Indexes & Abstracts Exercise

 

 

Directions

 

If possible, work in small groups for this exercise (preferably groups of 2 or 3). Each group should submit one assignment with all names clearly at the top. Make sure your group thoroughly discusses your answers. Answer 5 of the following questions. Give the answer to each question, complete citations for the information found, and any other details about your search, e.g. where you looked unsuccessfully, problems you found with a source, etc. For some of these questions you may find the answer, or parts of the answer in a number of sources. Please note discrepancies between sources. Save time: look for each of these items as you examine a given source.

Members of the group presenting Indexes & Abstracts in class do not need to complete this assignment.

Submit your answers via Blackboard. All members of a group should submit this assignment: if you do not submit an assignment, Blackboard will allow me to give you a grade, but not narrative feedback.

 

 

Questions

  1. Find three articles that cite the second edition of the textbook we are using: Richard E. Bopp and Linda C. Smith, Reference and Information Services: An Introduction (1995).

  2. What magazine, in 2000, published a fairly long article that discusses earthquakes and other natural disasters in Turkey?

  3. Who wrote an article about a Picasso exhibition about children? Where was the article published?

  4. Vannevar Bush wrote the article entitled: “As We May Think.” Where and when was it originally published?

  5. A friend told me he had read a fascinating discussion comparing the fiction of Anne Tyler, Jayne Ann Phillips, Bobbie Ann Mason and Grace Paley. Can you help me find it?

  6. Melvil Dewey wrote an article in 1901 about the future of libraries. I need the full citation for the article.

  7. Look at Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature for 1971-1972. What heading would you look under to find articles about busing? One of the articles is “Green light for busing” What magazine is it in?  What does “il” mean in the citation?

  8. Look at the Index to the New York Times for 1936. What heading would you use to find articles about the University of North Carolina? One of the articles is about the May Queen. How do you interpret the information listed after the title?

  9. I need to find some articles about BSE and I need them to be from a veterinary medicine point of view. Where should I look?  By the way, what is BSE?

  10. Wendell Williamson was in the news a few years ago. I want to read some North Carolina newspaper articles about the Chapel Hill shootings in January of 1995, but I don’t want to read that horrible microfilm, it hurts my eyes. Where can I go to find full text articles from NC newspapers?

  11. How many citations has Dr. Moran received for her writing?

  12. A friend of mine gave me a book by Mario Vargas Llosa. Can you find any articles discussing this writer’s work?

  13. There have been several reports about fungal infections affecting cocoa plants throughout the tropics. Where could one find reliable research on crop production and farm management techniques applicable to Central America, reported in a journal form?

  14. Faculty and students in SILS frequently request articles from the journals College & Research Libraries, North Carolina Libraries, Portal, Searcher, and RQ. To what database should your library subscribe in order to provide your users the materials they request?

  15. Since the 1997 birth of the McCaughey sextuplets there have been several other multiple births reports. Your library would like to create a database recording those incidents. Where would you locate journal and newspaper articles about multiple births and related medical issues and concerns to add to your database?

  16. I read a poem a while ago by Auden and I can’t remember what it was called, but the last line went something like "Read The New Yorker, trust in God." Can you help me find the full text of the poem?

Grading

 

5 points per question = 25 points total

Your answer to each question will be evaluated according to the following rubric. I will assign one point for each item, per question:

  1. You found the answer to the question.
  2. You found the answer in appropriate sources, and used more than one source.
  3. You discuss the details of the answer you found, including disambiguating any ambiguities in the question.
  4. You discuss the details of the sources you used: features, pros and cons, what the sources included and did not include, appropriate evaluation criteria, etc.
  5. You discuss the details of your searching process, for and within each source.