Author Archives: Anne Leonard

Notes from today, and reading for Monday 11/18

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Today we discussed the rationale for documentation and citation. We broke into groups to discuss Hauptman; we’ll wrap up our discussion of Hauptman on Monday, so be sure to bring the article and any notes you made on your small group discussion & questions that you generated. Slides from today are here.

About blogging amnesty: you can get credit for the blog posts that were due on 11/4 (research journal) and 11/6 (comment) if you post them by 10 a.m. on Friday 11/15. For the research journal blog post, make sure that the title of your post indicates the original due date for the post.

On Monday 11/18 we will continue our discussion of documentation, this time focusing on standards, methods and styles for documenting text and non-text media. Please read Badke, chapter 9 and review the Purdue OWL sections on MLA and APA style.

As I mentioned in class and posted in my last post, the research paper draft is now due by 10 a.m.  on Thursday, November 21, emailed to me as an attachment.

~Prof. Leonard

 

Summary of today (11/11) and reading/blogging for Wednesday 11/13

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Today we discussed the writing of an academic research paper. Slides from today are available here.

On Wednesday, we’ll begin our discussion of documentation and citation, starting with the rationale for documentation and citation. Please read Hausman, pp. 7-13, which I distributed in class; if you missed class get the book on reserve in the library (call number PN171 .F56 H38 2008). Also read Bugeja & Dimitrova, chapter 5″ What, in fact, causes footnotes to vanish? (pp. 33-39 of eBook available from City Tech Library catalog). Your blogging assignment is one reading response blog post.

The research paper draft is now due as an email attachment sent to me by 10 a.m. on THURSDAY, November 21!

Reading and blogging for Monday, November 11

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On Monday, we’ll discuss writing a research paper. I’ll distribute guidelines for the research paper draft in class. Please read Badke, Badke Ch. 10 and Appendix 1 pp. 223-257. Your blogging assignment is one research journal blog post in response to the following prompt:

This week and last week we read about and worked on these tools and strategies to find scholarly and other information:

  • advanced internet searching
  • searching library catalogs
  • searching article databases.

What have you learned in these classes that’s new to you?
How do you see yourself using your new skills outside of our course?

Reminder about November 6 readings and assignments

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I hope you all enjoyed Monday’s discussion on how to evaluate information sources with my colleague Prof. Ian Beilin. On Wednesday, Prof. Maura Smale will lead a discussion on why to evaluate information and facilitate the evaluation game in class. The research paper outline is due by the beginning of class on Wednesday, November 6 as an email attachment to me. Guidelines for the research paper draft are now on the course site. The research paper draft is due on Monday, November 18.

For Wednesday 11/6, please read Fister, The Devil in the Details and Grimmelman, The Google Dilemma (note Download link on that age). Your blogging assignment is to comment on at least one blog post.

~Prof. L

Today’s summary, and assignments and reading for next week

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Today we discussed finding articles and other content from library databases. Slides from today area available here. I distributed guidelines for the research paper outline, due Wednesday, November 6. Here are some suggested databases that may be useful as you search for articles on your research topics:

Remember that the annotated bibliography is due by noon on Friday 11/1, emailed to me as an attachment. I’ll be away at a conference next week, but my colleagues Prof. Beilin and Prof. Smale (Monday and Wednesday, respectively) will be teaching those days. Next week we’ll discuss how and why to evaluate information. For Monday, please review the following websites on how to evaluate information:

UC Berkeley Library, Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask
Cornell University Libraries, Critically analyzing information sources.

Your blogging assignment is one research journal blog post in response to the following prompt:

Do a search on your research topic in at least one internet search engine and one library database. What words or phrases did you use to search?
What are the similarities and differences between the results of your two searches?

~Prof. Leonard

Today’s summary, and assignments for Wednesday 10/30

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Today we discussed searching (and finding!) in library catalogs. We discussed the CUNY library catalog, the Library of Congress Classification Outline, WorldCat, and reviewed LibX, a browser add-on to make your searching more efficient.

On Wednesday, we’ll discuss searching in library databases. Please read Badke, chapter 5 (pp. 94-120). Since databases have great potential for your discover of relevant, high-quality scholarly sources, here is a quick preview:

Remember, the due date for the annotated bibliography is now Friday, November 1. Please email your assignment to me as an attachment by noon that day

New due date for the Annotated Bibliography

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You all probably saw my earlier email message, but I wanted to make sure you all know this: I decided to change the due date for the annotated bibliography from Wednesday 10/30 to Friday 11/1 by noon, sent to me as an email attachment. You’ll need Wednesday’s discussion and activity on searching library databases to complete the assignment.

Following up on our discussion of advanced internet searching last week, I located this blog post on clever Google search tricks. Useful stuff!

~Prof. L

Summary of today, and reading/blogging for Monday, October 28

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Today we discussed advanced internet searching using scholarly search engines and portals, and spent time discussing (and using) Google Scholar and LibX. Slides from today are available here.

On Monday we’ll discuss searching and finding in library catalogs. Please read Badke Ch. 5 pp. 74-82 & 89-93 and review the Library of Congress Classification Outline.

Your blogging assignment is one research journal blog post. Please write one blog post in response to the following prompt:
In class today you tried out advanced search strategies and scholarly internet resources from the Badke reading to search for sources on your research topic. Describe one advanced strategy or scholarly resource you used.
Did you find different information sources than you found doing a regular internet search (just using Google, Bing, etc.), and if so, how are they different? Did you encounter any difficulties that you haven’t encountered in a regular internet search?

Remember, the annotated bibliography is due on Wednesday, October 30. Please get in touch if you have questions about the assignment.

~Prof. Leonard

By the way, happy Open Access Week! This video is a great summary of Open Access and scholarly communication:

Today’s summary, and reading/homework for Wednesday 10/21

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Today we continued our discussion of the research process, refining your topic, and creating search strategies. We spent time using easybib.com to create and manage bibliographies, and we also used bubbl.us to do some concept mapping. Slides from today are available here.

On Wednesday we’ll discuss — and do — advanced internet searching. Please read Badke Ch. 6 (all) and Ch. 7 pp. 161-164. Please view the web search strategies video from Common Craft. Remember, the final version of your research topic proposal is due at the start of class on Wednesday! See the assignment guidelines or get in touch with me if you have questions about the assignment.

~Prof. Leonard

Summary of today (10/16), and reading/blogging for Monday 10/21

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Today we began our discussion of the research process, focusing on selecting and narrowing a topic, and deciding upon preliminary research strategies. Slides from today are available here.

For Monday 10/21, please read the following in Badke: Appendix 1 pp. 223-257, and review chapter 3 pp. 42-48.

Your first research journal blog post is due on Monday. Please write one blog post of at least 100 words that addresses these questions:

You are working on choosing a topic and developing a research question for your paper. What difficulties (if any) have you encountered as you work on your research proposal?
What strategies (if any) have you used successfully during this work?
What questions (if any) do you have about the assignment?

Looking forward to reading your topic proposal drafts! I will try to get comments and provisional grades to you before Monday.

~Prof. L.