April 15, 2013
Dear Professor Valenzuela’s Students:
I enjoyed working with you on Wednesday. Here is what I discovered from reading your worksheets:
· Everyone, without any exceptions, took the worksheet seriously
· You all seemed to be great at note taking – not too much and not too little
I promised you that I’d teach your 4 basic categories of information, but I didn’t quite keep my promise. I ran out of time before we got to the last category – editorials. The four categories that I wanted to teach you are:
1. Encyclopedias
2. Newspapers and magazines
3. Journals (also called scholarly, peer-reviewed, or refereed)
4. Editorials
Encyclopedias. Encyclopedias build your schema and help you get started.
Newspapers and magazines . Newspapers and magazines give you specific information. They are up-to-date and fairly easy to read.
Journals. Journals are well researched and carefully checked. Good news: they have been a tough peer-review process, so the information in them is usually pretty solid. Bad news: they are usually difficult to read!
Editorials. Editorials are found in magazines, newspapers, and journals. They are articles that tell the opinions of the editors of the magazines, newspapers, and journals. They are not trying to be neutral. An editorial is useful for giving you the viewpoint of the editor. This can help you form your own viewpoint. Even if you disagree with the editorial, it will help you sharpen your own viewpoint.
I’m looking forward to helping you in the library, on the phone, or via email, whenever you need a hand.
My best,
Dave Patterson pattersond@smccd.edu (650) 306-3476