Finding information for your assignments: Information literacy 2013-2014

1. Finding information for your assignments: Information literacy2013-2014 Sara Burnett Senior Information Advisor (Mechanical & Automotive) Karen Butcher Senior Information Advisor (Aerospace & Aircraft Engineering) Davina Omar Information Specialist (Civil Engineering)

2. Fitz and Pirillo (c.2006) ‘The whole internet truth’ [cartoon] The whole internet truth [Online] Available at: http://davidrothman.net/category/information-literacy/ (Accessed: 25 October 2010)

3. Information Literacy is: The ability to: • searchfor and select relevantsources of information for your study • evaluate the information and use it appropriately

4. Sample coursework question Discuss the development and safety of UAVs for civilian applications

5. What are your keywords? • UAV • Civilian • Development • Safety

6. Credo • Need general background information on your topic? • Instead of Wikipedia, try Credo

9. You’ve identified your keywords…..finding information

10. Why use the Invisible Web? • Many information sources overlooked by general-use search engines • 500x bigger than the surface web • Technical limitations of “spiders/crawlers” • Search engines can find databases but cannot enter them & extract content • Search engines are limited in how much information they are able to take from one site • Internet does not discriminate between good and bad information-anyone can publish on the internet

11. Different types of information you may find

12. To utilise it to its best potential: Set up your Kingston full text links – Settings – Library links Use the Advanced Search Evaluate the information you are using - is it coming from quality sources? Google Scholar http://scholar.google.co.uk

13. Google Scholar http://scholar.google.co.uk/

14. iCat is all I need…..? • iCat is a great starting point – remember to sign in before you start searching • It searches our print and online collections using one simple interface • Use the advanced search options • You can refine your searches if you get a lot of hits • You may need to revise your keywords after you get your search results

15. Once you are signed in on iCat, you can use these tools to help you save your searches:

16. Save query: will let you keep records of the search terms you entered, and email you to let you know if any new material is added

17. Once you are signed in on iCat, you can use these tools to help you save your searches: Add page to e-Shelf adds ONE PAGE at a time (not all pages) of your results to your e-Shelf.

18. Click on e-Shelf to view your own e-Shelf items You can organise and edit your results You can access online items from your e-Shelf using the online access link

19. Databases – find articles on your subject • What is a database? • Set of information that indexes many different journal articles. • What can be included? • Different types… • Databases containing abstracts and indexes. They are search tools and do not contain full text. • Electronic journal packages

20. Why students avoid databases? • Google seems quicker • Using iCat to search all library resources already • Databases appear complex • Don’t find relevant articles – too many or too few

21. So, why use databases? • Databases: help students and researchers to find journal articles in the field they are studying – quick keyword search • You don’t know which journals are best for your topic • Most dedicated to a specific subject area e.g. Construction Information Service • Many are full text – don’t need to go to the library • MORE electronic than paper • Quality information= better grades

22. Why use databases? Google search for engineering drawing standard BSOnline search for engineering drawing standard

23. Database information • To find out about the basics of searching the databases we have, go to My Kingston (http://MyKingston.kingston.ac.uk) • Log in with your usual ID number and password • Go to the Library pages and click on the ‘How to find e-resources’ link • Scroll down the page to see if any of the databases you might want to use need an extra username and password

24. Accessing databases • To access all databases from outside the University, go to My Kingston (http://mykingston.kingston.ac.uk) • Log in with your usual ID number and password • Go to the library pages and click the iCat library search link • Sign in to iCat before you do any searches • Click on databases list on the iCat home page

25. Accessing databases

26. There are different types of e-resources • Full text sources – these may be electronic journals, technical reports, newspapers, dissertations etc – usually from a single publisher. Click on or • Indexing database– used if you want to find out everything that has been written in a subject area – there will be a link to the full text only if we have access to it Link to full textOR • Standards – used in engineering design • Electronic books – electronic versions of textbooks

27. Standards Documents defining nationally & internationally agreed specifications • Obvious importance to engineers who have to draw up designs in accordance with technical and legal guidelines set by standards British Standards incorporate many European & international standards British Standards Online All current British Standards…available FREE to Kingston University students and staff.

28. Full text sources for aerospace & aircraft engineering students Wiley Encyclopedia of Aerospace Engineering Coverage ranges from core disciplines such as electrical and electronic engineering, mechanical engineering and physics, to advanced materials, digital technology and environmental science.

35. Other sources of information • Not all our databases supply all articles in full text but they may point you to useful articles which you can search for via the e-journals list on iCat. • You use these databases to get a full picture of all the research in a field, definitely useful for your final year project. • Some examples of these ‘indexing’ databases: • Emerald • Scopus