Transcript css101 part 2 - Mercer County Community College

Using the library
CSS101 - Part 2
Martin J. Crabtree
MCCC Library
September 2007
Agenda
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Review: so just what is information literacy?
Using the the Mercer Library’s catalog
Searching electronic resources
Databases and Web information
Your turn to use the databases & the web
What is information literacy?
Information literacy is the ability to:
• Realize that you need information to find
something out/answer a question
• Know where to go to get the information you
need
• Ask the right questions to get the information
you need
• Put all the information you found together to
answer your question
Using The MCCC Card Catalog to
find books and more
•
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)
•
You will need to have your
student ID card to borrow
books or use the library’s
computer lab
The link to the catalog is on the library’s
web pages.
Let’s look at the Mercer Library’s
Catalog…
Starting An Electronic Search
Keywords
• Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and
web search engines
• First step - Generate a list of words (keywords) often nouns
that describes or is commonly used when discussing your
topic. For example:
– Ozone
– Layer
– Depletion
– Atmosphere
– Hole
Starting An Electronic Search
Boolean 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”
Searching More Than Just Keywords
Phrases & Truncations
• To search for a phrase, use quotation marks
– “weapons of mass destruction”
• Truncations allow for searching related words
all at once
– The * is usually used. For example:
• “child*” would include: child, children, childhood,
childproof, etc.
Let’s take a quick look at how
Boolean searching can help
Electronic Databases at the
Mercer Library
Electronic Databases at MCCC
In General
• Over 60 databases available
• Many contain periodical articles
• Some are useful for searching specific subjects
like business, art, or criminal justice.
• There are also other useful
tools like the Encyclopedia
Britannica and the Oxford
Dictionary
Electronic Databases
In General
• Accessible at any computer on
the MCCC/JKC campus
network
• Most are available off campus,
though you do need a
password.
• Can print/e-mail/download
articles
Accessing Databases Remotely
• You can access most of the databases from
any computer with internet access.
• Use your student ID number (no dashes) and
your last name to log into the databases. i.e.
• If you are already using a library issued
password and ID number, they are no longer
valid
Remote Login Screen
Use your student ID
number & last name
Use your issued User ID &
password (faculty & staff only)
Let’s take a look a the
databases…
Using the World Wide Web
Using the internet/world wide web
• Before using the web for most college
research, try using databases first:
– You will have fewer hits to go through
– You’ll likely find some good information quickly
– The information is always high quality
• The internet & web are not the same thing
Some things to consider when
searching the web
• Everything is NOT on the web and may never
be
• No search engine covers the entire web
• The “invisible web” is huge!
• Though there has yet to be consensus,
estimates put the size of the invisible web
between 2 and 500 times bigger than the
“visible” (or surface) web.
Searching the World Wide Web
Search Strategy
• Searching the Web is much like database searching:
– Put together a list of keywords describing the information you
desire
– Use Boolean logic (and, not, or) to better define your search,
use double quotes for phrases, etc.
• When searching the web, also:
– Consider which search engines/sites may best suit your search
needs. Different search engines yield different results.
– Use the search engine’s “advanced search” to select limiting
parameters (language, date, domain, etc.)
Let’s pause for a bit for some TV
Is this stuff
any good?
Evaluating Web Sites
Evaluating Web Sites
• Quality varies greatly from site to site
• YOU are the sole evaluator of the
quality of information a site provides
Five Web Info Evaluation Criteria
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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?
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
Now it’s your turn…
Go to:
www.malepregnancy.com