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ASIJ
Learning Commons
HS Library/ Learning Commons
Get those Citations Right!
Online Resources
Pathfinders
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The first thing you need to do for this
I-Search
is to think of a question.
This isn’t as simple as you might imagine.
 | Some questions are too broad (What
is the universe?) |
| Some are too difficult or
complicated for a single
I-Search paper (Was Einstein correct about the theory of relativity?) |
| Some are too easy (How many students
are there at ASIJ?) |
You need a topic that
| Interests you greatly |
| Will interest other people who read
your paper |
| Will present a bit of challenge
..but |
| Is something you can answer if you
look hard enough. |
| Is personal- something that will
effect your own decisions in life |
First find something you’ve wanted to know
more about……
| Perfectionism - because you are having
trouble meeting
your deadlines |
| A career- because you wonder if
your dreams can
become a reality |
| Sleep – because you can't seem to
get enough and
you want to know why |
Then think about it for a while.
Narrow your search to something you can really
work on, but
make sure that there are enough resources on your topic for you
to do a good job.
For help in narrowing your search, please
visit this site
La Cañada Unified
School District:
HOW TO LIMIT YOUR TOPIC Resources
The Frederick Harris Library has
some places for you to start.
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The Online Catalog
http://www.asij.ac.jp/hslibrary/web_catalog/about_the_webcat.htm
| Notice that there is also a link
to a tutorial on the catalog in case you forgot how to
use it
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| You can also ask Mrs. Hayakawa or
Mrs. Yoshii to help you
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| If you want to search just the
High School collection, make sure you click the
Set Locations button. On the other hand, the Middle School library
might just
have the book or DVD you need. Mr. Swist and Mrs. Onozuka will be happy
to
assist! |
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| The ASIJ Databases
http://www.asij.ac.jp/hslibrary/pathfinder/databases.htm
 | If you are off-campus you
will need the user name and password. |
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Ask the librarians or your teacher. |
| There are 21 different databases! |
| The best ones to start with might
be:
 | Grolier Online
– which includes the Encyclopedia Americana, Lands and Peoples,
The New Book of Knowledge, and
The New Book of Popular Science.
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EBSCOHost
– which includes a magazine index with full text articles for over 700
journals.
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| NewsBank –
which includes broadcasts, news agency transmissions,
wire services, newspaper articles, magazine articles and
government documents on politics, economics, culture, business, science,
and technology.
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| Japan Knowledge - includes the
English language
Encyclopedia of Japan
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| Search Engines
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Google has some really
nice features, including cached sites
( you can see a site even if it’s no longer available)
and the ability to
search domains. For example, if you want only
military sites, type site:mil after your
search term.
If you want only government sites, type site:gov and so on.
Ask Mrs. Hayakawa for the abbreviations of other domains.
You can also limit your search to a particular phrase by putting quotes
around it, "like this."
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| Dog Pile
– www.dogpile.com If you want to
search the top hits from all
the search engines at once, use Dogpile.
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| Librarians' Index to the Internet
- http://lii.org/
For high quality
academic sites.
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| People
| One of your resources should
be an expert who you will interview for
information.
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| If you have trouble thinking of a
person to interview for your topic, ask
your teacher or the librarian.
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| Some possibilities are professors
at universities, scientists, and authors.
Very often they can be reached via e-mail.
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| If your topic is on Japan, you
have many more options. The JNL
teachers should be able to give you some good leads! |
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Try to find as many different
resources and points of view as you can!
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