This document provides an overview of resources for finding research evidence including databases, evaluating sources, developing search strategies, and managing references. It introduces tools for searching journal articles and citations, and locating materials not available in the library. Tips are provided on refining searches, evaluating information quality and relevance, and avoiding plagiarism. Contact information is available for librarian assistance on research topics within computing, maths, and engineering.
2. In this workshop we will look at...
• How to find information
• Developing an effective search strategy
• Resources available and how to use them
• Evaluating information for quality and relevance
• Managing references
3.
4. Find out more
MyUniHub > MyStudy > MyLibrary > My Subject > Computing, Maths and Engineering
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/computing/Resources
10. Journal Databases
myUniHub > My Study > My Library > Databases
• ACM Digital Library
• IEEE Xplore
• Science Direct
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/computing/JournalDatabases
11. Summon and journal databases provide:
• Access to quality information
• Information not available elsewhere
• Up-to-date
• Focussed/specific
• Full-text access
• Access on/off campus
• Personalize
• Citation and journal impact info
12. Citation searching
• Which articles have cited an earlier article
• Find articles on similar/related subject
• How many times an article has been cited
• Best journals in your field
13. Web of Science
MyUniHub > MyStudy > MyLibrary > Databases > W > Web of Science
http://www.slideshare.net/EISLibrarian/citation-indexes-2016
15. It’s not in the Library!
• Inter Library Loans http://bit.ly/InterLibraryLoans
• Sconul Access http://www.access.sconul.ac.uk/sconul-access
• Other libraries http://bit.ly/visitingotherlibraries
20. Evaluating information
• Imagine you are researching ‘The right to be forgotten’
• Go to http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/EvaluatingInformationPG
• Have a look at the 5 items and then answer the following question:
How do we know if the information is reliable?
23. Need further help?
Your Librarian is:
Vanessa Hill v.hill@mdx.ac.uk
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/computing/Help
Notes de l'éditeur
Welcome and intros.
How to find information for your projects
How to develop an effective search strategy when you need to find information for an essay or project
The range of resources available and how to use them to find good quality and relevant information
Evaluating information for quality and relevance
Managing references
Research from Uni of Huddersfield shows that correlation between library usage and good grades.
Sources game
Magazine (A regular publication aimed at a profession, business or interest....trade/popular)
Good: Latest news: events, jobs, products etc, concise info, easy to obtain
Bad: lacks detail, can be bias, old issues hard to come by
Standards (An agreed, often legally binding level of quality or way of doing something....regional, Nat, Internat, profession/sector)
Good: Created by experts, confidence
Company/market research report (Well researched overview of a company or product market. Could contain future trends, financial data, competitors and SWOT analysis)
Good: Up-to-date: latest research/data, Insider information: information not freely available elsewhere, objective, accurate
Bad: Hard to locate
Webpage
Good: All subjects covered, easy to use, mobile
Bad: accuracy, no editorial control, anyone can add information, provenance
Newspapers
Good: Daily information ie. up-to-date, edited, current issues accessible
Bad: Sensationalist, biased (unbalanced), harder to get back issues
Conference proceedings (Collof aca papers distributed after a conference, cont the contributions made by researchers, academics etc)
Good: Up-to-date: latest research, ideas, thinking on a subject, focussed/specialist, stringent quality control
Bad: Too specific
Journals
Good: Up-to-date, Focussed: specialist subject areas, quality
Bad: Too specific
Books
Good: overview, background knowledge, edited/quality
Bad: Currency, detailed/specific information
More information about the range of resources available on the Library Subject Guide plus useful online guides e.g. how to find information for your project.
What can you see in the picture…fruit
If type ‘fruit’ into database will get millions of hits, how can you break it down ie. search for something more specific to get more manageable results
Can you be more specific ie.
Type of fruit: apples, oranges, bananas etc
Location: Stall, market, outdoor market, fruit market, Britain
Detail: boxes, signs, astroturf, prices, colour of fruit, lights, pound £ signs, special offer etc
People in background: old, young, male, female > stall holder, customers, browsers etc
Think of related subjects eg.
retail, commercial, financial, point-of-sale
Shopping, shops, fish/meat/clothes market, shopping centres, high street
Town, city, centre, British town
Nutrition: vits and mins
Also:
Orange or Blackberry: fruit NOT telephone
Apple: fruit NOT computer
Thinking beyond the obvious, looking for the detail that might make a difference.
Hand out worksheet.
Ask each student to write their name on their worksheet plus details of their individual project in the top box.
Then pass to another student who can add search terms/keywords etc.
Pass form on to next student who will do the same.
Maybe pass on to another student if you think you have time.
After c10 mins pass form back to the original owner. Hopefully they will have a variety of search terms that they can use.
Need to carry out a literature review:
Finding the information available on a subject
Finding information to inform, underpin and shape your research
Finding what has already been written on a subject
Analyzing, evaluating and making judgements about the info found
Identifying the main trends
Finding appropriate information: the information needs to be suitable for your need ie. right level, current if important, sufficient breadth or detail etc
Explain to students what Summon is.
Go to UniHub > Login in to MyUniHub > My Study > My Library > Summon
Ask students to search for information for their project.
Remember to use some of the keywords that we have discussed.
Show the students how to refine their search using:
Full text
Content type
Subject terms
Publication date
Language etc
Also how to create Harvard references.
Have another go.
Point out how they can create a RefWorks account and explain what it does.
Help available from the link.
Students can also search individual databases.
ACM Digital library, IEEE Xplore and Science Direct are the main ones for Computing, but more information available from the library subject guide or from the drop-down menu on the Databases page.
To summarise:
Access to quality academic information eg. Peer reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings , research etc
Information not available elsewhere
Up-to-date
Focussed/specific....not designed to sell you things, search results not sponsored
Full-text access
Access on/off campus
Personalize eg. In MyEBSCO, once signed up you can:
Save preferences
Organise research within folders
Share folders
Save search history
Create email alerts/Rss feeds for searches and subjects
Can provide citation and journal impact info > more info on next slide
Which articles have cited an earlier article ie. Way of looking forward in the literature-if have found excellent article, can use a citation index to see which articles have subsequently cited it
Find articles on similar/related subjects: Citation implies subject relationship, so can find papers on a similar topic without using any keywords or subject terms
Find out how many times a paper has been cited ie. gauge the usefulness/quality. esteem of a paper
Determine which are the best journals in your field: citation data used to rank journals within particular subject areas…..useful way of seeing how journals perform in relation to others in the same subject area
Citation data and journal citation reports available from Web of Knowledge
Help guide available at the link.
Another useful resource is British Standards online.
Access as shown on slide.
Can search all of the British and adopted European and International standards. Only a small number are available in full text, but we can add required standards if required up to our quota of 150.
Inter Library Loan service: request copies of books and journals not held by MDX. £3 charge. Register as DL first. More info on our website.
SCONUL Access http://www.access.sconul.ac.uk/ The SCONUL Access Scheme provides reciprocal access and borrowing rights for staff and students to approximately 170 member institutions in the UK. Apply online.
Other libraries (specialist, catalogues etc):
British Library http://www.bl.uk/
COPAC http://copac.ac.uk/ COPAC is a union catalogue that gives access to the merged online catalogues of members of the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL). Twenty major university libraries currently contribute to COPAC.
Search25 http://www.search25.ac.uk/: helps you discover library resources across London and the South East. You can also see where the libraries are and find out how to visit them.
SUNCAT http://www.suncat.ac.uk/ SUNCAT, a union catalogue of serials (periodicals) for the UK, is a tool for locating serials held in UK libraries.
If information sources are used in your work, you will need to cite and reference them.
Cite Them Right is their online referencing guide.
Referencing and Plagiarism libguide includes information on how to reference material correctly.
Also information about Plato, LDU support and links to helpsheets.
Don’t forget: Computing LibGuide bring together all the resources for your subject area.
How do you decide if the information is any good? Especially important with the Internet.
What do you think about this quote?
In groups. Hand out worksheet.
Paul Bernal’s blog ‘The right to be forgotten roadshow- and the power of Google’
Blog about Privacy, Human Rights, Law, The Internet, Politics and more. PB is Lecturer in Information Technology, Intellectual Property and Media Law at the University of East Anglia Law School.
Wikipedia ‘Right to be forgotten’
Lots of refs.
BBC News Technology ‘What is the 'right to be forgotten'?’
Dave Lee author is BBC Technology reporter. Contact details.
The Guardian ‘EU to Google: expand 'right to be forgotten' to Google.com’
Contact details for author. Substantial. Facts etc
Computer Law & Security Review ‘The ‘Right to be Forgotten-Worth remembering?’
Substantial article, lots of refs, peer reviewed, good source.
Take feedback (Useful to have these 5 items open on the screen so can point things out)
Sum up.
Authority : Who is the author? What is their knowledge base/qualifications? How have they carried out their research?
Relevance : Is this what I need? Will it answer my question? Is it at the right level?
Intent : What is the purpose of information e.g. financial gain, propaganda, academic etc?
Objectivity : Balanced view? Opposing views represented? Links to supporting information?
Currency: How old is this information? When was it last updated and by whom?
Another resource that might be useful is Lynda.com.
A84
Uni email
