Today the plan is: 

• Talk about the conventional structure of academic output

• Talk about value, authority and the relationship between different types of texts, and writing styles

• Discuss article reading strategies as adapted by some of my amazing colleagues

• Do a brief group activity on reviewing sources for credibility

• Review a text (the assigned article for this week) and deconstruct the text in groups

Evaluating Information

Figure 1

Peter Steiner's Famous 1993 New Yorker Cartoon Illustrating an Issue Central to Information Evaluation

Note. From "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" [Cartoon], by P. Steiner, 1993, Wikimedia (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Internet_dog.jpg).

Evaluating Information

It is good to find lots of search results, but, in order to use information skilfully, you need to know how to evaluate that information to determine whether a specific resource is appropriate to use in a specific use case (i.e. for a specific assignment).

The phrase "evaluating information" actually stands in for a wide range of judgments that we make about information in many different contexts, whether those judgments are about relevance, timeliness, quality, etc.

Librarians have developed several different acronyms to help people remember useful criteria to use in information evaluation. One of my personal favourites is RADAR!

RADAR stands for

Relevance

Authority

Date

Accuracy

Reason for Creation

We can ask the following questions to help us assess each criterion:

Relevance:

• Does this source fit my topic?

• What is this source's intended audience?

  • Is that intended audience appropriate for my use case in this assignment?

Authority:

• Is/are the creator(s) of this source clearly identified or known to us?

• How important is it in this use case to trust the source's creator(s)?

  • If it is important, why should we trust the source's creator(s)?

  • Is the source's creator credentialed or an expert in their field?

Date:

• Is the creation or publication date of this source identified or known to us?

• Is this source too old?

Accuracy:

• Do this source's facts "check out"?

• Does the source have references of its own?

Reason for Creation (take your best guess at this question using judgments from earlier criteria):

• Why was this source made?

• Was this source made to sell a product or service, to inform/educate, to entertain, etc?

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

A scholarly publication contains articles written by experts in a particular field. The primary audience of these articles is other experts.

Many of these publications are also referred to as "peer-reviewed," academic, or "refereed." They all mean essentially the same thing and refer to the editorial and publication process in which scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published.

Some Helpful Questions for Identifying a Scholarly/Academic Article

1. What are the author’s credentials? Was it written by an expert?

2. Was it published in a journal (is there a DOI?)? (If you are not sure if a source is a journal article, you can enter the title of the publication into Ulrichs Web to check.)

3. Does it use academic or more technical language?

4. Does it includes a reference list of sources that it is citing?

5. How long is it? (Scholarly articles are typically longer than popular or news articles.)

6. Does it have a "Received" and "Accepted" date on it?

7. Is it an actual article? (Sometimes other types of content are included in scholarly publications, such as editorials/opinion pieces and book reviews. Make sure you are looking at an article.)

Tips for Reading Scholarly Articles

(Adapted from handouts by J. Loyer & M. MacMillan)

Check for relevance – is the article useful for what you’re doing? You will likely never find the perfect article that’s exactly on the topic you have in mind, but you will find ones that are close and useful because:

• They provide background or context.

• They provide theories that help you examine/understand a new situation.

• They look at a similar group of people.

• They look at similar situations.

• They use methods that you could use to answer similar questions.

• They apply techniques that could be useful in your situation.

• They have useful bibliographies that direct you to even better materials.

Print out the article – research supports that reading comprehension increases when reading in print).

Skim to get the article's general idea – review introduction, headings, conclusion to see if the article will suit your needs.

Get comfortable and carve out a little time – reading for depth takes focus and practice, and you’ll probably have to read the article more than once.

Read with a pen in hand – mark up interesting points, odd words, and circle key concepts.

Read with a questioning spirit – engage in a dialogue with the piece’s author(s) – “really?” “prove it!” “are you sure about that?” – constantly question the author(s).

If possible, practice slow reading – summarize paragraphs as you go and read the article aloud to slow down.

Note unfamiliar words and concepts – look them up on your second read through.

Make connections as you go – note what the article reminds you of, what thoughts it provokes, how it matches or contradicts your experience – these connections are critical to your understanding of texts.

Draw things out – stats, tables, connections or relationships can make more sense if you diagram them.

Consider the article's approaches and limitations – if you started with the same question(s) as the author, how would you approach finding the answers? What’s missing from the article? What questions does it leave you with?

Discuss the article with others – students identified this as a very useful strategy for getting the most out of articles.

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

"Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the [user's] information need and the context in which the information will be used. Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required." (Association of College and Research Libraries, Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, p. 12)

Constructed:

• Speaking broadly, noone is inherently authoritative in contemporary social life (except perhaps for deities in some religious faiths). Instead, we have various systems of constructing, assigning, and granting authority. One of the most common of those systems is actually the university itself. Think about what the degrees and credentials earned in one's time at university say in broader society.

• Different communities of people may elevate different types of authority, and it is important to sometimes remain skeptical of why that may be. For example, within the Flat Earth community, Edward Hendrie may be considered a possible authority.

Contextual:

• Different people may be differently authoritative in different contexts. I may be a subject matter expert in one subject (library searching skills), but not another (entomology). Also, think about an eyewitness account of a major news event like a natural disaster or a crime. Eyewitness (or first-hand) accounts in such situations are granted a particular kind of authority.

Authority being constructed and contextual is related to Sensoy and DiAngelo's (2017) discussion of knowledge as being socially constructed: "By socially constructed, [Sensoy and DiAngelo] mean that all knowledge understood by humans is framed by the ideologies, language, beliefs, and customs of human societies" (p. 15).

As you advance through your education, you will be working on developing your own voice and also your own authority as a participant in the scholarly conversation. Part of becoming a more articulate and reflective participant in scholarly conversations is taking into account your own positionality and how it influences your understanding of issues.

According to Sensoy and DiAngelo (2017), "[p]ositionality is the concept that our perspectives are based on our place in society. Positionality recognizes that where you stand in relation to others shapes what you can see and understand" (p. 15).

Scholarship as Conversation

"Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations." (Association of College and Research Libraries, Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, p. 20)

• Over time, as students and scholars write about a topic, the accumulation of writing becomes a scholarly conversation. With each writer, new insights and discoveries are documented over time, adding different perspectives and interpretations.

• Referring to other essays, studies and reports and describing how they relate to your own work gives authority to your arguments. This is particularly important when people have different opinions about the topic you are addressing in your writing. 

• Citing other researchers proves that you know what you are saying is relevant, since you’re placing your words in the context of the existing literature. If the topic you are writing about is subjective in nature, your reader knows you’ve consulted other research and your opinions are based on some consideration of the existing scholarly conversation on that topic and not solely on anecdotal evidence.

Source: From “Literature Reviews: An Overview for Graduate Students,” NCSU Libraries, (CC-BY-NC-SA license)

Reading Exercise

You all should have read this before today.  If not, please take a few minutes to open it up and re-orientate yourselves with the article.

Group 1

Group 2

Group 3

Group 4

Group 5

Group 6

Group 7

What Is It?

An annotated bibliography is a list of references with a brief description (or, sometimes, analysis) of each source below the reference.

For each source that you find, answer the following questions in your annotation:

a. What intrigued you about this resource? (Min 4 sentences.)
b. What new thoughts do you have now and what changed? (Min 4 sentences.)
c. What critical insight do you want to pursue now, as a person, in your profession? (Min 4 Sentences.)
 

Examples of Annotated Bibliographies and How to Format 

• Annotated bibliographies - OWL@Purdue

  Includes definition, samples and examples for APA, MLA and more

• Writing an annotated bibliography - University of Toronto

• How to write annotated bibliographies (Memorial University)

• Concordia University annotated bibliography guide

• Video: (Carleton University) Writing an Annotated Bibliography

Conducting Academic Research With LibrarySearch 

LibrarySearch is MRU Library's one-stop search interface/catalogue that brings together resources across format, time, and subject. 

We have about 1.3 million e-resources and 221,000 physical resources in our collection, and LibrarySearch searches across those.

Things to remember when using LibrarySearch:

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

2. Use the pin icon to save books and articles to your Favorites for future reference.

3. Use the filters on the right. You will use Availability, Resource Type, and Date filters most often. Filter settings can be "locked in" so that you don't have to reapply them to every search that you make.

4. Some items may not be available, however, you can request unavailable items using what is called interlibrary loan.

5. When viewing an item record, scroll down to the Get it (for hardcopy/physical items) or Access options (for electronic items) section to get access to the item.

Helpful Search Operators to Use in LibrarySearch

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

• Use quotation marks to keep specific phrases together:

  • "social media"

  • "public space"

  • "inclusive design"

  • "fast fashion"

• Use AND to combine search terms (LibrarySearch automatically creates an AND when you write terms one after another, but it can be good practice to use an AND to help you understand the searches that you build) (AND narrows your search):

  • "social media" AND privacy

• Use OR to connect two or more similar terms (OR broadens your search):

  • "social media" OR "social networking"

• Use wild cards to substitute a letter or suffix with a symbol:

  • access* (in this example, the search access* will search for records that contain strings such as accessible and accessibility)

Conducting Academic Research With Google Scholar

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is another great way to find high quality resources.

Besides providing links to resources 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 MRU library, links should automatically populate if you are running a Google search in another window. 

Google Scholar has a nifty citation chaining function. The Cited by function will forward you to indexed scholarly material that has cited a resource that you may be interested in. The Related articles link will direct you to similar articles that may have the same metadata or keywords. 

Helpful Search Operators to Use in Google Scholar

Google Scholar's Advanced Search is found by clicking the menu icon in the top left.

You can also add search operators to Google Scholar searches to build your own custom advanced searches in similar ways to LibrarySearch:

• Use quotation marks to keep specific phrases together:

  • "climate change"

• Avoid using AND to combine search terms with Google Scholar, as the search engine automatically creates ANDs between concepts and sometimes adding an additional AND can confuse the search syntax.

• Use OR to connect two or more similar terms:

  • "social media" OR "social networking"

• Use wild cards to substitute a letter or suffix with a symbol:

  • ethic* (in this example, the search ethic* will search for records that contain strings such as ethics, ethical, and ethically)

Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

A scholarly publication contains articles written by experts in a particular field. The primary audience of these articles is other experts.

Many of these publications are also referred to as "peer-reviewed," academic, or "refereed." They all mean essentially the same thing and refer to the editorial and publication process in which scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published.

Some Helpful Questions for Identifying a Scholarly/Academic Article

1. What are the author’s credentials? Was it written by an expert?

2. Was it published in a journal (is there a DOI?)? (If you are not sure if a source is a journal article, you can enter the title of the publication into Ulrichs Web to check.)

3. Does it use academic or more technical language?

4. Does it includes a reference list of sources that it is citing?

5. How long is it? (Scholarly articles are typically longer than popular or news articles.)

6. Does it have a "Received" and "Accepted" date on it?

7. Is it an actual article? (Sometimes other types of content are included in scholarly publications, such as editorials/opinion pieces and book reviews. Make sure you are looking at an article.)

Citation Help

• Use the "cite" feature in most search tools to get you started with most resources (you will need to review and correct the citation).

• Cite Sources: Learn the correct way to cite sources by using these guides, tutorials, and videos.

  • MRU Guide to APA Style for Referencing (2023-2024)

  • MRU Guide to APA Style for Formatting a Paper (2023-2024)

• Academic Success Workshops: Academic Success Workshops are 75 minutes long and are offered both in-person and online. Registration is required.

• Appointments: Personalized online or in-person 30-minute appointments with a Learning Strategist at Student Learning Services located on the 2nd floor of the Riddell Library & Learning Centre.

• Use the Service Desk on the 1st floor of the RLLC for assistance as well as the library chat feature on the library website for quick citation questions.

2 Main Ways to Record

There are 2 main ways to use library resources to record a podcast: (1) taking out a portable podcasting kit from the Library service desk, or (2) using the Library’s Audio Production Room spaces.

1. Portable Podcasting Kits

• The Library has 2 portable podcasting kits that can be booked from this link.

• Each kit includes everything you need to record a podcast with up to four speakers. It comes in a case with wheels that you can take to any group or presentation room in the library. An SD card must be borrowed separately and can be borrowed from the Service Desk.

• There is a QR code on the kit linking to a tutorial video of how to use it. The tutorial video is also available here.

2. Library Audio Production Room Spaces

• Library Audio Production rooms can be accessed from this link.

• Make sure to book the right room for your needs: 2L or 2M.

  • 2L is for audio recording, whereas 2M is for post-production work.

• You can book 4 hrs/day for a max of 20 hrs/week.

• You can book 2 weeks in advance.

• When you arrive to use your room, make sure to pick up the room kit and room access card from the Library service desk. The room kit provides any cables or adapters needed for the room.

• There are QR codes in the rooms linking to tutorial videos on how to use them. The tutorial video for 2L is available here. The tutorial video for 2M is available here.

FAQs

The Quick Start FAQ section of the Audio Production page has common FAQ guides related to podcasting topics, including “How do I record audio from a phone call?” and “How do I cite sources in a podcast or other oral presentation format?”

Examples of Podcasts

This Podcasts by Topic FAQ has a list of podcasts divided by different subjects. You may find it helpful to look at how podcasts are produced in the specific subject area that you choose to work in.

Point of Contact for Podcasting Help from MRU Library

Gabrielle Pyska (gpyska@mtroyal.ca) is MRU Library’s Podcasting and Media Support/Public Services Assistant and has a wealth of information on podcasting. She is available to help you with both the podcasting kits and the rooms.

Digital Storytelling Examples and Tools

Digital Storytelling with Power Point

Digital Storytelling

iMovie

Audacity

GIMP

Undergraduate Research Guide - Poster Presentations - advice on tools, design, samples

Noun Project - stock photos and icons

How to Create Storyboards (University of Houston) 

How to make a Visual Essay (Owlcation, 2018)

Create a Script for Your Digital Project (University of Guelph McLaughlin Library) - A guide with information about how to write a script for a podcast, digital story, animated video or live action video. Also check out their supplementary script template.

Resources for Images

Wikipedia's Public Domain Images 

Flickr.com

Creative Commons

MulticolorEngine

​Morguefile