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ENG 101

ENG 101. Finding Information. Martin J. Crabtree MCCC Library March 2005. Agenda. The College’s Card Catalog Electronic Searching Keywords & Boolean Searching Electronic Databases at Mercer What’s a database? Databases available through Mercer Library Accessing the databases

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ENG 101

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  1. ENG 101 Finding Information Martin J. Crabtree MCCC Library March 2005

  2. Agenda • The College’s Card Catalog • Electronic Searching • Keywords & Boolean Searching • Electronic Databases at Mercer • What’s a database? • Databases available through Mercer Library • Accessing the databases • A few things to consider when using the web

  3. The Card Catalog • The catalog is available online. Used to find books, videos and other material both in the MCCC collection and the Mercer County Public (MCL) libraries. • You can have materials from MCL brought to the college. Deliveries arrive Tuesday and Friday afternoons. (DVD’s not available from MCL)

  4. Finding Books and other materials • Unlike school and public libraries, the MCCC uses the Library of Congress (LC) system. • The LC is an alphanumeric system (e.g. PN 1991.2 .W65) • You can search for materials by: • Title • Author (last name first) • Subject • Keyword

  5. Link to the catalog is on the library’s web pages.

  6. Searching Electronic Databases …and the web too

  7. Starting An Electronic SearchKeywords • Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and web search engines • First step - Generate a list of words (keywords) that describes or is commonly used when discussing your topic. For example: • Ozone • Layer • Depletion • Atmosphere • Hole

  8. Starting An Electronic SearchBoolean 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”

  9. Searching More Than Just KeywordsPhrases & 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 Lexis-Nexis) . For example: • “child*” would include: child, children, childhood, childproof, etc.

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

  11. Electronic Databases at the Mercer Library

  12. What are electronic 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 subscription only, paid by the library. • It is accessible via the internet, but it is not truly web information.

  13. Electronic DatabasesIn General • Over 40 databases available • Not every article is available full text though many are • Abstracts (summary) is often available when full text is not

  14. Electronic DatabasesIn 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/download articles

  15. Broad/General Coverage Databases • EBSCOhost - Academic Search Premier • Broadest of the databases covering everything from science to the humanities • includes both general interest & scholarly/professional journals • Not every article full text • Need Acrobat Reader for some articles • Academic Universe (Lexis-Nexis) - News • Large collection of newspaper information from around the US, nearly all full text

  16. More Databases • A number of subject specific databases are available covering: • business • art • architecture • criminal justice • education • mortuary science • more • Many contain full-text articles

  17. Even more databases • New York Times Historical Newspaper– Articles from 1851 – 2000 • Literature Resource Center - Reviews, criticisms, and biographical info on a number of authors and their works. • AP Photo Archives - Photograph collection • Biographies Plus - Biographical information of noted people in a wide range of fields. • Oxford English Dictionary • Encyclopedia Britannica • College Source Online - College catalog info (Only avail. At W.W. Library)

  18. Let’s use the N.Y. Times to see what was on the front page on May 7, 1937

  19. Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals Different publications targeted to different audiences

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

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

  22. Searching the World Wide Web How can I find what I want?

  23. Some things to consider when searching the web • Everything is NOT on the web and may never be • No search engine searches the entire web • The “invisible web” is huge!

  24. Searching the World Wide Web Search Strategy • Searching the Web is much like database searching: • Use keywords and Boolean logic (and, not, or) to better define your search, use double quotes for phrases, etc. • When searching the web, also consider: • Different search engines yield different results. You may want to try using more that just your “regular” search engine • Use the search engine’s “advanced search” to select limiting parameters (language, date, domain, etc.)

  25. Searching the World Wide Web Search Engines & Meta Sites • Become familiar with your search engines features: • http://www.infopeople.org/search/chart.html • http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/features/ • http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SearchEngines.html • Meta search sites (like Ask Jeeves, Dogpile): • Allow you to search more than one search engines at once. • Can generate more “stuff” to sift through • Limited to only basic searches, can’t use advanced search features • Some results can be from “paid for listing” search engines

  26. Evaluating Web Information Is this stuff any good?

  27. Evaluating Web Sites • Quality varies greatly from site to site • YOU are the sole evaluator of the quality of information a site provides

  28. Five Evaluation Criteria • Accuracy - is it reliable? • Authority - is author qualified on subject? • Objectivity - is the information biased? • Currency - is the information “new” enough? • Coverage - does the info completely cover the topic? • Search engines may put you out of context, go the home page or the “about us” page to help evaluate the site

  29. The Bottom Line… Buyer Beware • The web contains a vast amount of information… but not everything • Anyone can put information on the web, hence the quality of web information varies greatly • YOU will often be the only person to decide if the quality of the info you find on the web is good

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