Research Skills Tutorial
Main Page |
Modules:
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
Outcomes |
Contents of this Module:
Learning Outcomes
Definition of Periodicals
Basic Types of Articles
Determining the Appropriate Article For An Assignment
Periodical Article Indices
Locating and Retrieving Articles
By the end of this module, students should know and be able to:
- Recognize different types of articles (popular, general-interest; scholarly, professional, research, refereed; opinion, editorial; review).
- Select the article type appropriate to the assignment or project.
- Select the index (on-line or paper format) appropriate to the type of article desired.
- Determine what other library may own the desired journal.
- Use Interlibrary Loan service, as appropriate.
Periodicals are materials generally published at regular intervals such as daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Periodicals are important sources of current information, especially for topics too new to be published in books. The three most common types of periodicals are magazines, newspapers, and journals. Magazines contain articles on a broad range of subjects and are written for general audiences. Newspapers contain articles on current events, are typically published at daily intervals, and are also written for general audiences. Journals contain articles based on scientific study, observation, research, and experimentation, and are written to
more specialized audiences. Most journal articles will include substantial
bibliographies to support their findings.
Popular/general-interest: These types of articles are written for the general public and are found in magazines and newspapers. Their purpose is to provide general information about a broad range of subjects. Examples of periodicals that contain these types of articles include USA Today, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, and Entertainment Weekly.
Scholarly/Professional/Research/Refereed: These types of articles appear in journals whose purpose is to compile and report research in an academic or professional area of study. An editorial board of peer reviewers (referees) with expertise in the field selects and edits articles for inclusion based upon their contribution to the field of study. Often, journals will include the name of a professional organization in the title such as The Journal of the American Medical Association. Other examples include American Historical Review, Journal of Applied Physics,
and Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. For more information
on scholarly journals, go to What is a Scholarly Journal?
Opinion/Editorial: These types of articles are usually identified as representing the views of the author. Their purpose is to analyze issues, ideas, or current events, and present original analysis. Opinion/editorial articles can be found in newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals. Some magazines, such as National Review, are devoted almost exclusively to opinion/editorial articles.
Review: These types of articles appear in many different periodicals and provide an evaluation of a specific work, such as a book, article, or film. Typically, reviews evaluate the quality of a given work, the qualifications of its creator or author, and the contribution of the work to its given area. A reviewer of a history book, for example, will summarize the contents of the book, agree or disagree with the author's thesis(es), scrutinize the author's use of sources, and discuss the work's contribution to
the field of study. In addition, a review article may provide an overview of recent research on a topic.
The two main considerations in determining which type of article is appropriate for a given assignment are the parameters of the project or the assignment and the focus of the topic. The parameters of the assignment will influence the depth or breadth of sources required. For instance, a three-page paper will probably require broader, more general information sources than a 20-page honors thesis. Magazines or newspaper articles may provide enough information to broadly describe or analyze the topic of a short paper, whereas a narrowly defined thesis paper will require consulting scholarly, specialized journals. Once the parameters of the assignment have been determined, it is important to focus the research topic to a manageable or realistic size. Refer to Module 1: Research Strategies for more details on focusing a topic.
The most efficient approach to identifying articles on a given subject is to look in an index to magazine, journal, or newspaper articles. Important articles may be missed by merely browsing through individual periodicals on the shelf, because the library may not subscribe to every periodical on a given topic, or the library may carry the periodical in a format other than paper (such as microfiche or electronic). An index provides a listing of article citations, typically arranged or accessed by subject or keyword. Remember that the most appropriate resources for your research may not always be electronic ones. Be sure to check with a reference librarian to make sure you are covering all your bases.
While some articles are available on-line (called "full-text"), not every article will be available in full-text. Some databases simply list the article citation and, in some cases, an abstract or summary of the article. In some cases, an article may be available full-text in one database while another database supplies only a citation for the article. Many of the articles identified in an index will need to be retrieved from the library, or through interlibrary loan.
If a given periodical title is not available through the Houghton Memorial Library, it may be obtained through Interlibrary Loan or Intercampus Loan. Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is a system of borrowing items owned by libraries other than Huntingdon. Huntingdon students and faculty, regardless of their geographic location, simply submit requests for the desired items. Requests may be submitted directly by logging into the Countess catalogue (you will need to enter the number located on the back of your library card and your last name)and clicking on the 'Requests' link at the bottom of the page. Extended campus patrons receive ILL materials sent to a convenient location, whether home, office or extended campus address.
Go to Module 5
|
