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RWS 508 - Scientific Writing

RWS 508 - Scientific Writing. Anne Turhollow Library & Information Access Spring 2004. Two Stages of Information Searching. Find It! Identifying specific books, articles, reports on a given topic Get It! Physically getting those items into your hands or on your computer screen

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RWS 508 - Scientific Writing

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  1. RWS 508 - Scientific Writing Anne Turhollow Library & Information Access Spring 2004

  2. Two Stages of Information Searching • Find It! • Identifying specific books, articles, reports on a given topic • Get It! • Physically getting those items into your hands or on your computer screen • With technology, these separate tasks are blurring together

  3. Types of Information • Fact • Basic / Background • Practical / How to • Research • Formal vs. Informal

  4. Flow of Research Information From Jim Parrot, Librarian, University of Waterloo

  5. More Information • The Scientific Publication Cycle • Carol Green and Patty Carey, University of Washington Libraries • Flow of Scientific Information • Jim Parrot, University of Waterloo Library

  6. Domains of Information Fee Free Proprietary

  7. Domains of Information • Free vs. Fee vs. Proprietary • Different finding tools search different domains and different layers within those domains • Infinite vs. Finite, or Open vs. Closed

  8. Indexes and Databases • Search Engines • Periodical Databases • Fulltext Journal Collections • Data Collections • Hybrids

  9. Domains of Information Fee Free Indexed by: Periodical Databases Fulltext Search Software Proprietary Indexed by: Search Engines Specialty Search Software Indexed by Specialty Search Software

  10. Search Engines • Examples - Google, Yahoo, Teoma • Machine (“robot” or “spider”) created databases of the World Wide Web and other materials • Index the free resources • Creators of the information - any one who can put up a web page

  11. More Information • Best Search Tools • InfoPeople Project • Finding Information on the Internet • University of California, Berkeley Libraries

  12. Invisible Web • There are significant portions of Internet accessible material that are not indexed by the standard search engines • Dynamic pages, different formats (especially graphics), specialty databases

  13. More Information • Those Dark Hiding Places • Robert J. Lackie, Librarian, Rider College • Invisible Web: What It Is… • Joe Barker, University of California, Berkeley Libraries

  14. Periodical Databases • Examples - Biosis Previews, CompendexWeb • Created by humans, usually subject experts • Index a defined discipline and a finite set of published resources (mainly journals, but may include books, conference proceedings, etc.) • Both the databases and the materials indexed cost money • Article Databases page on InfoDome

  15. Fulltext Journal Collections • Examples - Elsevier ScienceDirect, JSTOR • Pay per view or subscription • Created by humans, sometimes OCR • Collections usually based on a publisher’s offerings • Searching is very deep, but restricted to a “narrow” viewpoint

  16. Data Collections • Examples - GenBank, PDB • Raw data • Created by experts, sharing their results • Usually run by government entities • Generally free

  17. Hybrids • Examples - Scirus, Entrez • Mixes of fulltext, web documents, and/or raw data • Mix of free and fee materials • Two different approaches • Single database with multiple resource types • Single search interface that searches multiple databases

  18. Methods of Searching • Follow the citations (“Breadcrumbs”) • Subject searching in a database or two or three… • Cited reference searching • Ask an expert

  19. Follow that Trail! • Start with one or few known articles, etc. • Track down the material in their bibliographies • And continue the process from article to article

  20. Database Searching • Searching by topic, author, species, etc. in one or more databases • General Search Techniques • Be specific, especially if searching in a fulltext database • Boolean logic • Boolean Searching on the Internet, Laura Cohen, Univ at Albany Libraries • Phrase or adjacency searching

  21. Database Searching • Truncation • Ecolog* retrieves ecology, ecologies, ecological • No standard symbol • Field searching • Limits • Language, gender, format, etc.

  22. More Information • InfoPeople Search Tools Chart • Carole Leita, InfoPeople Project • Help pages on almost all databases

  23. Cited Reference Searching • Examples - Web of Science, Highwire Press • Trace research forward in time from a specific reference • Very powerful tool, but somewhat limited by human mistakes

  24. Get It! • Many databases provide links to the online versions of the journals • OpenURL standard • If database doesn’t have links • The PAC • SDSU Periodicals List

  25. And if we don’t have it? • Inter-Library Loan / Document Delivery • Overnight - 3 weeks depending on • Material format • Delivery method

  26. Help! • InfoDome • Research - How to get help • Librarians • Anne Turhollow • 619-594-4921 • c.turhollow@sdsu.edu

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