April 5th Workshop: From Finding Information to the PowerPoint Presentation

Outline of the Workshop: Finding and Using Quality Resources
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Dr. Marti Smith

Schedule: (15 mins. presentation and 15 mins. for questions and personal assistance)
10:00 Finding Information from Quality Sources: Library Subscription Databases

10:30 Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due (Citing sources, print and electronic; Avoiding Plagiarism and Other Intellectual Property Mistakes; Protecting Your Intellectual Property Rights)

11:00 Academic Research Sources to Inform Original Research (Google Scholar and Peer-reviewed Sources; Dissertations and Faculty Websites)

11:30 PowerPoint for Impact and Understanding

http://mmslearningplace.blogspot.com/


Part 1: Finding Information for Scholarly Research
If the goal is to identify current research in a particular area, then here are some of the steps you mind take.
1. Start with two or three of the database(s) and search for some key names or terms. For example, search for a scholar (Brenda Dervin); a method or theory (sense-making); and a methodological approach (participant observation).

2. Quickly note the results for quantity and quality. Document for later use the key terms, descriptors, technical terms, names of journals, or other aspects of your searches. Note the history feature in the EBSCO databases.

3. Review how to save, email, and print your results.
After some general searching, review your results and decide what to do next.


Part 2: Intellectual Property: Theirs, Yours, Mine
To become a part of the community of people who create new knowledge and cultivate the preservation of knowledge, the new scholar will need to learn the customs and conventions of his or her particular field. In the digital world, this is a special challenge. Today we will review some of the basics and invite you to continue to build your awareness and competences as you move through your studies.

1. Most of us will use APA style or a variation of it. http://www.apa.org
In submitting manuscripts, we can be guided by the conventions of the specific journal. Usually, copy editors guide the final revision of the manuscript.

2. What about one’s own intellectual property? Is it always necessary to sign away right to publishers? What about retaining copyright?


Part 3: Google Scholar for Scholarly Research http://scholar.google.com

1. Google Scholar and Citation Databases: What do new scholars need to know about patterns in scholarly communication? See a useful article on citation indexing in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation_index Also see the Web of Knowledge web site http://isiwebofknowledge.com/

2. Alvernia databases integrated into Google Scholar Review access to full text holdings through the Full Text Periodical Finder
Alvernia holdings and Google Book search http://books.google.com


Part 4: PowerPoint and Poster Presentations http://www.microsoft.com
1. Using a Pp template: Simple is best. Don’t read the slides.
2. Doing a poster presentation starting with Pp.
3. Pp and pdf