Objectives

Starting Smart

This module covers types of information sources you can use for your topic. When you have completed this section of Searchpath you should be able to:

• identify a variety of information sources
• distinguish between popular and scholarly periodicals
• identify characteristics of information on the Web
• identify characteristics of library resources

Choosing a Topic

This module covers topic selection and how to identify keywords to search your topic. When you have completed this module you should be able to:

• broaden or narrow a topic
• identify keywords for a topic
• use connectors and truncation in constructing a search
• understand the difference between keyword and subject searching

Using Voyager

This module covers how to search Voyager, the MTSU library catalog. When you have completed this module you should be able to:

• recognize that Voyager contains more than books
• find books on a topic using a Guided Keyword search
• find books by title, author, or subject heading
• find journals by using a Journal Title search
• identify the location of books or journals
• read a call number and use it to find items in the library
• find an item placed on reserve using a Course Reserve search

Finding Newspapers

This module covers finding newspapers on the web and in the library. After completing this module you should be able to:

• decide when to use newspapers for research
• find newspapers in the library
• find newspapers on the web
• use library databases to find newspapers

Using the Web

When you have completed this section of Searchpath, you should be able to

• understand the organization of the Internet
• identify the major types of Web sites
• use search engines to search the Web
• interpret and evaluate Web search engine results

Finding Articles

This module covers how to use article indexes to identify articles on a subject. After completing this module you should be able to:

• choose an article index appropriate to your information need
• use it to identify an article on a topic
• search Article Linker to locate the full text of your article
• locate a specific article or journal using Journal Locator

Citing Sources

This module covers citing sources, plagiarism, and copyright. When you have completed this module of Searchpath, you should be able to

• recognize different parts of a citation
• describe when to cite sources used in your work
• list ways to avoid plagiarism
• understand the reasons for copyright