ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 4 1 8 / C & R L N e w s ■ M a y 2 0 0 0 D e v e l o p i n g g o o d r e s e a r c h h a b i t s C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s news E n c o u r a g e s t u d e n t s t o c r e a t e a w o r k i n g b i b l i o g r a p h y o n l i n e b y K r i s t i n M i l l e r R e m e m b e r A d v a n c e d C o m p o s i t i o n ? R e ­ m e m b e r y o u r n u m b e r e d n o t e c a r d s w i t h m e t i c u l o u s l y w r i t t e n q u o t e s a n d p a r a p h r a s e s t a k e n f r o m l i b r a r y b o o k s a n d j o u r n a l a r t i c l e s ? W i t h t h e e a s e o f a c c e s s t o i n f o r m a t i o n o n l i n e , y o u d o n ’t s e e m a n y c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s t r a v e l i n g w i t h 3 x 5 c a r d b o x e s a n y m o r e . M o r e o f t e n s t u d e n t s a r e c a r t y i n g m u l t i p l e p r i n t o u t s f r o m f u l l - t e x t j o u r n a l s o r W e b p a g e s . T h e c o n ­ v e n i e n c e o f p r i n t i n g i n f o r m a t i o n f r o m o n l i n e s o u r c e s i s n o t w o r t h a r g u i n g a b o u t — s t u d e n t s w a n t f u l l - t e x t . B u t w h e r e i s t h e m e t h o d o l o g y f o r o r g a n i z i n g t h e b i t s a n d p i e c e s o f i n f o r ­ m a t i o n s t u d e n t s p u l l f r o m e a c h s o u r c e a n d h o w d o t h e y i n c o r p o r a t e t h e i r o w n i d e a s a n d a r g u m e n t s i n a r e s e a r c h p a p e r ? W h e r e i s t h e r e s e a r c h a n d w r i t i n g p r o c e s s ? T h e a b s e n c e o f t h e 3 x 5 c a r d b o x a s a n o r g a n i z a t i o n a l t o o l f o r r e s e a r c h h a s l e d t o t h r e e e p i d e m i c p r o b l e m s i n t h e c o l l e g e o n l i n e r e s e a r c h e n v i r o n m e n t : t h e p r i n t i n g e p i d e m i c ; t h e d i s c o n n e c t e d r e s e a r c h p a p e r p r o b l e m ; a n d t h e p l a g i a r i s m e p i d e m i c . A s i m p l e s o l u ­ t i o n t o t h e s e p r o b l e m s c a n b e f o u n d o n m o s t c a m p u s e s b y i n c o r p o r a t i n g w o r d p r o c e s s i n g i n t o t h e r e s e a r c h p r o c e s s . C o l l e c t i n g p r i n t o u t s T h e l a r g e s t g r o w t h a r e a i n t h e c o l l e c t i o n a t t h e T o d d W e h r M e m o r i a l L i b r a r y a t C a r r o l l C o l l e g e h a s b e e n i n a c c e s s t o o n l i n e f u l l - t e x t r e s o u r c e s . A s l a s e r p r i n t i n g h a s b e c o m e w i d e l y a n d f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e a n d t h e p r o c e s s ­ i n g s p e e d o f o u r c o m p u t e r s h a s i n c r e a s e d , s t u d e n t s c a n f i n d a n d p r i n t i n f o r m a t i o n q u i c k l y . I n t h i s e r a , f i n d i n g a n d p r i n t i n g i n ­ f o r m a t i o n q u i c k l y s e e m s l i k e a f i n e o b j e c ­ t i v e . O b s e r v i n g s t u d e n t s w i t h s t a c k s a n d s t a c k s o f a r t i c l e s t h e y h a d p r i n t e d , I w a s s u r p r i s e d w h e n o n e s u c h s t u d e n t a s k e d f o r h e l p f i n d ­ i n g m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n . I a s k e d h i m w h a t s o u r c e s h e h a d f o u n d a l r e a d y t h a t w e r e u s e ­ f u l . T h e r e p l y w a s s i m p l y t h a t h e h a d n ’ t r e ­ a l l y u s e d t h e p r i n t e d i n f o r m a t i o n , o r e v e n r e a d i t t h o r o u g h l y , b u t t h a t t h e r e m i g h t b e a n e e d f o r t h e s e p r i n t o u t s a t s o m e p o i n t . T h e p o s s i b l e f u t u r e n e e d t h i s s t u d e n t i d e n ­ t i f i e d i s o f t e n c o u p l e d w i t h a f e a r t h a t g o o d i n f o r m a t i o n m a y n e v e r b e f o u n d a g a i n . I t b e c o m e s c l e a r t h a t s t u d e n t s a r e n o t p r i n t i n g b e c a u s e w h a t t h e y h a v e f o u n d w i l l b e u s e f u l i n t h e i r r e s e a r c h . I n f a c t , p r i n t i n g a 2 5 - p a g e a r t i c l e d o e s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y m e a n t h e s t u d e n t w i l l e v e n r e a d t h e a r t i c l e . A l t e r n a t i v e s t o p r i n t i n g a r t i c l e s P a r t o f t h i s p r o b l e m c a n b e s o l v e d b y h e l p i n g s t u d e n t s b e c o m e m o r e c o m f o r t a b l e w i t h o n l i n e s e a r c h t e c h n i q u e s . T h e b a s i c s o f o n l i n e s e a r c h ­ i n g w i l l h e l p t h e m f i n d t h e i n f o r m a t i o n t h e y w a n t w i t h o u t j u s t s t u m b l i n g o v e r i t . A n o t h e r s o l u t i o n t o t h i s p r o b l e m is e n c o u r a g ­ i n g s t u d e n t s t o s t o r e t h e i n f o r m a t i o n t h e y t h i n k w i l l b e v a l u a b l e i n a w o r k i n g b i b l i o g r a p h y . O n o u r c a m p u s , s t u d e n t s h a v e a c c e s s t o t h e l i b r a r y c a t a l o g a n d t h e o n l i n e i n d e x e s f r o m a n y n e t w o r k e d c o m p u t e r . T h e m a j o r i t y A b o u t t he a u th o r K r is t in M i l l e r is i n s t r u c t i o n a l s e rv ic e s l i b r a r i a n a t C a r r o ll C o lle g e , e - m a il: k r is m il@ c c .e d u mailto:krismil@cc.edu C & R L N e w s ■ M a y 2 0 0 0 / 4 1 9 o f th ese c o m p u te rs h a v e stan dard w o r d p r o ­ c e s s in g a p p lic a tio n s lik e MS W o r d , W o r d ­ Perfect, W o r d Pad, o r N o t e P a d o n them . W ith w o r d p ro c e s s in g so r e a d ily a v a ila b le, all stu­ den ts n e e d to d o is o p e n a n e w file a n d cut a n d paste th eir citations a n d abstracts in to a W o r d d o c u m en t. M ost o f th ese c o m p u te rs are also h a rd y e n o u g h to a l l o w th e u ser to k e e p m o r e than o n e w i n d o w o p e n at o n e tim e a n d t o g g le b a c k an d fo rth q u ic k ly w ith o u t w a itin g fo r e a c h w i n d o w to load. A lt h o u g h the fo rm a t o f th e c lip p e d text m a y n o t a lig n p e rfe c tly , o n c e it is p a s te d it can b e e d it e d q u ick ly . P o p u la r in d e x e s , such as “ IA C ,” “ E B S C O ” a n d “ FirstSearch,” g e n e r ­ ally g iv e th ree o p tio n s fo r re trie v in g citations, abstracts, an d full-text: print, e-m ail, an d save. T h e print o p t io n s im p ly refo rm a ts the cita­ tion, abstract, o r fu ll-text so that it can b e p rin te d e a s ily fr o m th e b r o w s e r ’s print o p ­ tion. O n c e the s cre e n is re fo rm a tted , it can b e cut an d p a s te d in to a W o r d d o c u m e n t. E -m a ilin g a d o c u m e n t is an e x c e lle n t o p ­ tio n fo r students w h o are n o t p r e p a r e d to save their citations o n disks. A g a in , o n c e these e -m a ile d citations are d e liv e r e d , the student has the o p t io n o f cu ttin g a n d p a stin g th em in to a w o r k in g b ib lio g r a p h y . T h e e -m a il o p ­ tio n is o ft e n d e s ira b le b e c a u s e th e student w ill n o t run the risk o f lo s in g data that is n ot translated b e t w e e n th e lib ra ry ’s w o r d p r o c ­ e s s in g a n d th e w o r d p r o c e s s i n g o n th e stu d e n t’s p e rs o n a l co m p u ter. T h is is also im ­ p ortan t b e c a u s e the lib rary relies o n a W i n ­ d o w s O p e ra tin g System an d students m a y use the M a c O p e r a tin g System fo r th eir p e rs o n a l com pu ters. M a n y faculty also use M acs in their o ffic e s . U s in g e -m a il to c o lle c t citations al­ lo w s th e re se a rch e r to re fo rm a t th e m in to a w o r k in g b ib lio g r a p h y o n th e c o m p u te r an d o p e r a tin g system that w ill b e u sed to d o the m a jority o f the w o r d p ro ce ss in g . T h e final o p tio n , s a v in g a m a r k e d list o f citations, is an e x c e lle n t idea, bu t th e lack o f assurance that th e disk w ill b e r e a d a b le fr o m o n e c o m p u te r to th e n ex t o ft e n stop s p e o p l e fr o m s a v in g d irec tly to a flo p p y . O n o u r c a m ­ pus, students an d fa cu lty also h a v e the o p ­ tio n o f s a v in g in fo rm a tio n d irec tly to a fo ld e r o n th eir W i n d o w s N T user p ro file . New techniques for synthesizing information T h e r e are ru m b lin g s fr o m o u r te a c h in g fa c ­ ulty a b o u t th e q u a lity o f stu d en t resea rch p ap ers. W e h a v e n o d o u b t that students are fin d in g in fo rm a tio n , b e c a u s e w e h a v e the p rin tin g e p id e m ic to p r o v e that th e y are us­ in g lib rary resou rces. So w h e r e is th e d is c o n ­ n ect b e t w e e n fin d in g in fo rm a tio n a n d actu ­ a lly w r it in g a g o o d paper? P erh a p s it is in the 3 x 5 ca rd b o x that is n o lo n g e r used. T h e 3 x 5 card b o x w a s the p la c e w h e r e students r e c o r d e d w h a t th e y had le a rn e d fr o m e a c h in fo rm a tio n sou rce. Each ca rd re p r e s e n te d a s p e c ific th ou gh t, fact, o r n e w id ea th e stu den t h ad g le a n e d fr o m a b o o k o r a journal. Y o u ra rely s e e students “ta k in g n o t e ” o f w h a t th e y read o n a W e b site. Students are m o r e lik e ly to print o r p h o ­ t o c o p y th e in fo rm a tio n th e y n e e d , a n d in the best-case scen ario, th ey w ill an n otate o r h ig h ­ ligh t th e text. A n n o ta tin g an d h ig h lig h tin g m a y b e p r o o f that th e stu den t has actu ally rea d the in fo r ­ m ation ; a n d fo r le n g th y articles, re a d in g fro m p rin te d c o p y is m o r e c o m fo r t a b le than r e a d ­ in g fr o m th e screen. But b y rea d in g, a n n o ta t­ ing, an d a d d in g n o tes to a w o r k in g b i b l i o g ­ raph y, the stu den t can b e g in to c rea te an o r g a n iz e d re c o r d o f his o r h er th o u gh ts o n e a c h sou rce. In the a g e o f th e 3 x 5 card, after w r itin g n o te s an d q u o ta tio n s o n ea c h card, y o u c o u ld th en a rra n ge th e cards in the o r d e r th e y w o u l d a p p e a r in the paper. So if y o u w e r e w r it in g fr o m an ou tlin e, y o u c o u ld fin d all the cards that s u p p o r te d y o u r state­ m en ts a n d la y th e m o u t in th e o r d e r y o u w o u l d w r it e a b o u t them . Y o u c o u ld s e e w h ic h w e r e y o u r o w n ideas an d c o n c lu s io n s an d w h ic h w e r e c o m in g d i­ rectly fr o m y o u r research sou rces. Y o u m ig h t also b e a b le to p ic k o u t parts o f the p a p e r that w e r e o b v io u s ly w e a k e r than oth ers an d n e e d e d to b e d e v e lo p e d . T h e s a m e basic m e th o d o f in tegra tin g the w r itin g an d research p ro c e s s e s is still p o s ­ s ib le in th e o n lin e e n v iro n m e n t. A fte r cu ttin g a n d p a stin g th eir citations in to a w o r d p r o ­ cessin g file, students can n u m b e r an d arran ge the sou rces in a w a y that lets th em k e e p track o f their sources and their notes. T h e first q u o te fr o m th e first s o u rc e m ig h t b e n u m b e r e d la . a n d s o on. I f students can a n n o ta te o n the p rin ted c o p y o f an article, th e y c o u ld also e n te r th eir n o tes in to th e w o r k in g b ib lio g r a p h y an d b e ­ g in c o lle c tin g th e in fo rm a tio n th e y are g o in g 4 2 0 / C & R L N e w s ■ M a y 2 0 0 0 to w r ite about. T h is short p ro c e s s takes the student o n e step c lo ser to in tegratin g the v a ri­ ou s sou rces t h e y ’v e read. I f this w o r k in g b ib ­ lio g r a p h y w e r e p a ir e d u p w it h a statem en t o u tlin e , th e stu d en t can a g a in cut a n d paste th e s u p p o r tin g n o te s o r q u o ta tio n s in to th e o u tlin e a n d b e g in draftin g. The plagiarism epidemic T h e o n lin e re sea rch e n v ir o n m e n t s e e m s to h a v e o p e n e d th e d o o r to a n e w w a v e o f p la gia rism p ro b le m s . A la rger p r o b le m is that o ft e n students d o n o t k n o w th e y are p la g ia ­ riz in g w h e n th e y s im p ly restate s o m e t h in g t h e y ’v e read w it h o u t p r o v id in g th e s o u rc e o f th e in fo rm a tio n . M a k in g students a w a r e o f p la g ia ris m a n d h o w to a v o id it is an im p o rta n t part o f te a c h ­ in g th e m th e eth ics o f research . O n e w a y o f d o in g this m ig h t b e to r e q u ir e students to turn in a w o r k in g b ib lio g r a p h y in w h ic h th e y list th e ir so u rc es im m e d ia te ly f o l l o w e d b y th e n otes, q u o ta tio n s , o r q u estio n s. Students m ig h t also b e e n c o u r a g e d to th in k o f this part o f th e p ro c e s s as w r it in g d o w n w h a t t h e y h a v e le a r n e d fr o m e a c h so u rce. A n y ­ tim e th e y h a v e le a r n e d s o m e th in g n e w , th e y s h o u ld g i v e p r o p e r c red it to that s o u rc e in th e fin a l p ap er. T h is g iv e s students th e o p ­ p o r tu n ity to s ep a ra te th eir o w n a rgu m en ts a n d c o n c l u s i o n s f r o m t h e i n f o r m a t i o n g le a n e d th ro u g h r e s e a r c h .1 D e v e l o p i n g th e resea rch h abit o f w r it in g fr o m a w o r k i n g b ib lio g r a p h y w ill tea ch stu­ den ts to use t e c h n o lo g y to d o b etter research a n d w ritin g . In this case, t e c h n o lo g y is actu ­ a lly u s e d to e n g a g e the critical th in k in g skills students n e e d to b e e ff e c t iv e w riters a n d re ­ search ers. Note 1. B a sic g u id e lin e s fo r c re a tin g a w o r k ­ in g b ib lio g r a p h y can b e fo u n d in th e M LA H a n d b o o k f o r W riters o f Research Papers, 5th ed . ( N e w Y o rk : M o d e r n L a n g u a g e A s s o c ia ­ tio n o f A m e ric a , 1999) ■ ( “M y y e a r . . cont. f r o m p a g e 4 1 7 ) T h is w a s an irre p la c e a b le o p p o r tu n ity to step o u tsid e the lib rary p r o p e r an d c o n s id e r its ro le and rank w ith in the university’s greater structure, as w e ll as to m e e t an d learn fr o m e x p e r ie n c e d c o lle a g u e s w h o w e r e n ot librar­ ians. 6 T h e p la y in g fie ld b e c o m e s the u n i­ versity, n ot the lib ra ry . O n e d e c is io n y o u h a v e to m a k e a b o u t w h e t h e r y o u aspire to b e in g a “ p e r m a n e n t ” lib rary d ir e c to r is w h e th e r y o u w a n t to s w im in this much, m u ch la rger p o n d . I f y o u e n jo y the c h a lle n g e s an d r e w a r d s o f lib ra ria n s h ip p e r se, th e n th e d ir e c to r ’s r o le m a y n o t b e o n e y o u s h o u ld seek. H a v in g b e e n associate d ire c to r to t w o d irectors a n d h a v in g s e r v e d as in terim d ir e c ­ tor, this d esire to o p e r a te o n a b r o a d e r fie ld see m s to m e the singu lar d iffe r e n c e b e t w e e n b e in g an associate d ire c to r an d b e in g th e d i­ rector. Skill, k n o w le d g e , e x p e r ie n c e an d p r e p a ­ ration are im portant prerequisites, but the true m ark o f a d ire c to r is that sh e o r h e is n o t h a p p ie s t in a n y o th e r role. It so u n d s alm ost t o o sim p le, but I ’d b e t that m ost library d i­ rectors w o u ld say that d irec to rs h ip has b e e n th eir c a re er g o a l right fr o m lib rary s ch o o l. T h e “v is io n th in g ” is n ot just h y p e. It is real a n d im m u ta ble to the p e rs o n w h o is o n ly fu lfille d w h e n crea tin g that w h ic h d o e s n ’t exist, rather than w h e n m a n a g in g that w h ic h a lre a d y exists. I r e c o m m e n d the interim e x p e r ie n c e w ith ­ o u t re se rv a tio n to all w h o w o u l d aspire. T h e o p p o r tu n ity c o m e s a lo n g rarely in o n e ’s ca ­ re e r an d it sh o u ld n ot b e m issed. F o r m e, it w a s a le a rn in g e x p e r ie n c e fo r w h ic h th ere can b e n o substitute, an irre p la c e a b le cou rse in s e lf- d is c o v e r y an d a c h a n ce to m easu re m y s e lf against the larger yardstick. Note 1. East C arolin a U n iv ersity is a con stitu ent institution o f th e U n iv ersity o f N o rth C a ro ­ lin a s y s te m a n d s e r v e s an e n r o llm e n t o f 17,800 students. A c a d e m ic Library S ervices consists o f the m a in library, J o y n e r Library, a n d a bran ch M usic Library. D u rin g this p e ­ riod, the c o lle c tio n size w a s 1,030,000 v o l ­ um es/5,500 p e r io d ic a l su bscription s an d the library e m p l o y e d 27 fa cu lty m e m b e rs a n d 76 s t a f f m e m b e r s . T h e l i b r a r y is m a n a g e d c o lle g ia lly b y the d irec to r an d a te n u re d fa c ­ ulty b o d y a c c o r d in g to the Faculty M anu al a n d th e lib ra ry’s C o d e o f O p era tio n s. ■