Chapter 6: Getting information Introduction 6.1 Getting going 6.2 Getting personal 6.3 When to stop

Introduction Current technology has simplified access to information, but Your responsibility for finding appropriate information has increased even more. “I cannot find information” is no excuse.

6.1 Getting going Finding info is an iterative process Where to begin Some articles will refer you to others As you work through the literature, you might decide on a course adjustment in your research, meaning that you will have to find other literature. Where to begin Bibliographic services of the library (Mrs. Annamarie du Preez, annamari.bib@mail.uovs.ac.za) citation indexes, reference lists in articles that you have in hand, Google, digital libraries (ACM, IEEE, researchindex.com) Compile a list of search terms Acquire sources (buy journal or paper only, make copies, download, use IBL, etc.) You may want to contact the author by e-mail Be sceptical while reading – don’t accept everything that is written Use peer-reviewed papers as far as possible

6.2 Getting personal Contact the authors of a paper Preferably by e-mail Consult with experts Request a reference and don’t expect the expert to give you a lengthy explanation

6.3 When to stop When do you have enough information? Never A paper that has a major impact on your study might appear a week before you submit. You may not ignore it. After concluding the study it may still be worthwhile and interesting to follow developments in the field.

Workshop Do a literature search on the Internet and list ten papers that seems to have relevance with the project that you identified in the first workshop. http://csi.ufs.ac.za/resres http://portal.acm.org (Username: pieter.blignaut, pwd: RIS134) http://ieeexplore.ieee.org (Username: pieter_blignaut, pwd: RIS134) http://scholar.google.co.za