Approximately 70 students in two sections of English 112 (Dr. Sarika Bose), will be working on an additional library assignment this term. Dr. Bose wanted them to visit different libraries on campus so we’ve tried to form questions that “force” them to find the items.
They are working in groups of 3-4 on one of the four themes (Alice, Beethoven, Van Gogh, Grail). They are given a copy of the Guide to UBC Libraries and a copy of Getting Started with MLA Style. I’ve placed copies of the assignment in the assignment binder at the desk and I’ll upload the files to the blog as well. The assignment is due on Friday, March 23.
Alice
Beethoven
Van Gogh
Grail

Students from a CAP class have been handing in their assignment here at the Ref Desk for Kimberley. We aren’t sure if this is the right procedure. I called the prof, but she wasn’t there. With Kimberley away, we are just accepting them and leaving them in Kimberley’s mailbox.

A history student came in yesterday looking for primary sources for the October Crisis – in particular Trudeau and his “just watch me” comment to the media. CBC has a fabulous online archives – which goes back to at least the 1930s – of archival radio and tv broadcasts. You can watch Tommy Douglas talking on TV about the importance of government-funded health care, or Trudeau talking to reporters during the October Crisis. Fabulous primary sources. The focus is interviews, news and current affairs programs to which CBC holds or has obtained copyright. CBC is currently negotiating Internet rights with many different organizations, including trade unions, artists and writers, so sadly, no Mr Dressup.

Several students from Family Studies have been approaching the reference desk looking for information on theories of explanation, specifically to look at what an explanation is from various philosophical standpoints, like positivsim, for example.
Patrick suggested using the Philosopher’s Index where there are many articles related to this topic. Search for theories/theory of explanation.
There is also a good overview article online via the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
(http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/explanat.htm) that includes a short bibliography.
This article also mentions The Scientific Image by Bas van Fraassen which we have in Koerner at Q175 .V335 1980, which some students might want to check out.

Heads up – You will likely start seeing students from Anth 323 (Archaeological Foundations of Mesoamerican Civilizations) at the desk over the next two weeks. They are working on an assignment in which they have to select two similar articles, one popular and one scholarly, on a topic in Mesoamerican archaeology and compare the two.
The assignment guidelines, including partial lists of scholarly and popular journals with Mesoamerican content are linked from the online course page, where you’ll also find links to suggested databases.

History of Psychology students are working on an assignment where they need to find biographical information on a prominent psychologist. I took them to their subject page and showed them the encyclopedia of psychology online which has biographical essays as well as bibliographies for further research.

Several students came tonight in search of items they need for an assignment, due Thursday. The microfilm they need to complete the assignment, the Vancouver Sun, October 11, 1984 appears to be missing. I checked all around the microfilm area, including the old readers, but didn’t come up with anything. They also need the Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature, for the same assignment, and it too appears to be misplaced. I suggested they try back tomorrow.

The students in the CAP (Coordinated Arts Program) program, and a section of Poli Sci 101 (Paul Kopas’s class), have 4 drop-in sessions scheduled for them in K217 to get individual help with their term paper assignments. Please encourage students to drop into these sessions for more help. The CAP program covers English, Poli Sci, Geography, Sociology, Econ, Psych, and more. Kimberley, Sheryl, and I are planning to be at these sessions, but any other librarians who want to drop in to help students will be most welcomed!
Tue 24 Oct 2006 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Wed 25 Oct 2006 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Thu 02 Nov 2006 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Fri 03 Nov 2006 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
For the Poli Sci 100 section of CAP, and Paul Kopas’s Poli Sci 101 class, I have created wikis with the assignments, sources, and more. Please also encourage the students to start there, and check the wikis for the actual assignment if the students don’t have it with them when they come to the desk.

Anth 317 (Linguistic Anthropology) students are working on a term paper which requires them to describe and analyze the use of language in a cultural context. This broad framework means they can write on a particular set of terminology in one or more languages (colour terms, kinship) or language use in a specific culture or subculture such as gender differences in language, Queer language, slang, politeness in language, etc, etc, etc.
A number of databases cover these topics. You certainly don’t want to miss LLBA (Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts) and Anthropology Plus. And don’t forget about Communication and Mass Media Complete if their topic has to do with language in the media, advertising, etc.
If they are lost, then the International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences is a great starting point with entries on Politeness and Language, Language and Social Class, Language and Gender, Discourse and Identity among many others.
Links to all of these sources can be found on the online course page.

Students in Anth 232, Ancient Latin America, have started to come to the desk looking for help with their Annotated Bibliography assignment for which they need to find (and annotate) three scholarly journal articles about a single topic in Latin American (Mesoamerican) archaeology. They can also use an individual chapter from an edited book. The online course page has links to the assignment with suggestions for topics and a partial list of scholarly journals with Latin American archaeology content, plus another page with sample annotations. If they have trouble finding a topic, direct them to Koerner Ref F1219 where they will find a number of encylopedias on ancient Latin America to get them started.
I’ve placed a copy of the assignment sheet in the Class Assignments binder under the ref. desk.