RESEARCH
INTRODUCTION
TO
PROFESSOR SARAH COHN
REFERENCE & INSTRUCTION LIBRARIAN
March 22, 2022
AGENDA
Types of sources
Keywords & search strategies
Navigating library databases
Research time
TODAY'S
SOURCES
SCHOLARLY &
AKA Peer Reviewed AKA Academic Sources
POPULAR
Scholarly Source
Journal: Virulence
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Authors: faculty members at universities
Audience: usually other researchers, students, & faculty. Generally not for average reader
Abstract: short description of the article. Read first to determine if you want to read the whole thing
Keywords: use to build further database searches
Popular Source
Audience: general public
Content: little or no jargon, human interest hook, photos
Citations: links within the text
Newspaper: NYT
Authors: Journalist
TERMS
SEARCH
AKA KEYWORDS
what is your main topic?
what are the specifics?
combining different terms = different results
what are different ways to describe your ideas?
How does climate change impact frogs?
Climate Change
- Water availability
- Disease
- Water temperature
- Air temperature
Impact
- Ecology
- Habitat
- Aquaculture
- Physiology
- Reproduction
- Life cycle
- Development
Frogs
- Amphibians
- Tadpoles
- Genus & Species
- Location
STRATEGIES
SEARCH
use AND to connect terms
disease AND climate change AND alpine tree frog
tadpoles AND development AND climate change AND australia
use OR to connect synonyms
frog OR tadpole AND disease AND climate change
use "..." for phrases or names
"climate change"
"alpine tree frog"
DATABASES
LIBRARY
library.ccny.cuny.edu
OneSearch box
Databases link
- Access to all 300+ databases at CCNY
- Alphabetical or sort by subject
- Log in with your CityMail info
- Simple search bar option
- Meta-search
- Searches multiple databases at once
- Log in with your CUNY single login info
but not all of them!
SocIndex
PsycINFO
Communication & Mass Media
Education Sourc
Library & Info Science
OneSearch
Academic OneFile
JSTOR
Academic Search Complete
Subject Specific
Multi-
Disciplinary
HELP
GETTING
Professor Sarah Cohn
Reference & Instruction Librarian
scohn@ccny.cuny.edu
Virtual Reference Desk
Monday-Thursday 11am-7pm
Friday 11am-5pm
Saturday 10am-2pm
library.ccny.cuny.edu/askus
In-Person Reference Desk
Monday-Thursday 10am-4pm
Friday 10am-2pm