This week’s reading covers research design, methods, collecting data, and the basics of understanding data. It will be covered, along with other material in Quiz 5, available in Week 14 and due on May 4.
This week’s assignment makes sure you can conduct two additional types of searches for secondary research: subject searches and citation traces. The video listed in your learning activities reviews exactly how to conduct the searches.
Learning Activities:
1. Reading: Duesbery & Twyman, Parts 6 & 7
2. Also, watch: Advanced Searching Video with Claire Nickerson
In addition to discussing subject searches and citation tracing in this video, Claire also demonstrates how to find specific articles (11:16) and how to find OER articles in Google Scholar (14:16).
Assignments:
- Week 12 Blog Post
- Week 10 & 11 Replies
Week 12 Blog Post — Last Two Search Types:
- Conduct at least one subject search. Discussed at the start of the video.
- Conduct at least one backward and forward citation trace. Discussed about nine minutes into the video.
- Create an appropriate blog post to document the searches.
Your blog post should:
- Use appropriate categorization, tagging, and visuals.
- Remind us of your search topic
- Tell us if these searches proved helpful.
- Document a subject search:
- What database did you use?
- What source, identified with a full APA citation, led you to a subject term to use?
- How many new sources did you find?
- Document a citation trace:
- What database did you use?
- What source, identified with a full APA citation, did you trace? (It must be a different source than the one used in the subject search.)
- How many sources cited it?
- How many sources did it cite?
- NOTE: You can use Google Scholar for this IF you check three other potential databases first to see they will not work. For full credit, discuss that search and why the databases didn’t work in your post.
Other than noting the two sources you used in these two searches, you do not need to list any sources you found. However, you are welcome to do so.
Post Replies
No replies last week, but let’s get back to this now. Review a Week 10 and/or Week 11 post from two members of your discussion group. Provide them with a little feedback on their searching techniques, searching ideas, sources, or general blogging style. As long as you have two replies across the two weeks, full credit for the Week 10/11 Reply assignment.
NEW TIP: In case you have a confusing database, my librarian friends have confirmed that IF your database doesn’t have “Subject Terms,” it may have “Descriptors,” in that case, the Descriptors are what you should use for Subject Terms.