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Advanced Foundations for Learning

Course Number: AF224

Winter 2025, Prof. Brent Hagerman

Hello AF224-B students!

Below are the questions you submitted for class, with answers. Click each section to expand for details.

Questions about the physical space
  • How are the books organized in the library, by author, topics, genres?
    • The library organizes books according to subject, as outlined by the Library of Congress (LC) Classification system
    • IN-CLASS QUESTION: Why aren't some letters in the alphabet used for the classification, e.g. W?
      • According to the Library of Congress: "W is used by the National Library
        of Medicine, Y is used by the Government Printing Office. The letter I could be easily
        confused with the number 1 and the letter J. The letter O could be confused with the
        numeral 0 (zero)." (see above link, slide 16)
  • Do the different floors of the library reflect different categories of books?
    • Not really, except for the 4th floor, which contains all the music books
      • M: 4th fl
      • A-GF: 5th fl
      • H-PN: 6th fl
      • PQ-Z: 7th fl
    • See our page on Finding call numbers to properly read call numbers on physical books
    • Go to our Locations page (for the Waterloo library) and click the section for each floor to see what range of books are found there, with a floor map
  • Are there study rooms in the library?
  • Is the library open 24/7, or is it open for a set time period throughout the day?
    • We're not open 24/7, but our hours are located at the top centre of every page
Questions about how to use the library

For all policies about books and borrowing, see our General Borrowing Policies
 

Questions about the library website/resources
  • How do you best use the library's website to find resources?
    • In-class suggestions:
      • Don't type questions into the search box
      • Break your questions down into their constituent concepts
      • When you want to go deeper into research, use one of our research databases, available on our subject guides page
  • Is it beneficial to me to take out physical books for research when I can just google it?
    • It depends! 
      • The question assumes you can get the information you need through google. 
      • A lot of high-quality, scholarly (peer-reviewed) information is not available through google, but is behind paywalls and is inaccessible. 
      • Many physical books have not been digitized and never will be due to lack of resources.
      • We may get a recent book in paper version because of the high cost of academic ebooks, so you'd have to come into the library to access it.
  • Can I go to the library to ask about correct citing?
  • Can you renew books online?
    • Yes, you'll either get an email reminder for physical books you've checked out, with a link to renew, or you can always check by logging into your "My Account" at the link on the top right of our library website.
Questions about content
  • Do we have fun reads? not just academic books?
    • We do (depending on your definition of "fun"!) such as graphic novels or literary fiction (a large collection of Canadian and world authors) - ask one of the librarians if you have a specific genre you're interested in; also consult the Waterloo Public Library, just down Albert Street
  • How does the Library decide what physical books to add to its collection?
    • By amount of physical space available, and by our collection budget
  • How does the library increase its catalog of information? What things prevents it from gathering everything?
    • We purchase new books every year, but as above, space and money are constraints from gathering everything
  • What other resources other than books and other articles can you get from the Library?
    • Lots: CDs, DVDs, government documents, musical scores, 
  • Does the library have cds?        
    • Yes, if marked "Waterloo Compact Disc - 4th Floor ; COMDISC" then in open shelves on 4th floor  (see floor plan)
Questions about research
  • When doing a research paper, is there any difference between doing research and getting information from a book rather than a website?
    • Each has different characteristics to consider, with pros/cons:
      • Books are "static" and can't be changed, not as recent as information from a website, but if they are published from a reputable, scholarly publisher, are considered credible and part of the "scholarly conversation" worth consulting
      • Websites provide recent information and are thus more up-to-date than books, but are not "peer-reviewed" as books are; always apply the 3 criteria (in this video, for scholarly books) to evaluate website credibility: author, publisher, documentation 
  • What are some effective ways to evaluate the credibility of online sources, especially when researching independently?
    • Yes, watch this short video put together for Global Studies on the credibility of sources

 

  • If you find two or more resources that are relatively the same, what are your strategies on picking the best one?
    • It always depends on the kind of question you are researching, but in general:
      • Prefer scholarly sources over non-scholary
      • Prefer recent work over older (it should include older work in its review of the literature)
         
  • How to find something specific on Omni (what to type into the search bar to find relevant and helpful sources)
  • When finding sources on Omni how can you find more specific papers?
  • How can you verify a selected book you've chosen (in the physical library) is a peer-reviewed and/or academic book?

 

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