Objectives

Module 1: Starting Smart

This module covers types of information sources you can use to find information on your topic. When you have completed this section of Searchpath you should be able to:

• identify a variety of information sources
• distinguish between popular and scholarly periodicals
• identify characteristics of information on the Web
• identify characteristics of library resources

Module 2: Choosing a Topic

This module covers topic selection and how to identify keywords to search your topic. When you have completed this module you should be able to:

• broaden or narrow a topic
• identify keywords for a topic
• use connectors and truncation in constructing a search
• understand the difference between keyword and subject searching

Module 3: Using Clarke's Library Catalog

This module covers how to search the Clarke Library Catalog. When you have completed this module you should be able to:

• recognize that the Clarke Library Catalog contains more than books
• find books on a topic using Keyword searches
• find books by title or author
• find journals by using a Journal Title search
• identify the location of books or journals
• read a call number and use it to find items in the library

Module 4: Finding Articles

This module covers how to use article indexes to identify articles on a subject. After completing this module you should be able to:

• choose an article index appropriate to your information need
• use it to identify an article on a topic
• use an index's email function to send a record to yourself
• search the Clarke Library Catalog to locate the periodical that contains your article

Module 5: Using the Web

When you have completed this section of Searchpath, you should be able to

• understand the organization of the Internet
• identify the major types of Web sites
• use search engines and metasearch engines to search the Web
• interpret and evaluate Web search engine results

Module 6: Citing Sources

This module covers citing sources, plagiarism, and copyright. When you have completed this module of Searchpath, you should be able to

• recognize different parts of a citation
• describe when to cite sources used in your work
• list ways to avoid plagiarism
• understand the reasons for copyright