Name: _____________________

LBR 110 Homework Two

1. Find an article in Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) on a topic that interests you and that you know something about. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

What topic did you search: _________________________________________________

What article did you find? (provide URL): ___________________________________________

How accurate/ complete/ detailed is the article?

2. Now use the Library Web-page to find an article on a similar topic in the Encyclopaedia Britannica Online (http://www.nvcc.edu/Library/db_encyclo.asp#encyclodictionaries). This is an online reference source the college pays for.

What article did you find in Britannica? (provide citation) _________________________________________________

How does this article compare to Wikipedia in terms of length, depth, accuracy? Does it contradict the Wikipedia article?

[NB: if you were not able to find an article in Britannica, try Credo Reference or Oxford Reference Online).

3. Use on of the Library’s Article Databases (http://www.nvcc.edu/Library/databases.htm) to find a periodical article on your topic. These databases are collections of full-text articles from magazines, newspapers & journals that the college pays for.

What database did you use? (for example, ProQuest, Lexis Nexis, Academic Search Complete): ________________________________________

Give the citation for the article you found (author, article title, publication title, date):

How did this information compare to the articles in Wikipedia and Britannica?

4. Go to Google (www.google.com) and do a search on your topic.

How many results did you find? __________________________________________

Looking at the most relevant results at the top of the list, how do these results compare to the other searches you’ve done?

Provide the URL for one useful and relevant website (NOT Wikipedia): _____________________________________________

Why do you think this website is a good source of information?

5. Find a way to narrow down your topic. What search terms could you add to make it more specific?

Topic: _________________________________________

Additional Search Terms: _________________________ ___________________________________

Using the strategy outlined in the Week Two Lecture, combine your search terms:

Now conduct your search in Google, using the combination of terms. How many results did you retrieve? ___________________________

How do these results compare to your results in Question #4?

Now conduct your search in the database you used in Question #3.

Give the citation for an article you found (author, article title, publication title, date):

BLOG POST:

Part II: Go to the course blog (http://lbr110.blogspot.com) and tell us a little about your research background and skills, and to share some of your favorite tools and resources.

• What does “research mean to you?
• How have you used the Internet to help you do research?
• What kind of research do you normally do? (work? school? personal?)
• What are some of your favorite research tools?