ENG 112 Finding Information Pt 1 Martin Crabtree

ENG 112 Finding Information Pt. 1 Martin Crabtree MCCC Library

Agenda • • • Electronic Searching Techniques What is a scholarly periodical? Electronic Databases at Mercer Viewing and saving articles Database information vs. web information

Searching Electronic Resources

Starting An Electronic Search Keywords • Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and web search engines. • With a possible topic in mind, generate a list of words (keywords) that describes or would commonly be used when discussing your topic. Write this down if it helps. • For example: – Ozone – Layer – Depletion – Atmosphere – Hole

Starting An Electronic Search Boolean Searching/Logic • Boolean searching - Connecting keywords with the terms – and – not – or • For example – eagles NOT football – (car or automobile) and exhaust • More Terms = Fewer “Hits”

Searching More Than Just Keywords Phrases & Truncations • To search for a phrase, use quotation marks – “survival of the fittest” • Truncations allow for searching related words all at once – The * is usually used (! For Academic Universe databases). For example: • child* would include: child, children, childhood, childproof, etc.

Searching More Than Just Keywords Field Limiters • Database field limiters allow you to specify your search within varied parameters for example: – Only full-text articles – Only peer reviewed (scholarly) publications – Date (or date range)

Let’s take a quick look at how Boolean searching can help

So what is a scholarly periodical?

Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals Scholarly • Purpose is to inform the scholarly world of original research in a given field Popular/General Interest • Purpose is to inform, entertain and/or sell to a wide audience • Has a serious format • Attractive/slick appearance • Contains many graphs & charts few photos • Frequently uses photos and a few graphs & charts • Regularly uses footnotes and bibliographies • Rarely uses footnotes or bibliographies • Written by scholars or researchers • Written by staff or freelance writers

Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals Scholarly • Uses the terminology and jargon of the subject, assumes reader knows it Popular/General Interest • Rarely uses subject terminology or jargon, when used, contains explanation • Published by professional or educational organizations • Published by commercial enterprises for profit • Contains little if any advertising • Extensive inclusion of advertisements • Examples: Annals of Microbiology, Journal of Abnormal Psychology • Examples: Newsweek, People, Psychology Today

The library also subscribes to a number of scholarly journals that are not available electronically

Electronic Databases at the Mercer Library

Electronic Databases In General • Over 60 databases available • Not every article is available full text though many are • Abstracts (summary) is often available when full text is not

Electronic Databases In General • Accessible at any computer on the MCCC/JKC campus network • Most are available off campus, need to request a password. • Can print/e-mail articles

Accessing Databases Remotely • You can access most of the databases from any computer with internet access. • Use your student ID number (no dashes) and your last name to log into the databases. i. e. • If you are already using an issued password and ID number, they are still valid too.

Remote Login Screen Use your student ID number & last name Use your previously issued User ID & password

Broad/General Coverage Databases • EBSCOhost - Academic Search Premier – Broadest of the databases covering everything from science to the humanities including many scholarly journals – Not every article full text – Need Acrobat Reader for some articles • Academic Universe (Lexis-Nexis) - News – Large collection of newspaper information from the U. S. as well as the world, nearly all full text

Subject Specific Databases • Subject specific databases include: – business (ABI Inform) – art (Art Abstracts) – architecture (Architectural Index) – criminal justice (Criminal Justice Periodical Index) – education (ERIC) – mortuary science (Morgue: Mortuary Science) – more • Many contain full-text articles

Non-periodical Databases. . • AP Photo Archives - Photograph collection • Biographies Plus - Biographical information of noted people in a wide range of fields • Oxford English Dictionary • Encyclopedia Britannica • Literature Resource Center - Reviews, criticisms, and biographical info. on a number of authors and their works

Using the Databases

Articles come in two formats • HTML: – Formatted like the database’s web pages. – May not contain graphics (photos, graphs, etc. ) • PDF: – Formatted like a scan of the periodical’s pages. – Need Acrobat Reader to view articles. – Use Acrobat’s toolbar to print articles. • Articles may come in only one format

Getting a copy of the article • Printing – With the article on the screen, use the “print” icon to print an article (Use Acrobat print button for PDF articles). • Emailing: Use “email” icon to email article. • When emailing: – Articles will be sent to you by the database company not mccc. edu. – Include a subject line to your email! – PDF articles come as an attachment.

Let’s take a look at the databases.

Database information vs. web information

What is a databases? • A collection of electronically searchable information (frequently, but not limited to, periodical articles) that is accessible via the internet • Access to this information is by paid subscription only (paid by the library). • It is accessible via the internet, but it is not truly web information.

Database info ≠ Webpage info • Though both use a browser (like Netscape or Explorer) the information is not the same. • Database info comes from known sources of information such as Newsweek or The New York Times. • Web information can be put up by anyone hence the quality of this information varies greatly from site to site.

Database info ≠ Webpage info • Accuracy: Editors & fact checkers insure this for periodicals, can’t tell if it’s done for many websites. • Authority: Journal articles are written by experts, with web info it can be hard to tell if the writer is an expert or not. • Objectivity: Journals strive to give an unbiased presentation of information, some websites can be very opinionated

Database info ≠ Webpage info • Currency: Journals always have a given date (i. e. Spring 2002, January 2005), often you can’t tell how old web info is. • Coverage: Journal articles cover their subject thoroughly (though the subjects can be very narrow), web info tends to be abbreviated (20 page journal articles are common, 20 page web pages are not).

PANIC! I didn’t get any articles in my search! So what do I do now? ?

Check your search • Did you use keywords and not a question? – Use ozone, layer, atmosphere, hole, depletion instead of, “Has the depletion of the atmosphere's ozone layer caused any new holes? ” • Try using fewer keywords to broaden your search • Try a different database

PANIC AGAIN! I only found 2 good articles and I need 4!!

Getting more articles • Look for added or unique keywords that are contained in the “good” articles. • Journal articles will have a bibliography at the end. This list of resources should contain a lot more useful items.

Citing the articles you find

Citing Articles • When citing articles found in databases you will need to include: – All of the info about the article (title, author, periodical it originally came from, periodical date, etc. ) – The name of the database – The URL of the database – Date you accessed the article.

Citing articles • For links to more on citing resources go to the Research & Report Guides link on the MCCC Library’s web pages or: http: //www. mccc. edu/student_library_guides. shtml

Now, let’s start using the databases…