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Getting Started

Here is a plan for what we will cover today:

  • Go over assignment details.

  • Provide an overview of how to search LibrarySearch and Google Scholar for scholarly sources.

  • Learn the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly sources.

  • Practice information evaluation skills.

  • Talk about finding and using images and image citation.

  • Explore artificial intelligence as a research tool and its limitations.

  • Show a couple of different ways to get help if you have questions.

 

This session will hopefully support 2 research assignments:

Group Project: Social Conflict, Social Movements and Social Media

  • In groups, explore a social movement that utilized social media to drive change. 
  • You should cite at least 3 academic sources.
  • Create a 11 minute visual presentation.
  • Format in APA.

Movements you can write about:

 #Women2Drive (advocating women's right to drive in the Middle East)
• #IdleNoMore (honoring Indigenous sovereignty and protecting land and water)
• #StopFundingHate (opposing anti-migrant stances in British newspapers)
• #CancelCulture (examining mass canceling as a form of expressing disapproval and social
pressure)
• #FridaysForFuture (addressing the urgency of climate change)
• #FreeBritney (exploring issues related to conservatorship)
• #LoveWins (analyzing the impact of same-sex marriage advocacy)
• #OrangeTheWorld (addressing violence against women)
• #DressLikeAWoman (examining perceptions of attire based on gender)
• #BringBackOurGirls (advocating for the return of schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram)
• #OccupyWallStreet (exploring economic inequality and money's influence on politics)
• #FarmersProtest (analyzing the 2020-2021 Indian farmers' protest against farm acts and
corporate power)

Letter of Action

  • Choose a LAM space and provide examples of any observed barriers and their impact.
  • Provide recommendations on how to improve access. 
  • Support your analysis with at least 2 academic sources.
  • Letter should be around 3 pages double spaced and be addressed to leadership of the institution that you have chosen.

Using the Right Sources for your Assignments

Why using good sources matter...

When you endeavor to find sources related to a topic of interest for your academic writing, you are demonstrating a number of skills

  • You are able to synthesize a variety of information and integrate it into your own work
  • You are able to investigate the dialogue that has occurred related to an area of interest and engage in that conversation through your academic writing
  • Using good, credible reliable sources will elevate the accuracy and authority of your own work

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Information, in any format, is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method.  The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting produce reflects these differences (ACRL par. 13).

  • Information creations are valued differently depending on the context and purpose for which they are created
  • Audience matters. Certain things are created for specific purposes and don't make one format of information better. It is up to us to discern what information process best fits our information needs.
  • In your own creation process, understand that your choices in what type of information you use, impact the purpose for which the information product you create will be used and the message it conveys.

Source: Project Cora https://www.projectcora.org/assignment/information-spectrum

Take 3-5 minutes and sort these sources into the column that you think it would best fit (academic/scholarly or not academic). 

Source Sorting Activity (click on link)

Activity 2: Thinking Critically About Sources

 

For the following exercise, join the group that matches your birthday and complete the exercise.

Group 1 

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full), 

Consider the following:

  • What type of source is this? 
  • Is it scholarly? Tell us how you can tell.
  • What type of evidence do they use to support their argument/info? Data, academic sources personal opinions, etc.?
  • Who is the intended audience of this article? How does that impact how it is written?
  • How useful is this resource and why?

 

Group 2 

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full)

Consider the following:

  • What type of source is this? 
  • Is it scholarly? Tell us how you can tell.
  • What type of evidence do they use to support their argument/info? Data, personal opinions, etc.?
  • Who is the intended audience of this article? How does that impact how it is written?
  • How useful is this resource and why?

 

Group 3 

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full)

Consider the following:

  • What type of source is this?
  • Is it scholarly? Tell us how you can tell.
  • What type of evidence do they use to support their argument/info? Data, personal opinions, etc.?
  • Who is the intended audience of this article? How does that impact how it is written?
  • How useful is this resource and why?

Group 4 

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full)

Consider the following:

  • What type of source is this?
  • Is it scholarly? Tell us how you can tell.
  • What type of evidence do they use to support their argument/info? Data, personal opinions, etc.?
  • Who is the intended audience of this article? How does that impact how it is written?
  • How useful is this resource and why?

Please note: For assignments in this course, April wants you to choose academic sources.  

 

Types of literature to include
Scholarly Grey literature Professional or trade journals

Scholarly  journal articles:

  • published by experts in the field
  • evidence of original research
  • includes a literature review
  • possibly peer-reviewed

Scholarly books and book chapters

  • published by a scholarly/university press
  • well researched
  • authors are affiliated with a university or relevant organization

Grey literature:

  • Government reports and data
  • Datasets
  • Reports from not-for-profits and NGOs
  • Academic and non-academic conference presentations
  • Theses and dissertations
  • White papers
  • Blogs and newsletters

Professional, trade journals and magazines:

  • Written by practitioners or professionals
  • Unlike scholarly journals, trade publications do not contain original research and are meant to be practical in nature. Their focus is on current practices and issues.

Search for these in library databases or Google Scholar

 Search for these in Google, Google Scholar or SocINDEX Search for these resources using Library databases or  Google 

sample search:

"social media" "social movements" freebritney

freebritney AND "social media" (activism OR movement)

 sample search (Google): 

"social movements" "social media" site: atlantic.com

sample search:

freebritney (movement OR activism) "social media"

Finding Sources

Before we search the Library...another quick activity

Figure 1. Copely, R. Huge stand in the market with a large selection of fruits [Photograph]. Pixy.org. https://pixy.org/143529/

What words would you use to describe this image? 

Questions to consider:

  • Are you using the terminology that an expert in the field would use?

  • Is there more than one way to spell the word?

  • Are there any synonyms or other terms that could apply to your topic?

  Broad Topic             

Synonyms (terms you could use with OR)

Additional Terms (terms you could use with AND)

Possible Search Strategy

Barriers to access in cultural spaces.

barrier OR

hinder OR

impede OR

obstacle OR

prevention OR

obstruction

access* OR

convenience OR

inclus* OR 

universal

"cultural space" OR

"physical space"

museum OR

archive OR

library OR 

space OR

"public space"

LAM OR GLAM

AND equit*

AND universal

AND accommadat*

AND washrooms

AND language

AND signs

AND braile

AND aisles 

AND technology

AND "differently abled"

AND belonging

AND welcome

AND diversity

AND "inclusive design" OR

"inclusive environment" OR

"universal design"

AND "best practices"

AND internet

AND admission

AND fees

AND "differently abled"  OR

disability

inclusion AND spaces AND design AND (libraries  OR GLAM OR museum) AND "physical space"

libraries AND inclusion AND space AND (barriers OR exclusion)

accessibility AND "public spaces" AND design AND "best practices" 

(inclusion OR access) AND "public spaces" AND barriers

 

Using the Library 

There are a few ways to use the library.  

  • Use the library search box/Library Search - allows you to search the entire collection.  
  • Search in subject-specific databases - I have them listed under the articles tab on the GNED  guide.  You will be searching a smaller collection of sources.
  • Search in discipline-specific journals - This type of search will yield fewer results.  It helps to know the publication title to use this feature effectively, but you can also type in a broader topic, as long as that word is contained within the title of the journal  Eg: forensic

Search Smarter!

You can search in a way to combine or omit different terms by telling the search engine exactly what you want…this can help you save some time (and frustration!)

  • Use quotation marks to keep phrases together - "Black Lives Matter"

  • Use  AND to combine search terms - "police violence" AND protester

  • Use OR to connect two or more similar terms - BLM OR "Black Lives Matter"

  • Use wild cards to substitute a letter or suffix with a symbol - demonstr*

 

Library Search

Things to remember when using Library Search:

  1. Sign in to save searches, items, and to request materials.

  2. Use the pin icon to save books and articles. 

  3. Use the filters on the right. You will use Availability, Resource Type, and Date filters most often.

  4. Some items won't be available. You can request unavailable items using interlibrary loan.

  5. When viewing an item record, scroll down to the Get It or Full Text section to get the item.

Search Google Scholar

Google Scholar is another great way to find peer-reviewed/scholarly material. Google Scholar has a nifty citation chaining function.  The Cited by function will forward you to indexed scholarly material that has cited an article that you may be interested in.  The Related Articles link will direct you to similar articles that may have the same metadata or keywords. 

The Advanced Search is found by clicking the menu icon (top left).
Besides providing links to articles in MRU databases, Google Scholar links to online repositories that contain articles the author has been allowed to upload.  Academia.edu and ResearchGate are among the repositories searched by Google Scholar.

By clicking on the Settings icon, you can select library links to show library access for up to 5 libraries (type in Mount Royal and click on save).  If you are logged into the MRU library, links should automatically populate if you are running a Google search in another window. 

Note: Google uses different commands: ~; -; +; but AND/OR also works

If you are searching Google (not Google Scholar), you can also limit your search to show specific websites. Eg:

  • site:un.org (United Nations)
  • site:gc.ca (Government of Canada)
  • site:en.unesco.org (UNESCO)
  • site:worldbank.org (World Bank)
  • site:wto.org (World Trade Organization

Writing and Citing

Generative AI is getting a lot of hype - it has been around for a while but is accelerating at a rapid speed.  These tools offer a variety of functions including generating text from a prompt,  providing summaries of information, fixing and generating code, creating an image from a prompt, and translating text. 

If you are interested in trying it out, it is recommended that you treat it as a supplementary tool rather than your primary approach to research and writing.  Apply the same critical evaluation tools to AI as you would any source.  

Many AI tools fabricate results.  These are also referred to as "hallucinations" (confabulations, delusions...botshit!)  

Generative AI tools also carry the potential for inaccurate and misleading outputs. Content generated by these AI tools has been found to provide users with fabricated data that appears authentic. These inaccuracies are so common that they are referred to as  “hallucinations” (MIT). Be aware that AI makes stuff up!  Here is an example of what I mean: 

What is prompting?
Simply, it's what you type into the chat box.
The way you prompt makes a huge difference in the output that ChatGPT gives you. So it's worth learning some tips.

Always verify the information it gives you.
Think of ChatGPT as your personal intern. They need very specific instructions, and they need you to verify the information.

ChatGPT sometimes makes things up. That's because it's designed to write in a way that sounds like human writing. It's not designed to know facts.

Tips for writing effective prompts

  1. Give it some context or a role to play.
  2. Give it very detailed instructions, including how you would like the results formatted.
  3. Keep conversing and asking for changes. Ask it to revise the answer in various ways.

Examples

  1. A role could be, "Act as an expert in [fill in the blank]." 
    Act as an expert community organizer.
    Act as a university scholar
     
  2. Example prompt:
    Act as an expert academic librarian. I’m writing a research paper for Sociology and I need help coming up with a topic. I’m interested in topics related to climate change. Please give me a list of 10 topic ideas related to climate change.
     
  3. Example of changes: (keep conversing until you get something useful)
    Now give me some sub-topics or research questions for [one of those topics]. And give me a list of keywords and phrases I can use to search for that topic in library databases and Google Scholar.
     

    Or...

    I didn't like any of those topics. Please give me 10 more.

Lo, L. S. (2023). The CLEAR path: A framework for enhancing information literacy through prompt engineering. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 49(4), 102720–. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2023.102720

Here is a graphic (created by the United States Military Academy Library) outlining the CLEAR method with examples for each criterion.

Tools to Use

  • OpenAI's ChatGPT (requires a free account to use ChatGPT 4o a limited number of times and ChatGPT 4o mini, their free chatbot)

  • Google AI's Gemini (formerly known as Bard, but was renamed Gemini) (requires a non-MRU Google account to use Gemini chatbot)

  • Perplexity AI's Perplexity AI (doesn't require an account, but a free account is required to try Perplexity AI Pro and to save chats/threads)

  • Anthropic's Claude (requires a free account)

  • Microsoft's Copilot/Bing search (doesn't require an account, but supposedly works best with Microsoft account and in the Microsoft Edge browser)

  • HuggingFace's HuggingChat (doesn't require an account to use the chatbot)

Keep in mind:

  • These models work by performing a calculation to predict what the next most likely word in a sequence is.

  • These models are not search engines. Some of them have search engine functionality now (like ChatGPT) and some will even provide footnotes (like Copilot/Bing), but it is still worth examining the linked source to see how the chatbot has represented the source as the bot normally provides its own summary of the text.  This is different than Google Search snippets where an excerpt from the actual source is provided to the user.

Things to consider

  • ChatGPT is designed to provide "plausible" responses, not credible responses. You will need to apply your critical evaluation skills to any results generated.
  • ChatGPT was not trained on paywalled content, which means the content the libraries subscribes to is often not reflected in ChatGPTs responses.
  • ChatGPT makes up/fabricates plausible sounding citations to sources that don't actually exist. 
  • ChatGPT was trained on information prior to 2021, so you will not get the most recent research relating to your topic

Some people don't use ChatGPT because of ethical considerations. Here are a few of those concerns.

  • Privacy: It collects and shares a lot of data about you it draws from your account information, your IP address and your activity using it. It does allow you to opt out of having your transcripts saved.
  • Copyright: ChatGPT was trained on information on the internet, including copyrighted information, with no permission from or payment to the creators. There are a lot of court cases about this as of Fall 2023.
  • Unpaid Labor: .It uses the prompts you enter to continue to train its models. This means it is using your work to train its subscription model as well, so many consider this unpaid labor.
  • Exploitative Labor Practices: Investigative journalists discoved that workers in Kenya, Uganda and India were paid $1-$2 per hour to review data for disturbing, graphic and violent images that were psychologically scarring.
  • Bias: The majority of information on the internet is in English and presents a western perspective, which means ChatGPT is learning from a biased data set. These biases are present in ChatGPTs output.

Now you try...

 

I am going to divide everyone into groups of 3-4.  Choose a topic (preferably a topic that someone wants to use).  Choose a GenAI tool.  It can be a tool listed in this guide or another tool that you prefer to use.  

1. Try typing a simple question in the prompt.  Eg: Can you find me sources on social media and the social movement #metoo?

2. Now ask the Chatbot to assume a role: "Pretend you are a student who has to write an academic paper on...." What are Canadian contemporary ethical issues relating to ....? Provide scholarly references. 

  • How were your results? Better than the first prompt? How?
  • Did the bot provide you with a good template? Were there issues that you were thinking of that were missing?
  • Were the sources legit? (were they academic or actually real?) What sources did the bot recommend?

3. Now ask the chatbot to create an outline for you..."Create an academic paper outline about #metoo and how social media was used to drive change.  Address topics such as the role of social media in the movement's development and momentum, the impact of the movement on communities and on global society.  Incorporate scholarly sources with DOIs. 

Creating a Visual Presenation

Letter of Action Tips

A letter of action can also be referred to as a memo, and it can also follow a similar format as an op-ed or an editorial. 

The purpose of the memo is twofold:

  • It is created to identify an issue (in our case, a challenge or opportunity)

  • It provides background information, solutions or recommendations about the issue

A good memo connects the purpose of the content with the interests and needs of the reader. Memos are professionally written using accessible language. They are evidence-based and succinct. The following are some formats you can follow when writing your memo:

  • Cite Sources: Learn the correct way to cite sources by using these guides, tutorials, and videos.
  • Referencing Webinars: APA & MLA. Referencing Webinars are 75 minutes long.  Registration is required.
  • Online Appointments: Personalized online 30-minute appointments with a Learning Strategist

Take an MLA or APA Referencing Tutorial on D2L!

These self-paced 90-minute tutorials covers the same content as live workshops—why citation is important along with the basics of in-text citations and reference entries. Students who complete the tutorial will gain access to a form they can fill out and submit as proof of completion.

Access the tutorial on D2L: Using Google Chrome as your web browser, log in to D2L (learn.mru.ca) with your @mtroyal.ca account. Click the “Discover” tab, then type “APA”  or "MLA" in the search bar. Click on the “APA Referencing Tutorial”  or "MLA Referencing Tutorial" link and then the “Enroll in Course” button. If you have any questions about the tutorial, contact sls@mtroyal.ca.

Librarian

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Madelaine Vanderwerff
she/her

Contact:
Email: mvanderwerff@mtroyal.ca
Office: EL4441M