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Broadcasting and Journalism

Welcome Finding Statistics

Hello!

To get started today, open the Seneca Libraries website

Once at the Libraries website:

  1. Click Subject Guides
  2. Click Broadcasting & Journalism
  3. Click Course Guides
  4. Click JRN 370 (F2024)

At any time during the class, feel free to "raise a hand", call out my name, or add a question to the chat.

In today's class:

  1. Agenda / Objectives
  2. Services & Tools Refresher
  3. Library Search Refresher
  4. Primary Sources
  5. Finding Statistics
  6. Finding Topical Information

By the end of this session, you should be able to: 

Objectives

    1. Find the JRN 370 course guide.
    2. Find useful services and tools at Seneca Libraries.
    3. Define "primary source".
    4. Find information sources for statistics, public opinion polls and experts

Find @ Seneca Libraries

  1. Getting library & research assistance
    • Live chat / Research appointment / Reach out to me directly
  2. Subject Guides
  3. Seneca Sandbox
  4. LinkedIn Learning

SENECA LIBRARIES SEARCH

Less is More

Start with one or two words and then add one additional term at a time
  • student
  • university student

Phrase Search

Use "quotation marks" around key ideas made up of multiple words
  • "international students"
  • very useful when you have a specific phrase containing common words

Refine

Use features in the search tool, often called limiters or filters, to narrow search results by predefined categories or criteria. Common examples include;
  • Date
  • Content / Material type
  • Peer-reviewed

Sample Search Topic

  • "international student" cap Ontario

Things to remember when using the Seneca Libraries search tool

  1. Sign in to save searches, items, and to request materials.
  2. Use the filters on the left. Common filters are Availability, Content / Material Type, Date.
  3. When viewing an item record, scroll down to the View Online to access the item.
  4. Some items won't be available. You can request unavailable items using interlibrary loan.

Additional Search Features

  1. Description / Subject Headings
  2. Access Options (physical location, online access)
  3. Tools (Cite-It, Permalink)
  4. Separate search for newspaper articles

Primary Sources are immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it.

Primary sources can include:

  1. Texts of laws and other original documents.
  2. Newspaper reports, by reporters who witnessed an event or who quote people who did.
  3. Speeches, diaries, letters and interviews - what the people involved said or wrote.
  4. Original research.
  5. Datasets, survey data, such as census or economic statistics.
  6. Photographs, video, or audio that capture an event.

*Adapted from https://umb.libguides.com/PrimarySources/secondary

Other Sources of Statistical Information

  1. Statista
  2. Library Search - Academic articles
  3. Web Search / Social Media

Other Sources For Topical Information

  1. Find Public Opinion Polling Data (find sources in the Broadcasting & Journalism library subject guide)
  2. Finding Experts (find sources in the Broadcasting & Journalism library subject guide)
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