Library Research Skills Exercise

Sample page: Library Research Skills Exercise

Please do not link to this page.

1. You need to read a scholarly/peer-reviewed article for a research project. The best resource to start with would be:

a) a Web search tool
b) a library research database
d) an encyclopedia

2. Your topic is "Junk food is the main cause of obesity in children." Which of the following set of keywords would be most relevant for this topic?

a) obesity, education, exercise
b) nutrition, restaurants, children
c) children, obesity, food

3. You need to find articles about "the effects of alcohol use on depression." Which of the following searches would retrieve the most relevant results?

a) depression AND alcoholism
b) depression OR alcoholism
c) depression

4. Consider the following citation example. Which of the statements below is true?

Library Database Citation Example:

a) this article is from a scholarly/peer-reviewed/academic journal
b) this article is available to read in full text online
c) the information in this article is current (i.e. not older than three years)

5. Which of the following criteria is the best indicator of an article's reliability?

a) length of the article
b) ease of finding the article
c) includes many illustrations
d) credentials of the author

6. The library database Academic Search Premier returns a list of 70 journal article citations. You need five articles for a research assignment. How do you choose the best five articles from the 70 citations?

a) look for articles published in scholarly or peer-reviewed journals
b) pick the first five from the list because they are likely the most recent articles on the topic
c) read the abstracts/summaries (if provided) to find the articles most relevant to your topic
d) pick the article titles that contain a keyword from your search statement
e) a and c

About you

7. Have you taken the required LIBS 100/150 course?

Yes No

8. Have you participated in the VLIB 101 virtual library classroom?

Yes No

9. Have you consulted any of the library's tutorials? Please note that plagiarism and academic integrity tutorials are not library tutorials.

Yes No

10. Have you had any class-related library instruction at UMUC by a librarian?

Yes No

11. During this semester, did you attend a face to face library instruction session taught by a librarian or an instructor, or did you visit a library conference in an online classroom?

Yes No

If you answered yes to question 11, please complete the following 2 questions:

12. Did you feel that the library instruction helped you complete the research you did for this class?

Yes No

Comments:

13. If you felt you needed more help with your research, what did you do? (Choose all that apply)

a) contacted a UMUC librarian
b) contacted a librarian other than a UMUC librarian
c) asked your faculty member for assistance
d) asked colleagues for assistance
e) did not ask for assistance

Other:

This is a sample page. It cannot be submitted.

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