Introduction to College Research

by Walter D. Butler, Aloha Sargent, and Kelsey Smith

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This book acknowledges our changing information landscape, covering key concepts in information literacy to support a research process with intention. We start by critically examining the online environment many of us already engage with every day, looking at algorithms, the attention economy, information disorder and cynicism, information hygiene, and fact-checking.

Description from LibreTexts.

Publisher
Pasadena City College, Cabrillo College, and West Hills Community College
Subjects
Humanities, Research and Information Literacy
Licence
CC BY 4.0, as LibreTexts states it
Who can read
Teens profiles and older, judged from its title and subjects

Contents

LibreTexts writes equations in TeX, and here they show as TeX; the PDF has them typeset.

  1. Front Matter
  2. TitlePage
  3. InfoPage
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Licensing
  6. 1: Introduction
  7. 1.1: College Research and Information Literacy
  8. 1.2: What This Book Will Cover
  9. 2: The Age of Algorithms
  10. 2.1: What are Algorithms?
  11. 2.2: The Influence of Algorithms
  12. 2.3: Algorithmic Bias
  13. 2.4: The Attention Economy
  14. 2.5: Algorithms and Polarization
  15. 2.6: Filter Bubbles
  16. 2.7: Conclusion
  17. 3: Disinformation
  18. 3.1: Information Disorder, Truth, and Trust
  19. 3.2: Web Evaluation Skills- A “Bleak” Track Record
  20. 3.3: Information Cynicism
  21. 3.4: College Students and Cynicism
  22. 3.5: Information Hygiene and Info-Environmentalism
  23. 3.6: Conclusion
  24. 4: Fact-Checking
  25. 4.1: Why Fact-Checking?
  26. 4.2: The SIFT Method
  27. 4.3: Using Wikipedia Effectively
  28. 4.4: Fact-Checking Images and Memes
  29. 4.5: Conclusion
  30. 5: Types of Information Sources
  31. 5.1: Chapter Scenario
  32. 5.2: Information Sources- Primary, Secondary, Tertiary
  33. 5.3: Critical Thinking
  34. 5.4: Information Sources- Traditional Formats
  35. 5.5: Information Sources- Media
  36. 5.6: Information Sources- Online
  37. 5.7: Critical Thinking
  38. 5.8: Information Sources- Bias
  39. 5.9: Critical Thinking
  40. 5.10: Conclusion
  41. 6: Getting Your Research Started
  42. 6.1: Choosing a Topic
  43. 6.2: Background Reading
  44. 6.3: Conclusion
  45. 7: Search Strategies
  46. 7.1: Research Questions
  47. 7.2: Identifying the Main Concepts
  48. 7.3: Avoiding Confirmation Bias
  49. 7.4: Brainstorming Related Terms
  50. 7.5: Creating a Search Statement
  51. 7.6: Conclusion
  52. 8: Finding Materials in the Library
  53. 8.1: Chapter Scenario
  54. 8.2: Using OneSearch- Your California Community College Library’s Search Tool
  55. 8.4: Finding Your Books
  56. 8.5: Filters and Advanced Search Options in OneSearch
  57. 8.6: Practice
  58. 8.7: Critical Thinking
  59. 8.7: How Libraries Organize Materials
  60. 8.8: Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC)
  61. 8.9: Critical Thinking
  62. 8.10: Library of Congress Classification (LCC)
  63. 8.11: Practice
  64. 8.12: Critical Thinking
  65. 8.13: Conclusion
  66. 9: Using Library Databases
  67. 9.1: Chapter Scenario
  68. 9.2: Library Databases- What’s Inside Them?
  69. 9.3: Critical Thinking
  70. 9.4: Choosing a Library Database
  71. 9.5: Critical Thinking
  72. 9.6: Specialized Library Databases- Videos, Ebooks, and More!
  73. 9.7: Scholarly Articles, Magazine Articles, and Newspaper Articles
  74. 9.8: You Found Some Resources! Now What?
  75. 9.9: Preparing to Use a Database- What Do You Need to Find?
  76. 9.10: Full Text? HTML, PDF, and EPUB
  77. 9.11: Critical Thinking
  78. 9.12: Conclusion
  79. 10: Searching the Web- Strategies and Considerations
  80. 10.1: Chapter Scenario
  81. 10.2: A Very Brief History of the Internet
  82. 10.3: Critical Thinking
  83. 10.4: Search Engines and Tools
  84. 10.5: Comparing Search Tools
  85. 10.6: Practice
  86. 10.7: Academic Search Tools
  87. 10.8: Open Access
  88. 10.9: Critical Thinking
  89. 10.10: Controlling Your Search
  90. 10.11: Searching and Privacy
  91. 10.12: Practice
  92. 10.13: Citing- Websites, Web pages, Files, Articles
  93. 10.14: Conclusion
  94. 11: Ethical and Legal Use of Information
  95. 11.1: Contributing to the Conversation
  96. 11.2: Why We Cite Sources
  97. 11.3: Plagiarism and Academic Integrity
  98. 11.4: Conclusion
  99. 12: Citing Sources
  100. 12.1: Citation Styles
  101. 12.2: When to Cite Sources
  102. 12.3: MLA Style
  103. 12.4: APA Style
  104. 12.5: Citation Steps for Any Style
  105. 12.6: Citation Generators
  106. 12.7: Conclusion
  107. Back Matter
  108. Index
  109. Glossary
  110. Detailed Licensing