Conducting the Search - Finding Articles

Subject Area(s):

• Higher Ed: General

Grade Level(s):

• First Year
• Lower level

Description:

Students will learn about the various formats of articles and the methods to properly retrieve articles from the online catalog for research purposes.



This lesson plan was originally created to be used in conjunction with Library Online Basic Orientation (LOBO) at North Carolina State University: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/lobo2/.



Submitted with permission of Dr. Megan Oakleaf. Written by Jillian Robinson, North Carolina State University. Adapted from "Finding Articles (Periodica Indexes/Databases) Method 2," University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas Libraries, Available from:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/resources/handouts/articles_db2.rtf

Accessed 15 December 2005.

Goals & Objectives:

Information Literacy Objective

The student will identify and create keyword searches in order to find articles in an online database.

Student Objectives

Materials:

Procedures:

Introduction (Time = 5-10 minutes)

Ask students to recap what they learned about databases in LOBO.  (The following will probably be mentioned: databases are accessible from the library’s homepage – purchased by the university, databases house articles, databases can be searched by keywords, article title, or journal title, etc., sometimes offer full-text articles or article abstracts). 

Procedure (Time = 30 minutes)

1. Pass out sample topics and worksheets. Students will use these on their own after you model a search.

2. Access Academic Search Premier.

• Go to the library’s homepage, www.lib.ncsu.edu, then click on “Find Articles.”  Click on Academic Search Premier.  Explain that there are several ways to access the databases, so if students know of another way of getting to the databases, they can use whatever is most comfortable for them.

3.      Tell students your sample search topic and write it on the board. 

• Example:  You are going to be writing a speech and your topic is about the effect of advertising on obesity in children. You are interested in how advertisers use characters and cartoons to market food products to children.

• Have students help you pick apart the important terms to use as keywords.  First choose one term and search just that term (e.g., search “advertising” first, then search “marketing”).  See if you get the same results for both. 

• Add other search terms.  Write your search statement on the board as you go. [Example:  children and obesity and (advertising or marketing)] 

• Point out the impact of using AND and OR.  Remind students of the practice they had with keyword searching in LOBO and previous lessons.

4.      Model your search in Academic Search Premiere. Browse through the results list, showing the number of citations you found on your topic. Show students how some articles are available in full-text and others only have the citation and an abstract.

• Show students the option to email an article if it is in full-text.  Show how to email to multiple email addresses.

• (You may choose to only work with full-text today, OR show students FindText@NCSU link)  NOTE: If you choose to show the FindText@NCSU, plan for an extra 5-10 minutes for this lesson. 

• Click on an article link to show students subject terms. 

5.      Have students complete their worksheets.

• Students should follow the same procedures discussed with the sample search.  If there are enough computers, have students work on their own to complete the worksheet.  If not, allow students to work in pairs or groups of no more than 3 to complete their worksheets. (It is best for students to have practice searching the databases by actually using the computers themselves if possible.) 

6.      Explain that there are two sample search topics distributed among the students. When students are finished you will ask for volunteers to show the articles they found. Students will then compare and contrast the articles found as a class, and look at the use of different search strategies.

7.      Walk around the class as students work, answering any questions they might have. Allow enough time (at least 10-15 minutes) for students to complete the worksheet.

8.      When students are done, choose at least one person from each group to explain their search topic, the search statement they used, and the article they chose. 

• Were the articles directly on topic?  How could search statements be made more effective? 

9.      Compare and contrast student findings.  Were the articles similar in any way?  How were they different?  Did students use the same search statements?  How did students use Boolean searches to broaden or narrow their searches? 

• Ask students if their articles were in full-text.  Were they able to email the article to themselves?  If not, was there an abstract available?

Closure (Time = 5 minutes)

• Remind students that it is important to break down their searches into smaller terms when working on their research assignments. 
• Encourage students to talk with librarians either at the Reference Desk or through online chat if they need help finding articles.  Show students the Ask-A-Librarian services at NSCU.
• Summarize the main points of the lesson.
• Collect student handouts (optional).

Assessment:

Student Assessment

-Assess students by evaluating their completion of the assigned section of LOBO and/or optionally by assessing their handouts.

-Also assess students based on their participation and discussion in class.

Supporting Files:

• Conducting the Search-Find Articles Handout1.doc
  Conducting the Search- Finding Articles Handout 1
• Conducting the Search-Find Articles Handout2.doc
  Conducting the Search- Finding Articles Handout 2

Standards:

ACRL Standards (Higher Education IL Standards)

Accesses needed information effectively and efficiently

• Constructs and implements effectively-designed search strategies
• Retrieves information online or in person using a variety of methods
• Refines the search strategy if necessary