Math and Science Academy 2008

Library Component

Jennifer Paliatka, Reference and Instruction Librarians

Objectives

• To gain an understanding about what information literacy is and why it is important
• To actively use library techniques and tools to access different types of information, both in print and electronic format
• To evaluate different types and sources of information

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Goals

• To create an 7-8 minute oral presentation on a pathogenic bacterium.
• To create an 8 slide Powerpoint presentation that will accompany the oral presentation. The first slide must contain the first names of all of the group members, Math and Science Academy 2007, and Elmhurst College. The last slide must contain your bibliography. You must provide a print handout of your  presentation for the instructors. Also, all group members must present a portion of presentation (no "designated" speakers).

• To create a list (bibliography) of four different sources on a bacterium to be determined in collaboration with the Biology professors.
  • You must include four resources, only two of which can be web pages
  • Include enough information about the item so that it can be found easily by other people:
    • Web page
      • URL or web address (http://www.mulletsgalore.com/)
      • Title of web page (Mullets Galore)
      • Date accessed (July 17, 2003)
    • Article
      • Author (John Smith)
      • Title of article (Why middle children rule the world)
      • Journal, magazine, or newspaper name (Newsweek)
      • Date of the article, or volume and issue number (July 17, 2003 or Vol. 3 No. 4)
      • Database the article comes from, if applicable (Academic Search Complete)

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Techniques

Brainstorming

• What do I need to find for the assignment?
• Is my topic too broad or too specific?
• Can I find information on my topic in the library or on the Internet?
• What search terms do I use?
• Where can I get background information on a topic?
  
  

Finding Books

• How do I find books on my topic?

  • How can reference books help me?

    • There are often bibliographies at the end of articles; these bibliographies can lead you to other useful books and articles. Reference books can also give a general overview of an issue, discuss the sub-topics of larger issues and define terms.
    • How can I find more reference books on my topic?
      • Try browsing the Reference section.
      • Browse the shelves around a particular book you like; call numbers tend to keep books on similar topics together.
      • Search I-Share using your discipline (like art or psychology) combined with the word "encyclopedia" or "dictionary."
  • Use I-Share to find books held in the Elmhurst College library as well as books owned by 70 other Illinois academic and research libraries.
    • Quick Searches
      • A good way to start looking for books.
      • You can either look for particular items (such as a particular title), or you can do keywords searching.
      • Use the main words describing your topic.
      • For example, to find books about phonics, type the word phonics (with or without capitals).
      • The word phonics can be anywhere in the description of the item, like the name of the publisher.
      • To do a more focused search on, say, phonics and whole language learning, select Boolean, and type in phonics and "whole learning"
    • Browse Subject Searches
      • A more precise way of searching.
      • I-Share uses Library of Congress (LC) Subject Headings to arrange and organize information.
      • Subject headings are very specific; you can guess what they might be, but you can't make them up.
      • Some examples of subject headings:
        • Bacteria
        • Microorganisms
        • Microbiology

Finding Articles from Magazines, Newspapers, and Scholarly Journals

• How do I find articles on a particular topic without looking through every single issue of every periodical that the library owns?
  • Use an article database - See the list under Tools
• How do I find an article that isn't full text in this database?
• What if the article isn't available electronically anywhere?
• Where are old issues of magazines, newspapers, and journals kept in the library?

Finding Web Sites

• What search engine should I use?
• Google, Alta Vista, Yahoo, MSN. What is the difference?
• How do I find trustworthy websites?
  • Try a web subject directory, such as Librarians' Internet Index
• How can I get more or fewer results?
• How can using Boolean terms (AND, OR, NOT) help me improve my search?
• What are Key Words? Why can't the computer understand the sentence I tried to search for?

Evaluating Information

• How can I tell that a book, article or web site is appropriate for my purpose?
• Why do I need to evaluate web sites?
• How do I evaluate a website?

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Tools

• Use I-Share to find books held in the Elmhurst College library as well as books owned by 70other Illinois academic and research libraries. 
• Specific books to look at:
• Reference Books
  • Bacterial Genomes and Infectious Diseases R 616.9201 B131 2006
  • Cambridge Historical Dictionary of Disease R 616.009 C178 2003
  • Concise Encyclopedia Biology R 574.03 A134c
  • Desk Encyclopedia of Microbiology R 579.03 D459
  • Encyclopedia of Infectious Diseases  R 616.903 T939e 2003
  • Encyclopedia of Sexually Transmitted Diseases R 616.951003 M821e 2005
  • Exposure: A Guide to Sources of Infections R 616.9 S935e 2006
  • Statistical Handbook on Infectious Diseases R 614.0727 W343s 2003
• Main Collection Books
  • Don't Touch that Doorknob! 616.9401 B878d
  • Emerging Infectious Diseases 616.9 E53 2002
  • A Field Guide to Bacteria 579.3 D996f
  • Intimate Strangers 579 I61
  • Killer Germs 616.01 Z72k 1996
  • Microbes and People 579.03 S227m
  • The Microbial Challenge 616.01 K89m 2002
  • Microterrors 616.9041 H325m 2004
  • The Other End of the Microscope 579.3 K82o
  • Resistance: the Human Struggle Against Infection 616.9041 G911r 2006
• CQ Researcher
  An excellent source for current hot topics. Each individual issue contains historical background, a timeline, current status, and potential future developments. The bibliographies are especially helpful in finding useful sources.
• Academic Search Complete
  An article database that contains descriptions of scholarly and popular articles across the disciplines. Many of the articles are available full text online.
  
  
  
  
  
• Librarians Internet Index
  A subject directory of Internet resources. The sites listed have been evaluated for their usefulness, and are briefly described.
• Google
  A handy and popular search engine; also a great place to find images. Sites found through Google have not been evaluated, so it is up to the user to gauge a site's usefulness and veracity.
• Duke University Library - Use this web site to help you assemble your APA bibliography.

• The "Bad Bug" Book - from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• CDC Public Health Image Library
• Explore the Microscopic World of Health Science
• Microbiology and Bacteriology: The World of Microbes
• Todar's Online Textbook of Bacteriology
  

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The completed 2006 Math and Science Academy Pathogen PowerPoint Presentations are viewable at http://www.elmhurst.edu/library/courses/workshoppages//PPPT2006.htm

Created 16 July, 2003 by Ayanna Gaines
Last Updated 22 July, 2008 by Jennifer Paliatka
Questions? Comments? Contact Jennifer Paliatka.