This guide consists of mini information literacy lessons that can be read stand-alone or in conjunction with other lessons. These lessons are best for review or introduction, but they should not be used to replace library interaction.
To easily reference the tabs, each one in the lessons has a unique number (1A for the first tab in lesson one). This should help you keep track of what tabs you need to complete your assignments or review. You can scroll down the page to browse each lesson or you can press ctrl +f (cmd + f for mac users) to search a specific lesson or concept.
Lesson 1: Starting your Information Search
Lesson 2: Information Tools and Sources
Lesson 3: Finding Information Sources
Lesson 4: Advanced Searching
Lesson 5: Evaluating Sources
Lesson 6: Annotations and Annotated Bibliographies
Please ask for help from the librarians if any concept is confusing. You can come to the librarian during librarian hours Monday-Friday 8 am to 4 pm, schedule an appointment, or contact them from the table below.
| Librarian | Phone | |
| James Bell | jcbell@anderson.edu | x4281 |
| Graeme States | gfstates@anderson.edu | x4275 |
| Christa Welty-Salgado | cjwelty@anderson.edu | x4276 |
Brainstorming: In this method of question development, you list any and all thoughts that come to your mind about your topic or interest. Once you have finished, look through your list and sort related words and concepts together.
Concept Mapping: Place your topic (or interest) in the middle of a map, and then write down branching related concepts, knowledge, and questions from it. This is helpful to inventory your own knowledge and interests of a topic.
Depending on the discipline the research question may look different, but a common formula for research questions is the topic, narrowing issue, people group technique.
Begin by taking your topic. The topic should be very broad. You will use your narrowing issue to make it more manageable.
Next add a narrowing issue. After you begin research, you may have to adjust the narrowing issue to be more broad or specific.
Finally add a people group. The people group can include race, gender, age, occupation, geographic region, etc.
What are the most effective communication strategies for increasing voter turnout among those under 30?
Keywords are search terms that you enter into the database to describe the topic of items that you want to retrieve. Your keyword are typically main ideas and synonyms from your search question. You do not want to put your entire question into the database because too many search terms will limit or skew the results.
Keywords come from your research question. They are main ideas of your question (your issue, narrowing issue, and people group). Then think of synonyms for those words. Try including terms of similar scope, and a few of broader or narrower scope. The ideas is not just to think of words that mean the exact same thing, but rather think of alternative terms that might lead us to helpful information about your research area.
You can get ideas of keywords from:
Video: Selecting and Using Keywords from PLANI on Vimeo
Sometimes when you have a complex research question with three or four variables, you can find a lot of sources that touch on every aspect of your question. That's good! That means your topic is new and probably interesting. Now it is up to you to break up your keyword groupings and find resources that contain PART of your question but not all. But, then when you write your paper, you pull from different kinds of information to make something new and original.
Video produced by NC State University Libraries with a CC-BY-NC-SA license
Simply put, a database is an organized collection of records that describe objects.
Spotify is a database. Each song (object) is accompanied by complete information about the song (record) including the artist, album name, length, and price.
Amazon is a database. Each item for purchase (object) has a webpage that contains information (record) about the item like its name, manufacturer, technical specs, price, etc.
Library databases are databases. Have you ever used your public or high school library to find an article (object)? Each article has a short webpage (record) with its title, author, publishing information, and abstract.
Think about the three examples above. Spotify is a database that contains both records and the object themselves - you can find information on a song and then buy it. But on Amazon, this is only true if you're buying an mp3 or an ebook - if you want a new blender you will have to have it shipped to you.
So Spotify is an example of a "full-text" (full song!) database. It contains both the records and the object itself. Similarly, some library databases are full-text: they have both the record and the article. Others only have the record (index), and you'll have to look elsewhere for the article itself.
Note: When databases are discussed in this guide, assume they are article databases unless otherwise noted.
Video produced by Yavapai College Library (2011) with permission to use
Libguide text adapted from the University of St. Mary's Research Tutorial
Authors write articles for a variety of articles - some articles are written for experts in their field, others are written for novices in the field, some are research articles and some are reviews - in short, there are lots of different types of articles. Let's explore some of the common article types and how they can be useful for your research:
Peer review, or refereed, means that scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published. Good peer reviewers don't review articles based on content but on the research process, even if they don't agree with the article's conclusions. Popular and trade articles are not usually peer-reviewed, but scholarly articles are.
Note: Just because a journal is peer-reviewed, it doesn't mean that ALL articles have undergone the process, only the original research articles are peer-reviewed.
Books are helpful for your research because they are more in-depth than journal articles. Books are good for:
Books are much longer than articles, so they can devote more space to your topic. If we want a detailed biography of Walt Disney or the history of leisure time in the United States, we are not going to find it in a 10-page article.
The library has both ebooks and print books in its collection. There are advantages to using either format, ultimately it comes down to your personal preference. The library still collects both formats, but recently has been putting more focus on ebooks because they can be accessed off-campus and are searchable. The library has a built-in ebook reader so there is no need for an e-reader device.
Popular books, like your favorite murder mystery or fantasy novel, are great for entertainment but have limited value in academic study. Often these books lack significant scholarly backing, as indicated through footnotes and bibliographies that are common in academic books.
Scholarly books are written by expert authors (usually professors) and are often published by a university press (or another reputable publisher). They are very valuable to your research because they are very detailed providing you with thorough coverage of a topic. However, they can be overly detailed (on things that don't help your research question) and time-consuming to read; Scholarly books can have a linear timeline (a beginning and an end), but often they are a collection of standalone chapters that can be read without referring to others in the book. These chapters can be read standalone because they have a complete argument beginning with the thesis and ending with the conclusion. But, they are compiled in a collection of similar chapters on the related issue. Taken together or individually, these chapters can give you important insight into your research question. Don't be afraid to cite individual chapters in your research.
Reference sources generally summarize topics or assist in finding secondary literature. These sources provide background information or help you find other sources. They are helpful for quick facts, statistics, background information, or contact information, and can be useful for learning specific vocabulary.
Reference materials found in the reference section (southeast corner of the ground floor) are for in-library use only. They cannot be checked out. There are some reference materials found in the main stacks. They can be checked out.
Much like databases, there are different types of reference sources designed for targeted use. Below is an exploration of some of the most common ones
Simply, a dictionary defines words or phrases. But, like all reference sources, there are different types of dictionaries for different uses and needs. Here are some of the common types of dictionaries:
Biblical Commentaries explain scripture of the Bible verse-by-verse or section-by-section. There are dozens of biblical commentaries that vary greatly in detail of coverage, analysis, and intended audience. Commentaries can consist of only one volume of multiple volume sets.
It's important to note that commentaries vary in affiliation or perspective. As in all theological authors, their published works typically reference their theological orientations, shaped by their denomination identities, current place of employment, and other factors. Make sure to pay attention to both the relevant biographical factors of the author and also to the publisher. Being aware of the author's and/or press's theological or ideological biases can help the user of the commentary be a more discerning reader.
Below are general types of commentaries:
For more information about biblical commentaries in the Nicholson Library visit our School of Theology libguide here.
Page text adapted from Louisville Seminary Biblical Commentaries Guide.
Page text adapted from Salem State University Reference Sources Guide.
Think of the word "primary" just on its own. When we were young, we went to "primary schools." Our parents and guardians are our "primary" caregivers. The word "primary" can either mean "first" or "earliest", and that's exactly what primary sources are. Primary sources are those sources we rely on for firsthand information. The information contained in primary sources is unedited, meaning it's original and hasn't been picked apart yet. Any type of information that is original and uninterpreted is a primary source.
Primary information sources are firsthand materials, in their original form. Examples include:
There is a common belief that anything from the time period is a primary source, so if I'm researching World War II then anything from the 1940s is a primary source. It's an okay guiding principle, but it isn't entirely true. For example, a memoir by a World War II soldier that was written in 1980 about their time in the war is still a primary source because it is the soldier's original unedited perspective of the event. Just like Margaret Wise Brown's famous book "Goodnight Moon" was published in the 1940s, but although a great book, it doesn't provide an original unedited perspective of the war. The point is to be careful to use blanket rules to understand primary sources. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help determine if something is a primary source:
Secondary sources provide more developed information on primary sources. Their information comes to the researcher secondhand. Authors of secondary sources did not directly participate in the composing of the primary source, but they are experts regarding the primary source. Secondary sources can provide valuable interpretation or historical context.
Shonnmharen, Primary Sources, CC BY SA
Video by Shmoop University with Permission to share
Libguide text adapted from PALNI's Information Literacy Modules: Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources.
Scholarly articles are published in journals; each journal usually has a collection of research articles in it, and is published regularly, between 2-12 times a year with new articles in each issue. These journal articles are published by and for experts in their field. Your professor likely subscribes to one of these journals for their discipline. To find these articles, you can go directly to the journal and read the articles, or you can use the library databases to find individual topics.
Sometimes in research, you know exactly what you are looking for. You might be looking for a specific article your professor recommended or you saw in the reference list of another article. If you know the journal, you can search it from the library homepage. Begin by typing your journal title into the catalog surrounded by quotation marks.
If we have the journal in our library, it will take you to the journal record where you can narrow it down to a specific volume and issue number.
You can find all the databases the library subscribes to from the database box on the library homepage or from this
link: https://libguides.anderson.edu/az/databases.
You'll notice that we have access to a lot of databases. How do you know which database to choose?
Think about the non-academic databases you are already familiar with. If you are looking for a little bit of everything, you might search Amazon where you can purchase a new blender, book, and board game. But, if you are looking for a new album from the current popular artist you probably wouldn't search Amazon, you might search iTunes or Spotify instead.
Library databases work the same way. There are general databases that have a little bit of everything. These are helpful for beginning searches. There are also specialty databases that are targeted to people interested in a particular field of study. These are helpful for more in-depth discipline-specific searches.
You can find a sorted list of our general databases and subject-specific databases by using the subjects box at the top of the database list. NOTE: for general databases, select the general option on the dropdown.
Physical books are organized in the library with the Library of Congress classification system (LOC). Each item in the library has a label with letters and numbers (called call numbers) which indicates its place on the shelf. The letters indicate a subject area, and the numbers that follow further subdivide the broader topic into more specific categories. Because of this intricate organization system, books are often grouped by subject. So, when you find your book on the shelf make sure to browse the books around it to see if any others help your research!
The Library of Congress system is great, but it isn't perfect. Most books fit into multiple different categories (For example, take this book about the Copernican Revolution. It is currently organized in the Qs which is science, but it could easily also be categorized in the Ds for world history). The classification system is designed to be as helpful as possible, but remember that sometimes books can be organized differently than you think they should be or are helpful to you.
This image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Begin by locating the call number in the library catalog (see video below). This number is very important so make sure to copy it down in its entirety. The call number is the roadmap for finding the book on the shelf. You'll notice that the shelve ranges have signs on the endcap that have a call number range listed. Find the letter range that your call number fits, and go to that range. Then follow the numbers on the spine of the book until you find the beginning of your number, then do the same for the second number (after the decimal), and repeat the process (for the third, fourth, fifth, etc number) until you find your book.
Search the catalog from the main box on the library homepage: library.anderson.edu.
As noted in the lesson above, primary sources can come in many different mediums, which complicates where and how to find them. For example, you will find memoirs in the library collection, census data on the federal government website, and clinical trials from our library databases. Most primary sources are stored in physical format in archives; most archives have digital collections but the majority of their collection is physical, meaning you have to travel to the archives to access the materials.
But, fear not, there are lots of primary sources that are available in databases. These databases are often going to be specialized, only covering, one or two mediums of primary sources. (Newspaper databases for news sources, art databases for artwork, etc). The library has a handful of primary source databases in its collection. You can find them by selecting "primary source" on the types dropdown at the top of the database list or by following this link.
To find more information about how to find primary sources visit the library's history libguide here.
Primary sources often are not cataloged in databases, but if they are, they usually don't have as much searchable data. That means you have to change your mindset from refining your keywords to create the perfect search to browsing sets of information to find what you're looking for. Depending on the organization of the archives or the online record keeping, archival research can be more time-consuming and challenging than traditional library research.
Video from the Massasoit Libraries with permission to reuse.
Think of every book ever published, every movie ever filmed, and every article ever written; combined their total equals over a billion items. It's impossible for one library to have everything. So, many libraries utilize a resource-sharing system known as Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
Interlibrary Loan( ILL) is a service that allows Anderson University students to borrow materials from other libraries around the world, at no charge to the student.
Through Interlibrary Loan you can request:
If there is no full-text option or call number associated with the book, we do NOT have the material in our library. But, don't worry, you can submit an ILL request directly from the database or catalog.
Clicking this button will open up the ILLiad client. Simply log in with your ILL account, or create a new one if you are a first-time user, then submit the request for the article or book to be delivered to you. The request form should auto-populate with the relevant information to complete the request.
Note that the request will take 3-14 days to process and complete, so make sure to start your research early enough to take advantage of this free service.
The library follows the Copyright Law of the United States that governs the making of photocopies and other reproductions of copyrighted works. That means that the librarians may deny requests or modify requests to fit copyright law. A general rule of thumb is we will not scan more than five articles from a single journal title within the current three-year period. We also won't scan more than 20% of a book. At this time, patrons cannot borrow entire ebooks.
Filters (or limiters) are used to narrow your search results. In some cases, narrowing is just because you have too many to choose from, in other cases, the use of the filters is to intentionally narrow the results to a very specific topic or research question.
You can find the filters before your search under the search box on the advanced search page (the default landing page for most of our databases) or after your search at the top or on the left side of the result list. Note: Some databases have an "All Filters" button below the search box after the search.
Not all filters are available in all databases. Here are some common filters you might find:
Full text - By checking this filter, the results will only show items with a full-text version available. This means you can access the article immediately directly from the database.
Scholarly/ Peer Review - This filter will narrow the results to only those items that have gone through the peer review process.
Date Range - Here you set the data range for all the results. This is a good way to make sure that all your results are current (or fit your timeframe of research). In the STEM field, items more than 5 years old are considered too old. In most humanities disciplines, items that are 15 to 20 years old are just fine.
Source Type (or format) - This filter allows you to set the type of document available in the result list. For many disciplines, academic journals are the preferred source type, but in some instances, a trade journal or book review might be needed.
Libguide text adapted from the Hugh and Hazel Darling Library Search Technique Guide.
Searching by a particular phrase or word combination is one of the most precise ways of searching. If you type the words political activism into the search bar, the database will search for any appearance of the words even if they are not near each other. To search for an exact phrase or multi-word concept use quotation marks around the phrase. So, the search "political activism" would return results only with the words political and activism next to each other.
Have you ever played a game where all ace cards are wild cards? That means that an ace can be used in place of any other card. The same is true in database searching: a wildcard can be used in place of a specific letter, multiple letters, or even whole words. In most databases, the asterisk (*) is the wild card character. Here are the most common uses for the wildcard character:
| Use | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Alternate Spelling | The wildcard character can be used to complete words that have alternate spellings. | Gr*y will find all records containing the words "gray" and "grey" |
| Complete words/phrases | The wildcard character can be used to complete words with multiple different endings. (AKA truncation) | Comput* will find all variations of the root word, including, computer, computers, computing, computation, etc |
| Between words | The wildcard character can be used between words to complete phrases | midsummer * dream will find all records containing midsummer night dream and midsummer day dream |
Note: most databases use the asterisk (*) as the wildcard character, but not all. If the asterisk doesn't work consult the database help page to find their wildcard character.
Advanced searching is like a math equation, but instead of using plus or minus, you use AND, OR, NOT. These words combine your search into a readable equation for the search engine, allowing you to expand and narrow your search using other terms. Note the capitalization. Many databases require these words (operators) to be in all caps, as do search engines like Google, which also allow for operator-advanced searching.
| Operator | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| AND | Narrows a search by requiring the results to contain both of the search terms | Searching (burgers AND fries) will return results with both burgers and fries present in the record |
| OR | Broadens a search and is usually used when searching related or similar terms. It requires the search results to contain either of the search terms | Searching (burgers OR fries) will return results with both burgers or fries present in the record |
| NOT | Narrows a search by excluding sources with a specified search term. |
Searching (burgers NOT fries) will return results only with the word burger, not fries. |
When using operators you want to combine like words with OR (OR = More) and combine unlike words with AND (AND = Less).
To make even better use of your operators, you can use parentheses () to nest search terms. Simply, the parenthesis group the search terms together to create a more sophisticated search.
This example will search for a record that has to have the word voting but only has to have either the word women or female. So, in a ven diagram, this search result would return a result in the shaded area:
Controlled Vocabulary takes the guesswork out of searching; it makes the database easier to search. Since we have many different ways of describing concepts, collecting all of these terms under a single word or phrase in a database makes searching the database more efficient as it eliminates guesswork.
Controlled vocabulary is a list of standardized terms used by librarians to describe the content of a source material. These terms are also known as subject headings, subject terms, thesaurus terms, or descriptors. The advantage of using controlled vocabulary is that once you find the correct term, most of the information is grouped together in one place, saving you the time of having to search under all of the other synonyms for that term. The controlled vocabulary term is indexed in the record, so searching with controlled vocabulary will only return results that also include that subject term in the record.
Let's look at an example: to have an exhaustive search about children, you would need to use many different terms. Your search might look like this: (Children OR Child OR adolescent OR "young adult" OR teenager OR youth OR juvenile OR minor). If you use subject terms, all of these words would be combined under one unifying term: DE: Children.
Controlled vocabulary is not always natural language, so have to identify the term in the database to use it. There are two main ways to identify terms (1) through the record or (2) through the thesaurus.
Controlled vocabulary is indexed in the record, that way it can appear when the subject term is searched. The terms are visibly indexed with links, meaning that you can click the link directly from the record to search by that controlled vocabulary term (the term might be indexed under subject terms or descriptors depending on the database). You can then use AND,OR,NOT to add to your search to refine it further. Note: databases may have different terminology for controlled vocabulary, but if it is grouped under a heading with like terms then it is considered a subject term.
Some databases have a thesaurus to search controlled vocabulary terms (sometimes called headings or subjects). Databases have different terminology for controlled vocabulary some databases use the word "Subjects," but they also may be referred to as "Subject Terms" or "CINAHL Headings" (on CINAHL) or "MeSH Headings" (on Pubmed and others). Although different names, these subject headings all function very similarly.
To navigate to the thesaurus, click on the "subjects (or something similar) tab." To search articles from the subject term, search a term then check the box to the left of the term that best matches. Then press the "add to search button." You can combine multiple search terms with AND/OR using the drop-down. Combining subject terms can be very helpful to narrow down your results to a manageable list, but it can also narrow your search too far by only giving 1 or 2 relevant articles to your search question. You can broaden your search by checking the explode box where you can expand your search to include all the nested terms under that controlled vocabulary term.
For more information about searching the thesaurus visit the EBSCOhost help article here.
Video produced by Librarinofdoom linked with permission.
Page text adapted from MSU Libraries Research Gude.
Before you incorporate research material into your assignment, it's important to think critically about each source. Whether it is a scholarly article, tweet, or story from a magazine, you should determine if that source is true and useful for your research. Even if the article is trustworthy and verifiable, that doesn't mean it is a good source for your specific needs. When evaluating sources, you are analyzing the credibility of the source and the relevance to your research question.
Scholarly writing builds off of existing work; credible information sources strengthen your argument, giving space for others to build on your research. But, how do you define credible? Essentially, a credible source has high-quality and trustworthy information. There are different methods for evaluating for credibility that are explored on the other tabs in this lesson.
You could find the perfect source, but if it doesn't fit your research question, it shouldn't be included in your research. One of the mistakes researchers often make is padding their research with quotes that don't pertain to your research question. Unfortunately, there is no "method" or rule for evaluating for relevance. The key thing is to ask yourself if the source enhances your research or pads it. If it enhances include it in your research, if it pads it, leave it out.
Page text adapted from the UDC Library Evaluating Sources Help Guide.
The CRAAP method is a common strategy for evaluating all sources; although it tends to work the best with academic sources (books or journal articles). CRAAP is an acronym that stands for currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose. Let's explore the five components of the CRAAP acronym.
| Term | Definition | Question to Ask |
| Currency | Determines if the date of publication (or creation) of the information is suitable for your project | Is the publication date acceptable for the information being conveyed?* |
| Relevance | Determines how applicable the information is to your project | Is the information within the source relevant to my topic? |
| Authority | Determines if the source author, creator, or publisher, of the information is the most knowledgeable | Does the author have expert credentials or affiliations and/or is the source known, published, and reputable? |
| Accuracy | Determines the reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the content | Is the information well-researched and supported by evidence? |
| Purpose | Determines the reason why the information exists | Is the source's slant or bias a hindrance to my project's focus? |
*an acceptable date depends on the discipline. Sources in the science disciplines usually becomes out of date five to seven years after publication. Sources in the humanities discipline can remain current for much longer depending on their content and use.
Use the CRAAP worksheet from Illinois State University to help evaluate your sources.
Video Produced by the McMaster Libraries. Reused with permission.
Mike Caulfield, HAPGOOD)
The SIFT method, developed by Mike Caulfield, is a method to evaluate news or popular sources. In the SIFT method, the evaluator slows down and intentionally analyzes the source. SIFT is an acronym for Stop, Investigate, Find, Trace. Let's explore the acronym in more detail.
Stop: Check your emotions. Is this designed to make you feel angry? Outraged? Sad? Are you familiar with the source? Why are you reading this?
Investigate the Source: Who is writing this (and do they have an agenda)? Is it written by an expert? Who published the source?
Find other coverage: Sometimes you don't care about the particular article or video, but you care about the claim the article is making. Look for similar claims in other sources. It doesn't have to be the consensus claim, but it should be represented in different types of sources with varying publishers and authors.
Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context: Sometimes what we read as been taken out of context. Try and find the original unedited transcript or video of the quote or event. Does the unedited version match the version in your source? If you can't find the unedited original, trace and connect it with the context of the consensus.
The 5W method is to ask yourself the standard "W" questions about the source.
Who?
Who Created it? What are their qualifications? Who is their audience?
What?
What is it? What type of source?
When?
When was it created? Published? Updated? Revised?
Where?
Where did you find it? Library database? Online? Social Media? Citations?
Why?
Why was it written? Why should you use it?
(Okanagan College Library)
An annotated bibliography is a list of sources (books, articles, websites, etc.) with a short paragraph about each source. An annotated bibliography is sometimes a useful step before drafting a research paper, or it can stand alone as an overview of the research available on a topic. Each source in an annotated contains a citation and is usually about 150 words.
Many scholarly articles start with an abstract, which enables the reader to quickly identify the basic content of the article, determine its relevance to their interests, and decide whether it is worth their time to read the entire article. The abstract is NOT the same thing as an annotation. The annotation, written your own words, explains the relevance of the source to your particular assignment or research question. The annotations consist of six components that are found in tab 6B.
Annotated Bibliographies serve different purposes. Sometimes when you are working on a research paper that has twenty, forty, or even sixty sources, annotated bibliographies are helpful to organize your sources. That way you are less likely to forget how the source helps your research question. An annotated bibliography can also be a stand-alone overview of the research available on a topic. Often experienced researchers seek out annotated bibliographies when they begin their research to see what sources already exist about their topic. Here are some of the main purposes of annotated bibliographies:
Annotations should only be about 150 words, so you need to make every word count. Each word should have a purpose in covering the following six components.
Peifer. J. T. (2012.) Can we be funny? The social responsibility of political humor. Journal of Mass Media Ethics. 27, 263-267 https://doi.org/10.1080/08900523.2012.746110
Jason Peifer, a professor of journalism at Indiana University Bloomington, explores the ethics of political humor and how it relates to mass communication. Written for an academic audience, he argues that humor brings together and pulls apart groups of people. He uses the global social responsibility theory to support his conclusion that it is the job of the humorist to point out problems rather than craft solutions; therefore, giving humorists ethical leeway to use political comedy as a tool to unite groups of people for change. A potential drawback of this article is that it was written before the line between entertainment and news was blurred. With the recent political mass movement of people, researchers should be careful using this article outside of the political context. Nonetheless, this article is a strong research foundation of the ethics of humor and how it relates to politics. It is a launching point for more timely research.
There is no "right" way to organize your sources, as long as you are consistent and follow assignment guidelines. The structure of your research may determine how you choose to organize your sources. Here are some common ways to organize your sources:
