Transcript Find / research resources - UC Berkeley School of Information

Fulbright Preacademic Seminar
Research Methods: Computer & Web
Techniques
Vivien Petras
[email protected]
Outline
1. Find / research resources
2. Evaluate resources
3. Manage resources
1. Find / research resources
Find / research resources - basics
Why use the Web?
• Quick
• Up-to-date
• Overview
• Convenient
• Most library resources are web accessible
Find / research resources – what you should be
aware of
• Where do you go for research assistance?
• What are the resources for your discipline?
• What is the vocabulary/language of your
discipline?
• Research methodologies
• Sources: primary, secondary, format of
resources
Find / research resources – First steps
Identify:
• Realm of your research
• Research question(s)
• What you hope to find
• Resources to turn to
One of the more important questions you have
to answer is where to search. Never assume
that one resource provides all the answers.
Where to search…
•
Five-Step Search Strategy. From the UC Berkeley
Teaching Library:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Strategi
es.html
•
Choose the best search for your information need.
From NoodleTools:
http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locat
e/adviceengine.html
•
How to choose a search engine or directory. From
University at Albany:
http://www.internettutorials.net/choose.html
Searching the Internet
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Search engines
Subject directories
The deep / invisible web
(Metasearch)
Advanced web searching
Specialized resources
Discipline-specific resources
1. Search engines
• No human selection or interference in search
/ selection
• Not organized by subject
• Search the whole web not only academic
information
• Full-text of web pages
• Not filtered for quality: you need to evaluate!
• Work best for specific, quick queries
The best search engines to use. From UC Berkeley Teaching
Library:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Search
Engines.html
2. Subject directories
•
•
•
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Human selection of web sites
Organized by subject
Subject categories not standardized
Searchable but usually not full-text of web
sites indexed
• Much smaller than what search engines
cover
• Good for overview
The best subject directories to use. From UC Berkeley Teaching
Library:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SubjDirect
ories.html
3. The deep / invisible web
• Pages cannot be found in search engines /
rarely in subject directories
• Behind subscription passwords or dynamic
pages
• Searchable databases that are usually of
higher quality and more specific
Choosing invisible web databases. From NoodleTools.
http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/advi
cedepth.html
What is the invisible web. From UC Berkeley Teaching Library.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/InvisibleWeb.
html
3. The deep / invisible web - Example
4. Metasearch
• Metasearch engines search more than one
search engine at once
• Remove duplicate search results
• Often omit Google as search engine
• Can’t use any advanced search options
 Usually you are better served searching the
search engines individually.
Metasearch engines. From UC Berkeley Teaching Library.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/M
etaSearch.html
5. Advanced web searching
Concept processing / clustering
– SurfWax http://www.surfwax.com
– Exalead http://www.exalead.com
– Clusty http://www.clusty.com
• Graphical presentation
– Kartoo http://www.kartoo.com
– Mooter http://www.mooter.com
• Narrowing / expanding your search
– Ask.com http://www.ask.com
• Expert searching
– Google Answers http://answers.google.com
– Yahoo Answers http://answers.yahoo.com
5. Advanced web searching - Clusty
5. Advanced web searching - Kartoo
5. Advanced web searching – Ask.com
6. Specialized resources
• News: Google News http://news.google.com
• Blogs: Technorati http://www.technorati.com
• Newsgroups: Google Groups
http://groups.google.com
• Mailing Lists: Tile.net http://tile.net
• People: Yahoo People Finder
http://people.yahoo.com
• Reference: University at Albany Reference
Collection. http://library.albany.edu/reference
6. Specialized resources - Blogs
• Commentary
• Not scholarly, but might provide a fresh and current
outlook on things related to your research
6. Specialized resources: Scholarly material
• For academic research, use library databases
or academically oriented web resources
Search engines for scholarly material:
• Infomine (annotated & organized by subject)
– http://infomine.ucr.edu
• Windows Live Academic
– http://academic.live.com
• Google Book Search
– http://books.google.com
• Google Scholar
– http://scholar.google.com
6. Google Scholar / Windows Live Academic
• Quick alternative to library databases
• Mostly articles found by search engine robots (or
collaborations) from academic publishers, professional
societies, preprint repositories, web
• Full text (if available) or citation
• Might be connected to your library’s journal
subscriptions
• Google Scholar: Cited-by feature (similar to Web of
Science)
• Windows Live Academic:
– provides reference manager format
– provides list of journals covered
(http://academic.live.com/AcademicJournals.htm)
6. Google Scholar / Windows Live Academic
•
•
•
•
•
•
Not comprehensive
Some subject areas might not be
represented
Results can be random
Ranking of results not clear
Can have articles that are not scholarly
Google Scholar:
– don’t disclose which sources are indexed and
which aren’t
– can’t import results into reference management
software
6. Windows Live Academic
6. Google Scholar
7. Discipline-specific resources
• Check your university library for subject guides.
• UC Berkeley Subject guides:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/AboutLibrary/libraries_collecti
ons.html
• Academic and Professional Resources
Organized by Fields of Study. Purdue University:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/resources/fieldsam.
html
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/resources/fieldsnz.
html
• Social Science Information Gateway Tutorials for
different social science fields:
http://www.sosig.ac.uk/training/virtual_training.html
Find / research resources – more links
• Consult your library web pages.
• UC Berkeley Teaching Library:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/
FindInfo.html
• 21st Century Literacies. From NoodleTools:
http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/21c.html
• The Building Blocks of research. From
NoodleTools:
http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/
1over/infolit1.html
• Googling to the Max:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/
Google.html
2. Evaluate resources
Evaluate resources - basics
How do you know that the web page you are
reading:
• provides accurate information?
• is up-to-date?
• is scholarly enough to provide valuable
information?
 What makes a web page “good”?
Evaluate resources - criteria
1. Accuracy
2. Authority
3. Objectivity
4. Coverage
5. Currency
1. Accuracy
• Reliable information?
• Content verifiable through some other
source?
• Are sources documented with footnotes or
links?
• Quality links to websites on similar topics?
• Additional sources for research
(bibliography)?
• Is there an editor or someone who
verifies/checks the information?
2. Authority
• Who is responsible for the content?
• Is it somebody's personal page?
• What type of domain does it come from (.edu,
.gov, .com)?
• Is it published by an entity that makes sense?
• Is the background of the author explained?
• Can the author be contacted?
3. Objectivity
•
•
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•
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What is the purpose of the site?
Is there a balanced viewpoint?
What is the audience of the website?
Does the site contain advertising?
Who is funding the site?
4. Coverage
• Is the information comprehensive for your
needs?
• Is there information reproduced? If so, is it
altered?
• What does this page offer that is not found
elsewhere?
5. Currency
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When was the content created?
How often is the information revised?
How current are the links?
How persistent is the page?
Evaluate resources – more links
Evaluating web resources:
• UC Berkeley Teaching Library
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.
html
• Johns Hopkins Library
http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/
General evaluation of information resources:
• UC Berkeley Teaching Library
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Evaluation.html
• Cornell Library
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm
3. Manage resources
Manage resources - basics
Whenever you search for an academic paper or
another scholarly endeavor, it pays to keep
track of the resources you found.
You probably want to:
• Keep track of what you’ve seen
• Find it again
• Re-use
• Organize
• Cite
Manage resources
1. Content / learning management
2. Bookmark management
3. Reference management
4. Citing your resources
1. Content management
• Refer to Jeanette’s file organization tips
• Come up with a strategy on how to manage
your content
– per class, per research project, per year
– class notes, project ideas, bookmarks, references,
articles, scholarly material
• AND be consistent!
2. Bookmark management
Goal: keep track, manage, cluster and annotate
your links
• Del.icio.us (social bookmark manager)
http://del.icio.us/
• Connotea (bookmarking for scientists)
http://www.connotea.org
• Free bookmark managers
http://www.lights.com/pickalink/bookmarks/
2. del.icio.us - search
2. del.icio.us – individual bookmarks with tags
3. Reference management
If I could offer you only one tip for the future:
reference management would be it. :)
• Keep track of your references while you are
collecting them.
• Put them in a format that is re-usable or in a
common citation format (or use a reference
manager).
• Keep a master file of all references (besides
separate files for individual papers / projects etc.).
• Annotate and make notes about your references
right after you read them.
• Invest into reference management software.
3. Reference management
• CiteULike: http://www.citeulike.org
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Free
Web-based
Mostly for web resources
Exports to Bibtex or Endnote
• Refworks http://www.refworks.com/
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–
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Web-based
Your organization might have a group account
Generates bibliographies in several formats
Tutorial: http://www.refworks.com/tutorial/
3. CiteULike - search
3. CiteULike – individual references with tags
3. Reference management
• Reference Manager: http://www.refman.com
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Search and import from bibliographic databases
Output any bibliographic style
Directly connect to your word processing program
Tutorial:
http://www.refman.com/training/tutorial/RefManBasics.asp
• Endnote: http://www.endnote.com
– Like Reference Manager
– Tutorial: http://www.endnote.com/training/
Check for student discounts in your university bookstore
or computer store.
3. Endnote – references
3. Endnote – search and import
4. Citing your resources
• Even if the resource is on the Internet, do not
assume it’s free.
• Always cite your source, especially if you are
quoting (copying & pasting) directly from it.
• For web resources, a date is necessary (date of
last access).
• How you cite is dependent on the style
requested for your paper.
• Endnote and Reference Manager can connect
your citations directly to your bibliography in
your word processing program.
4. Citing your resources - links
• Citing Electronic Information. From the Internet
Public Library:
http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/netciteFARQ.html
• Style Sheets for Citing Resources. From the
UC Berkeley Teaching Library:
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Intern
et/Style.html
• Citing References. From University of
Wisconsin-Madison:
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Documentation.
html