Gary Handman Doing Research Online: A Crash Course Where do you plug this damn thing in?

1. The current lay of Information Land 2. A group of basic moves and features common to many online catalogs and indexes 3. How to develop/employ search strategies 4. How to select databases (and determine what’s in them) 5. Practice using these features in selected databases. 6. How to get your hands on the material you find

Catalogs Are Inventories of What a Library Owns (and where to find them On the shelf) BooksBooks Journals/NewspapersJournals/Newspapers Other stuff (maps, media, dissertations, manuscripts…)Other stuff (maps, media, dissertations, manuscripts…) The guy next to me is soooo hot! NOTE!!! Catalogs don’t generally tell you much (if anything) about the contents of the above

Catalog: Are Inventories of What a Library Owns (and where to find them on the shelf) Author: Banes, Sally. Title: Subversive expectations : performance art and paratheater in New York, / Sally Banes. Ann Arbor, MI : University of Michigan Press, Description: x, 297 p. ; 24 cm. Notes: Includes index. Subjects: Performance art -- New York (State) -- New York. Experimental theater -- New York (State) -- New York. Arts, Modern -- 20th century -- New York (State) - - New York. Call numbers: UCB Moffitt NX511.N4 B

Indexes/Abstracts Allow subject searching in a group of journals in a particular discipline or topical area. Some indexes also offer abstracts-- short description of article content I know! I’ll do my paper on Marilyn Manson! Getting Into Journal Literature Journals vs Books? What does each do best?

The Information Universe (Now) Online Catalogs Online --Pathfinder --MELVYL (CDL cat) Indexes & Abstracts Print

The Information Universe (Now) Online Catalogs --Pathfinder --MELVYL (CDL cat)

The Information Universe (Now) Online Catalogs --Pathfinder --MELVYL (CDL cat) Books in Stax

The Information Universe (Now) Online Catalogs Full-Text Online (ebooks, ejournals [but NOT individual e-articles] --Pathfinder --MELVYL (CDL cat) Books & journals in Stax

The Information Universe (Now) Online Catalogs Full-Text Online (ebooks, ejournals [but NOT e-articles] --Pathfinder --MELVYL (CDL cat) Indexes & Abstracts Journals in Stax Books & journals in Stax

The Information Universe (Now) Online Catalogs Online Full-Text Online (ebooks, ejournals [but NOT e-articles] --Pathfinder --MELVYL (CDL cat) Indexes & Abstracts Journals in Stax Books & journals in Stax Full-Text Articles Online

Library Acquires Full-text materials in three ways: 1. Subscribes to full-text journals (you can get to em’ via Pathfinder) Animal genetics. Published: [Oxfordshire] : Published by Blackwell Scientific Publications for the International Society for Animal Blood Group Research, c1986- Format: Serial Location: BIOS: QP98.A1 A5; Electronic Location(s): v.30(1999)- Restricted to UC campuses

Library Acquires Full-text materials in three ways: 2. Links from electronic indexes and abstracts ME, MOM & MARILYN MANSON. (Brief Article) BECKY EBENKAMP. Brandweek April 17, 2000 v41 i16 p28 View text and full content retrieval choices or 1 full page PDF From Expanded Academic Index:

3. Subscribes to searchable full-text archives: e.g. JSTOR, Project Muse

…But Remember!!!! Not everything is online!!!!!: Indexes: Often only go back yrs online Not every publication is indexed Fairly small (but rapidly growing) subset of the books and journal universe is currently available in full-text The sciences currently have it better than the humanities and social sciences

Remember Also: Not every topic has lots written about it, either in books or journal lit. --Research on very current topics --Research on topics off the beaten academic track or off the pop culture radar --The quirky, strange, and over the top

What to do if nothing is turning up: Broaden your topic / go for the more general / select a different angle Rethink your search strategy (new keywords, new concepts, etc.) Bail out and choose another topic What to do if too much is turning up: Narrow your topic: e.g.: geographically, chronologically; by race, gender, ethnic group; Specific focus or aspect of the topic (e.g. ethical, social, economic, political aspects)

The Information Universe (Now) LibraryLand (land of organization, control, and sensibility) The Net =Anarchy Google Rocks!

How to Begin? Before you click: THINK Formulate a concise, concrete statement of the research problem Formulate your search in terms of keywords and key phrases: “The impact of exposure of children to advertising television and television violence on school performance.”

How to Begin? Before you click: THINK Formulate your search in terms of: KEY WORD Searches : --Look for words anywhere in record: title, subject, abstract and full-text (if available) PHRASE Searches: --Look for words in the exact order entered

Keywords e.g. -- Keyword: Cold War Horror Film looks for words Cold AND War AND Horror AND Film ANYWHERE in the record You would conceivably retrieve an article entitled: “At War With Your Refrigerator?: How to Avoid the Horror of Moldy Film on Cold Cuts.” --Phrase: Cold War Horror Film looks only for those 3 words in that order; would not find a book entitled à Depending on db: --May default to keyword OR… --May be able to limit keyword/phrase searching to specific fields: title, subject, or all fields.

How to Begin? Before you click: THINK Think of synonyms for key words/phrases The impact of exposure of children to advertising television and television violence on school performance. Children Youth Adolescents …etc. Commercials Ads …etc. Academic achievement Grades …etc. Or television psychological aspects Mass Media TV…etc. …

Think of synonyms for key words/phrases Synonyms/related terms: PERFORMANCE ART

Truncation: When appropriate, use truncation to scoop up broader results:* # or ? Depending on db --e.g.: Advertis* will give you: advertise, advertising, advertisers, advertisements

Once you’ve found something that looks promising, Check out the “official” subject headings

Online Catalogs: Pathfinder Searching Author Title Subject  Books  Journals/Newspapers  Media  Manuscripts  Maps  Documents …and more

Abstracts/Indexes: Choosing a database Indexes/Abstracts come in various “flavors” --from narrow discipline focus to general/pop lit --citation only to abstracts to full-text --links to library holding – no links (you need to look up the journal holdings in another catalog) --Some journals are indexed in multiple databases --The same journal may be full-text in one db and citation only in another

Choosing a database Look at the alphabetical listing of indexes and abstracts on the library’s home page: Listings of subject-specific electronic resources on individual branch library home pages

What do you see on this page?

Online Catalogs: Pathfinder Format Searching  Books  Journals/Newspapers  Media  Manuscripts  Maps  Documents …and more

Media Resources Center Web Site