You are required to complete these Library Tutorials:

• APA Citations
• Evaluating Information from the World Wide Web
• Plagiarism: What It Is and How To Avoid It
• Finding Articles Using Expanded Academic ASAP

Links to all of these tutorials will be found on the MC Library Tutorials, Quizzes & Assessments page. http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/library/welcomemenu.htm

The tutorials should take about half an hour each: read the screens and click the blue arrows on the bottom of the screen to go to the next screen. At the end of each tutorial you will find a brief quiz. Please remember to fill out the information at the top of the quiz page such as your name and your instructor's E-mail address if you want to get credit for completing the tutorials.

Research Paper

• Selecting and Narrowing a Topic

1. Select a topic that is of interest to you. Doing a term paper is a lot of work, but if you research something interesting, it is a lot easier.
2. Ask your professor and librarians to help you narrow or broaden your topic.
3. This Web page has some very helpful suggestions:
   http://www3.nl.edu/centers/cad/resources/resources_007.cfm

• Boolean Searching

1. Most electronic information sources such as the Library Catalog, Library Databases, and the World Wide Web use Boolean search methodology.
2. Learning to do do Boolean searching is a life skill.
3. Boolean searching combines keywords with the Boolean operators and plus or.

   a. Express your research question in a sentence:What causes crime?
   
   b. Isolate the keywords; in this case causes plus crime. Remember, with keywords, less is more.
   
   c. Construct a search by combining the keywords with the appropriate Boolean operator, in this case and. causes and crime

   Retrieve Fewer Records by Using And
   The computer interprets and as a command to find both of the words in a book title, article or Web page. A search for causes and crime
   will find fewer records than a search for crime
   Hint: one word searches are usually not a good idea.
   
   Use Quotation Marks for Multi word Keywords
   Put quotation marks around any Multi word search term, e.g. "united states" "serial killers "
   
   Use the Or Shortcut
   Keep in mind that or means mORe.
   A synonym for crime is "criminal behavior "
   The synonyms could be searched as crime and causes
   and then by doing a second search "criminal behavior " and causes
   
   There is a shortcut: the Boolean operator or. The computer interprets or as a command to find either word. Remember that or statements must be enclosed in parenthesis.

   causes and (crime or "criminal behavior)
   "serial killers" and (psychopath or sociopath)
   

   As well as synonyms, or can be used to connect:

   Related terms (program or curriculum)
   Alternate spellings (gray or grey)
   Abbreviations (television or tv)

   Use the Wildcard Shortcut
   If you want to search the singular and plural of a term, you could use an or search:

   ("serial killer" or "serial killers" )

   You could accomplish the same thing by using the wildcard symbol, a ? or an *. The computer interprets a ? or an * as find anything that starts with those letters. Therefore the keyword "serial killer?" finds serial killer as well as serial killers. Use the ? in the catalog, the * in the databases.
   
   Engage brain before using a wildcard. The keyword cat* will find cat, cats, catalog, cataloging, category, and a lot of other terms you do not want in your search.

Where Should You Search?

1. You should begin by finding a general overview of your topic in a subject encyclopedia. The library has many relevant encyclopedias. For example:
   The Encyclopedia of Criminology and Deviant Behavior Ref HV6017 .E53 2001
   
   The best way to find such encyclopedias is by doing a Command search in the libraries' catalog.
   (encyclopedias or dictionaries) and (crime or criminals) or
   (encyclopedias or dictionaries) and psychology
   
   Subject encyclopedias will help you understand the scope of a topic --for instance, the nature or nurture controversy in explaining criminal behavior has a long history with strong evidence on both sides of the argument.
   
2. For some topics, it is best to start searching the catalog, for others it is better to begin with the full text databases. Feel free to ask any librarian for advice.
   
   Go to the main library page http://montgomerycollege.edu/library/, in the top right block click on: The Libraries' Catalog, WebVoyáge .
   
   I strongly suggest that you select the Command search and perform Boolean searches in the catalog.
   
   
3. We have several databases that will be helpful. They can be reached by going to the main library page http://montgomerycollege.edu/library/, looking at the top middle block Articles, Databases & More... and selecting the On Campus or Home or Work link as appropriate. The best databases to use are:

Academic Search Premiere
Expanded Academic ASAP
PsychARTICLES
Criminal Justice Periodicals
Opposing Viewpoints (maybe)


Web Searching

Keep in mind that although the Web contains a great deal of useful, reliable information, anyone can publish anything they want to publish on the Web, and probably will. Here's an example:
Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie http://zapatopi.net/afdb/

Here's a site that wants to cure everthing that ails you via use of a magical fruit: Mangosteen Directory - http://www.mangosteen-directory.com/Mangosteen-Directory/mangosteen-testimony.html

It is very important to evaluate Web pages for their content, reliability, authorship etc. You will take the tutorial Evaluating Web Information which will teach you important Web evaluation skills. In addition, here is a good guide to evaluating Web pages: Internet Evaluation
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html.

Make use of good Web directories, collections of Web pages assembled by experts, arranged in logical order and annotated. Why go to the trouble of clicking through page after page of Web search results to fine reliable Web information, when someone else has already done it for you?

Montgomery College Libraries' Web Subject Guide: Criminal Justice
http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/library/criminal_justice.htm

Infomine
http://infomine.ucr.edu/

Librarians' Internet Index http://lii.org/

Best Information on the Net http://library.sau.edu/bestinfo/
The Forensic Psychology section of this resource will be especially helpful.

Academic Info http://www.academicinfo.net/index.html

 

Citing Sources

You will have completed the Library Tutorial on APA Citations. Please be aware that the Montgomery College Libraries have a series of handouts online that will provide further help. Click this link:
http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/library/students.html