Scenario:
Suzallo librarians were asked to design a library and
research orientation exercise for Speech 109 students. During the second week
of class, the students will be given a persuasive speech assignment for which
they will need to do research. One of
the requirements of the assignments is to complete the exercise at the library,
preferably before beginning research. The answer sheet must be submitted to the
instructor in order to receive credit for that part of the assignment.
RESEARCH INFORMATION AND
EXERCISE
DEVELOPED FOR SPEECH
COMMUNICATION 109
The
objectives of this instruction and exercise are as follows:
·
To familiarize students with the reference area of Suzallo.
·
To make the process of approaching the reference desk a familiar and
comfortable one.
·
To introduce the UW Libraries Information Gateway.
·
To make sure that students know how to use the library catalog,
including subject searching.
·
To show students how to define and narrow a topic.
·
To encourage the exploration of individual databases for their
capabilities and search parameters.
·
To show students how to choose relevant keywords and phrases to use in
their search
·
To indicate the periodical index databases that will be most helpful in
finding scholarly articles.
·
To introduce the elements of a citation, and how to locate an article
with them.
·
To demonstrate the availability of fulltext.
·
To introduce the selective use of search engines to locate
authoritative high quality web sites.
·
To introduce the idea of evaluation and synthesis of information.
Although the format chosen here is written
information requiring online work to complete the exercise, it would also be
possible to adapt it to online interactive instruction.
In
Speech 109 classes, instructors will distribute the following letter to all
students along with other assignment materials.
GREETINGS FROM THE
SUZALLO LIBRARY REFERENCE
DEPARTMENT
Dear
Speech 109 students:
We are pleased to have been asked to assist
you with your persuasive speech assignment.
Though most of you are probably very familiar with computers, there are
resource suggestions and search tips that we can offer to help you to
efficiently complete the research portion of the assignment in a way that will
satisfy your instructor’s expectations. You must pick up the
required information and exercise at the Suzallo Library Main Reference Desk during
the third week of the semester. Find
us by entering the library on the ground floor, and proceeding up the staircase
to the mezzanine. The Desk is open from
Mon-Thurs
Remember there are 200 of you! Our hope is
that your own schedules and preferences will naturally mean that only a
reasonable number of students will be completing the exercise at the same time.
Please don’t procrastinate! It is
obviously true that all of you can not plan to do this during the normal class
time slot. If you happen to come to the
library when it seems overly crowded, we encourage you to return at another
time if you can. The exercise is
designed to give you hands-on experience that will help you when you begin your
own research. We do not expect that you
will have any difficulty completing it, but remember that to verify that you
have actually put in the required time, the English Department Chair requires
that the exercise be submitted to your instructor for grading during the
first class of the fourth week.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING
YOU!
OUR JOB IS TO HELP YOU WITH
YOUR ACADEMIC RESEARCH.
TAP INTO OUR EXPERIENCE!
From the friendly librarians
at the Suzallo Reference Desk
When the Speech 109 students arrive at the
Suzallo Reference Desk during the week of the assignment they would be given a
packet that includes a library map and the Speech 109 written information and
exercise. The verbal greeting will be
something like: “Hi, I’m _________, a reference librarian here at Suzallo. Here is a map that shows the location of
various collections in the library. This
is the research information and exercise for your class. Go through it at your
own pace, examining the print resources or web pages it suggests. At various points in the process, you will
find a question that must be answered in writing on the last page. That last
page is the exercise sheet, and the only portion of the handout that you must
submit for grading. You should keep the
rest of the information to refer to as you do your own research for this
assignment and for other classes and assignments in your future. Be sure to talk to one of us on the desk if
something is not clear, or if you have additional questions. To facilitate
that, it will be most convenient to use a laptop or library computer in this
area, but you can actually use one on any floor of the library. Do you have any questions before you begin?”
RESEARCH INFORMATION AND
EXERCISE
DEVELOPED FOR SPEECH
COMMUNICATION 109
WELCOME
TO THE LIBRARY!
Your instructors have given you a persuasive speech
assignment that requires library research.
Their experience in the past has been that many students do not have the
tools they need to narrow their topic and find relevant scholarly articles.
This information and exercise is designed to give you the tools you need and
give you hands-on practice so that you will feel confident when you begin
research on your own topic. It is
expected that most students will be able to review the research information,
look at the print materials and websites it suggests, and complete the integral
written exercise in 1 ½ hours. At the
end of that time it is expected that you will be able to:
·
Find ways to narrow your topic by doing one of the following 1) search
Library of Congress Headings or another subject directory, 2) browse a book or
book chapter on your topic, or 3) read an encyclopedia article that covers the
area of interest.
·
Decide on appropriate keywords and phrases to use in a search.
·
Search the library catalog for books on your subject.
·
Find scholarly articles on your topic in appropriate databases, and
locate them in the library or in full text online.
·
Selectively use search engines to locate additional information on
authoritative high quality websites.
·
Begin a process of evaluation and synthesis to create a coherent
presentation from the information you have found.
THE
INFORMATION GATEWAY AND LIBRARY CATALOG
First let’s log on to the library website. At a library workstation, you may find the
library homepage or catalog search page already on the screen. If not, click on the Internet icon, and
choose “UW Catalog” on the pulldown menu.
On your own computer you would type the following URL into your browser
window: http://www.lib.washington.edu. There is a wealth of information linked from
this homepage. Explore it all when you
have time. For the purpose of this
exercise, we will only be looking at a few of the areas.
Anyone can access the UW catalog, and from
an in-library computer anyone can access the subscription databases that you
will be using. However, if you are doing
it on your own computer those databases will only be available to you if you
use the UW dial in modem or the UW Libraries Proxy Server. From the homepage you would click on
“Connecting From Home” (it’s in the “Help” section) to
find our how to do this.
#1 OK, just so we’re sure you have the idea,
from the homepage use the “Library & Hours” link to find out the location
of the Social Work Library, and the hours that it is open on Sunday. This is the question #1 on your exercise
sheet. Write the information in the
appropriate blanks. Easy,
right? You will no doubt be able
to find plenty of information for your speech online and in Suzallo, but some
items of interest in the catalog might be noted SocWk under location.
If so, they would be in this library.
Now back out to the homepage and click on
“UW Libraries Catalog.” The resulting
page will perform a search in all UW Libraries, including remote campuses, with
the exception of the Law Library, which can only be accessed by selecting
“Cascade” on the page. Cascade will
simultaneously search the catalogs of all the public Universities in
NARROWING
YOUR TOPIC BY SUBJECT SEARCHING
For the purpose of this exercise, we
will be researching the topic of “free speech.” In order to do meaningful
research and write and deliver a coherent speech, you need to narrow your focus
to one area of this broad topic. One way
to begin this process is to try a Library of Congress Subject search. Click on “Library of Congress” to begin. Enter [free speech] in the search box: free
speech. (In this, and all other examples
to follow, terms to enter in a search box are enclosed in bracket. The brackets are not to be entered, just
everything inside them.) OK, the results
of this search are very important. It
tells you that the appropriate Library of Congress subject heading for this
topic is [freedom of speech]. Click on
the linked heading.
#2 So here’s the
second written question. How many
Library of Congress subheadings for this topic are used in the UW catalog? How many total items are in the catalog using
these subheadings? (Hint for this second
question – look for “entries found.”)
Perusing this list can give you ideas for
narrowing your topic. For example, the
first choice in the list is “4 related headings.” Clicking this might lead you to narrow the
topic to freedom of assembly or blasphemy.
“Return to Browse” takes you back to the list. Most of the subheadings are
geographical. I think you are supposed
to be focused on social issues in the
NARROWING
YOUR TOPIC BY BROWSING INDIVIDUAL ITEMS
Perusing individual records or the
physical items they represent, can also give you ideas for narrowing the
topic. For example, under “Freedom of
Speech United States Cases” there is a book called Academic Freedom, and
two that are concerned with freedom of speech on the Internet. You could also note that the UW owns 6
periodicals that focus entirely on this topic alone (5 under Freedom of Speech
Periodicals and one non-duplicate under Freedom of Speech United States Periodicals.) Any of these might be an excellent place to
browse for ideas, not to mention articles.
You would click on the title to get the library call number and
location.
#3 Here’s another
written question. What is the call
number of the periodical “Censorship Today?”
Looking at your Suzallo map, on what floor and in what area would you
find that item? (Hint – remember to look
in both the location box and the call number box for this information.) And
this is a little trickier… does the 1998 issue of “Free Speech Yearbook” have a
call number?
SOME
ASPECTS OF KEYWORD SEARCHING
You are probably noticing that many of the
books listed are pretty old. (Date of
publication is to the right of each item.)
If you want to focus on newer materials, and ones that are kept in the
library you are in, you can use the capabilities of a keyword search. Click on “Start Over” or back out to the main
search page and choose Keywords. The
first thing we need to look at is the Search Tips. (The yellow highlighted
area.) This tells you what conventions
this particular search engine uses, that is, how it will read the search terms
you enter. It says for example that if
you simply enter multiple terms in the box, it will be searched as a
phrase. Perhaps you don’t require them
to be a phrase. In that case you should
use [and] between the words if you want them all to appear, or [or] to find any
of the words. There are other
possibilities as well. It is actually
true that this search engine will automatically try putting [and] between your
words if it has no luck with a phrase search.
Let’s try a few simple keyword
searches. The first thing I want you to
search is [free speech]. How many items
are returned? No you don’t have to write
that down. Now do one for [freedom of
speech]. Lots more huh? Just wanted to emphasize
that you will get a more complete picture of library holdings on a given topic
if you find the correct Library of Congress Heading first. But you still don’t necessarily want to look
at every record.
#4 Perhaps at this
point you are beginning to think that you might be interested in free speech in
regards to the Internet. Try searching
[Internet freedom of speech]. That gives
us a more manageable number of items. Here’s a written question. How many items are in this result list? Result #7 looks interesting. What is its title? Notice that in this case, you actually have
to click on the item to get the completed title. What is the location/call number?
#5 Here’s another written question about the results page. What phrase did the catalog search engine
actually use to produce this result list?
Look in the upper left quadrant of the page to find this information.
You could have told the search engine which group of words was a phrase by
entering [freedom of speech and Internet].
Try this. Since there is nothing
in that upper left quadrant, it means the results list was created using just
the search phrase you specified. The
results list is slightly smaller and perhaps a bit more precise.
Truncation is an important concept
too. The Search Tips tell you that if
you place one * after a word stem, the search engine will find all examples of
that stem plus up to 5 more letters. In our catalog two ** after a stem indicates that any number of
letters can occur after the stem.
This is not necessarily true in other databases. Each database has its own rules, and to be a
good searcher, you have to take the time to find out what they are. So in the example of polic*
the search engine would look for police, polices, policy, and policies. Now in a search do you really think a
searcher would be interested in all those words? Truncation is a great tool to avoid multiple
searches, but you have to be careful.
#6 Here’s your next
written question. To answer it you might
need a dictionary. You can find one on
the stand next to the reference desk or you can click on the UW Libraries logo
at the top of the page to return to the homepage. Looking on the left under “Find It”, click on
“Reference Tools.” You could click on
“Dictionaries” or you could just use the “Oxford English Dictionary” link at
the top of the page. Now the question:
For the truncation environment*, list 5 words which will be included in the
search.
OTHER
SEARCH TIPS, LIMITS, AND RESULTS SORTING
Since today we are only interested in
looking at items that are in Suzallo or on the Internet, you can use other
capabilities of keyword searching to create an even more precise results list. Tell the search engine what language you want
your results in by finding [English] in the menu and then clicking on it. Now look at the location menu. Let’s first try finding out what is in the
[Suzallo Reference] area by indicating that as the location. To find only recently published items you can
fill in years if you wish. However, even
without doing that, this search engine will return the items in date order,
newest items first, by default. With
other search engines the default may be different. Note under “Search and Sort”
that you can instruct the engine to return items in either alphabetical or
relevance order instead, but if you did not notice before, notice now, that at
the bottom of Search Tips it notes that if you choose a relevance sorting, the
search conventions do not apply. To find
newer items, my personal search style is to use a date default or choose that
ranking if necessary, and just search the items at the top of the list
#7 So with the English
and Suzallo Reference limits, enter [freedom of speech] in the keywords box.
The five resulting items are books that can be found right in the Reference
stacks. The encyclopedia looks like a
good browsing source. Another written
question: What is the complete title?
What is the call number? Take the
time to actually locate that item on the shelf.
You could certainly choose an area to focus on using that source,
couldn’t you?
CROSSCHECKING
ASSIGNED LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HEADINGS
Now try the same search with [Suzallo
Periodicals] as the location. This turns
up some of the periodicals that we found before, but not all of them. Perhaps that is because they are not in
Suzallo, but it also may be a search engine error or an anomaly of
cataloguing. One way to get around this
problem is to crosscheck some of the subjects assigned to these items. For example, click on “Censorship Today”
again. To find the subjects that
librarians have assigned to each item, look at the linked LC Subjects area of
the record. (It’s toward the bottom of the page.)
#8 Here’s another
written question. What
three Library of Congress Subject Headings have been assigned to the
periodical Censorship Today? If you have
found an item, or a list of items, that appear to be just what you are looking
for, and you would like to find more, one option is to search some or all of
the subject headings attached to them.
This will often turn up more items.
In our example, the Free Speech Yearbook that we found in our earlier
subject search is not a result in the search we just did. Clicking on the subject headings will find it
though.
NARROWING
YOUR TOPIC BY USING ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Another option for narrowing the search is
to find a general encyclopedia article.
You could title search a print encyclopedia you have used to find it in
the Suzallo Reference collection. You
could also use an online encyclopedia.
Going back to the homepage “Reference Tools” link you will find many
options by choosing the “Encyclopedias” link, or again, just use the
“Britannica Online” link at the top of the page. Searching “Britannica Online” for [freedom of
speech] would get you the best encyclopedia articles plus a number of websites,
but searching [free speech] would also give you some excellent website suggestions.
So let’s say that in the searching you’ve
done so far, you have decided that an area of the topic you are very interested
in is freedom of speech on the Internet.
You know that many people are concerned about pornography on the Internet,
and that libraries and schools sometimes offer
Internet filters in an attempt to block it.
Knowing that the assignment requires you to take a position on an issue,
a possible debate question might be: Should pornography on the Internet be
considered a right of free speech?
CHOOSING
KEYWORDS AND PHRASES TO SEARCH
Given the question we have chosen, what keywords or
phrases should we search? In choosing
them it is best to use nouns, except where an adjective is necessary to narrow
the meaning of the noun. In our question
the nouns are [pornography] [Internet] [right] and [speech]. Let’s consider
[pornography]. Do we want to truncate
it? If we enter [pornograph*], the search engine will look for [pornography or
pornographer or pornographers or pornographic].
Those words in a result might all be relevant to our topic. [Internet ] looks
OK as it is. Now let’s consider
[right]. Does this word have multiple
meanings? Since [right] can be a direction or an adjective it isn’t a very
precise one to use in a search unless we put it in a phrase. Let’s drop it. Could we truncate [speech]? Some relevant results might include the word
[speeches], but there will also be a lot of irrelevant ones, so we probably
don’t want to truncate it. Perhaps we
need to clarify what kind of speech we mean with a modifying phrase. We could use either [free speech] or if we
are using a library catalog, we could also use the Library of Congress Heading
[freedom of speech]. With these we need
to know if the particular database we are searching needs some kind of phrase
indicator. What we have so far is:
[free
speech and pornograph* and Internet]
or
[freedom
of speech and pornograph* and Internet]
The order of the terms is important to the
results you will get. Many engines
search from left to right. My advice to
you is to test various orders, scanning results to see what looks most
precise. I actually have placed the
terms in this order to begin with since the UW catalog has no phrase
indicator. In this order that particular
engine will search the first words as a phrase. If you are already an expert
searcher, you will know that in some engines you could combine the two
possibilities above into one phrase like so: [(“free speech” or “freedom of
speech”) and pornograph* and Internet].
However, this is getting a little complicated for any of you who are new
to this way of searching (which is called Boolean searching, but don’t let that
scare you.) It also may be too
complicated for some search engines.
FINDING
BOOKS ON A SPECIFIC TOPIC
Return to the UW catalog keywords search. (By the
way, if while you are doing something else the catalog has backed out of the
web page you were on, you can use the back button to return to it.) Let’s use
our second search phrase since we know it may be better in a library catalog.
We will also continue to indicate language and use a [Suzallo/Allan Stacks]
location. Try it. Get any results? Evidently even this phrase is too complicated
for this database, so we’ll need to break it into parts and search one at a
time. Let’s try [freedom of speech and
pornograph*].
#9 To verify that we
are on the same page, did you get 22 results?
Here’s a written question. What is the
ninth item on the list? We might want
to look at the book. Since the
publication date is 1996, it
might include the aspect of Internet pornography, but it’s hard to tell.
Now try searching [freedom of speech and
Internet]. There are not only fewer
results with this search, but they all look like they might be relevant. Remember given our search limitations, all of
them should be in the Suzallo/Allen Stacks.
Checking the call numbers and availability, we find that most of the
books are checked in, and they are in a fairly confined area, either Kxxxx, or
KFxxxx. One could fairly efficiently
examine all the books to see which looked most helpful.
#10
Looking at the Library map again, on what floor and in what area would you
locate the items in the
last result list that are checked in?
Remember that if you have the time, and want to examine the
books that are checked out as well, you could place them on reserve. On the individual item record
there is a button at the bottom right titled “Request.” Click it to place that item on reserve. You’ll need an activated library card to do that. If you’ve ever checked out a book, your card
is already activated. If not, through
the homepage link “Your Account,” you could find out
how to do that. You could also just go
to a circulation desk or the cashier’s office and ask for a card, or for them
to activate the one you received with orientation materials.
USING
PERIODICAL INDEXES TO LOCATE SCHOLARLY ARTICLES
There are of course some print periodical
indexes, but in many cases, the most current editions are available only on the
Internet. Most of you will probably want
to use online versions anyway for their convenience. Click on the UW Libraries logo to return to
the homepage. In the “Find It” section
you will see a “Databases & Catalogs” link.
Click on it.
You are now at the beginning of an alphabetical list of more than 700
databases. Most of them include a brief
description and additional information about each one can be found by clicking
the “i” button on the left. At the top of the page there is a small link
to
“browse all resources by subject.” Click on that. The resulting list may help you find a
particular type of resource (for example “maps/geographic information systems)
or resources within a particular discipline, but it won’t really help with our
specific subject today.
Instead, let’s use the left-hand
navigation menu to click on “Top Twenty Databases.” These are the databases used most often by UW
students. Notice that the Britannica
Online database we used before is on the list, as is the UW Libraries Catalog. This is a good basic list. We will look for good ones for our purposes
on it. I will tell you right now that
some of best databases are actually accessible through this list, but they are
not specifically named, and it is hardly obvious from the description. This is something we could improve on. More about that later.
#11
Looking at the list, if you had decided to focus on
education of free speech concepts, ERIC might be a database to check. The next one on the list looks like it is
perfect for our specific topic. What
does the description say? Write it down
on your exercise sheet. In your
assignment you are required to find three
scholarly articles on your subject. This
index will work, but we need to pay attention to whether the periodical title
of each result, and decide whether it is scholarly or general source.
SEARCHING
EBSCO
Click on the database title to enter. You will be asked for your library card and
pin numbers. Again, if you don’t have a
pin, see “Your Account” or ask at a circulation desk. The homepage lets us know that Expanded
Academic Index is one of many databases in the EBSCO collection. At this page you must indicatee
which of them you want to search. Let’s
use the capability to search more than one at a time, and check both Expanded Academic Index and Sociological Abstracts,
then click “continue” at the top
or
bottom. You will see that the databases
you are searching are noted at the upper left of the search page.
Now before proceeding with a search at this
database, it is best to find out more about it.
Click on “help” at the top right.
You are offered a menu of help topics.
It would be a good idea to look at them all. For one thing this database help menu gives
information on “Styles of Citation.” University professors require that all sources
used be properly cited in your papers.
If you click on that topic you will see that there are several ways to
do that. Click on any of the
choices. You might want to find out from
your instructors which form they prefer.
Some of them won’t care as long as you are consistent to one form.
Now let’s click on “Using Search Windows and
Toolbars” in the Help Menu. Examine
both the “Basic Search” and “Advanced Search”subcatagories. They will tell you what conventions this
search engine uses. I know many of you
will be tempted to skip this step, and trying sample terms in search boxes will
give you some clue as to what’s happening, but to be sure you understand how to
properly construct a search phrase for any engine, we absolutely recommend that
you take the time to discover the limitations and capabilities for each
database. For one thing, Help
information often isn’t complete. You
will have enough to test by trying, believe me.
#12
Here’s a question about the EBSCO search engine. In the UW Libraries Catalog, if you wanted to
tell the engine not to include a certain term, you would precede it by [and
not]. Is that the form you would use in
this database?
Let’s also click on “preferences” at the
top of the search page. In the EBSCO
collection you only have two areas of choice.
One is the number of results on a page.
The default, which is “10,” is currently checked. My own preference is to have more results on
a page to avoid some of the clicks from page to page. So I would check “50” and click “apply.” For the format choice, the default is “brief”
and that is probably good for our purposes.
It is often helpful to use an Advanced
Search feature because it will have pulldown menus to help construct a search
phrase, plus the full range of result limitations and sorting capabilities.
Click to the “Advanced Search” on the file tab-type menu at the top of any
search page. The default search is a keyword search in multiple fields. In the first box let’s put our phrase. The Help information didn’t let us know if we
should put quotes around the phrase.
Let’s try it without. Enter [freedom of speech]. The Help information
also didn’t indicate if truncation is supported. We could just enter [pornography], but let’s
enter our truncated form [pornograph*].
In the final box, enter our last term [Internet]. In our case, the “and/or/not” menus at the
left should be left on “and.”
You can consider the other limiters on the
advanced form. Sometimes its best to just run the search first without any to see
what you get. If you wanted to consider
only articles that you could read right now online, however, you could check
“fulltext” at this point. If you wanted
to consider only articles in journals to which the UW subscribes, you could
check “UW Journals” at this point.
Checking “peer reviewed” would definitely limit results to scholarly
articles, but they will usually be about particular experiments or studies, and
often very technical and full of jargon of a particular discipline that will be
difficult for readers outside the field to comprehend. Your instructors consider many non-peer
reviewed journals scholarly. In fact,
truthfully, most of the results in this database will fit those parameters. This engine also sorts results by date (if
you didn’t know that from the Help menu, it will be clear from the results), so
we don’t have to worry about that parameter.
#13 OK, let’s run our search without any limiters. A written question: How many results are
there? It seems a reasonable number to
look at.
Result #5 includes both [free speech] and
[pornography] in the title. Not only is
it a likely article, it let’s us know that our phrase and our truncation were
likely supported in the search. It
however is not an article with a fulltext logo, but it is noted as a UW
journal, so we could find it in the library.
To do this you would use the catalog to look for the title of the
journal.
#14
What is that title?
Does it sound like a scholarly journal?
As far as I am concerned the other
articles that look most likely are #’s 9, 12, and 15. Of those, 12 might not be too good because it
is only a page long. You might have
another opinion about any of this. In
any case, a great many of the articles are immediately available to scan or
read by clicking
“HTML fulltext” (or PDF if you prefer.) Since this isn’t your actual topic, you don’t
need to do that for the purposes of our exercise, but of course you may just
find them of interest. Be careful
though. That is one of the traps of the
Internet that makes research so time-consuming. There is so much information
available, and much of it looks really interesting. It is easy to get sidetracked. As a student it is sometimes best to stay on
task. You can quickly cut and paste
something that interests you, or email yourself the result to look at later
when you have time if you want to.
OTHER
GOOD DATABASES FOR GENERAL PERIODICAL RESEARCH
OK , let’s go
back to the “Top Twenty Databases.” If
you wanted newspaper articles you might want to check “Lexis-Nexus,” but that
is not really what we want today.
Although ABI-INFORM Global, form with its business angle, didn’t at
first appeal, if you looked into it you would find that it is part of PROQUEST,
which if you recall, indexed the Free Speech Yearbook. We could use our search phrase there.
Another excellent database group is
FirstSearch. It is actually accessible
through OCLC WorldCat on the top twenty list, but that
is hardly obvious. Access it there, or
find it in the alphabetical listings.
Once at FirstSearch, you can click “Choose Databases” to indicate the
ones you want to be searched. For
general periodical research, a combination of ArticlesFirst and
WilsonSelectPlus will do well. For this
assignment, when you are doing your own research, I would strongly recommend
checking at least EBSCO, PROQUEST, and the ArticlesFirst. You would use the same procedures that we
used with EBSCO, remembering to check the search engine specifics. If those three databases don’t give you at
least three good articles, you could ask a reference librarian for help
choosing other databases or modifying your search phrase.
GENERAL
SEARCH ENGINES
Since this tutorial is getting very long,
and it is not absolutely necessary to do general Web research for your
assignment, we will confine ourselves to a few comments.
First, Google.com is an excellent engine
to use. AltaVista.com has the advantage
of being partially a subject directory.
Ixquick.com is a metasearch engine that will find the top results on
AltaVista and quite a few other engines at the same time. You many have other favorite search engines. With any of them the biggest problem is
limiting your results to a reasonable number.
Relevance ranking is only somewhat helpful. Coming up with a very specific search phrase
as we have done today is very important.
Finally there is one very good tip we can
give you with Google or any other engine that allows it. You will often find the most reliable data
for scholarly research in the .gov or .edu domains. .org sites are sometimes good. After all, public library catalogs are
usually in that domain. You do have to
be careful with .org though. Some
institutions have a definite bias. To
limit your results for your academic research, one of the best things you can
do is limit their domain.
Google’s advance search page allows you to
specify one specific domain (or site for that matter.) You can also tell the engine NOT to return
results from a domain. At Google.com, go
to the advanced page and try our search phrase while telling the engine not to
return results from any .com domain. I
think you will find that your results will be superior for your purposes.
The
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html. Much of the information could also apply to
other sources of information.
A
QUICK CHECKLIST
·
Narrow your topic by trying one or more of the following:
1) Using a Library of
Congress Subject search in the library catalog, or a search in another
subject
directory. The lists at these URL’s will
give you access to an abundance of good
ones. http://library.albany.edu/internet/subject.html
or
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/BeyondWeb.html#SubjDirectories
(There is a lot more
searching information at these University sites that is wonderful too.)
2) Find a book or book
chapter on the subject.
3) Find an encyclopedia
article on the subject.
·
Create a sentence or question that describes what you want to need to
know and from this extract the definitive nouns.
·
Consider how your terms should be combined in a search phrase. Consider order, connecting words, truncation,
phrase markings and any other search conventions that are supported by the
database you will be using. You may have
to do test searches in each database used to come up with the best option. You may also have to search more than one
phrase.
·
Know the parameters, the search engine conventions, and the limiting,
reporting, and sorting options of the database you are searching. Use the Advanced Search, or at least know
what it could do for you.
·
Search the library catalog for books on the specific subject.
·
Search appropriate databases for recent scholarly articles. For Speech 109 be sure to check EBSCO,
PROQUEST, and ArticlesFirst.
·
Read relevant articles in fulltext or find the journals in the library
and read the print version. Be sure the that they are scholarly journals. Almost any journal returned from the
suggested databases will probably be suitable.
·
If you need even more information, try an Internet search at a good
search engine. Limit the domains
searched to avoid the .com domain.
·
For this assignment you need to take a position. After reading the sources you have found,
which position is best supported? Which
one do you agree with? Write your speech
using the kinds of arguments found in your sources, but do not plagerize. You might
want to include quotes, but you need to tell your audience the source you are
quoting. In the written form your
sources should all be noted in a citation form that is consistent to one of the
conventions.
·
If you get stuck at any point in your research ASK A REFERENCE
LIBRARIAN! This is particularly true if
the search phrase you have devised is not returning enough good information in
the databases you know about.
Thank
you for using this instructional exercise.
Now
remember to detach the exercise sheet and turn it in to your instructor on
Monday.
Keep
the rest of the information to help you with your own research in this class
and future ones.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR RESEARCH
VISIT THE LIBRARY OFTEN
ASK US QUESTIONS WHEN YOU
GET STUCK
(This can be done in person,
through chat, email, or on the phone.
Check the library homepage.)
ILS
604-71 Note: Actually I would get
permission from the authors and the publication before copying the following to
pass out to multiple students.
AN ADDITIONAL HANDOUT:
SEARCHER CHECKLIST
(Developed by Veronica M.
Adams and George R. Plosker – see citation below)
Adams,
Veronica M. and Plosker, George R. Concepts in end-user training: how to
convert end users into
effective
searchers. Searcher,
v. 5, no. 5, May 1997, p. 8+ (7 p.).
Retrieved on
the World Wide
Web using the EBSCO Academic Elite database.
(We
thought some of you might find this Searcher Checklist, a research tool
involving asking questions at every point, very helpful in your work.)
Refine
and focus your question by considering these points:
What is
my question or information need?
Do I
need very recent information or does it matter how old the information is?
Do I
need a single piece of information, a few good articles, or a large amount of
data?
Do I
already know specific sources I want to include in my search?
Do I
already know something about the topic that will help me find a more complete
answer?
How am I
going to use the information I find?
Am I
looking for information for myself or others?
Will the
information I find have an effect on others, personally, professionally, or
organizationally?
Is the
information I seek important enough to suggest that I should try and find the
same answer in more than one source to verify its accuracy?
How much
time do I have to find an answer?
Restate
your question. Will answering this question exactly meet your need? If so, you
are ready to begin the process of matching your question to the best
information resource.
Ask
yourself the following questions to help decide if the database will cover your
topic:
Does the
database include information from publications applicable to my topic?
Does the
database include articles from many different authors and/or publishers?
Are all
the key sources included in the database?
Is the
information included in the database old enough or recent enough to answer my
question?
Will the
sources in the database have information from the part of the world I want
covered? For example, local, regional, national, or
international?
Are you
satisfied that the database that you have decided to use gives you the best
possible chance of success? If so, begin creating a search strategy the
computer will understand.
Check to
make sure you know how to gain access to the online service you need to use.
The checklist should include the pragmatics of access required by the available
service being accessed, including UserID and Password and any commands required
to logon.
Familiarize
yourself with the search features of the database by asking yourself the
following questions:
Is
online search help available?
Does the
system provide FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)?
Are
examples of common search questions included?
Is a
publication list provided?
Does the
system offer an advanced search mode?
Does the
system utilize logical and proximity connectors?
If so,
the checklist should provide examples from the actual service being searched
including:
Logical
Connectors:
AND to
connect terms when all must be present
OR to
group terms when at least one must be present
NOT to
eliminate irrelevant terms Proximity Operators:
NEA terms
should appear together in any order
WITH
terms should appear together in the order specified
Truncation:
Utilize
appropriate "symbols" that will request the singular or plural form
of a term as defined by the available service
Do I have
the information I need?
Comprehensive?
Reliable?
Does the
information allow me to make a decision or recommend an action? If not...
Do I
need to do additional research?
Do I
need to contact the
Include
[Insert
Information Professional Contact Information]
EXERCISE SHEET
(Remember this gets turned
in – make it neat!)
1. Location of Social Work
Library______________________________________________________
Hours that it is open on Sunday___________
2. # of UW “freedom of speech” subject
headings_________
# of total items
in the catalog using these headings______
3. Call # of Censorship Today_____________
Location of above call #_________________________________________
Location of 1998 Free Speech
Yearbook_______________________________________
4. Number of results_______
Title of Item #7 on results
list_________________________________________________________
Location/Call # of Item #7________________
5. Phrase search engine
used____________________________________________________________
6. Five words searched with environment*
truncation_________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
7. Title of subject
encyclopedia___________________________________________________________
Call # of that encyclopedia______________
8. What 3 subject headings are assigned to
Censorship Today?__________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
9. Title of the ninth
item_________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
10.
Floor and area of available
books_______________________________________________________
11.
On the database list, how is Expanded Academic Index describe?_____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
12.
In EBSCO do you use [and not] to exclude a term_______________________
13.
How many results in EBSCO search_________
14.
Journal title result #5____________________________________
Does it sound scholarly_____________
TURN THIS PAGE INTO YOUR
INSTRUCTOR BY NEXT MONDAY
ANSWER SHEET
(ILS 604-71 Note: This is
not given to the students, but to the instructors/TA’s grading the exercise)
1.
Location – 2nd floor
Sunday hours --
2.
Total subheadings -- 109
Total library items – 511
3.
Call # of Censorship Today – Z659.C45
Location of above call # -- 4th floor
Suzallo-Allen bridge area
1998 Free Speech Yearbook location –
available online fulltext from Proquest
4.
# of results -- 22
Title of result #7 – Free Expression in
the Age of the Internet: Social and Legal Boundaries
Location/call number of #7 –
Suzallo/Allen Stacks, KF4772.L57 2000.
5.
Phrase search engine used – Internet and freedom and of and speech
6.
Words returned with the truncation environment* -- environment, environments,
environmental,
environmentalist,
environmentalism
7.
Title of encyclopedia – Free Expression and Censorship
Call # of above – Z568.U5 F644 1997
8. Periodical item subject headings – 1) Freedom
of the Press—Periodicals, 2) Censorship—United
States—Periodicals, 3) Freedom of
Speech—Periodicals
9. Ninth item on results list – The Problem
of Pornography: Regulation and the Right to Free Speech
10.
Location of Kxxxx and KFxxxx call numbers – third floor in the Suzallo part of
the library
11.
Description of Expanded Academic Index – Provides indexing and abstracting for
more than 1,500
scholarly and
general interest periodicals, covering all major fields of study in the
humanities, social
sciences, and
science and technology.
12.
Form to exclude a term in EBSCO – No, you need to use [not]
13.
# Results EBSCO search – 15
14.
Journal title result #5 – New Scientist
Does it sound scholarly – yes (or yes, but to
know for sure you would have to examine it for publisher
and bias.)