Assignment 2
Note: Your assignments need to be typed and must include both the questions and answers!

Part I.  Evaluating your sources
(note: questions 1- 4 below are based on your course readings under the course link "Looking critically at your sources").

1. provide a good example of a type of book publisher with great reputation (be careful here with your answer- use the course readings discussing the importance of the publisher in your evaluation of sources - see your readings assigned for this week, "Looking critically at your sources").

2. why is it important to trace the "institutional affiliations" of an author?

3. why are multiple authors often an indication of scholarly work?

4. when is currency an important criterion for the evaluation of a source?

5. If you were studying the relationship between human activity and the temperature of the earth:
i) from the choices highlighted below, A, B, or C  indicate which one you would consider your best choice (A, B, or C)
ii) explain your selection
iii)explain why the other two choices did not meet your selection criteria

A. An atmospheric physicist at Winston University and founder of the Science and Environmental Policy Project, a think tank on climate and environmental issues
 

B. A Washington Post staff writer who has written articles such as "Arctic Ice Shelf Crumbles Into Sea," "In Infrastructure Debate, Politics Is Key Player," and "President's Reform Efforts Get Results."

C. Current president of Greater Chipiwick Environmental Club, and publisher of a Web site that discusses the major causes of global warming in the last 100 years.
 

Part II
1. Using one of the links under the library's "Quick facts, encyclopedias, stats, etc.," find a definition of "ostracize."
What is the definition?
Where did you find it? State the name of the web site you used.

2. Using one of the categories and links under the library's "Quick facts, encyclopedias, stats, etc.," find who Noah Webster was.
Who was he?
Where did you find the information? State the name of the web site you used.

3.  Using one of the categories under the library's "Quick facts, encyclopedias, stats, etc.," locate the link to the Statistical Abstracts of the United States. Using the "Browse Sections" panel to the left,  select "Income, Expenditures, Poverty, & Wealth." Then select table '683 - Average Annual Expenditures of All Consumer Units by Selected Major Types of Expenditures' and click on the 'PDF' link to view the table. 

Looking at Table 683 and comparing the figures displayed for each type of expenditure for the years 1990 versus 2008, which are the only two types of expenditures that went down in dollars within the last 18 years (that is, where do consumers spend less in 2008 versus what they used to spend in 1990)?

4. Go back to the main web page for "Quick facts, encyclopedias, stats, etc." .
This time click on "Virtual Collections" and select the ipl2
a. In your own words, what is this web site about? How are the results you get from this web site different from results you may get from a Google search (again, clarify the purpose of ipl2)?
b. I am looking for results on how gas prices are determined. Using ipl2, do a search on the topic of gasoline prices. Provide below the title, web address, and brief description of a pertinent web source:

TITLE:
WEB ADDRESS:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION:
    
 
5. Your research question has to do with - select one:
    Shii Islam (or Shiism)
OR
     renewable energy
 
YOUR SELECTION IS: __________________________.

What are the call number letters that correspond to your selected research area above? Make sure you use the course link for the Library of Congress Classification system!

Call # letters:

6. NOTE: For this question you must visit the campus library! 
Go to the Reference collection of our library at the main floor of the library.  
Using the call number letters that correspond to your selected research area in question #5, identify one source in our print Reference collection with information pertaining to this research area. This source will probably be one of the "specialized encyclopedias," as we discussed in the course.  

When you look for information on your topic, remember to use the index of the source to save time and effort!

Provide the title of the Reference publication you found along with a brief description of what information it gave you on your topic:

TITLE of the Reference source/publication:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION of the article within the source:

7. For the same topic you selected in question #5, I now want you to use one of our "Subject specific" electronic encyclopedias. Remember to use the category "Quick facts: Encyclopedias, stats, etc." and then click on Encyclopedias.

Provide a short citation of an article you found using our online encyclopedic collection!

Title of article:
Name of main source/ encyclopedia where the article is published :
Author: