Beyond CHE 205: Understanding the Information Universe CHE 395 Honora N. Eskridge Fall 2006

What is research? Changing expectations… –Thinking in a multi-disciplinary, international way –Using professional sources –Print resources –Choosing the best source Information Discovery

"The explosion of information has serious implications for information seeking by all persons, but especially for students. For example, in most cases there is not just one right source of information to answer an information need; there are likely to be a number of alternative sources and approaches that can successfully lead to resolution of the problem. The question becomes less, "Can I find information on this topic?" and more "What are my best strategies for finding information on this topic?" -- Eisenberg, Michael B. and Robert E. Berkowitz. Information Problem Solving: The Big Six Skills Approach to Library and Information Skills Instruction Choosing the Best Source

Flow of Scholarly Information Which literature types do you use the library to find? Which library tool do you use for each type of literature?

What We’re Going to Focus on… The role of journal articles in communication between researchers. Economics of scholarly information – Why can’t Google get you everything you need? Article discovery Article access Managing information

Web Search Engines – Yahoo!, Google, Lycos, etc. World Wide Web – Millions of web pages! This is the surface of the Web

The Deep Web World Wide Web – Millions of web pages! Web pages containing search tools Web Search Engines

Silos of Information $ $ $ free! $$ $ $ $ World Wide Web – Millions of web pages! Web pages containing search tools (DATABASES) Web Search Engines

Compare looking for research articles to finding and buying an airline ticket Searching Google doesn’t work – you have to select the right type of database (Expedia, Travelocity). The database is free – ads pay for it. Discovery. You are now searching a database for a specific document – the right ticket. Now you choose the best document for your needs, in this case the best flight. Access means buying the ticket. The ‘document’ costs money!

Searching Google doesn’t work well – you have to select the right type of database (Compendex, Inspec). The database costs money – no ads! The library pays for it. Discovery. You are now searching a database for specific documents – research articles. Now you choose the best document(s) for your needs, in this case an IEEE article. Access occurs because the library bought the journal. The ‘document’ costs money! Now you determine if the library owns this article

Discover citation in database: - Proof document was published. Access to document is available only because: -The library bought the journal the article appears in. -Proof NCSU owns document. -The Library bought it. Discovery and Access are separate functions

Economics of Scholarly Info Academic Information is a BIG BUSINESS The players: –Scholars Writing –Publishers Packaging/Selling –Database (index/abstract) companies Discovery/Selling –Libraries Access/Buying Big Money! These factors directly influence what you can read and use in your research!!

Managing Information

Learn how to –Set up alerts for new journal articles –Use RefworksRefworks –Use RSS (depends on your field) We can teach you how to manage your information More efficient and more organized = more productive. Managing Information

Beyond CHE 205 Advanced use of Compendex Databases for other disciplines Other information “packages” –Conferences –Patents –Standards

Honora N. Eskridge Head, Textiles Library and Engineering Services Scott Warren Assistant Head, Textiles Library and Engineering Services Contact Information