WRI 1100: Aaberg

Reference Desk - Ask a Librarian
Research, Reading, & Writing Studio

Search Library Resources

(online and print: books, videos, etc.)

The above is only a select list of SPU databases I thought would be most helpful for this class.  There may be other databases that would be helpful for this assignment - for example if you were looking for information about the legal ramifications of your topic, you might want to search the database 'Legal Collection.'

Not sure which database is best for your topic?  Ask a Librarian!

A-Z List of SPU Databases

SIFT is a set of four 'moves' you can use when evaluating a source.

Stop - 

• First, what do you know about this source?  What is the reputation of the claim and the website (or journal, or book).  If you don't know, use the other moves to get a sense of what you are looking at.
• Second, think about how much fact-checking you need to do for your purpose. If you want to know if something is reliable to repost on social media, this might be a quick check, but if you are doing scholarly research you would want to do more research before using or sharing

Investigate the source - 

• This does not need to be a full scale investigation, but take a little time to recognize what media type it is and a little about the source before deciding to read, share, or use as a source.

Find Better Coverage - 

• Often the same information will be available from multiple sources. While this doesn't always prove that this information is correct or that you must agree with the claim, it does help to a give context and history for the claim.

Trace claims, quotes, and media back to original media -

• Secondary sources are often stripped of their original context, going back to the primary source, or even a fuller secondary source can help. For example, is the claim broadly accepted or contested? 
• Sometimes you will find that the initial source is outright wrong or mis-leading, but most often you will simply find additional helpful context

Shared under a Creative Commons License from:https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/
To learn about SIFT in more detail, check out the SIFT three hour online minicourse.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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When thinking about finding statistics, think first about the parameters of your data. Do you need information for a specific country or region, or a specific population such as gender, race, or ethnicity?

Second, think about who might gather such data, a government agency such as:

Or a health-related non-government agency such as:

Another excellent resource are library subject guides.  Here is a starting point from U.C. Berkeley:

Journal articles often report health statistics, but you will want to follow those back to the agency that first gathered them to double check their report. The simplest way to find the information may be to locate the reference in an article and then verify it from the source.

Finally, using Google to search for incidence or prevalence and your health topic can reveal numbers - just be sure to fact check any numbers you find.

Other statistics resources:

Things to consider when determining if an article is peer reviewed:

• Verify that you have a journal article (not a book chapter or magazine article, for example). 
• The following can usually be found in a peer-reviewed article:
  • An extensive reference list with in-text citations
  • Specific style/organization: abstract, introduction, methods, results, conclusion
  • Data given in charts, tables or graphs
  • Formal language - particularly an long article title that covers all components discussed in the article
  • Includes dates for submission and acceptance of the article 

Strategies to verify peer reviewed status of the journal:*

1. Look for the Peer Reviewed check.

• Some databases, like CINAHL, allow you to click a check-box for peer reviewed journals.
• *Not every article in a peer-reviewed journal may be peer-reviewed, as journals often have content (e.g., editorials, book reviews) which are not required to go through peer-review.

2.  Search the Journal's website for Author Guidelines or look for the About the Journal page:

3. Search the library catalog for the journal name or ISSN. Usually, peer reviewed journals will have a label of peer reviewed if they meet that qualification.

Still not sure if your article is peer-reviewed?  Ask an SPU Librarian!