1. ENG 102
Finding Information
Martin J. Crabtree
MCCC Library

2. Agenda The College’s Card Catalog Electronic Searching
Keywords & Boolean Searching
Electronic Databases at Mercer
Accessing & Using the databases
Web information
Giving credit to the author - MLA resources

3. Using The Card Catalog
The catalog is available online. Used to find books, videos and other material both in the MCCC collection and the Mercer County Public (MCL) libraries.
You can have materials from MCL brought to the college. Deliveries arrive Tuesday and Friday afternoons. (DVD’s not available from MCL)
Link to the catalog is on the library’s web pages.

4. The link to the catalog is on the library’s web pages.

5. Searching Electronic Databases
And The Web Too

6. Starting An Electronic Search Keywords
Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and web search engines
First step - Generate a list of words (keywords) that describes or is commonly used when discussing your topic. For example:
Ozone
Layer
Depletion
Atmosphere
Hole

7. Starting An Electronic Search Boolean Searching/Logic
Boolean searching - Connecting keywords with the terms
and
not or
For example
eagles NOT football
(car or automobile) and exhaust
More Terms = Fewer “Hits”

8. Searching More Than Just Keywords Phrases & Truncations
To search for a phrase, use quotation marks
“survival of the fittest”
Truncations allow for searching related words all at once
The * is usually used. For example:
“child*” would include: child, children, childhood, childproof, etc.

9. Searching More Than Just Keywords Field Limiters
Field limiters allow you to specify your search within varied parameters for example:
Only full-text articles
Only peer reviewed (scholarly) publications
Date (or date range)

10. Let’s take a quick look at how Boolean searching can help

11. Electronic Databases at the Mercer Library

12. Electronic Databases In General
Over 60 databases available
Not every article is available full text though many are
Abstracts (summary) is often available when full text is not

13. Electronic Databases In General
Accessible at any computer on the MCCC/JKC campus network
Most are available off campus, though you do need to use a password.
Can print/ /download articles

14. Accessing Databases Remotely
You can access most of the databases from any computer with internet access.
Use your student ID number (no dashes) and your last name to log into the databases. i.e.
Old library issued password and ID numbers are no longer valid.

15. Remote Login Screen
Use your student ID number & last name

16. Some Useful Databases
Academic Search Premier (EBSCOHost)
Broadest of the databases covering everything from science to the humanities including many scholarly journals
Not every article full text
Need Acrobat Reader for some articles
Literature Resource Center - Reviews, criticisms, and biographical info on a number of authors and their works.

17. More Databases
A number of subject specific databases are available covering:
Business (ABI/Inform)
Newspapers (Academic-Universe: News)
Social Science (Proquest Social Science Journals)
Architecture (Architectural Index)
Education (Proquest Educational Journals)
more
Also other resources
Encyclopedia Britannica
Oxford English Dictionary
AP Photo Archive – News & historical photographs

18. Using Web Information

19. This part of the show is brought to you by…
&

20. What is a databases?
A collection of electronically searchable information (frequently, but not limited to, periodical articles) that is accessible via the internet
Access to this information is by paid subscription only (paid by the library).
It is accessible via the internet, but it is not truly web information.

21. Database info ≠ Webpage info
Though both use a browser (like Netscape or Explorer) the information is not the same.
Database info comes from known sources of information such as Newsweek or The New York Times.
Web information can be put up by anyone hence the quality of this information varies greatly from site to site.

22. Searching the World Wide Web
How can I find what I want?

23. Some things to consider when searching the web
Everything is NOT on the web and may never be
No search engine covers the entire web
The “invisible web” is huge!
Though there has yet to be consensus, estimates put the size of the invisible web at least twice as big as the “visible” (or surface) web.

24. Searching the World Wide Web Search Strategy
Searching the Web is much like database searching:
Use keywords and Boolean logic (and, not, or) to better define your search, use double quotes for phrases, etc.
When searching the web, also consider:
Different search engines yield different results. You may want to try using more that just your “regular” search engine
Use the search engine’s “advanced search” to select limiting parameters (language, date, domain, etc.)

25. Searching the World Wide Web Search Engines & Meta Sites
Become familiar with your search engines features:
Meta search sites (like Dogpile):
Allow you to search more than one search engines at once.
Can generate more “stuff” to sift through
Limited to only basic searches, can’t use advanced search features
Some results can be from “paid for listing” search engines

26. Sample Web Search Search engines prioritize your results
Topic - Censorship in the field of Radio, NOT Television
Try search in:
Google (note Google’s “cached” feature)
Altavista

27. Database info vs. web info
Is this stuff any good?
Database info vs. web info

28. Now Back to Our “Sponsors”
&

29. Evaluating Web Sites Quality varies greatly from site to site
YOU are the sole evaluator of the quality of information a site provides

30. Evaluating Web Info Quality
Accuracy: Editors & fact checkers insure this for periodicals, can’t tell if it’s done for many websites.
Authority: Articles are written by experts or people who have researched a subject, with web info it can be hard to tell if the writer is an expert.
Objectivity: Periodicals strive to give an unbiased presentation of information, some websites can be very opinionated

31. Evaluating Web Info Quality
Currency: Periodicals always have a given date (i.e. Spring 2002, January 2005), often you can’t tell how old web info is.
Coverage: Periodical articles, especially journals cover their subject thoroughly, web info tends to be abbreviated (20 page journal articles are common, 20 page web pages are not).

32. Using the information you find
...and giving credit where credit is due.

33. Using the Information You Find
Always give credit to the author or creator of the information that you use.
This includes not only the actual facts, conclusions, and ideas that an author presents but also the words that he/she has used.

34. Plagiarism can take many forms
Plagiarism is the presenting of someone else’s intellectual work as your own.
It may be done deliberately, but it may also be done without your realizing it.
The copying, word for word, from a book or an article is the most blatant form of plagiarism.

35. Plagiarism when paraphrasing or writing a summary
Incomplete paraphrasing or summarizing another’s work could cause plagiarizing without your realizing it.
To prevent this, you should avoid:
Using the original sentence structure.
Simply substituting a few words here and there.
Using any of the author's key words or unusual words.
Let’s look at an example...

36. Good paraphrasing
It takes some effort to do a good job of paraphrasing.
One helpful method is to:
1. Read the original sentence
2. Without looking at the sentence, try writing the idea of the sentence in your own words
3. Look back at the original sentence again to see it you haven’t used too much of the original language
-Adapted from “Avoiding Plagiarism”, at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia webpage:

37. Using the MLA format
You will be using the MLA (Modern Language Association of America) style.
The latest MLA manual is available in the library:
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers at: LB G (in the reference collection & on reserve).
The manual is not available on line.

38. Added MLA info is at the Research & Report Guides link

39. Now it’s your turn…