English 101

In order for you to complete the rest of the assignments for this semester, you will need to use sources. Most of your sources will come directly from your friendly neighborhood university library! Consequently, you need to get into the library, look around, and find out how it works. That would be the function (the rhetorical purpose if you will) of this assignment.

Follow these steps, have fun, and become brilliant:

1. Read the chapter in the Student's Guide on beginning your research (see reading assignments).
2. Go to the library (or you can directly link to SABIO from the comfort of your own home for the first couple of steps of this assignment).
3. Find the computers and long on to SABIO. There are information sheets and guides all over the library (USE THEM). I recommend you just dive right in and get started.  Once you start, you will find it all will start to make sense.
4. Do a "subject" search in the SABIO catalog on your topic or issue.
5. Write down the title and call number of a book on the topic.
6. Go to the "Indexes" section of SABIO, and do a search for an article on your topic. Write down the title of the article and the title of the journal in which it appears.  Check to see if the library carries the journal ("holdings").
7. Do another subject search on your topic, but use a slightly different word or phrase. Take note of whether the information was very different and if it was useful to try this different wording.
8. Go to the shelf where the book you wrote down is located and look at the other books on the shelf nearby. Do the same for the journal you wrote down (go to the periodical section).
9. Write a brief journal entry about this experience in the library. Consider some questions such as: Did you find what you expected to find on your topic? Was there a lot of information or not enough information? Did the search help you to narrow your topic into an issue? Did you check out the book or photocopy the articles?

Now you know how to use the library and are on your way to finding all the sources and information you need for your rhetorical analysis and your persuasive essay!  Life is good.