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PTK HIA 2020: 5/6/20 Research Workshop

What's this workshop about?

In our first Library research session, we'll learn strategies to make this broad topic more manageable, lay out an approach for this yearlong group research project that may occur entirely online, and learn to identify helpful research guideposts in the vast sea of online information.

Your Action Items

  1. Use research techniques like concept mapping, keyword brainstorming, and outlining to start figuring out ways to narrow down this enormously broad research topic. Download, print, and complete the handout linked below.
  1. Divide up the workload of searching as many of the links on this page as possible under "Paywalls Temporarily Down," downloading any sources that seem interesting or potentially relevant, and uploading those sources to Google Drive as appropriate. These are resources that we normally wouldn't be able to access, but they've been made free online for a limited time (i.e., the publishers have temporarily taken their paywalls down), in the interest of public good during the current pandemic.

Survey: What did you learn?

What did you learn today? Please take this short survey and let me know.

Paywalls Temporarily Down

The following links have also been made temporarily free online, but the content there is not necessarily COVID-focused. You can still search these resources for information related to COVID or other disease.

In addition, publishers are temporarily offering free online access to a wide variety of textbooks. Browse the LAVC Library's guide to online textbooks -- there might be some that would be helpful for your topic. Warning: Both RedShelf and VitalSource limit each user to 7 books. Before you access any book for this HIA project, make sure you already have what you need for your college classes!

Keeping Up with New COVID Research

Background Research (using LAVC Library resources)

Wikipedia (which is a type of encyclopedia) is not allowed as a source for most classes, but the Library has many encyclopedias that you CAN use a source for background information for college assignments. A few examples are listed below.

If you're writing about a controversial topic or a current event, these databases may help you see the big picture or different aspects of your topic, including multiple points of view. They contain a wide variety of sources, including "featured viewpoints" (which are opinion pieces) as well as journal, magazine, and newspaper articles; primary sources; and encyclopedia-like overviews or summaries.

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