This is a "choose your own adventure" library hunt.You will need to use the library's webpage and resources to aid you in the completion of your library assignment. Enjoy!!
**Your Saga Begins**
Your crazy professor has asked you to write a research paper, and has given you only 4 weeks to write it!!!
"*Good thing you have the library, without which you would certainly be doomed to failure," she laughs maniacally*.
She hands out the assignment, and you stare at it in dismay.
[[Research Assignment]]The assignment is a doozy:
Statement:
Historically, nationalism has been, alternatively, both an constructive and destructive force in the United States and around the world. Nationalism is also closely allied with nativism. The question we must ask ourselves now is, does nationalism/nativism have a constructive place in our current global economy? In the same breath we must also ask, what makes it acceptable to exclude other persons seeking the same opportunities our ancestors were once given?
Assignment:
Considering our current political climate (terrorism, immigration, national debt, etc), and using historical precedent, please craft a document explaining what course the United States should follow in its policies towards the rest of the world and its citizens.
You should include at least **8 resources**, including *books*, *journal articles*, and others of an *academic* nature. Also, you must **properly cite** your sources, *avoiding plagiarism*.
[[Where to Start]]Knowing that you have only a couple of weeks to gather all 8 resources to write this paper, you wisely choose not to procrastinate. But where should you start?
[[Ask a Librarian]]You approach the front desk of the library and timidly ask, "*Is there a librarian here to help me start my research paper?*" The librarian is quickly retrieved, and he invites you back to his office.
Once there, he starts off with a few questions:
"**Okay, so what are you wanting to write about?**"
You start to mutter, 'I don't want to do write anything', but catch yourself and quickly respond, *"um, nationalism."*
"**Can you explain a little bit more? That's a pretty wide subject!**"
You hand the librarian your phone so he can read the assignment. Having a clearer view of the assignment, he turns to the library webpage to show you what is available. Pausing, he asks "**so what is your angle?**"
Puzzled, you raise an eybrow and wait for more. After a moment, he states "**you need to choose some keywords to put into the search box, so we can find the right resources for you.**"
Nodding, you start to name a few, and the two of you quickly list several keywords that would help retrieve the right information:
[[nationalism, globalism, United States, nativism, policy, history, xenophobia, violence]]
Go to the library homepage and try searching with a few of the keywords in the search bar until you find three satisfactory items: one should be an *e-book*, another should be an *academic article*, and the final should be a *physical book* in the library's stacks.
Write down the *title* and *author* of each on your assignment sheet, as well as the *call number* for the physical book in the stacks.
[[Filters/ Limiters]]Some searching tips:
1. Use boolean operators: using AND, OR and NOT can help you in your keyword searches to get the returns you want.
Example: Using "**nationalism AND violence**" will give you more specific information than using either seperately.
2. In addition to using specific keywords to limit the amount of information that you get in an initial search, there are filters (or limiters) which can make the information even more specific. For example, these limiters might be date of publication, format type, language, or availability, to name a few.
So, instead of having to dig through hundreds (or thousands) of titles, you can use your time more effeciently.
[[Back to your story]]Having discovered several articles and downloaded them, you thank the librarian and move onto the library floor to look for a couple of the books in the stacks.
[[Go to Stacks]]You find one of the books you wanted, but it looks like the other one is checked out! You don't want to wait until your classmate returns it, so what options are there? You remember the librarian had mentioned getting some articles and books from other libraries...
[[Interlibrary Loan or ILL]]The librarian is gone when you return to his office, but the library assistant at the front desk points you towards the website again.
***You have a choice***:
[[watch the youtube video]] or [[put it off until later]].After watching the video, you fill out the google form and wait for the items to arrive. It can take *up to one week for articles* to arrive, and often at least *two weeks for books*, so you are happy you requested them right away, instead of procrastinating.
[[Two Weeks Later]]When you remember to request the books you wanted, several days have past. After you watch the youtube video, *you realize that you are not likely to get them in time* to help you write your paper.
[[Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth]]Awesome, your other books have arrived! They can now complement what you have been researching the last couple of weeks, and you can make a compelling argument in your paper. Now you're finished in the library right?
***You have a choice***:
[[Yep->Weeping and Gnashing of Teeth]] [[Nope]]
You are last seen in your dorm room holding your knees and quietly rocking back and forth. No one hears from you again.Double-click this passage to edit it.That's right, now you have to write the paper... but your **dorm is too loud** at night to even study, let alone write. You remember seeing *study rooms* from your earlier visit--can you just go into a study room, or do you have to reserve it? You go to the library website to find out.
[[Watch Tutorial and Reserve Room]]Thankfully the library has some quiet study spaces, and you spend the next week writing out your paper. You run into some problems, however, trying to get your sources cited properly in your paper. Your nutty professor keeps harping on **plagiarism**, as well as following the *proper style guide*.
What does that even mean? You decide to ask one of your classmates, and they point out that they got help from another librarian (turns out that librarians are pretty handy), who pointed them to LibGuides and the upcoming style workshops next week.
***You have a choice***:
[[Go to LibGuides]] or [[Go to Workshop]]You go to the library website and find the LibGuides. You search for one on style (choose *MLA*, *APA*, or *Turabian*, whichever is used in your field of study), as well as a guide on *citation generators*(choose whichever is best for you).
Wow, what great tools! They are really helpful and your paper is really starting to shine.
***You have a choice***:
After using these tools, however, you still have questions. Thankfully, there is a workshop you can attend on Monday at noon to help answer those.[[Go to Workshop]]
If you have attended the workshop already, you should be good to go. Now it's just a matter of finishing up.
[[Finish the Paper]]You attend the workshop on Monday. The instuctor is quite helpful and answers your specific questions.
Having already viewed LibGuides, you are confident in your preparation, and work towards completing the paper.
[[Finish the Paper]]
You wish there was something which was more in-depth and you could use on your own time.
[[Go to LibGuides]]**So let it be written, so let it be done!!**
You wait anxiously for your professor to call for the papers, confident that she will be blown away by your amazingly well-argued, orderly, and properly-cited work. With such amazing work, perhaps she will ask you to teach the class, so that she can learn from such a master... (LOL)...
You are startled by your own maniacal laugh, *hauntingly similar* to your professor's...(knowledge is contagious!!)
THE END