Humboldt State University Library

HOW ARE YOUR JOURNALISM INFORMATION COMPETENCE SKILLS?

1. A directory is:
 

2. The term microform refers to:
  3. In the holdings record for the periodical, Journalism History, the "Library has" statement means:

           Journalism History
            Library has: vol 1 (1974)-
 

4. In electronic databases the difference between a keyword search and a descriptor or controlled vocabulary search is:
  5. You're preparing a story on the economic climate of the United States and need to include the consumer price index as well as other economic security indexes. Where would you find the most current information?
  6. When constructing an electronic database search, the use of logical connectors (sometimes called Boolean operators)-"and", "or", "not"-can be useful in narrowing or widening your search results. Which connector would you use to make your search set smaller by adding more terms to your search?
  7. Which connector would you use when you wish to increase your search results by adding synonymous or related terms?
  8. If you have a term or word you want eliminated from your search, which connector would you use?
  9. You are looking for information on wolves as predators in Yellowstone. What are the best keywords to type into the computer?
  10. If your search produced too many records (1,000), how would you narrow it?
  11. If your search produced only 2 records, how would you find more records?
  12. Your search produced no citations. What should you do?
  13. In an electronic index such as Academic Search, journals are indexed from the first date of publication:
  14. You've been given an assignment to prepare a story with a local twist on a major national news event with which you're unfamiliar. Which search engine tool will provide you with a divergent overview of news articles?
  15. Continuing with the same assignment you need to consider "angles" for the local twist. Where might you look for some ideas?
  16. If you were assigned to analyze the federal government's policies on crime, which of the indexes below would produce the largest quantity of relevant citations since 1990:
  17. The Internet is a self-publishing medium, so it is important to question and verify information found there:
  18. If you were looking for the official San Francisco 49ers web page, which Internet search tool would be the most likely to produce the address for the web page within the first 25 results:
  19. You are writing a paper on support group resources for couples wishing to adopt. In order to cover Internet resources, you would like to start with a quick survey of what 5-10 search engines find. You should use:
  20. You're working on a story and learn of a local civil court case which may contain crucial information. The best way to obtain this information is to:
  21. It is imperative that a journalist check his/her sources before reporting a story. With regard to Internet information which elements would not be considered critical in evaluating the source?
 
The following is a list of call numbers, which are in the order in which the books would be put on the library shelves. Write the number of the response which best completes each statement on the line provided.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

(a)L
    112
   .C62		 (b)L
    112
    .N337a		 (c)LA
    106
    .W7 		 (d)LA
     205
    .B88		 (e)LB
    1028
    .M3		 (f)LC
    5141
   .C76

22. A book with the call number L 1010 .D12 would be placed on the shelf

23. A book with the call number LA 8601 .B89 would be placed on the shelf
24. Examples of primary information sources include all but:
  25. "Why people believe weird things: pseudoscience, superstition, and other confusions of our time," as noted in the reference below, refers to the title of:

           Shermer, M. (1997). Why people believe weird things: pseudoscience, superstition, and
            other confusions of our time. NY: W.H. Freeman.
 

26. In the reference below, "CFR" refers to:

           Child Abuse Reporting Designations and Procedures, CFR 81 (1996)
 

27. Which of the following does NOT provide history, interpretation, or commentary on California laws:
  28. Which of the following does NOT provide history, interpretation, or commentary on federal laws:
  29. Which of the following records rules of the California state agencies:
  30. You are writing a research paper on gun control. If your search strategy is to start by looking at general works before more specific works, in which order would you look in these sources?
  31. Writing a story for electronic media requires different considerations from writing a story for print media. Included in these considerations are:
  32. The primary job of a journalist is to "inform the public" regardless of ethical or moral concerns.
  33. You should consult a librarian when:
  34. Identifying a source is only important when using a direct quote in a story:
  35. The Internet provides the same information as electronic periodical indexes plus more!