The research mindset…

1. The research mindset… “It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. Obviously those two modes of thought are in some tension. But if you are able to exercise only one of these modes, whichever one it is, you’re in deep trouble.” Carl Sagan, “The Burden of Skepticism.” Skeptical Inquirer12 (Fall 1987): 41.

2. Module 2 MyResearch seminar series Julie Jones, Brian McMillan Umma Tamima February 12, 2013

3. Learning outcomes After today’s workshop, you will be able to: • Develop an effective search strategy for a research topic • Find relevant material for your topic using the library catalogue • Search general academic databases for article literature • Locate information beyond McGill

4. The Research Process It can seem long and circuitous… Clara M. Chu, “Literary Critics at Work and Their Information Needs: A Research-Phases Model,” Library & Information Science Research 21, no. 2 (1999): 263.

5. The Research Process Long and circuitous = normal… DON’T PANIC! Christine D. Brown, “Straddling the Humanities and Social Sciences: The Research Process of Music Scholars,” Library & Information Science Research 24, no. 1 (2002): 88.

6. Case study: The New Woman, 1890-1920 By 1890 a new, more modern culture was emerging in the United States....As women pushed the boundaries of the private sphere to participate more fully in wage earning, education, the professions, or community service, the concept of “true womanhood” was pushed aside in favor of the “New Woman.” Lucille A. Adkins, "Women's Movement, United States, 20th Century," in The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, edited byImmanuel Ness. Blackwell Reference Online. Accessed February 12, 2013, http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/tocnode.html?id=g9781405184649_yr2011_chunk_g97814051846491608.

7. Sample research question How did the idea of the “New Woman” impact depictions of domesticity in American literature?

8. How questions influence search results High = lots of articles Broad Questions Retrieval (# of search results) Narrow Questions Low = very few articles Low = mostly irrelevant articles High = directly relevant articles Relevancy

9. Break it down: pull out key concepts How did the idea of the “New Woman” impact depictions of domesticity in American literature?

10. Generate synonyms and related terms Strategies: • Brainstorming • Concept maps • Reading articles and books • Mining bibliographies • Using thesauri and subject headings

11. Generating keywords

12. Your turn

13. Combine terms Boolean operators

14. AND

16. OR

18. NOT

19. Poetry American literature

20. Truncation NOTE: The symbols used will vary from one database to another. ! ? * # Use to retrieve variant endings or plurals Suffrage Suffragist Suffragists Suffragette Suffragettes Suffrag*

21. Wildcard NOTE: The symbols used will vary from one database to another. ! ? * # Use to replace character(s) within a word woman women wom?n

22. More advanced search techniques • Quotation marks • Use for phrase searching • Example: “New Woman” “First Wave Feminism” • Parentheses • Device that allows you to control the order of your search • Example: (“New Woman” ORsuffrag*)AND (domesticityOR marriage)

23. Putting it all together (“New Woman” OR “First Wave Feminism” OR “women’s suffrag*”) AND (domestic* OR marriage OR family OR gender OR sexuality) AND (“American literature” OR “American poetry” OR “Kate Chopin” OR “Willa Cather” OR “Mina Loy”)

24. Your turn

25. McGill WorldCat vs. Classic Catalogue

26. One Catalogue, two ways to search McGill WorldCat Classic Catalogue

27. Your turn

28. General academic databases Equivalent to a “big box” or department store Breadth vs. depth Can indicate which disciplines taken an interest in a given topic, providing clues for future research

29. Your turn

30. Maximizing Google Scholar Use our Google tips handout to have more control over your searches. Set up Library Links in Settings. If using citation management software, set up for direct export in Settings.

31. Best practice for finding a known journal article Use the Journals tab on the Library website • Search by journal title • Navigate to the issue that the article is in And, as a back up, check the WorldCat Catalogue and Google Scholar.

32. Finding a known citation Tomlinson, Susan. “'Curiously Without Body': The Hidden Language of Zona Gale's Faint Perfume.” Modern Fiction Studies 52, no. 3 (2006): 570-587.

33. Your turn Brooks, Kristina. “New Woman, Fallen Woman: The Crisis of Reputation in Turn-of-the-Century Novels by Pauline Hopkins and Edith Wharton.” Legacy 13, no. 2 (1996): 91-112.

34. Can you find the full-text of this article? Singh, Vandana R."Women's Lib in Malgudi: the Winds of Change and the Emergence of the 'New Woman' in R. K. Narayan's novels." Journal of Indian Writing in English 28, no. 1 (2000): 26-36.

35. Access beyond McGill Borrow in personfrom other libraries • CREPUQ http://www.mcgill.ca/library/library-using/otherloans/crepuq Interlibrary loan • COLOMBO http://www.mcgill.ca/library/library-using/otherloans/interlibrary

36. Next time… Liaison librarians • http://www.mcgill.ca/library/library-assistance/askus/liaison/ Subject guides • http://www.mcgill.ca/library/library-findinfo/subjects/ Subject-specific databases and other resources Hire a librarian…

37. Share your feedback bit.ly/MyResearchMcGill