1 / 51

Research methods: information retrieval, evaluation and integration

Research methods: information retrieval, evaluation and integration. March 25 th , 2004. Analytical methods - research. Activity of Recognising need for info Identifying an appropriate source Formulating search strategy Retrieving information Evaluating the information

petunia
Download Presentation

Research methods: information retrieval, evaluation and integration

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Research methods:information retrieval, evaluation and integration March 25th, 2004

  2. Analytical methods - research Activity of • Recognising need for info • Identifying an appropriate source • Formulating search strategy • Retrieving information • Evaluating the information • Integrating knowledge, ideas into assignment, core values is called …

  3. Analytical methods - research Information literacy Australian and New Zealand information literacy framework [electronic resource] : principles, standards and practice. 2004. 2nd ed.

  4. Analytical methods - research Information literacy is • a key generic skill • essential for life long learning.

  5. Analytical methods - research • The Library is a national treasure – • Available to you now! • Use it to enrich your work • To assist you to do well!

  6. Analytical methods - research • The University of Sydney Library is 152 years old • Support teaching and learning • Largest in Australia after NLA • Have 200 staff members • Have 20 libraries in 2004 • Science & Technology Library • Favour electronic delivery • Create electronic material/SETIS • Promote information literacy

  7. Analytical methods - research • Topic – “mobile commerce” • Do some work early – as in the time before the deadline you’ll become aware of connections and sources • Read the assignment sheet twice – Let the topic brew in your mind!

  8. Analytical methods - research • What task have you set yourself? • Know your research problem! • Identify key concepts • Define the key concepts • Explore the relationship between the concepts

  9. Analytical methods - research • Key concepts – synonyms • Plural/singular or both? • Acronym and/or spelt out – SLA or Service Level Agreement • Broader/narrower terms?

  10. Analytical methods - research • Expressing the relationship between the terms in your search strategy • Boolean operators • AND • OR • NOT

  11. Analytical methods - research • In order to define and engage with your problem – • Look at “The literature”

  12. Analytical methods - research • To frame the problem under scrutiny • To identify relevant concepts, methods/techniques • To position the study – will your work add something new to the body of knowledge?

  13. “The Literature”

  14. Analytical methods - research Indexes to the literature: • Library catalogue • Electronic databases • Search engines

  15. Analytical methods - research

  16. Analytical methods - research • Library catalogue http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/Home.html Holdings of twenty libraries within Univ – you can borrow from any of these libraries Fisher Library contains IT items – Engineering and other libraries may hold items of interest to you.

  17. Analytical methods - research

  18. Analytical methods - research General overview: Monographs – Subject heading Key word search Note that monographs (books) may be in print and electronic form Safari Tech book online – electronic texts

  19. Analytical methods - research Journals– May be searched by Journal title in the library catalogue For an index to the contents of the journal - Electronic databases

  20. Analytical methods - research

  21. Analytical methods - research • Electronic databases provide the citation of relevant articles and often the fulltext of the article itself. • Remote access The four databases that we cover today are available off-campus via an Extro account or via our Remote access system – your name & library barcode number

  22. Analytical methods - research • To find a database, visit the Databases & Electronic Resources page

  23. Analytical methods - research • Databases and Electronic Resources • A- B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Zsubject listing of databases; Remote Access Quick List; Password Access Quick List; On-campus Quick List About off-campus access to databases, e-journals and e-reserve; Obtaining Library Passwords; learn database searching; e-resource troubleshooting tips; databases on trial; new databases.

  24. Analytical methods - research • Each database has its own search program. • Check Search tips to see how to enter your search in that database – often enter phrases in “parentheses” to that words are searched as a phrase.

  25. Analytical methods - research • ACM Digital Library Association for Computing Machinery – the full-text for articles published in ACM periodicals and proceedings since 1985.

  26. Analytical methods - research

  27. Analytical methods - research • IEEE Xplore Full text access to IEEE and IEE journals, transactions, magazines, letters and conference proceedings published since 1988 plus selected content back to 1950; all current IEEE standards.

  28. Analytical methods - research

  29. Analytical methods - research • Abstract and fulltext of each article • In the Abstract index terms for the abstract are provided and these may provide useful clues for other relevant terms.

  30. Analytical methods - research • IEEE states its Peer review policy – “implemented a rigorous peer review process to ensure the high quality of its technical material.”

  31. Analytical methods - research • “all scientific papers and communications published in regular IEEE periodicals shall be reviewed by at least two referees who are competent and have experience in the area of the subject matter of the paper.” • Editor decides whether to publish and with what changes.

  32. Analytical methods - research • ABI Inform American Business Index Inform

  33. Analytical methods - research

  34. Analytical methods - research • ABI Inform is on the Proquest suite of databases. • Might as well choose to search all databases – include Proquest Computing. • Can limit searching to fulltext and scholarly (including peer-reviewed) articles.

  35. Analytical methods - research • ScienceDirect Published by Elsevier which is the world’s largest publisher of science, technology and medical information. Contains nearly six million fulltext articles

  36. Analytical methods - research

  37. Analytical methods - research Searching is a dynamic process • Create search strategy • Enter the strategy into a database • Assess the search results • Are the retrieved references covering the areas you want?

  38. Analytical methods - research • Do you need to narrow the search results by adding another or different word to the search strategy? • Do you need to use terms that cover a broader subject area? • Are there synonyms – mobile commerce is often referred to as m-commerce

  39. Analytical methods - research • How does the database record inform you about your topic? • Does the abstract give some useful hints to broader/narrower terms or synonyms? • What about related terms – how does m-commerce relate to e-commerce?

  40. Analytical methods - research • How does wireless relate to m-commerce? • Are there author keywords or index terms on the record that will inform you?

  41. Analytical methods - research • You may need to review the search strategy and search with the new strategy and continue the process until you are satisfied that all relevant references have been located.

  42. Think about the topic Talk to your friends, classmates Bounce ideas around with them as information literacy is a social activity!

  43. Analytical methods - research Material held or made available by the Library is • Published • Peer-reviewed • Purchased by the Library

  44. Analytical methods - research • Assignment calls for 4/5 papers should be “peer-reviewed research papers”. • 1/5 “could be technical reports, newspaper articles or online articles.”

  45. Analytical methods - research • ABI Inform/Proquest has lighter, newspaper articles. • “Online” for the assignment means internet articles.

  46. Analytical methods - research • Internet • Anyone can publish an internet page • A Google search retrieves a whole range of pages.

  47. Analytical methods - research • Search engines – Google Key features: Results are relevancy ranked. Adds ADD to the search strategy so that looks for all words Use “quotation marks” to search for a phrase “mobile commerce”

  48. Analytical methods - research • Boolean option OR is not available • No advanced search options • Links to sites are cached – view the contents of the web page when Google indexed it – information may not be up-to-date

  49. Analytical methods - research • Evaluating an internet page • Reliability • Scope • Currency • Accuracy • Commercialism • Design

  50. Analytical methods - research • To conclude: • Check out the Library’s resources • Have a go at the databases • Locate the fulltext • Think about your search strategy, refine it if necessary • Be wary of internet pages

More Related