Intro to Library Research
​EDUA 5600

Kyle Feenstra
Education Librarian
Elizabeth Dafoe Library

What we will talk about today...

• Identifying Scholarly Materials
• Where to Search for Scholarly Materials
• Basic to Advanced Searching
• Citation Management with Zotero

What are scholarly journals?

1. The journal publishes current research in a particular academic field.
2. Articles are written for an academic audience in a scholarly community.

Identifying scholarly articles

1. The article presents original research or analysis that is new to the field.
2. Resources used to write the article are adequately cited with a bibliography and/or footnotes. 
3. The author has academic credentials.

What do we mean by "peer review"?

1. Articles submitted to the journal are reviewed by independent scholars prior publication to ensure they meet the standards for research in that field. 

Identifying Peer Reviewed Journals

1. The catalogue or database where it is found identifies the journal as a peer reviewed source. (Example)
2. The journal editors identify the publication as
   peer reviewed. 
3. Peer review claims are confirmed by Ulrich's Web. 

Types of Research Studies

Conceptual Research

• Involves exploration and critical analysis of theory or philosophy. Most studies are based on a conceptual framework that gives shape to approach and methodology. (example)

Empirical (Experimental) Research

• Qualitative Study
• Quantitative Study
• Mixed Methods Study

Qualitative Studies   &   Quantitative Studies*

Explore the experiences of individuals or groups (Constructivist)

Inductive approaches to collecting data are used.

Open ended analyses (relationship between subject and their context produces new data for interpretation.)

Test objective theories by examining relationships among variables (Positivist)

Deductive approaches to collecting data are used.

Closed analyses (the study has defined parameters that determine scope, relevance and validity of measureable data.)

*Creswell, J. (2009). Research design : Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Qualitative Studies   &   Quantitative Studies*

• Case studies
• Questionnaires
• Narrative studies
• Prolonged studies
• Embedded researchers
  (i.e. action research)
   
• Study concludes with new theories (example)

• Experimental studies
• Observation and survey
• Statistical analysis
   
• Study concludes with
  new data (example)

*Creswell, J. (2009). Research design : Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Keep in mind, many researchers use mixed method approaches that incorporate both quantitative and qualitative elements.

The Information Landscape

Academic
Articles

Scholarly
Journals

Academic Databases

Library
Catalogue

Google
Scholar

Academic
Articles

Pay Wall

Searching
the Library 

vs.

Searching
the Internet

Google

Websites & non-academic articles

Where to Find Resources

Policy Documents
Govt Publications
Statistics & Data

Check multiple sources

Basic Search Techniques

• The Advanced Search is pretty basic. 
• Here are some tips to get better search results in the catalogue and databases.

Advanced Searching

Information is mediated through language. 

Language in the literature to represent a domain of knowledge or field of study

Language used to organize a domain of knowledge for the purpose of retrieval

Advanced Searching

Information is mediated through language. 

Keywords
(Natural Language)

Subject Headings
(Taxonomy)

Subject Headings show us how published information has been categorized in library or database.

Subject headings are useful for identifying related materials. 

Keywords appear in the library record, abstract, and text of a document. 

Keyword search results are based on frequency of word use in a document. 

A combination of subject headings and keywords often produce most precise search results.

Monograph Subject Headings

The Library of Congress assigns subject headings for all monograph publications

Article Subject Headings

Databases organize subject headings in a thesaurus.
ERIC has one of the more widely used thesauri for research in Education.

Searching with Subject Headings

Two approaches:

• Search with keywords to find relevant books or articles. Use the subject headings identified in the record to find similar materials.

• Find the preferred subject headings first and search by subject rather than keyword. 

Searching for Subject Headings

Use the subject heading search to find the appropriate subject terms for books.
(example)

Use the ERIC Thesaurus (in the advanced search) to find the appropriate subject terms for articles. (example)

Brainstorm and create a conceptual map of relevant keywords for your research topic. Find the appropriate subject headings for each. 

Citation Management

There are many citation management apps available.
I recommend using Zotero. 

• Create your Zotero account on the website
• Download and open the Zotero app on your computer.
• Add the Zotero Connector to your browser
  (Chrome, Firefox, and Safari only.)
• Go to preferences to login and sync your account.
• In preferences add the Microsoft Word Add-in.
  (Word must be open to do this.)

You are good to go!

Activity

1. Choose a keyword that represent an important idea in your area of research. 
2. Find the appropriate subject heading assigned by the Library of Congress or ERIC. 
3. Search for a book or article by Subject Heading.
4. Add the book or article record to your Zotero library. 

APA Style Guides

UM Library copies of recommended APA Guides

Questions?

Kyle Feenstra
Education & Psychology Librarian
Elizabeth Dafoe Library
kyle.feenstra@umanitoba.ca