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LANG 2070 - English Communication for Humanities and Social Science Studies I: Start

Guide & Workshop

This guide is developed for LANG 2070 students, to help you develop yourself as a scholar by exercises and self-reflection..

By using this guide & attending the Library workshop, you will learn to:

  • Name some of the important scholarly source types & search tools for university level research in HSS
  • Apply appropriate search methods & techniques to these sources & tools
  • Wisely select & use these sources & tools to begin to carry out university-level SHSS research

In order to....

  • Short term:
    • Complete your LANG 2070 assignment (short term)
  • Long term: 
    • Develop your knowledge & skill as an HSS researcher, confidently navigating the information environment
    •  Become a thoughtful & critical data, information, and knowledge consumer & creator

 

Link to feedback form

Infographics - Inspiration

Here are some suggested books and sites on conveying quantitative information graphically.

Also, search the Library Catalog for the subject: Information visualization

Pre-workshop videos

Before the workshop, please watch the following short videos. You will learn about and practice some of these techniques in the workshop.

  1. Advanced Search in PowerSearch (2 min , 9 sec)
  2. Email and send favorite items in one go [PowerSearch] (1 min 30 sec)
  3. Use Keywords, Not Sentences (2 min, 37 sec)
  4. Expand Your Keywords (1 min, 22 sec)
  5. Use Boolean Operators (39 sec)
  6. Subject Databases: Intro to Selecting
  7. Citation Chaining  (2 min, 3 sec) – from the Claremont Colleges Library

Topics

Topics for LANG 2070 - spring 2024
  1. Are what some see as things unique to Chinese culture (e.g. filial piety) in truth shared across many human cultures?
  2. Does higher education sell/provide a devolved/poor/thin/insufficient version of how we can lead good lives and contribute to the human condition?
  3. Does "success" depend on "opportunity"? Consider what factors determine whether someone has access to opportunities, such as education, resources, and social networks and how these factors vary across different groups of people, such as race, class, and gender.

Search & Research

Search & Research are different 1. As developing scholars, you will need to do both.

  • Know the answer or have a "hoped for answer"? = Search
    • How many "left behind" children are there in China
  • Don't know the answer; not sure of the question? = Research
    • What are the factors that lead "left behind" rural children in China have better or worse educational outcomes than those living with parents?
       

1. Wilkinson, Lane. (2014, July 15). Is research inquiry? [blog post] . Retrieved from: https://senseandreference.wordpress.com/2014/07/15/is-research-inquiry/

Johnson Quotes

Things to think about...

“The greatest part of a writer's time is spent in reading, in order to write: a man [sic] will turn over half a library to make one book.”

― Samuel Johnson, The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Vol 2  by John Boswell - (Project Gutenberg edition)

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. When we enquire into any subject, the first thing we have to do is to know what books have treated of it. This leads us to look at catalogues, and the backs of books in libraries.' 

― Samuel Johnson, The Life of Samuel Johnson LL.D. Vol 2  by John Boswell - (Project Gutenberg edition)

Sourced from here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/22191.Samuel_Johnson

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