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How To Do Research: Session 2: Authority Is Contextual

Use this guide to begin research on a new topic and to learn more about Ryan Library's research tools.

Read about the Academic Publishing Model and Open Access Movement

Request an Article

InterLibrary Loan allows members of the PLNU community to request articles from another library.

Before you request an article, complete the following steps to verify that the article is not available at PLNU:

  1. Find out if the journal is full text in one of our databases. 
  2. Find out if the journal (hard copy) is located in Ryan Library. 
  3. Use InterLibrary Loan to request the article. 

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You can also connect via text message at 619-592-8884 or by email.

Find Articles

Ryan Library subscribes to over 90 Databases that offer online access to journal and magazine articles or citations. Search selected databases using the Articles tab in the Quick Search Tools box on the Library's homepage.

For general research, we recommend starting with one of these two databases:

For research within a specific discipline, try starting with one of our Research Guides.

Peer Review

Scholarly vs. Popular Articles

Database Search Strategies

News Literacy

Evaluating Sources for Authority

Consider Quality...

These principles of web source evaluation are drawn from The St. Martin's Handbook, 9th edition (pp.198-99):

Authorship

Does the site/document have an author? What are the author's credentials? Why should you trust this author as an expert? 

Publisher/Sponsor

Who sponsors or publishes the source? What evidence demonstrates that the sponsor/publisher is credible? What purpose/perspective does the sponsor seem to promote?

Currency

How recently was the information posted or modified? Could it be outdated or obsolete?

Credibility

How do you know that the information itself is trustworthy? Are there links to other sites/sources to support factual claims?

 

 

Smart Searching Using Google

Indicator

Purpose

Example

 site:

 Find information from a certain site

 site:www.pointloma.edu

 define:

 Find definitions for a word

 define:collegiate

 filetype:

 Find only one kind of file

 filetype:PDF

 -word

 Eliminate results with particular words

 college protests -vietnam

 “word”

 Find an exact word (no plurals/synonyms)

 “generation” “exploit”

 “multiple words”

 Find a group of words in exact order

 “No Child Left Behind”

 Navigating Your Results

 [Cntl/Command]+F

 Find a certain word on the page

Hold down Control/Command and letter F. Enter the word you’re searching for in the box that appears.

Not finding what you need?

Try one of these options:

News Literacy: How to Evaluate the News for Quality

How to Distinguish News from Other Types of Information

Ask yourself, does this piece of information demonstrate verification, independence and accountability (VIA)? If it does not, it’s not news and may be propaganda or fake news.

Verification

​A process of collecting evidence that establishes or confirms the accuracy or truth of something.

Independence

Freedom from the control, influence, or support of interested parties, coupled with a conscious effort to set aside any preexisting beliefs and a system of checks and balances.

​Accountability

Being responsible or answerable for your work.

(From http://drc.centerfornewsliteracy.org/content/via)

How to Evaluate the Sources Used in News Stories for Quality, Credibility and Trustworthiness (IMVA/IN)

I: Independent sources are better than self-interested sources

M: Multiple sources are better than single sources

V: Sources who Verify with evidence are better than sources who assert

A / I: Authoritative / Informed sources are better than uninformed sources

N: Named sources are better than unnamed sources

(from http://drc.centerfornewsliteracy.org/content/introducing-imvain)