Online Research
By Jian Ping
I just attended a two-day “Online Research” seminar at the Summer Institute for Teachers that was run by the Chicago Humanity Festival (CHF) at DePaul University’s downtown campus. Attendees were primarily teachers from private and public schools in the greater Chicago area. Since I had been giving talks to students at a number of schools and had attended the summer writing seminar offered by the same institute the year before, I received the invitation from CHF to apply. I did.
Paula Dempsey, Coordinator of Reference Services at DePaul University, was the instructor. She was truly wonderful—clear, patient, knowledgeable, and related to our group’s needs and level very well. With a smile on her face, she made the few approaches she selected to demonstrate for online research comprehensible to those of us who were technically challenged, to say the least. She emphasized using Google as a tool, not a source, distinguished research goals of “speculation and investigation,” and compared the differences and values of “traditional” research vs. digital. She showed us how to use Zotero, a powerful program for online research, how to use +/- to weed out unwanted sites and utilize “scholar” and advanced search to limit searches to site:org or site: gov or filetype:pdf for more reliable resources. She also showed us how to use Chicago Public Library’s database—wonderfully organized, paid information at our finger tips, only if we know how to get access to them!
I walked away feeling thrilled and empowered. I could hardly wait to get on my computer and use the skills I just learned.
I want to give my heartfelt thanks to Julia and the staff at CHF for putting together such a productive and well-organized program. And of course, a big applause to Paula, who, with grace and efficiency, showed us the basic tools to untangle the overwhelming information in the cyberspace. I’m sure many students will benefit from the tools their teachers have learned to use.
By Jian Ping, author of Mulberry Child: A Memoir of China. Visit www.moraquest.com or www.mulberrychild.com.
Tags: CHF, Chicago Public Library, DePaul University, Online Search, Summer Institute for Teachers
