Library Research Guide for CRP 109.01:
Waiting for Water: Rhetorics, Reports and Realities of Drinking Water in the South
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/crp109km.html
- Where do you get your information?
- What kind of information do you need?
- How do you use and process this information?
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Research Skills and Techniques:
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Beyond Google
Where do you get your Information?
The Web can provide excellent starting places to do your research.
But if you are only using Google and Wikipedia to find your information, you may not be finding all of the information that is available on your topic. Especially if you are being asked to do scholarly research.
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Three very important facts to remember about information:
- Search Engines only retrieve a portion of the information available on the web.
A lot of useful information is not freely available on the web. It is proprietary, meaning someone--an author, a publisher, or institution--owns the information.
- Not all digitized information is created equal.
You need to critically analyze and evaluate the information you intend to use.
- Not all information has been digitized.
There are still books in the Library. And other print and analog resources that do not exist on the Web.
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Research Strategies
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Library and Information Resources:
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The Cornell University Library Gateway is the Library's homepage on the World Wide Web. It is the Library's interface for connecting Cornell faculty, students, and staff to our digital and print collections.
Use the Gateway to:
- Connect to our digital library--thousands of databases, e-books, e-journals, online exhibits, and collections.
- Navigate the physical library--20 libraries, 7.5 million books, maps, microforms, and media.
- Learn more about the information Services the Library provides to connect you with the information you need.
- Contact our knowledgeable staff who are here to assist you with any questions you have.
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Reference Books and Databases - Find background information
Background resources like encyclopedias and dictionaries will help you understand the broader context of your research and tell you in general terms what is known about your topic.
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Use these Reference databases to find and access articles in a variety of encyclopedias and subject dictionaries:
Selected sources for your class
- Shiklomanov , I. A. and John C. Rodda, eds. World Water Resources at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press [for] UNESCO, 2003.
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- Engineering Library GB661.2 .W67 2003
- This volume provides a modern assessment of the state of the world’s water resources.
- Smith, Zachary and Grenetta Thomassey. Freshwater Issues: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002.
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- Mann Library TD345 .S65x 2002
- Presents an American (US) viewpoint and most of the examples are from the US.
- State of the World. New York: Norton, c1984- .
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- Olin Library HC59.B87 S7, also in Uris Library and Mann Library
- "A Worldwatch Institute report on progress toward a sustainable society."
- The World’s Water: The Biennial Report on Freshwater Resources. Washington, DC: Island Press, 1998- .
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- Mann Library TD345 .W674
- "Produced biennially, The World's Water provides a timely examination of the key issues surrounding freshwater resources and their use. Each new volume identifies and explains the most significant current trends worldwide, and offers the best data available on a variety of water-related topics." (Amazon description)
- The CQ Researcher. Washington, D.C. : Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1991- .
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- CQ Researcher provides background reports and articles on current events and topical issues.
- Portals to the World: Links to Electronic Resources from Around the World. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 2001- .
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- Portals to the World contain selective links providing authoritative, in-depth information about the nations and other areas of the world. They are arranged by country or area with the links for each sorted into a wide range of broad categories.
- World Fact Book. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 1995- .
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- World factbook is produced annually by the Central Intelligence Agency for the use of U.S. Government officials. Subject coverage includes: Geography, people, government, economy, transportation communication and defense.
For additional Reference sources
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Library Catalog - Find books on your topic
The Cornell University Library Catalog is a database that contains records for materials held in 19 of the 20 of libraries that collectively comprise the Cornell University Library. The Weill Cornell Medical Library, located in New York City, has a separate catalog.
Use the Library Catalog to:
- Find records for books, journals, maps, government documents, DVDs, databases, networked resources (e-journals, e-books, digital collections), sound recordings, etc.
- Obtain call numbers to locate physical materials. (books, print journals, Reserve items, DVDs, etc.)
- Note any special locations. (Periodicals Reading Room, Reserve, Oversize shelves, etc.)
- Check dates and volume numbers to see what issues we have in our holdings.
- Link to full text digital materials from their catalog records.
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This symbol tells you that a resource is either available full text online or that an online Table of Contents exists for the material.
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Services linked from the Library Catalog
- MyLibrary Customized services for managing your Library account, renewing materials, and organizing and managing information.
- Requesting Items (Recalls, Library Annex, Library to Library Book Delivery, Borrow Direct, Interlibrary Loan, and MyDocumentDelivery)
- Interlibrary Services Borrow materials--books, journal articles, DVDs, etc.--from other libraries.
- Borrow Direct Specialized rapid interlibrary loan for BOOKS.
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Find It! - Find Articles, Databases, e-Journals, and Images
- Provides access to over 450 databases.
- Allows you to search multiple databases simultaneously.
- Allows you to search for articles, images, and books on a topic simultaneously.
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Article Search Options:
- Use the Quick search to do a simple search from a set of pre-selected databases, or to find a specific database for in-depth searching.
- Use the Subject Area search to find articles in one or more databases in a particular subject area.
- For more precise searching, click the Advanced Search link on any of the subject area lists.
Database Search Options:
- SEARCH for databases with the Quick search form or the Advanced Search form on any of the subject area lists to find specific databases for in-depth searching.
- BROWSE for databases by subject. Use the Subject Area search or the A-Z List of Databases to find one or more databases in a particular subject area.
Get it! Cornell - Use these links to get articles available online.
Recommended databases:
- Multidisciplinary
- Specialized Subjects
- Water Resources Abstracts Bethesda: CSA, 1967- .
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- Water resources abstracts (WRA) is prepared from materials collected by over 50 water research centers and institutes in the United States. Includes water resource economics, ground and surface water hydrology, metropolitan water resources planning and management, and water-related aspects nuclear radiation and safety.
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- e-Journal Collections
- JSTOR New York, NY: JSTOR, c1996-.
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JSTOR is a fully-searchable database containing the back issues of several hundred scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, music, ecology and botany, business and other fields.
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- Project Muse Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, c1995- .
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Project Muse provides access to the full text of journals covering literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and others.
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- Search or browse the 26,000+ e-Journals licensed by the Cornell University Library.
- Image
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 Distribution of the world's water
(World Resources Institute/WHO/UNPD)
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Internet Search Engines
Know better.
- Use the web in an academic way.
- Look for bibliographies. (e.g. Wikipedia Reference lists)
- Use keywords from the sites that you find to create refined searches for more specific information. Try those keywords in Library databases, including the Library Catalog.
- Find web resources that provide scholarly information.
Look for Get it! Cornell links to access full text articles from Google Scholar.
Using Google Scholar to locate Cornell University Library resources
- Try your searches in a variety of Search Engines. Each searches the web for information differently.
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Evaluating Sources
Be Critical. Analyze and evaluate your search results. Have you found the most authoritative, accurate, objective, up-to-date, scholarly information available on your research topic?
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Citing Sources
Give credit where credit is due.
By properly citing the sources you use in your research projects you are both identifying the resources that you used to complete your work and you are formally acknowledging the authors or creators of those resources. This allows others to find what you have found and to verify your research.
Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity
Here is information about the two citation styles most frequently used at Cornell:
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APA citation style
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Publication Manual of the
American Psychological
Association (5th ed.)
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MLA citation style
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MLA Handbook for Writers of
Research Papers
(6th ed.)
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For other citation questions, see the Chicago Manual of Style Online and Online!.
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- RefWorks is a web-based program that allows you to easily collect, manage, and organize bibliographic references and incorporate them into your writing, properly formatted according to the style of your choice.
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Writing Workshop
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Research and Reference Help
Ask your questions in person, by phone, by e-mail, or through an online Chat.
In-class exercise:
Search academic writing in your major field and download any two papers that are somehow related to the course topic - drinking water scarcity. Select those that are closer to your focus in the literature review that you are preparing.
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September 17, 2007
Lance Heidig, ljh5@cornell.edu
URL: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/crp109km.html
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