Course: Eng 180
Spring 2008 – Wort
Librarian: Sean Cordes
Email:
cs-cordes@wiu.edu
Phone: 298-2785
Office Hours: Mon 8-10, Tue 1-2, Wed 1-2
Off-Campus Access Library Internet Resources: If you are off-campus, you will need to enter your student id # or your ecom (email) username and password. If you have problems, call the reference desk at 309-298-2700 or 800-413-6544.
Keywords, keyterms- words people generally believe can be used alone or in combination to find targetted information.
As a student, you will often be asked to use scholarly journal articles. A scholarly article, as opposed to magazines or news articles, are reviewed by professionals and experts in the field to verify the accuracy of the work. Scholarly articles also have citations, (footnotes, end notes, works cited pages, and bibliographies), that you can use in your own work to follow up further verified information to support your research.
Opposing Viewpoints, 6,600+ viewpoint articles; statistics; biographies; court cases; primary docs
Periodicals Holdings List
The Periodicals Holdings List (PHL) is a listing of both the
print/microform periodicals available on the shelves of the Western
Illinois University Libraries, and the full-text e-titles available via
databases purchased by the Libraries. This resource currently indexes
over 20,000 periodical titles.
Interlibrary Loan Service
Researchers who need library materials from other libraries are
encouraged to use the WIU Libraries' Interlibrary Loan Department.
Since ILL requests can take 7-10 business days to fill, you are
encouraged to start your research early and place a request as soon as
you know what you need.
When you see this button, click on it to determine full-text
availability. By clicking on the Find It! button you are engaging the
libraries Peridocials Holdings List. The example below shows the Find
It! button in a bibliographic citation:



Your instructor may
require you to locate information in scholarly journals.
But how can
you easily know the differences between a scholarly journal and a popular
magazine?
Some of
the ways that a research journal typically differs from a popular magazine are:
1. Author or authority/expertise
Scholarly journal articles
will indicate authors and their academic credentials (degrees, positions,
academic institution), and ways to contact them. Popular magazines may not
always list the author, credentials, contact and other information found in the
scholarly article.
2. References and bibliographies
Scholarly journal articles will include
footnotes, endnotes, bibliographies, or reference lists to show where the
information in the article came from. Popular magazine
articles rarely do. Popular magazine articles
may attribute sources in a more indirect or less formal manner, or not at all
3. Focus of the content
Scholarly journal articles focus on research. Popular magazines focus on current
events & topics of general interest, and include lots of ads for consumer
products.
Scholarly articles are written for experts in the field. The writing style of the article may be technical, detailed, and are often long and complex. Scholarly publications do not include a lot of advertisements for consumer products; ads are limited to scholarly or academic products and services
4. Review MethodPlagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of stealing or using or passing off as someone elses words, phrases, ideas, writings, or creative work as your own, whether you mean to or not.
According to Diana Hacker, editor of The Bedford Handbook, reminds her readers that "[t]hree different acts are considered plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words" (570).
Basically you have to give authors credit for the work they did. You can avoid plagiarism by always citing your sources, including any and all resources and information found on the Web, via the Internet, or other electronic sources. Citing your sources accomplishes a number of things.
1. It gives the creator of work credit where credit is due.
2. It lets your readers know where you got your information, so they can tell if your sources are reliable.
3. It gives readers ionformation about the resource so they can fint it if they want more information.
Citing Your Sources: Hard Copy, Internet and RefWorks
There are a number of style you can use to cite your work, ask your instructor which they prefer.
Here are some of the most common ones. Diana Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual features three popular formats: MLA, APA, and Chicago. Of the three listed, APA is the style I recommend for science research papers. For special instructions on how to cite Internet sources, see Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual, Fourth Edition, pages 174-175. You can, of course, always consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition (APA Manual). We have APA Manuals at the Reference Desk. For Internet sources, see pages 268-281. The Reference Staff have created handouts on two of three popular styles, Chicago is currently under revision and is not available.
To manage your citations, you might consider learning how to use RefWorks.
It is citation management software that is compatible with most of the
University Libraries's databases. Contact a librarian to set up a personal
account and begin filling folders with citations. You will find RefWorks on the WIU Libraries list of databases.
If you need more help with the library tools
demonstrated today, visit the Library Reference Desk, located
on the main (second) floor of the library. The desk is open Mon-Thurs.
9-9, Fri. 9-5, Sat. 1-5, and Sun 1-5, 6-9 or use the Ask a Librarian page