Discussion Question- OneSearch Searching Strategies

Through this Library Exercise, you will practice the OneSearch techniques covered in the Library Tutorial Videos. This will help you understand how to find sources for assignment #4. When it comes to honing your research skills for the assignments in this course, as in all other aspects of life, practice makes perfect!

WRTG 393 students,

The following task is designed to help you become familiar with UMGC’s Information and Library Services.  Completing these exercises will help you get started on developing a topic for the white paper.

Please watch library tutorial #1, video tutorial #2, and video tutorial #3.  These tutorials are linked to at the top of the list of Content items for this week.  The tutorials are designed to demonstrate some searching strategies when finding articles through OneSearch, a research tool that allows you to search on many databases at one time.

After you have watched the tutorials, please complete the following tasks.  Post your responses to this discussion thread.

Let us assume you work for a nonprofit organization that is conducting research on labor trends. 

Your supervisor has asked you to conduct research on issues regarding employees from Generation Z.  For example, she mentions that Generation Z individuals may have different expectations of the work environment from those of workers from older generations.  In addition, she mentions that Generation Z has different habits with regard to their use of technology than workers from older generations exhibit.

The instructions you have been given by your supervisor are quite broad.  But let us assume that this is the directive you have been given.

For this reason, you will conduct a very general search on Generation Z and their work or technology habits.  You are not quite sure how to focus the topic, but you know that you would like to pursue this general topic and focus it later.

1. Using the strategies discussed in library video tutorial #1, search on some terms and find four articles on this topic.  Your search can be quite broad at this stage.  Try to use some search phrases that require that you use quotation marks, as the video demonstrates. Please write the topic on which you searched and the search terms you used to search on it. 

2. Again, using the strategies from library video tutorial #1, for the four articles you found, please write titles of the four articles and the journals in which they appeared.  You don’t have to cite anything in APA format, or anything of that nature.  Just post the titles and the journal names.

3. Using the strategies discussed in library video tutorial #2, conduct a new search on a phrase related to your major or to a workplace topic of interest to you.  As the video demonstrates, make sure to use quotation marks around the phrase you search on.

-What phrase(s) did you search on?

-How many search results do you get?

4. Then, applying the tips in library video tutorial #2, focus your search from question #2 by using the SU-subject terms option from the drop-down menu for one of the rows.

-How many search results do you find after limiting the search by using SU-subject terms?

5. Finally, using the strategies mentioned in library video tutorial #3, locate the research guide for your major.  If you have not declared a major yet, please select one that interests you from the options from the drop-down menu. 

Peruse the research guide for that major.  Describe to the rest of the class in a few sentences any interesting resources you discovered.

If you have the same major as another student in the class, this would be a great time to collaborate and share any resources you found with which others might not be familiar.

Library Tutorial #1 https://www.screencast.com/t/KgAEFMopGtCi

Library Tutorial #2 https://www.screencast.com/t/xrcdkroD

Library Tutorial #3 https://www.screencast.com/t/WGJyU6UluqCj