The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize you with sources of information available through the Rutgers Library.  The assignment covers materials that are available online, so it can be done from home or on campus.  If you work at home, however, you will need to configure the proxy server on your browser to access restricted materials.  You will also need a valid Rutgers Library I.D. number (this is the number associated with the bar code on your student ID, it is not your student number), and you must know your library password (probably the last four digits of your social security number).  If you plan to do this assignment from home, make sure you have the access issues worked out well in advance of the deadline.  Information on access from home is available on the library WEB site.
 

1.  Open this file in Netscape Composer, Word or another text editor.  You will paste your findings into the file, save it, and submit it to WEBCT.

2.  Define a topic  you will study.  For the social movements class, the topic should be something that you would like to change about society.  For the communications class, it can be either something that you would like to change about society, or a communications issue selected from those discussed on the Links on Cyberspace, Communications and Society page.

3.  What key words would be most likely be associated with books and articles on this topic?  Type them here:

4.  Check out the Indexes and Data Bases on the Library's home page.  Read the descriptions of indexes that seem most likely to have articles on your topic.  If you don't find an Index or Data Base that is specifically focused on your subject area, check out Academic Search Premier and Ingenta, these are very broad indexes that cover all subjects.  Type the names of the two best data bases you find and paste them in here:

          1.
 

          2.

5.   Do a search in the first data base you cited in question 5, find a good article on your topic, and paste the information on the article here, including author, title, publication, date and page, and abstract if available.

6.  Do a search in the second data base you cited in question 5, find a good article on your topic, and paste the information on the article here, including author, title, publication, date and page, and abstract if available.

7.  Go to the Rutgers Library Homepage, access IRIS, and and see if you can find a book that provides a good overview of your subject.  You may have already found reference to a book in your data base searches.  Or you may find one by typing some of your key words in the IRIS search box, then clicking on "subject."  If you don't find anything, perhaps you need to use different key words, or you can go to a different library including the RLIN.  When you find a book, copy the author's name, title and call letters and past them in here:

8.  Look your subject up, or the closest title you can find, in an online Encyclopedia.  Paste the first paragraph or two here:

9.  Find at least one useful article for which the full text is available online.  You may find these through the library's list of e-journals, or you may check IRIS to see if particular journals are available online, or you may find them from Academic Search Premier or Ingenta.   Copy the first page of the article and paste it in here:
 

9.  Save this file in html, Word or ascii format and submit it to WEBCT or bring it to class on the due date.  .