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03/22/2021
profile-icon Bill Fanshel
No Subjects

News in modern times comes from a multitude of sources, including print, television, the Internet, and social media. Not all of the information presented is accurate, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. We have all heard the term, fake news, which is news content that is deliberately intended to mislead or deceive and may contain propaganda and conspiracy theories. It also might consist of disinformation, which is misleading information released by a government entity for nefarious purposes.

It is therefore always important to fact-check the news. A quality publication is one that avoids deceptive headlines, does not repeatedly publish false content, discloses its affiliations and financing, prominently retracts and corrects any errors, and clearly distinguishes news content from opinion pieces. Especially important is the fact that legitimate news sources, either in print or online, will reference their information, letting you know where it originated. You should always trace any claims back to the primary source if possible. Also be sure to check the author's affiliations and credentials in order to discern any biases and whether he/she is qualified to write about the topic.

Trout Library has some guides that will help you do some fact-checking. To access some of these resources, click on Research Help on the Library’s homepage -- either in the white bar at the top or under Quick Links. There you will find two tabs that will help: one on Website Evaluation and the other dealing with Information & Fake News. Find fact-checking sites such as PolitiFact, Snopes, and FactCheck under the Information & Fake News tab.

Even legitimate news sources generally have some kind of slant. Hence, seeking out multiple sides of an issue is very important. An excellent site to consult for a balanced view of the news is AllSides. A link to it can be found in my News, Politics & Current Events Library Guide. When you search a topic in AllSides, you will be presented with three lists of articles, one each from the center, left and right. An important feature of AllSides is the page on Media Bias Ratings, which will let you know where 800 news sources fall on the political spectrum in terms of their content and editorials.

 

Top bar: AllSides -- NEWS, BIAS, TOPICS, SEARCH, CONNECT, DICTIONARY, SCHOOLS, ABOUT; Picture of classroom on the left. To the right of that a headline reading, CDC Shortens School Distancing Guidelines to 3 Feet with Masks. Below that, a brief description of the article and then three columns with the titles "From the Center," "From the Left" and "From the Right." Column titles encircled in red.

 

Every Friday, the Philadelphia Inquirer features a Pro-Con section on its op-ed page in which an issue question is presented followed by two columns arguing opposing points of view. The Inquirer is available through our NewsBank subscription and can be accessed through a link on our A-Z Databases page. Off-campus access requires that you retrieve the NewsBank password as described above.

Another good source to consult to examine multiple viewpoints on an issue is SIRS Issues Researcher, one of our subscription databases. It can be accessed through a link on our A-Z Databases page. If you are off campus, retrieve the password for SIRS Issues Researcher using the process described above.

When you enter the database, on the initial page you will find a list of Trending Topics and Editors’ Picks:

 

First Row: TRENDING TOPICS: Beneath icons for Social Media, Virtual Classrooms, Abortion, Police Brutality; Second Row: EDITORS' PICKS. Beneath icons for Election 2020, Coronavirus, U.S. Foreign Policy, Fast Fashion

 

Click on one of the options for a summary of the issue and a comparison of two different viewpoints, as well as critical questions and an historical timeline.

 

At top: Was the global spread of coronavirus inevitable?: Two columns beneath entitled Viewpoint 1 and Viewpoint 2. Viewpoint 1 and Viewpoint 2 encircled in red. List of hyperlinks to articles in both columns.

 

Remember that if you have questions about how to find resources, whether a resource is of good quality, database searching, or any other research issue, please don’t hesitate to ask us. You may contact the Trout Library by sending an email to library@harcum.edu, or you may use our chat service during the hours posted on the Library’s homepage. You may also request a Zoom session with a librarian by filling out the form available by clicking on the icon under Request Forms on the homepage.

Bill Fanshel 

Evening/Weekend Librarian

wfanshel@harcum.edu

610-229-9311

 

 

03/14/2021
profile-icon Roxanne Sutton

This week we explore science and medicine sources for allied health programs including Histotechnician, Medical Coding, Medical Laboratory Technician and Radiologic Technology.

We have a guide for each program offered at Harcum College including the allied health science programs. Each guide is customized to the information needs and services offered for each program. You can find your program guide by going to Charles. H. Trout Library homepage. Select “Library Guides” from the top menu near the library logo or look for the Library Guides link under Quick Links. It has a compass icon. 

 

Screen capture of the Charles H. Trout Library homepage with the Library Guides link highlighted.

 

From there you will see a full list of guides by program under Center for Allied Health Science in the far left column. In the far right column is a list of guides by popular health topics.

 

Screen capture of the library guides website with Allied Health Science and Special Topics highlighted.

 

Each program guide has a curated list of databases you can use to find information for your assignments. The passwords for these assignments are found by logging into Harcum Hatch and looking for "Library Database Password List" under Quick Links. Keep these passwords nearby when you start to explore the databases. We have also made tutorial videos for each of the databases listed in the guides. If you want to get an idea of how to search in a specific database, check the Database Tutorials tab on the guide for a video. 

 

Screen capture showing how to find the Youtube tutorials on each of the databases.

 

The Home tab of each guide has library hours, contact information, and a chat box for live help. 

I hope you will explore these guides and contact us if you need help. 

 

 

Roxanne Sutton

Reference and Special Collections Librarian

rsutton@harcum.edu

610-526-6022

   

   

03/08/2021
profile-icon Roxanne Sutton
No Subjects

Students taking criminal justice courses may find the criminal justice library guide very useful for completing assignments. You will find the criminal justice guide under the heading "Library Guides" from the Charles H. Trout library homepage.

One of the best resources on the guide are the databases. Databases are an excellent reliable source for academic articles and data. It is highly recommended that you run your searches through some of these databases rather than relying solely on Google.

Some of the databases require a username/password. All passwords are located in your Harcum Hatch.  Log into Harcum Hatch and go to Quicklinks and scroll down to "Library Database Password List". Keep these passwords handy as you begin searching in the databases listed below.

Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text (EBSCO) is a full-text database with articles on criminal justice and criminology, including topics in forensic sciences, corrections, policing, addictions counseling, criminal law and investigation.

Violence & Abuse Abstracts (EBSCO) is a database that includes topics on violence and abuse including family violence, trauma, sexual assault, harassment and emotional abuse. It is partially full-text. If you find a record that does not include the full text of the article you can request the full text through our Inter-Library Loan Service. We will request the article from another library. 

National Criminal Justice Reference Service is an open access database of federally funded research maintained by the Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs. It contains justice and drug-related information for the United States.

SIRS Issues Researcher (ProQuest) offers newspaper and journal articles on social issues including criminal justice topics in a pro/con format. 

The criminal justice guide is also broken down into special topics. The tabs along the top of the guide link to pages where topics such as juvenile justice, organized crime, domestic violence, policing and the courts, among others are broken down. Below you can see a screen capture of the guide with the Domestic Violence & Justice tab displayed.

Screen capture of the Criminal Justice library guide showing the Domestic Violence and Justice tab displayed

 

If you need assistance citing your sources, we have a guide on each of the major citation styles used at Harcum College. Check the Cite Sources guide for explanation and examples of styles like APA and MLA.

The homepage of the criminal justice guide has important contact information for the library. We have a chat box where you can get immediate help from a librarian. Chat hours are posted on the page. You will also find our email address where you can email the library with any questions or requests for assistance. We are always happy to help!

Faculty may find the OER tab useful for suggested databases to search for Open Education Resources for criminal justice courses. Each special topic tab also has an OER section where we've identified open education resources specific to those topics. 

 

 

Roxanne Sutton

Reference and Special Collections Librarian

rsutton@harcum.edu

610-526-6022

      

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