Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Search Log

My initial visit was to Davis Library where I briefly explained by topic to the woman at the front desk. She suggested because of my topic, my best bet would be to see a reference librarian at the Undergraduate library. My visit to the Undergraduate Library was very successful and beneficial. I provided a copy of my prospectus and then explained that my topic was on the effects that online social networks have on communication. The reference librarian seemed really interested in my topic and told me that because the phenomenon of Facebook.com and MySpace.com is so new, there is not likely to be much in the way of books. She told me my best was magazines and journal articles and then was able to show me how to use the library's search database. Together, we used key search words like "social networks and communication". This was incredibly helpful as I was unaware of how useful this article search engine is for researching. Surprisingly, I was able to find a magazine article that discusses my topic exactly. My search revealed an article in an August 2007 entitled "The Facebook Effect". I am eager to read this article, as I am positive it will help in my research.
I think that going to the library and discussing my topic with an actual reference librarian was incredibly useful. She was able to help me use the library's website with which I was mostly unfamiliar. The reference librarian encouraged me to use all search tools available online and in the library, and assured me that I would find plenty of information on my topic. It was an overall successful experience and I am confident with where I am at right now in my research.


Levy, S. (2007, August 27). Facebook Grows Up. Newsweek, p.41.

I discovered this article in Newsweek when I visited the reference librarian at the Undergraduate Library. I found it, in cooperation with the reference librarian, by using the search database on the UNC Library website. Specifically, I obtained the article from LexisNexis. I selected this article because the description of the article. It seemed like it was extremely pertinent to my topic.

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