Library Resources
Greetings! I'm honored to be your personal librarian for English Composition. I can help you find a variety of library resources for your assignments, or answer questions about attribution and citation.
I am part of an awesome team of librarians, so if you'd like some one-on-one help click here to book an appointment and chose a time that works for you. We're here for you!
Kerry Caparco | kcaparco@jwu.edu | 401-598-1248
Did you know you can also chat or text with one of our on-duty librarians? It's anonymous, free, and super fast!
Search for an academic journal within your major/discipline:
Baking & Pastry Arts
Journal of Chemical Education
Journal of Culinary Science & Technology
International Journal of Gastronomy & Food Science
Food Science & Technology International
Business
Business & Economics Research Journal
Global Journal of Economics and Business
International Journal of Business
Journal of Business and Management
Counseling Psychology
Counseling & Clinical Psychology Journal
Journal of Counseling Psychology
Journal For Social Action in Counseling & Psychology
Culinary Arts
Annals: Food Science & Technology
Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science & Food Safety
Journal of Culinary Science & Technology
International Journal of Food Properties
Culinary Nutrition
Food & Agricultural Immunology
International Journal of Food Sciences & Nutrition
International Journal of Food Studies
Journal of Food & Nutrition Research
Dietetics & Applied Nutrition
Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism
Current Developments in Nutrition
International Journal of Sport Nutrition & Exercise Metabolism
Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Liberal Studies
Speak to librarian.
Network & Software Engineering
Competition and Regulation in Network Industries
Information Systems Management
Journal of Computer Information Systems
Journal of Information Systems Education
Mechanics Based Design of Structures & Machines
Optimization Methods & Software
Reading and Understanding Scholarly Articles
Click on the image to explore the typical parts of a scholarly article. Presented by
the North Carolina State University Libraries
Anatomy of a Scholarly Article
Note: scholarly articles can be read non-linear.
- clearly defined "parts" separated by headings (such as "abstract" and "literature review")
- you can read the most important elements of the article before you dive deep
You may want to start with the abstract, to find out what the research covers: this will help you determine if the article is relevant to you. Then, skip to the end of the article to skim the discussion and conclusion. These sections will sum up the research
and article.
Again, if you decide this article is worth your time and effort, you can jump back to the beginning and read the introduction which will tell you why the authors conducted this research and what was their claim (hypothesis).
From there, you can skim the remainder of the article to learn more about their methodology, results, and limitations.
To search for Trade Publications, follow these steps from the library homepage or in any EBSCO database (like Academic Search Complete)
The library's databases rely on a method of searching called Boolean logic. It is a system of showing the relationship between ideas using the operators "AND," "OR," and "NOT." This logic is recognized by many searching tools as a way to define a search string.
Using the operators
AND is used to to search a set of two or more related ideas. So, if you want to look for articles that contain both the words or concepts fishery and harvest, you would search for that string.
- Use AND to narrow your search
- AND shows the overlap between two concepts
For example, my search for "fishery and harvest" returned over 2,000 results, which is too many for me to browse through. So, I had to think another aspect of the topic I was interested in. When I changed my search string to "fishery and harvest and bioindicators," the number of results became more manageable.
OR is used when there are synonyms of a term that may appear in relevant articles. Searching, for example, reindeer or caribou will cast the widest net for seraching.
- Use OR to broaden your search
NOT eliminates a term from your search. If, for instance, your initial search for "fishery and harvest" returns mostly articles about salmon, and you are not interested in that particular fish, you can search "fishery and harvest not salmon."
Publication Date
The databases will allow you a variety of options to refine your results, typically on the left hand side of your results page. Pay attention to these and especially consider limiting your results by their publication date. Chances are, you do not want articles written more than a few years ago.
Explicit Search
If you are searching for content about, for instance, higher education, consider that this is actually a phrase (consisting of more than one word), and search for it explicitly using quotation marks. As in, "higher education."
Truncation
In many cases, there will be multiple suffixes to a single root word that you'd like to search. Most databases allow the * to be used in place of the ending for a word in order to capture all forms.
For example, a search for "nation*" will return all forms of the word - including nations, national, nationalism, nationalistic, etc.
Avoid adding the plural "s" to a word where possible, and use the truncation symbol when you search should allow for multiple forms of your search terms.
Anyone can post anything they want online. I'm not an expert in astrophysics, but I could build a pretty nice looking web page with bogus information about the topic, and some people might take it seriously. While your "gut" feeling about information is important and you should pay attention to it, there are a few criteria you should consider every time you think about using an online source in your academic work. I borrowed these items from the MLA Handbook.
Who is the author of the source? Is the author qualified to address the subject? Does the author draw on appropriate research and make a logical argument? Do you perceive bias or the possibility of it in the author's relation to the subject matter?
What is the source? Does it have a title, and does that title tell you anything about it? If it lacks a title, how would you describe it? Is it a primary source, such as an original document, creative work, or artifact, or a secondary source,w hich reports on or analyzes primary sources? If it is an edition, is it authoritative? Does the source document its own sources in a trustworthy manner?
How was the source produced? Does it have a recognized publisher or sponsoring organizations? Was it subjected to a process of vetting, such as peer review, through which authorities in the field assess its quality?
Where did you find the source? Was it cited in an authoritative work? Was it among the results of a search you conducted through a scholarly database or your library's resources? Did you discover it through a commercial search engine that may weight results by popularity or even payment?
When was the source published? Could its information have been supplemented or replaced by more recent work?
source: MLA Handbook. 8th ed, Modern Language Association of America, 2016.
Additional thoughts on evaluation
It is common for articles posted on sites, especially those published by a news organization, to reference the release of a "study." As an academic researcher, you should realize that the article you are reading is a secondary source, and consider the fact that the reporter writing about a study may not represent its findings correctly. It is in your best interest to locate the primary source, the study itself. In many cases, the content of the study is linked in the article. Just click on it!
image source: Rizov, Vadim. "New Study Puts Numbers to the Lackof Minority Representation in Film." The Dissolve, 5 Nov 2013, thedissolve.com
Databases provide MLA citations, but check for accuracy!
Google Scholar also provides citation formats.
I recommend using the OWL as a reference if you cannot get the citation from the original source, or chat with a librarian for help with citations!
