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Social Ecology 194W - Summer 2005
Naturalistic Field Research
Library Research Tips
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Christina
Woo
Langson Library 146
cjwoo@uci.edu
(949) 824-4974
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OBJECTIVE: To find at least two-three
academic sources to support your research and findings for your final paper.
A 15 page or 4,000 word paper usually
requires at least this number of resources.
You will probably want to find 6-8 articles before you narrow down to
the most relevant 2-3 that you will cite in your paper.
Nuts & bolts: The library web site http://www.lib.uci.edu/ answers questions
such as:
This
page provides tips on:
- Identifying information resources on a particular
topic
- Using library databases to
find research articles on a topic
- Using UC-elinks or ANTPAC to locate needed materials
in the UCI Libraries and verify our holdings
- Remember to carefully read the assignment and all
messages from instructor and TAs about the paper before you get
started. By the time you have had
instruction with a librarian, you should have submitted the statement of
your proposed topic - now you are ready to engage in the research process.
Background research:
books
Books can provide:
- An overview of your topic
- Bibliographies and additional references to key
literature
ANTPAC is UC Irvine's online library catalog -- the source to
determine whether a book, video, government document or journal is available at
UCI. Increasingly, as journals and documents become available electronically,
ANTPAC includes links to the full-text of the item on the Internet.
Learn to search ANTPAC using this online tutorial
MELVYL is the combined online catalog
for all of the 10 UC campuses. Many of our article databases link to MELVYL
(via UCeLinks) in order to tell you whether the book or journal you need is
available at UCI or other UC campuses. However, ANTPAC is a more current source
of this information than MELVYL. You may find it easier to use ANTPAC in order
to determine the availability of a particular article at UCI -- in either print
or online format -- than MELVYL.
Learn
to search MELVYL using one of the following online tutorials
If
you need materials that you find are NOT available at UCI, you can use Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
Plan ahead for this -- ILL can take approximately one week. The MELVYL
Request feature is the easiest way to do this. During the summer, you may try and find
content available at UCI either electronically or in print.
Finding academic
articles
For this class, most of your
research is taking place outside of the library, where you will be gathering
data to analyze. Your goal in the library is not to find exact studies that
replicate yours, but rather to find supporting research on one or more of the
issues you are discussing and studying.
You will also be contextualizing and analyzing research methods,
practices and findings.
To get started:
- Determine your research question
- Develop a list of keywords or phrases that reflect
your research question - it is usually easier to start broad and narrow or
focus your topic in the search strategy
- Decide where you are going to look for information (see table, below) - depends on the subject - some
multi or interdisciplinary topics are found in several databases or
sources
- Start with specific concepts but be prepared to
generalize and broaden your search (if you don't find research on your
exact context (dating in a campus workplace, e.g.) -- you might find
something on dating in the workplace in general
- When you find a good article on your topic in an
article database, analyze the subject headings or descriptors
in the record to add words to or refine your search terms. See
"Sample record from PsycINFO," below
Sample record from PsycINFO
Results of a search for:
(going out, dating or
courtship) and college students
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Title:Dating and commitment choices as a function of
ethnicity among American colege students in California
AU: Author
Fiebert, Martin S; Nugent, Dusty;
Hershberger, Scott L., Kasdan, Margo
AF: Author Affiliation
California State University, Long Beach,
CA US [for Fiebert, Nugent, Hershberger, Kasdan]
SO: Source
Psychological Reports, Vol. 94 (3, Pt. 2),
June 2004, pp. 1293-1300
IB: ISSN
0033-2941
AB: Abstract
The incidence of interracial and
interethnic dating and marriage in the United States has increased.
This investigation examined dating and commitment choices as a function of
ethnicity and sex among groups of Euro-American, Hispanic-American,
Asian-American and African-American college students. A convenience
sample of college students comprising 329 heterosexual subjects (134 men, 195
women) was surveyed regarding their partner preferences for dating, visiting
parents, marriage and bearing children. It was hypthesized that
subjects would consider dating partners from different ethnic groups, but
when making a commitment to marriage and children would prefer members of
their own group. This hypothesis was supported in half of the groups:
Euro-American men, African-American men, Asian-American women, and
African-American women. A discussion of dating and commitment choices
among ethnic and sex groups is presented and discussed.
PsychINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved)
TA: Target Audience
Psychology: Professional &
Research
LA: Language
English
PY: Publication Year
2004
PT: Publication Type
Peer Reviewed Journal; Conference
Proceedings/Symposia; Empirical Study; Quantitative Study; Article
PO: Population
Human; Male; Female
Age: Adulthood (18 yrs & older); Young Adulthood (18-20 yrs); Thirties
(30-39 yrs)
FE: Features
References
DE: Descriptors
*Commitment; *Ethnic Identity; *Human Mate
Selection; * Racial and Ethnic Groups; * Social
Dating; * College Students; * Marriage Attitudes; * Preferences
ID: Identifiers
dating; commitment choices; ethnicity; American college
students; marriage; partner preferences
CL: Classification
3020 Group & Interpersonal
Processes
NR: Number of References
4 reference(s) present, 4 reference(s)
displayed
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Notice that our search
terms (dating and college students) appear in bold type. But
under "Descriptors," the word used for dating is "Social
Dating" (seen above in red). Adding this term to our search should expand
our results and sharpen the relevance in retrieval.
Learn more about finding
journal articles in this online tutorial
Getting there:
- From the library homepage http://www.lib.uci.edu/ go to one of
the library's subject guides
for Social Ecology. Or click on Online Resources and
on the left
- From the alphabetical list,
choose one of the following, depending on your topic. (Databases
shaded gray all share the same interface or platform: Cambridge
Scientific Abstracts (CSA). NOTE: You can search more than one CSA
database at the same time.) If you get to an interim screen that lists
all the UC campuses, choose UC Irvine.
Most of
the databases below contain scholarly and academic articles only. However --
some also contain popular magazines (such as Newsweek) or trade
publications (such as Business Week). In such cases, I've included in
"search tips" ways to restrict your output to only scholarly,
academic source material.
Under "Work with
Results," below, there are links to pages in the UCI Libraries' online
tutorials on specific aspects of working with UC-elinks and ANTPAC to determine
whether UCI has a particular journal you need, based on an article citation.
These links open in new windows -- simply close them using the X in the upper
right-hand corner of your screen to return to this handout.
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Suggested online databases for Social Ecology
194W
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You can search the CSA
databases (Psychology, Social Service, ERIC, Environmental Science &
Pollution Management and Sociological Abstracts) concurrently or you can search
them independently. Click on the active Specific
Databases link and select the databases you want and then Continue to
search. If your topic is better served
by another subject area than noted below, please consult the Subject Pages or
consult a librarian for assistance.
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SUBJECT
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DATABASE
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SEARCH TIPS
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WORK WITH RESULTS
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General/multidisciplinary
A good starting point for
research on many topics/contexts
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Expanded
Academic ASAP:
Citations and full-text magazine, newspaper and journal articles from the
arts and humanities to social sciences, science and technology.
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- Search by broad subject and
narrow by subdivision (e.g. innovations, research, case
studies) or search by keyword
- Limit to "refereed"
publications to retrieve only academic and scholarly material
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- Print, save or e-mail
full-text or citations
- Use UC-elinks
to connect to full-text or the MELVYL catalog to view UCI holdings OR
- Use ANTPAC
to look up journal titles (includes links to electronic journals)
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Psychology
Good database for all
aspects of psychology and social behavior
QUICK DEMO OF PSYCINFO -- OPEN WITH INTERNET EXPLORER ONLY
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PsycINFO:
(CSA) International
literature in psychology and related disciplines. The sources include over
1,400 professional journals, chapters, books, reports, theses and
dissertations, published internationally.
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- Search by keyword, and then
refine your search using descriptors you find in your search
results
- Default is Advanced Search
- Limit your search to journal
articles only
- Use the cited references
of recent articles to find additional relevant materials
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- Tag/mark multiple records
and print/save/e-mail results
- Use UC-elinks
to connect to full-text or the MELVYL catalog to view UCI holdings OR
- Use ANTPAC
to look up journal titles (includes links to electronic journals)
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Social
Services
Good database if the
cultural context you are exploring is in the social or human services
(counseling, e.g.)
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Social
Services Abstracts: (CSA) Abstracts of current research on social work, human
services, and related areas, including social welfare, social policy, and
community development. Journal articles, dissertations, and citations to book
reviews.
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- Search by keyword, and then
refine your search using descriptors you find in your search
results
- Use Advanced Search
- Limit your search to journal
articles only
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- Tag/mark multiple records
and print/save/e-mail results
- Use UC-elinks
to connect to full-text or the MELVYL catalog to view UCI holdings OR
- Use ANTPAC
to look up journal titles (includes links to electronic journals)
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Education
Good database if the
cultural context you are exploring is in primary, secondary or higher
education
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ERIC:
(CSA) Education-related
literature, both journal articles and coverage of conferences, meetings,
government documents, theses, dissertations, reports, audiovisual media,
bibliographies, directories, books and monographs.
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- Search by keyword, and then
refine your search using descriptors you find in your search
results
- Use Advanced Search
- Limit your search to journal
articles only (if you don't do this, you will retrieve ERIC
documents, which are generally unpublished reports, not scholarly
articles)
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- Tag/mark multiple records
and print/save/e-mail results
- Use UC-elinks
to connect to full-text or the MELVYL catalog to view UCI holdings OR
- Use ANTPAC
to look up journal titles (includes links to electronic journals)
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Sociology
Good for study of structure
of organizations
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Sociological
Abstracts: (CSA)
International literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social
and behavioral sciences. Journal articles, book reviews, abstracts of books,
book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.
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- Search by keyword, and then
refine your search using descriptors you find in your search
results
- Use Advanced Search
- Limit your search to journal
articles only
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- Tag/mark multiple records
and print/save/e-mail results
- Use UC-elinks
to connect to full-text or the MELVYL catalog to view UCI holdings OR
- Use ANTPAC
to look up journal titles (includes links to electronic journals)
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Business/Public
Policy
Particularly strong
coverage of organizational psychology and workplace environments
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ABI/Inform: Worldwide business periodicals
for information on advertising, marketing, economics, human resources,
finance, taxation, computers, and more. Also, information on 60,000+
companies.
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- Search by keyword and then
refine your search using subject terms you find in your search
results
- Case studies is a subject term in this
database
- Limit to "peer
reviewed" publications to retrieve only academic and scholarly material
- Use the print
bibliography feature to generate APA citations to articles
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- Tag/mark multiple records
and print/save/e-mail results
- Use UC-elinks
to connect to full-text or the MELVYL catalog to view UCI holdings OR
- Use ANTPAC
to look up journal titles (includes links to electronic journals)
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Environmental Sciences
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Environmental Science & Pollution Management: (CSA)
International coverage of environmental sciences, risk assessment, and
related topics
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- Search by keyword
- Will retrieve mostly
journal articles and conference proceedings
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- Tag/mark multiple records
and print/save/e-mail results
- Use UC-elinks
to connect to full-text or the MELVYL catalog to view UCI holdings OR
- Use ANTPAC
to look up journal titles (includes links to electronic journals)
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Business Source Premier:
another database with extensive coverage of organizations, corporate
culture and wide fulltext content in areas of business & management.
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- Covers journal
literature
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- Use ANTPAC
to look up journal titles (includes links to electronic journals);
some with PDF links
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Library research
assistance and consultation
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You have many options for
getting research assistance from the UCI Libraries. You can: