Encyclopedia Americana• American History Online• Ancient and Medieval History Online• Modern World History Online• World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society• A to Z World Culture• Current Biography• Ferguson’s Career Guidance• Bloom’s Literary Reference Center• Health Reference Online• Resource Sharing Alliance (a catalog like Destiny)• NoveList• FirstSearch• MTHS Library Connection (the library’s web page)• Free-Web Sites

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WHAT WILL YOU FIND IN THE WHAT WILL YOU FIND IN THE MTHS INFORMATION SOURCES?MTHS INFORMATION SOURCES?

• Books and Articles from Books

• Newspaper, Magazine, or Journal Articles

• Pictures, Charts, Graphs

• Interviews

• Transcripts from TV or Radio Shows

• Links to Free-Web Sites

• and more . . .

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• How many of our MTHS information sources are accessed using the Internet? All of them

• Even though they are accessed using the Internet, how many will show up in Google search results? Almost none

INTERNET = WEB = GOOGLE? NO!

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DON’T BE SATISFIEDDON’T BE SATISFIED. . . with the first source that you

find. Don’t just locate the minimum sources required as quickly as you can so that you can claim that you’re done with your research. Always look for the best sources for whatever it is that you’re researching!

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DESTINYDESTINY• Destiny is our online catalog to locate

books, vertical files, and AV in our library.

• Does every book in this library that includes information about a particular topic show up in Destiny results? No!!

• Destiny is accessible anywhere there is Internet access.

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DESTINY SEARCH TIPDESTINY SEARCH TIP

• Keep your searches simple. NO natural language (complete sentence) searching. The program matches your search terms to the words it finds in Destiny—it cannot find what isn’t there.

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I HAVE SEARCH RESULTS—I HAVE SEARCH RESULTS—NOW WHAT???NOW WHAT???

• Look for the most relevant results.

• Search terms are highlighted in the detailed record—check the details if a source doesn’t look like it would include your topic.

• Write down the title and the complete call number (312 ARM—not just 312 or just ARM).

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CALL NUMBERSCALL NUMBERS

Items “live” in a neighborhood in the library (fiction, biography, etc.) then at a specific “address” in that neighborhood (the call number).

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If you lived at 159 Willow and someone asked you for your address, would you tell them just 159 or just Willow??

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To find an item in a library, you need the complete address (or call number). For example, REF 920.03 MAN is a complete call number. If you try to find this book without the REF, you will not succeed because you’ll be looking in the wrong “neighborhood.” If you try to find it without 920.03, you have an incomplete “address.”

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CALL NUMBER “CODES”CALL NUMBER “CODES”F FICTION

B BIOGRAPHY

SC STORY COLLECTION

CQ CQ RESEARCHER (PAMPHLET)

VF VERTICAL FILE

VF BL BRITISH LIT VERTICAL FILE

VF AU AUTHOR VERTICAL FILE

M MAGAZINE

REF REFERENCE

GN GRAPHIC NOVEL

LEG LEGACY BOOKS

AV AUDIOVISUAL

NUMBERS LIKE 590, 973, ETC. NONFICTION

Blue means you need to ask for that particular source.