Biological Orientation Biol 2022 Linda Pye, Head of Technical Services (x7021) The Al Harris Library

What Is Information Literacy?  It is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

Information Literacy  It’s common to all disciplines, all learning environments, & all levels of education.  Science is a rapidly changing field and it is vital for the practicing scientist to keep up with new developments and new sources of experimental/research data.  This requires a high level of information literacy.

Information Literacy “ The level of trust that has characterized science and its relationship with society has contributed to a period of unparalleled scientific productivity...” – National Academy of Sciences

Scientific Research Cycle: An Overview  Research & Development  Initial Reporting of Results  Author’s Finished Report  Peer-Reviewed Publication of Research Article  Studies of Previous Work  News Reports

Scientific Research Cycle: Research & Development  Academia  Industry  Government  Experimentation  Fieldwork  Literature Review  Library & Web Research  Informal Communications: Instant Messaging Discussion Lists Blogs Social Networking Conversations

Scientific Research Cycle: Initial Reporting of Results  Conference Papers/Presentations If funding runs out or the work appears to be a “dead end,” this may be the only report ever generated.

Scientific Research Cycle: Studies of Previous Work  Review Articles An expert in a field reports on the “state of the art” of the area of research. May appear in a Review Journal (“Annual Reviews in…; Reviews of…”) or in a research journal.  Monographs (books) Encyclopedias Handbooks Textbooks

Scientific Research Cycle: News Reports May occur at any point in the research process  Newspapers  Magazines News and features, usually for a general or interested-amateur audience  Trade Journals News and features for professionals in a a particular field  Television

Scientific Research Cycle: Peer-Reviewed Publication Completed paper is submitted to a journal; the editor(s) send the paper to another researcher in the same field of work for comment and verification of the quality of work; the paper may be returned to the author for corrections, elaboration, etc. before final acceptance.

Examples of Peer-Reviewed Journals Journal of Economic Entomology Biological Reviews Journal of Parasitology

Primary vs. Secondary Sources  Peer-Reviewed Research Articles Information is produced by the researcher  Conference Papers “original content”  Review Articles Information summarized by someone other than the researcher  Handbooks, Encyclopedias, etc. “study of the original”

Periodicals  MAGAZINES Popular Info Audience:  General Public  Amateur Interest Purpose:  Hobby  Pleasure  Curiosity  JOURNALS Scholarly Info Audience:  Researcher  Professional Who Needs to Stay Up-to-Date Purpose:  Goal-Driven Research Paper Certification, Tenure Job Requirement

Difference Between Scholarly and Popular Literature Popular MagazinesScholarly Journals Overall appearance Glossy paper, advertisements, heavily illustrated, attractive in appearance Sober and serious, may contain graphs or charts, no glossy paper, specialized advertisements AudienceGeneral PublicScholars, professionals and students AuthorsReportersScholars in the field DocumentationSources sometimes cited for news articles, but rarely Cite sources in footnotes or bibliography PurposeProvide general information or summarize research Report on original research or experimentation Article Acceptance Procedure Articles written by hired reporters, edited by magazine editors, and published Often undergo a "peer- reviewed" process -- reviewed by other scholars in the field before being published. Sometimes these journals are called "refereed journals"

Books and E-Books You can’t judge a book by its cover E-Books Just because its in a different format doesn’t disqualify it as a book resource

Doing Research for a Paper in Biology Choose a topic  Discuss your ideas with your professor. Do some brainstorming & come up with some keywords for your topic. May need to look through some books or journals on that topic. May even need to do a literature review in a database.

Doing the Research… Search the databases, such as :  BIOSIS Previews, Zoological Record Online, Medline, or other applicable science databases.  Academic Search Complete (general database). Most faculty expect students to use scholarly journals. Search the library’s online catalog for books and government documents to use, if it’s OK with your professor to use those sources.

 Check the Periodicals List to determine what access, if any, the Library has to the journals that you need.  Order through Interlibrary Loan anyInterlibrary Loan article or book that is not accessible through the Library.

Types of Searching: Keyword vs. Subject  Keyword Flexible Less accurate Affected by Boolean Operators, Truncation Symbols and punctuation  Subject Rigid Very Precise Predetermined vocabulary established by the Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, and other groups

Indexing vs. Full-text  Indexing Indicates the only information available about the article is the citation. Additional searching will be necessary using the Periodicals List.Periodicals List  Full-text Indicates the entire article can be found within the database, no physical searching is necessary Standard formats are: HTML & PDF

Searching the Biology Databases Orientation Fall 2010.htm

Remember to Evaluate!  Authority Who created it? Who is responsible? What credentials do they hold? What makes the authors qualified to discuss the topic?  Accuracy Can the information be verified? Check the facts!  Objectivity How is the information being presented? Is it objective or biased? What’s the point of view?  Currency (important based on subject) When was it published? When was it last updated?

Evaluation Evaluating Print vs. Electronic (from Owl at Purdue) Publication Process Authorship & Affiliations Sources & Quotations Bias & Special Interests Author Qualifications Publication Information

Writing Your Paper  For writing help, you may refer to the resources that are provided on the web page for this class.  Find out which style guide you are to use for your bibliography and be consistent in following that style.

Strengths: Web vs. Library  Web Current events and news Statistics and Other Information by Gov.’t Full-text Resources (expired copyright) Pop Culture  TV  Movies  Music Opinion Information about Organizations & Groups  Library Research Based Books & Articles Works Cited/ Bibliographies Full-text Resources Authoritative & Peer-reviewed Materials Information about People & Cultures Easier to Search  Library Catalog  Databases

Why Can’t I Get this Info on the Web?  Humanities American History $29.95 / yr Journal of Teacher Education $30 / yr College English $75 / yr  Nursing & Allied Health Applied Nursing Research $224 / yr Nursing Science Quarterly $280 / yr Journal of Community Health Nursing $475 / yr  Sciences Journal of the Optical Society of America $1,760 / yr Journal of the American Chemical Society $3,589 / yr Journal of Physics $7,115 / yr This doesn’t include pricing for electronic access or database subscriptions.

Surface Web Ever wonder what you might be missing? Google 2.7 billion searches per month Indexes 16% of the SW Indexes 0.03% of the WWW

Deep Web NO SEARCH ENGINES ALLOWED 54% of DW is databases DW is 500 times larger than SW And a 1,000 times higher in quality too

Do not hesitate to ask a librarian if you need any guidance with your research!

Thank You !