English 201 - V. Arnold/Shabelnik
September 29, 2008

• Introduction
   

• Rio Hondo College Library Web site - best place to start research
  See Library Web Site Virtual Tour
   

• Use our library catalog - Rio WebCat - to find books  - the best place to get overviews, background information, and in-depth treatments of your topic.
  - Power Search
  - Video/DVD Search
  - Subject vs. Keyword Searching
  
  Searching for Controversial Topics Series Books
  Controversial Topics series - this page is a listing of several helpful series of books that feature the pro & con position of many "hot" topics. The "Opposing Viewpoints", and "Current Controversies" series have small essays specifically written to support a position. All of these books are available on the 2nd floor Reference Room and copies of most are available for loan on the 3rd and 4th floors.
  
  Series searches for Opposing Viewpoints, At Issue, Current Controversies
  Title searches for Taking Sides, Debatabase
  
  Individual topics:
  Government Bailouts
  Internet Accuracy
  Global Food Crisis
  Georgia Crisis
  Future of Reading
  Cloning
  Adopted children
  Adoption
  Child abuse
  Stem cells
  Gay couples
  Interracial adoption
  Interracial marriages
  Same-sex marriage
  Spouse abuse
  
  Notes about WebCat:
  
  The most recent books are listed first. Click on the brief citation to see full record for
  each book.
  
  Understanding Call Numbers
  
  Library Reserves
  in WebCat Click on Reserve desk
  Enter eng 201 as your search term and click on Course Number.
   

• Use our online databases to find articles [off-campus access click here]
   

  • How to find articles in online databases -  the best places to get specific information about events or topics; can range from short and very localized reporting to substantial analyses and commentaries. Can be very current or retrospective.  
     

    1. SIRS
       Now offers “Research Guides” on selected topics. Good value but some sources can be a bit dated. Also look at the individual results that come up from your search.
        

    2. Issues & Controversies from FACTS.com
        

    3. CQ Researcher (on-campus use only)
       CQ Researcher is often the first source that librarians recommend when researchers are seeking original, comprehensive reporting and analysis on issues in the news. CQ Researcher is noted for its in-depth, unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy. Reports are published weekly in print and online 44 times a year by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc.
       
       Advanced Search--Internet Accuracy
       Browse by Topic
       Browse by Date
       Pro/Con
       Issue Tracker
        

    4. ProQuest 
       
       For articles in the form of commentaries, opinions, editorials, do an Advanced Search.

       a. Fill out your topic word(s) next to the “Citation and Abstract” window.

       b. Select “Document Type” and a drop-down window will appear -> click on “Commentary” or on “Editorial.”

       c.  Click on “Search.”

       For ongoing or long-term events, use focused search terms or specify a date range
        

    5. Gale Virtual Reference Library e-Books **

• How to research controversial topics and choose a topic:
  http://www.shabelnikdesign.com/controversial/researhchoose.html
   

• How to find authoritative web sites:  

  Use a subject directory that provides human-selected web sites
  
  Rio Hondo College Library Subject Guides (individually created and researched by Rio librarians) to help you get started on a number of typical research topics.
  
  Web directories
  http://www.whittier.edu/tatiana/internettutorial/directories.htm
  Librarians Index to the Internet
  
  Selected individual Web sites:

• Public Agenda Online
• Controversial Topics - from Santa Ana College Library
• Editorials/Opinion pages from U.S. newspapers

          Search Engines
http://www.whittier.edu/tatiana/internettutorial/searchengines.htm

Tips:
- Follow up web sites that are cited in scholarly journal articles
- In order to obtain better quality web sites on your topic, perform an Advanced Search on your search engine of choice.  Hint:  Specify the domain from which you want your results to come. For example, for topics marked with * (see chart), try this in Google:

• HPV vaccine site:gov

• HPV vaccine site:edu
   

Google
- Google's page-rank algorithm, which ranks pages based on how many other Web pages link to them, amounts to a public "vote on credibility

- While Google "is generally accepted as being 'clean' in terms of separating paid advertisements from sponsored ones," a hidden factor that may bias results anyway is "search engine optimization," which enables corporate sites to get to the top of search results by paying fees that total in the billions of dollars annually, said British technology columnist Victor Keegan." For example, he said, typing in something like "quiet family hotel in Venice" will take the user to hotel groups or online travel sites rather than to a hotel."  (Internet Accuracy: Is information on the Web reliable? by Marcia Clemmit, CQ Researcher, August 1, 2008 • Volume 18, Issue 27)

• Strategies for evaluating web sites

  • See Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools from Cornell University Library

  • Evaluating Web Sites (Rio Hondo College)

  • How to Evaluate Blogs and Online Information Sources
     

• What about Wikipedia?
   

  • Criticisms:

    • entries can be written by random people or fanatics who love their subjects and may not always be accurate or balanced;

    • anyone can edit and change entries at any time;

    • some entries may not be backed up by authoritative citations;

    • different versions of a page make it difficult to track for citation purposes.

    • while Wikipedia has broad coverage, topics are idiosyncratically chosen, not picked on the basis of their importance to society at large.

  • Kudos:

    • democratic (you don’t have to have a PhD to write ‘authoritatively’ on your special subject or niche topic);

    • strives for an NPOV (neutral point of view);

    • self-regulating (vandalism is dealt with swiftly);

    • can provide useful Bibliographies on topics (may be selective).

    • Wikipedia requires contributors to post only information that has "already been published by reliable and reputable sources," which prevents too much outlandish misinformation, at least for frequently consulted articles, wrote John Willinsky, a professor of literacy and technology at the University of British Columbia.

    • Wikipedia is also open to a wider range of information than traditional encyclopedias, because it has no space limitations and has a different notion of what constitutes "neutrality," Messner says. For example, in a listing about a private company, Wikipedia will have "lots more about any scandals that have happened," than the Encyclopaedia Britannica, where "you don't see controversial content."(Internet Accuracy: Is information on the Web reliable? by Marcia Clemmit, CQ Researcher, August 1, 2008 • Volume 18, Issue 27)

     

JSevilla-Marzona 02/07

Adapted by JCoe 09/07

Adapted by Tania Shabelnik 09/27