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SOC 226: The Working Globe: Activities

Activity #1 - Crafting Keywords

Time: 5 mn 

Goal: Generate a list of search keywords 

  1. Write down keywords that describe your topic
  2. Exchange sheets with the person next to you and add keywords to each others' sheets 
  3. Start organizing the keywords in categories using broader/narrower terms 

Activity #2 - Multi-disciplinary Search Tools

Time: 5 mn 

Goal: Experience using a large general research databases 

  1. Go to the library's A-Z Databases List and locate Proquest.  
    Select the main Proquest database, but notice all the databases listed under Proquest
  2. Search for your topic 
  3. Experiment with the filters / limits available 
  4. When we regroup we will consider the following questions: 
    1. What categories of sources can you find through Proquest ?
    2. How is Proquest working well ?
    3. What do you wish was different?

Activity #3 - Selecting Databases

Time 10 mn 

Goal: Explore one database and share findings with group

Instructions: 

  1. Go to the library's A-Z Databases List and locate the assigned database for your group (list below) 
  2. Run searches on your topic (using your keywords) 
    1. What do you notice? 
    2. What surprises you? 
  3. As a group be prepared to explain to the larger group: what is this database good for? 

Group 1 : Econlit 

Group 2: Business (Gale OneFile) 

Group 3: Nexis-Uni 

Group 4: Econlit

Group 5: Business (Gale OneFile) 

Group 6 : Nexis-Uni