Information Literacy for MOS ECS-65100

When are you information literate?  Define the information you need  Understand the variety of information sources  Search efficiently fast, comprehensive and accurate  Search effectively get the information that suits your request Evaluate and select the appropriate information Manage the selected information (e.g. EndNote) Use the selected information and avoid plagiarism

Influence of climatic change on food security ScopusWeb of ScienceCAB-Abstracts Retrieved% Rel.Retrieved% Rel.Retrieved% Rel

Influence of climatic change on food security What are the opportunities and possibilities for farmers in developing countries to adapt their farming systems to climate change?

Influence of climatic change on food security What are the opportunities and possibilities for farmers in developing countries to adapt their farming systems to climate change? To ensure food security

Example search 1: concepts Main conceptsRelevant search terms Climate change Climate change, global environmental change Global warming, global climate change, climatic change food security Food insecurity, food security, food deprivation, food availability, food sovereignty agriculture Agriculture, agricultural production, farming, farmer, food system adaptation Adaptation, challenges, opportunities, possibilities, alternatives, choice Synonyms: acclimatization, modification Developing countries Synonyms: least developed countries, Developing countries, developing world Narrow terms: Africa, South East Asia,

Example search 1: Search in Scopus ("food *security" or "food deprivation" or "food *sufficiency" or "food sovereignty") and ("agriculture" or "agricultural production" or "food system" or farming or farmer) and (adaptation or opportunities or possibilities) and ("developing countries" or "less developed countries" or "south east asia" or "developing world" or africa) and ("climat* change" OR "global environmental change" OR "global warming" OR "global climate change") AND SUBJAREA(MULT OR AGRI OR BIOC OR IMMU OR NEUR OR PHAR OR MULT OR ARTS OR BUSI OR DECI OR ECON OR PSYC OR SOCI)) Number of records: 32 (all: 53); % of relevance = 81%

Search history in Scopus

Search results in Scopus

Example search 1: Learn from results Cooper, P. J. M., J. Dimes, K. P. C. Rao, B. Shapiro, B. Shiferaw, and S. Twomlow Coping better with current climatic variability in the rain-fed farming systems of sub- Saharan Africa: An essential first step in adapting to future climate change? Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 126:24-35 Records which cite this relevant article gave new search terms: use these to adapt your search.

Example search 1: Adapted search in Scopus ("food *security" or "food deprivation" or "food *sufficiency" or "food sovereignty" or livelihood) and ("agriculture" or "agricultural production" or "food system" or farming or farmer or "dryland agriculture" ) and (adapt* or opportunities or possibilities or "coping strategies") and ("developing countries" or "less developed countries" or "south east asia" or "developing world" or africa or "semi arid tropics" or "semi arid west Africa") and ("climat* change" OR "global environmental change" OR "global warming" OR "global climate change“ OR "climate effect " OR "climate variability" ) Number of records: 101

Example Search 2 in Scopus (“climate change” OR “global warming” OR affect* OR influence) AND (“food security” OR “agricultural produc*” OR crop OR farm* OR yield OR agriculture*) AND (rural OR develop* OR “developing countr*” OR “developing world” OR “third-world” OR “rural households” OR agri*) AND (adaptation) Number of records: 9; % of relevance = 89%

Example Search 2 in Scopus (“climate change” OR “global warming” OR affect* OR influence) AND (“food security” OR “agricultural produc*” OR crop OR farm* OR yield OR agriculture*) AND (rural OR develop* OR “developing countr*” OR “developing world” OR “third-world” OR “rural households” OR agri*) AND (adaptation) Number of records: 9 or 62,359???

Choice of subject specific database Choice of students CAB-Abstracts11 AGRIS 3 FSTA 1 Biological Abstracts 1 Portals – Env. Science 1 Scirus 1

Choice of subject specific databases Use the Portals, Resources by subject, on the Library sitePortals Choose a bibliography by checking the content (or do a metasearch in the databases) Use Metasearch (not preferred) Do a simple search and compare the results Note: Scopus is not searched well by Metasearch

Example search 3 in CAB (exp climate change) AND (food supply OR exp food production OR exp food security OR exp food shortages) AND (exp developing countries) Number of records: 230 % of relevance = 69.6%

Use of thesaurus Find out the right search terms Include narrower terms with explode Search specific in keywords field Not in all databases available

How to search: some pitfalls -1 Not the right term stormwater (5,251) “storm water” (6,571) OR: 9,626(Scopus) woodfuels (48) “fuel wood” (921) Not the right operator (''Climate change'' And ''drought'' And ''farmers'') And (developing countries)" Incorrect use of quotes “nature conservation” can be wise (7157 versus , Sopus) “dog behaviour” will miss too much (70 versus 1980 in Scopus) Not the right field farmer (topic)farmer (author)

How to search: some pitfalls - 2 Not a useful concept effects, trends, possibilities No use of parentheses cats OR dogs AND behaviour259 (Catalogue) (cats OR dogs) AND behaviour107 Wrong use of wildcards cat*caterpillars, catastrophe cat?1 character (Scopus)/ 0 or 1 (OVID) (cat OR cats)

Evaluating search results Determining relevance and quality Illustration © Loet van Moll 2009

Judging bibliographic records Is the content of this document appropriate for my research topic? Is it worth the effort of getting the full text and reading it? Criteria: type of document subject and scope – abstract information primary or secondary research audience date of publication author details

Judging bibliographic records Type of document Books Research reports Theses Conference proceedings Government/policy documents Journal articles

Scientific journals Research Peer reviewed Professional journals Practical Non-peer reviewed

Peer review A standard procedure in scholarly publishing, whereby a prospective publisher submits the manuscript of an article to experts in the research field for their critical scrutiny, under conditions of anonymity, with the aim of assuring quality and reliability of findings. © American Chemical Society 2009

Judging bibliographic records Primary research presents original research methods or findings for the first time. Examples include: A journal article or research report that presents new findings and new theories A poster presented at a conference Secondary research provides a compilation or evaluation of previously presented material. Examples include: A review article summarizing research or data A textbook

Judging bibliographic records Intended audience Is the publication aimed at scientists, professionals, policy makers, students or a general audience? Illustration © Loet van Moll 2009

Evaluating internet resources Anyone can publish Advertising can be disguised as facts. Quality criteria: Accuracy Objectivity Authority (of author and publisher) Currency Example and feedback in exercise herbalife Illustration © Peter Steiner 1993

Reference management Selecting references Print, download, Export to reference management software EndNote (short demo) © Thomson Reuters

Publishing Publishing: why contribution to the record of science part of research process (requirement) reflection evaluation (publish or perish) Publishing: where Type of document Journal selection, impact factors Open access journals: BioMed Central, PLoS Biology

Plagiarism Definition: Taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own. (also known as) Copy and paste Plagiarism is a serious academic offence Wageningen University uses Turnitin to check student reports. Avoid unintentional plagiarism by citing correctly Illustration © Loet van Moll 2009

Plagiarism exercise 1 Original text “This study has shown that golf courses can enhance the diversity of three indicator groups (birds, ground beetles and bumblebees), relative to adjacent pasture farmland. “ Text from Mr. Smith The study of Tanner and Gange (2005) has shown that golf courses can enhance the diversity of three indicator groups (birds, ground beetles and bumblebees), relative to adjacent pasture farmland. Tanner R. A. and A. C. Gange, Effects of golf courses on local biodiversity. Landscape and urban planning, Vol. 71, 2-4,

Plagiarism exercise 2 Original text “This study has shown that golf courses can enhance the diversity of three indicator groups (birds, ground beetles and bumblebees), relative to adjacent pasture farmland. “ Text from Mr. Smith The study of Tanner and Gange (2005) has shown that “golf courses can enhance the diversity of three indicator groups (birds, ground beetles and bumblebees), relative to adjacent pasture farmland.” (p.....) Direct quotations must be quoted!!

Plagiarism exercise 3 Original text “This study has shown that golf courses can enhance the diversity of three indicator groups (birds, ground beetles and bumblebees), relative to adjacent pasture farmland. “ Text from Mrs. Brown According to Tanner and Gange (2005) the diversity of birds and some insect groups can be higher on golf courses than on adjacent farmland. Tanner R. A. and A. C. Gange, Effects of golf courses on local biodiversity. Landscape and urban planning, Vol. 71, 2-4,

Plagiarism exercise 3: Secondary source Is it okay when you cite Mr. Smith for this information originating from Tanner and gange? Preferable not. But in case you cannot get the original publication, it is allowed. You have to indicate that this is a secondary source, e.g. (Tanner and Gange, 2005, as cited in Smith, 2010). In your reference list you should provide the details of the secondary source (the source you read). Whether you have to give the details of the primary source or not, depends on the citation style.

Referring, citing, quoting To allow readers to find and check your information sources To give authors of these sources credit for their work Methods In-text citations and quotes Reference lists Many different styles Bibliographic details differ per document type

Examples of styles Kotir, J. H. (2011). "Climate change and variability in Sub- Saharan Africa: A review of current and future trends and impacts on agriculture and food security." Environment, Development and Sustainability 13(3): Kotir, J.H., Climate change and variability in Sub- Saharan Africa: A review of current and future trends and impacts on agriculture and food security. Environment, Development and Sustainability, (3): p

Choice of style Ask your supervisor Citation guides Journal style: About this journal, Author guidelines Journal of Hydrology Wrong style: Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change ( DOI:

Evaluation Assignment Upload in BB Exam 26 October14 – h, PC602/606 Re-exam 22 August 2012 See also - course information - example exam Contact: