Lesson 2 Assignment
Due: October 31
NAME:
Each question is worth 1
point unless otherwise noted.
Total points for this assignment: 28 (plus
optional 10 points extra credit)
Please answer all of the questions below and then email your completed
assignment to your instructor (either:
I. SHORT ANSWER
1) True or False: A library OPAC gives lists of books as well as lists
of magazine articles.
2) Give one reason that explains
why books continue to be important in research.
3) What does OPAC stand for?
4) Why is it important to know how to use a
book’s index?
5) Bibliographic records are composed of
fields. What is a field?
6) Name any one field of an OPAC
bibliographic record.
II. FIND A BOOK ON YOUR SUBJECT OR TOPIC
As discussed in the
reading, you can search an OPAC if you have either a broad subject in
mind or a focused research topic.
For this exercise, you will search the PLS online catalog and find one
book related to your subject or topic.
Thus, you have the choice of doing your search either for:
7) Begin by entering below
either your broad subject OR the
focused topic that you plan to research on the PLS catalog. Enter only one
(subject OR topic), not both.
BROAD SUBJECT:
(Example: astronomy)
-OR-
FOCUSED TOPIC:
(Example: “What effect did the Challenger
and Columbia space shuttle disasters have on NASA’s plans for human
exploration of space?”)
8). What were the exact
search words you used?
Examples:
Single word (to search on a broad subject):
cancer, women, multiculturalism
Phrase (to search on a broad subject): global warming, nuclear proliferation,
capital punishment
Search statement combining single words and/or
phrases: (to search on a focused topic):
global warming AND fossil
fuels
global warming AND
automobiles
cancer AND smoking
9. How many
results did your search retrieve for all of the PLS libraries?
Select
one book that looks relevant to your research subject or topic and identify the following information for
this book:
10. Author(s)
of the book (if no author is listed, give editor(s). If no editor(s), write
“N/A”.)
11. Title
of the book (Tip: Do not include information after the / in the title field)
13. Name
of publisher
14. Year
of publication
15. Is
this book available at Skyline Library?
(Tip: On the full record for the book, you will probably have to scroll
down to find the location, i.e. library or libraries, call number and status for the book.)
16. If it
is available at Skyline, what is the complete call number?
- If it is not available at Skyline, name one library that does have it and give the complete call number of the book at that
library.
17. From the full bibliographic record for the book,
click on: “Reviews and more” (on the
right side of the page) to see if any book reviews and/or a table of contents
are provided for this book.
a) Is there one or more book reviews shown for this book? YES or NO
b) If yes, give the publication name and date (or website address) for
the review.
c) Is there a Table of Contents shown for this book? YES or NO
18.
Return to the full record for the book and examine the subject(s) (listed near
the bottom of the record) carefully. In many cases you will discover subject headings
relevant to your research topic that you probably wouldn't have thought of on
your own. List the subject headings
for the book you selected. (2
points)
19.
Select a subject heading that seems relevant to your research subject or topic.
Name the subject heading you chose:
Click on that heading.
An alphabetical list of subject headings, including the heading you chose, will
be displayed.
20. Click on the same subject heading (or on another subject, if you see
something that looks more relevant) and list the title and author(s)
of one other book related to your subject or
topic that you find under that heading. (2 points)
(If you don’t find an additional book under the first subject heading you
chose, go back and try another.)
DRAFT VERSION OF YOUR
RESEARCH QUESTION
21. Based on your
search results on Assignment #1 and this assignment, write a draft version of
your research question. (If you want to choose a subject or topic
different from what you used in Assignment #1 and this assignment, that is
OK.) The question should include two to four concepts.
(See Guidelines
For Choosing A Topic for help on this.)
You will receive feedback on your draft research question from your instructor
before you use it in Assignment 3.
Write your research question below. (For
example: How does violence on television news shows affect children?)
(1 point)
III. CRITICAL THINKING /
REFLECTION
A main goal of this lesson is to help
you to learn how to find books on a subject or topic you might be interested in
researching.
22. Did the
book you found (in question 11) look like it would be useful (i.e. does it
appear to have relevant and good quality information) if you were
actually researching the topic or subject you listed in question 7? How could you tell? Give
specific information from the book’s title, subject headings, table of contents, summary,
review(s), and/or cover image that you used to make this judgment. Identify what specific evidence you used
and where the evidence was from. (5
points)
IV. OPTIONAL EXTRA
CREDIT (Complete the following steps to earn 10
points extra credit.)
23.
a. Check out the book you found in question 11 (either by going to a
library that has the book or by placing a hold on the book and having it sent
for you to pick up at Skyline or another library).
b. Look in
the book to see if there is an index and/or table of contents.
c. Then find
a listing in the index or table of contents that is related to a specific topic
on which you might want to focus your research.
d. Photocopy
the page from either the index or table of contents that has the relevant
listing you found.
e. Circle
the relevant listing on the photocopy.
f. Go to the
page or pages you identified from the index or table of contents page and find
a description of something about the topic on which you might want to focus
your research.
g. Photocopy
the page that has the description you are interested in.
h. On the
photocopy circle or underline the description you are interested in.
i. Write
one sentence on the photocopied page explaining what is interesting to you
about what you selected.
j. Submit
the two pages (with your name on them) to the instructor at Class Meeting #1.
last revised: 11-5-08
by Eric Brenner & Dennis Wolbers, Skyline College, San Bruno, CA
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