Mary E. Brown, Ph.D., Professor
Information Science

Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515

Department of Information and Library Science
Fax: 1.203.392-5780 / Phone: 1.203.392-5781
Toll Free: 1-888-500-SCSU, then press 4

NOTE: Please print a copy of this page and keep it nearby for ready reference.

UNIT 3 READING ASSIGNMENT

LECTURE: Read the lecture notes below (then take a quiz on the material).

READINGS IN TEXT: Read chapter 3 (pp 51-71) in List-Handley (then take a quiz on the material)

UNIT 3 WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

This week you are going to revise the draft you wrote in Week 1. Just as you followed a Writing Process (Big 6), you will now follow a Revision Process.

Before you begin to revise your paper, I would like you to print and read the following:

• Revising Drafts
• Reorganizing Drafts

The following schedule is offered to help you manage your time and the work:

Day 1

1. Check the focus of the paper: Is it appropriate to the assignment? Is the topic too big or too narrow? Do you stay on track through the entire paper? Do you still agree with the focus and message the paper delivers? Should it be modified in light of something you discovered as you wrote the paper? Does it make a sophisticated, provocative point, or does it just say what anyone could say if given the same topic? Should the focus or message be changed altogether? Confirm the paper's focus or define a new focus, rewriting it as a question.
2. List new information you will need to find.
3. List possible information sources.
4. Select the best sources.

Day 2

1. Check your information: Are all your facts accurate? Are any of your statements misleading? Have you provided enough detail to satisfy readers' curiosity? Have you cited all your information appropriately?
2. Locate the selected sources, including through finding appropriate subject headings.
3. Find information within each source.
4. Engage information in the source.
5. Extract inforamation from the multiple sources, using a graphic organizer.

Day 3

1. Check the organization: Does your paper follow a pattern that makes sense? Do the transitions move your readers smoothly from one point to the next? Do the topic sentences of each paragraph appropriately introduce what that paragraph is about? Would your paper work better if you moved some things around? (For more information on organization see: Reorganizing Drafts)
2. Organize the information from the various sources into a logical sequence, perhaps following an outline format.
3. Write a draft linking the various pieces of information into a coherent telling.
4. Revise the draft for a better telling/reading.

Day 4

1. Check the balance within your paper: Are some parts out of proportion with others? Do you spend too much time on one trivial point and neglect a more important point? Do you give lots of detail early on and then let your points get thinner by the end?
2. Check that you have kept your promises to your readers: Does your paper follow through on what the thesis promises? Do you support all the claims in your thesis? Are the tone and formality of the language appropriate for your audience?
3. Check your conclusion: Does the last paragraph tie the paper together smoothly and end on a stimulating note, or does the paper just die a slow, redundant, lame, or abrupt death?
4. Evaluate the paper. [How effective was your work?]
5. Evaluate the research process. [How efficient was your research activity?]

Day 5

1. Proofread your paper. Here are two resources that are very useful in proofreading (please print and read both):
   • Reverse Outlining: An Exercise for Taking Notes and Revising Your Work
   • Proofreading Your Writing .
2. Be sure you have included a Bibliography or List of References, giving the sources you used.
3. Paste your final draft into the threaded discussion area of this unit.

UNIT 3 RESOURCE GUIDE ASSIGNMENT

You are to create a Resource Guide to your major or primary minor area of academic study. The Resource Guide will 1) help you, and possibly other students, identify resources in a broad area of study and 2) list specific tools and sources in a given library (such as Buley Library) that may help locate books, magazine, journal, and newspaper articles for research in this area.

This week you are to decide on the subject area your Resource Guide will cover, devise a title for your Resource Guide, and write an abstract explains what the Guide will do and where the specific sources will be found (e.g. the name of the library).

UNIT 3 LECTURE

Reference and Information Sources

Reference, from the verb refer, means to turn to for aid or information. A reference, therefore, can be a person or a thing (such as a book or journal or database). A library, then, is a reference collection because it is selected, organized, and arranged to facilitate finding information.

The Reference section of the library is often touted as "one of the most useful collections in any library." In the Reference section you will find resources that contain information: encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, handbooks, manuals; and resources that tell you where information can be found: indexes and bibliographies.

When you visit the Reference section of the library, ask at the Reference Desk to find out if there is a Ready Reference section of frequently used reference books that are stored near the Reference Desk. If so, look at the resources that comprise the Ready Reference collection.

Also check to see if the library has a Reserve section where materials are held that circulate for a limited time (such as for an hour or overnight). Learn how to determine if a sources you cannot find might be held on reserve.

How to choose a reference source

Before heading to the library, rewrite in question form the topic about which you wish to find information. For example, If need to write a paper on pets. After careful consideration I rewrite the topic as How are pets used to assist people with ailments, disabilities, disease, and disorders? Then ask yourself:

• What kind of information is needed to answer the questions? (definition, statistics, explanation, brief summary)
• In what subject area does the question belong? (a single field or in several fields)
• What factors affect the question? (date, location, economic conditions, historical events)
• What kind of reference source is needed? (dictionary, encyclopedia, yearbook, atlas, several reference sources)

How to evaluate the usefulness of a reference source

The usefulness of a reference source for a particular purpose may be determined by answering these basic questions:

• Are those who produced the subject matter specialists in their fields as indicated by the ac academic or other positions they hold?
• Is the usefulness of the subject matter affected by time, and if so, is this source out of date?
• Is it arranged for quick and easy use, with adequate index and cross-references?
• Does it provide text alone, or does it include useful illustrative material as well?
• How is the material treated (simple, technical, scholarly)?
• Is there any indication of bias in the treatment of the material?
• Does the source provide bibliographies, and are they up to date?
• Is the print clear and legible?

Resource Guide

A Resource Guide is a tool to help individuals identify resources in a certain area. A Resource Guide will explain the types of resources that would be useful for that subject or topic, where to find them, and how to use them. It would also give examples of specific resources, such as books or journal articles.

A Resource Guide would include a variety of different kinds of resources: books, journals, databases, Websites, people. A Resource Guide can be printed on paper or developed as a Webpage with direct links to certain electronic sources.

During the rest of this term, you are to create a Resource Guide to your major or primary minor area of academic study. The Resource Guide will help you and other students identify resources in a broad area of study and list specific tools and sources in a given library (such as Buley Library) that may help locate books, journals, newspaper articles, and other resources for research in this area.

Your Research Guide will contain at least the following:

• TITLE
  Example:
  NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES: A Buley Library Collection Resource Guide
• CREDITS
  (Who prepared the guide, including acknowledgement/thank you of others who helped)
• ABSTRACT
  Example:
  This guide is designed to help students identify resources in the area of Native American studies. Sources listed below represent a sampling of Buley Library's collection. The cross-disciplinary nature of Native American studies means that relevant titles are often dispersed throughout the collection. You can locate books, films, music recordings and magazine, journal and newspaper articles by using some of the tools listed. Use CONSULS, BuleyÕs online catalog, to locate books, films, sound recordings and serial publications. Use the CSU System databases, the library's print, Internet or CD-ROM indexes to locate journal articles, newspaper articles, book chapters, dissertations and published papers.
• RESOURCES
  • Online Catalogs and Databases (give names of catalogs/databases and a brief description of the contents of each resource and how to obtain help in locating materials or instruction in using the catalogs and databases)
  • Subject headings (give Library of Congress Subject Headings and there coverage as well as an overview of subject headings, where to find them, how to use them)
  • Government Publications (where they are located and what information they contain)
  • Directories, Encyclopedias and Handbooks (give an overview of what kind of information is available in these resources and list specific sources and their call numbers; where appropriate, give notes on coverage of and how to use each resource)
  • Bibliographies (give an overview of what kind of information is available in these resources and list specific sources and their call numbers; where appropriate, give notes on coverage of and how to use each resource)
  • World Wide Web (WWW) (how to access and sample resources, including an annotation about the specific site)
  • Non-book/non-print resources (give an overview of what kind of information is available in these resources and list specific sources and their call numbers; where appropriate, give notes on coverage of and how to use each resource)
  • Other types of resources (give an overview of what kind of information is available in these resources and list specific sources and their call numbers; where appropriate, give notes on coverage of and how to use each resource)

Each week you will complete a section of the Resource Guide. By the end of the term, you should have a very useful, and impressive, product. Sample Resource Guide

UNIT 3 FIELD TRIP

Visit your library. Using the class numbers you found last week, locate the books in the REFERENCE SECTION of the library's collection. (If you are not sure where the Reference Section is located, ask one of the librarians.) Look over the books you find under this class number.

UNIT 3 QUIZ

Test what you learned from this week's reading.

This is a short 5 question quiz covering the assigned reading for this unit. Take a maximum of 10 minutes. Some questions require you to apply what is learned from the readings. Other questions ask you to recall specific material. After you have taken the quiz, go back and check you answers in the text.