Information Skills for College Eng 112 Workshop II Beyond Googling: Specialized Search Engines Melanie Sellar Education Services and Reference Librarian

What will you learn about? Session I: ◦Internet information sources ◦Which are free sources Session II: ◦Scholarly information sources ◦Most are not free, library pays $$

clicking random easy critical (thinking) purposeful depth

Strategies… (1) Understand and read URLs (2) Use some advanced search strategies in Google (3) Begin asking questions about what you read (*today) (4) Try a specialized, human built search engine (*today)

Strategies Read URLs: they provide some context and meaning!

Strategies.org (non-profits and charities, typically).com (a company, usually based in U.S.).edu (colleges and universities in U.S.).gov (U.S. government).ca (Canada!).int (international organizations, United Nations).eu (individuals or organizations in the European Union

Going Deeper Wikipedia “quantum physics” Hasan. com Marissa. com Ryann.edu Free! Google, Bing, Ask etc Not Free! Specialized Search Engines Specialty sources Expert writing Not in Google, Bing, etc Information that costs money

Specialized Search Engines: What’s in them? ArticlesReportsMediaBooksStatistics News Magazines Journal Encyclopedia Videos Art images Press images *ID117Numerical descriptions Market research Investigative reports Strategy: use a specialized search engine

Purposeful selection (= characteristic of research) Currency?Publisher?Author? Source 1 Source 2 Source 3 Strategy: ask questions

Compare these two sources: Source 1: A Century of Climate and Ecosystem Change in Western Montana Source 2: Change Facts and Statistics After comparing the two, would you use either source in your paper? Why (or why not) and how?

Always ask these questions: 1. Who is the author or creator? (credibility) 2. What do you know about the author/creator? (credibility) 3. Who is publishing or sponsoring the site? (credibility) 4. What is the information itself like? (accuracy/depth) 5. When was the information published? (currency)

Criteria for “Scholarly” CharacteristicScholarly (e.g. Journal of Modern Literature, English Literature in Transition) Popular (e.g. New York Times, Newsweek, Nat’l Geographic) PurposeInforms, shares original research Entertains, may also inform AudienceStudents, researchers, and others academics General public, those without specialized knowledge AuthorResearchers and other experts in the field Often written by reporters of other paid staff writers LengthMore in-depth, more details and evidence Usually short, provides summary Review ProcessPeer reviewed; only articles of superior quality published Editor reviews it, but not a panel of experts ReferencesTells you where the information came from Doesn’t usually share information sources

Searching for Articles Marymount Library > Find Articles Newspaper, magazine, and journal articles

For your ENG112 assignments: Available through the library: Academic Search Premier Proquest Research Library (Others?...)

Please Complete 1-2 Minute Quiz/Survey: or

For Help With Research Ask your information coaches – Marymount librarians! Walk-in Help: all the hours we are open Phone: IM: mcpvlibrary (AIM, Yahoo!, MSN)