What is going on at the Newark Public Library?

The Newark Public Library, Newark NJ (NPL) is wonderful place to visit and immerse oneself in a different world. While it is understandably noted for its book collection, NPL also hosts many cultural activities of interest to many.

On Saturday 10 October at 2 p.m., there will be a film screening of Soy Andina, directed and produced by Mitch Teplitsky, who will also provide commentary and take questions from the audience.

Soy Andina is the dazzling story of two women raised in different worlds - an immigrant folk dance from the Andes, and a modern dancer from Queens, NY - who return to their roots and an astonishing world of traditional dance and celebration.

On Thursday 15 October at 5:30 p.m., there will be an evening of Peruvian prose, poetry and music. Enjoy a poetry reading by three contemporary Peruvian poets, the presentation of a new memoir, Las Luces del Retorno, by Tony Escudero, and the vibrant melodies of Pable Canela's guitar.

All programs are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.npl.org

More books in more places: public domain EPUB downloads on Google Books

As of 26 August , you can download over one million public domain books from Google Books in an additional format. Google is excited offer downloads in EPUB format, a free and open industry standard for electronic books. It's supported by a wide variety of applications, so once you download a book, you'll be able to read it on any device or through any reading application that supports the format. That means that you will be able to access public domain works that Google has digitized from libraries around the world in more ways, including some that haven't even been built or imagined yet.

But, I got it from the Internet!

Animated tutorial on finding keywords

Animated tutorial on finding keywords and advanced online searching developed by California State University at San Bernardino Library. Available click here.

Topics for College Research Papers

Topics for College Research Papers Information Literacy
Instructors: Mark Jackson, Reference and Online Resources Librarian
John Hinchcliffe, Reference and Information Literacy Librarian

Objectives:

• Introduction to "concept mapping"
• How to focus a topic, moving from broad to narrow (but not too narrow)
• Constructing a research question or thesis statement
  

What is concept mapping? A concept map is a diagram showing the relationships among concepts. [For more on concept mapping, refer to Wikipedia article]. When narrowing a topic, the central or main topic is in the middle and associated concepts are connected with boxes and connecting lines. When all the concepts have been mapped, you are ready to formulate a question.

Concept Mapping Video

Text 2 Mind Map is a web application that converts texts to mind maps. It takes a structured list of words or sentences, interprets it, and draws a mind map out of them. Text 2 Mind Map available click here.
Instruction video for the mind mapping tool.

OK, I have done all of mapping. Now I need to develop a thesis or question. What do I do?
For advice from the writing center at Indiana University, click here. The Indiana site addresses three areas: how to generate a thesis statement if the topic is assigned; how to generate a thesis statement if the topic is NOT assigned; and, how to tell a strong thesis statement from a weak one. Another excellent site for developing your thesis or statement is the Online Writing Lab OWL of Purdue University. This well-developed writing site introduces you to the thesis or question; provides examples; illustrates the defining features of the statement or question; explains how to construct an effective statement or question; and finally, recommends applying the "so what" test. The Purdue site is here.

Good luck!

ENG107 (sections 9,10) Information Literacy

ENG107 (sections 9,10) Information Literacy Spring 2009
Instructor: Mark Jackson, Reference and Online Resources Librarian

Objectives:

• Understanding, locating and evaluating appropriate information resources for a topic
• Using Google Scholar to determine the extent of scholarly writing on a topic
• Using databases to find scholarly articles on a topic

Where should I begin my research? Use bibliographies (from books, the Web); where can I find most of my quality information (books, Web sites (.edu .org .com) databases)? I found some stuff on the Web, how do I know if it is appropriate for a college research paper? Evaluate!

How can Google Scholar help me? This search engine provides a search of scholarly [an article that is peer-reviewed (checked over by a group of experts before publication) Most scholarly articles have the following characteristics: written by experts, accompanied with references, formal or technical writing style, and published by a university or association
www.lib.ua.edu/libraries/gorgas/glossary.htm] literature across many disciplines and sources, including theses, books, abstracts and articles.

What is a database? an organized body of related information
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn Can't I find this stuff on the Web? Sometimes, not usually.

The database we will start with is ProQuest. Another database that you may use is Academic Search Premier. Why use more than one database? Each database will provide access to different journals. While one may not contain the full text (from the first word to the last, including references and images) of an article, another may.

ENG107 Academic Writing

ENG107 Academic Writing - Information Literacy
Mark Jackson, Reference and Online Resources Librarian


Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

“The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One’s right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.” — Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson









Objectives:

• Use an assignment calculator for time management
• Use "concept mapping" to develop a topic
• Understand the role of books in academic research
• Use a search engine more effectively
• Evaluation of information

Assignment Calculator
Concept Mapping





Evaluation of information

Residents Information Literacy

Residents Information Literacy Instruction
Mark Jackson - Reference and Online Resources Librarian

Frustrated, can't print? Don't do this, please!

Objectives:

• Using Assignment Calculator as a time-management tool
• Learn to evaluate appropriate web sites for college level research
• Introduce you to ProQuest, a research database

Assignment Calculator (developed by the University of Minnesota Libraries) Step-by-step time line for writing a research paper.

Evaluating Web Sites (Cornell University) Should I use www.legalizeit.com for my research paper about medical marijuana?

ProQuest Research Database

ENG279 American Literature Survey

Information Literacy: ENG279 American Literature Survey
Instructor: Mark Jackson, Reference and Online Resources Librarian

Objectives:

• Understand the importance of using books for research
  
• To introduce you to two database resources for academic research and scholarly articles (ProQuest & Academic Search Premier)
  
• To introduce you to Google Scholar
• Introduce you to "concept mapping"
• Introduce you to a time management tool
  

Time Management is essential to the success of your research paper. Managing our time however, can be difficult. There are many things that compete for our time: work, family, a healthy balance between our social lives and our studies. The University of Minnesota Libraries has developed an online tool for managing a time line for a research paper. Using the Assignment Calculator, you can beat the clock! Click here to access the Assignment Calculator.

Concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge. They include concepts, usually enclosed in circles or boxes of some type, and relationships between concepts indicated by a connecting line linking two concepts. (Novack & Canas)

Google Scholar provides a search of scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources, including theses, books, abstracts and articles. It is useful for answering an important question: How much scholarly writing is there about the topic?

ProQuest Database – for "full text" journal research scholarly articles

Academic Search Premier - another database for finding scholarly material