Searching For Relevant Information For Your Research Pastor Charles N E Amoah [email_address] Friday, June 5, 2009

Objectives of This Session: Define “bibliography” Show you how to go about searching for information for your research Show you how to find relevant information in the library Show you how to find relevant information on the www

Define “bibliography”

Show you how to go about searching for information for your research

Show you how to find relevant information in the library

Show you how to find relevant information on the www

What is Bibliography A list of sources or materials consulted and used while doing a research. A listing of information materials on a particular subject.

A list of sources or materials consulted and used while doing a research.

A listing of information materials on a particular subject.

Types Of Searches Manual Electronic

Manual

Electronic

The Card Catalogue The cards you see there are arranged alphabetically. They are divided by Author, Subject, and Title. Among other things it contains information on the author, title, publisher, date of publication, place of publication, pagination, illustrations and subject of the book.

The cards you see there are arranged alphabetically. They are divided by Author, Subject, and Title.

Among other things it contains information on the author, title, publisher, date of publication, place of publication, pagination, illustrations and subject of the book.

The Catalogue Card Call number of the book. Title of the book. Author of the book. Subjects covered in the book

Library of Congress The Walton Whaley Library uses the Library of Congress Classification System (LC) which is an alphabetical and numerical system of knowledge that uses decimals to extend categories.

The Walton Whaley Library uses the Library of Congress Classification System (LC) which is an alphabetical and numerical system of knowledge that uses decimals to extend categories.

Bookshelf or Main Stack From the card catalogue you would have gotten an idea about where to locate materials that deal with the topic you are researching.

From the card catalogue you would have gotten an idea about where to locate materials that deal with the topic you are researching.

Reference Works These can not be borrowed from the library but you can browse or peruse them for general information. They include dictionaries, encyclopedias, concordance, bibliographies, commentaries, etc.

These can not be borrowed from the library but you can browse or peruse them for general information.

They include dictionaries, encyclopedias, concordance, bibliographies, commentaries, etc.

Periodicals These usually contain relatively current information which may not have been published as yet Bibliographies a list of works consulted in the progress of a research project a list of published works on a particular subject

Periodicals

These usually contain relatively current information which may not have been published as yet

Bibliographies

a list of works consulted in the progress of a research project

a list of published works on a particular subject

Reserved Materials These are books and audio-visuals which have been placed in the circulation for use by students.

These are books and audio-visuals which have been placed in the circulation for use by students.

Part Three Electronic Searches

What Is The Internet? A network of networks sharing FTP/IPs (computers called servers) The internet is a transport vehicle for information stored on other computers. Currently over 3 billion documents (est.)

A network of networks sharing FTP/IPs (computers called servers)

The internet is a transport vehicle for information stored on other computers.

Currently over 3 billion documents (est.)

The Internet Electronic mail (e-mail). Telnet or remote login. FTP or File Transfer Protocol. Gopher. The World Wide Web

Electronic mail (e-mail).

Telnet or remote login.

FTP or File Transfer Protocol.

Gopher.

The World Wide Web

World Wide Web Comprises the whole gamut of the activities HTML-HyperTextMarkupLanguage Browsers-programmes enabling you to view www documents Links-URL embedded in a document Plug-ins-appls built into browser enabling it to interact with special file types URLs-Uniform Resource Locator (add)

Comprises the whole gamut of the activities

HTML-HyperTextMarkupLanguage

Browsers-programmes enabling you to view www documents

Links-URL embedded in a document

Plug-ins-appls built into browser enabling it to interact with special file types

URLs-Uniform Resource Locator (add)

Searching For Information On The WWW The web pages on the www are not classified into subjects Search tools contain databases These provide hypertext and URLs (Sub searching)

The web pages on the www are not classified into subjects

Search tools contain databases

These provide hypertext and URLs

(Sub searching)

Types of Search Tools Available Search Engines (& Meta-Search Engines ) submit your keyword to other SEs (saves time) Subject Directories contains terms hierarchically grouped Specialized Databases (The Invisible Web )

Search Engines (& Meta-Search Engines ) submit your keyword to other SEs (saves time)

Subject Directories contains terms hierarchically grouped

Specialized Databases (The Invisible Web )

Search Engines Full-text of selected Web pages Search by keyword, trying to match exactly the words in the pages No browsing, no subject categories Databases compiled by "spiders" (computer-robot programs) with minimal human oversight Search-Engine size: from small and specialized to 90+ percent of the indexable Web Meta-Search Engines quickly and superficially search several individual search engines at once and return results compiled into a sometimes convenient format. Caveat: They only catch about 10% of search results in any of the search engines they visit. Recommended – Google, Alta Vista Advanced Search, Northern Light Power Search, Alltheweb

Full-text of selected Web pages

Search by keyword, trying to match exactly the words in the pages

No browsing, no subject categories

Databases compiled by "spiders" (computer-robot programs) with minimal human oversight

Search-Engine size: from small and specialized to 90+ percent of the indexable Web

Meta-Search Engines quickly and superficially search several individual search engines at once and return results compiled into a sometimes convenient format. Caveat: They only catch about 10% of search results in any of the search engines they visit.

Recommended – Google, Alta Vista Advanced Search, Northern Light Power Search, Alltheweb

Search Engines The window up there is where you type the URL and the one beneath takes the search terms

The window up there is where you type the URL and the one beneath takes the search terms

Search Engines

Search Engines The window up there is where you type the URL and the one beneath takes the search terms

The window up there is where you type the URL and the one beneath takes the search terms

Search Engines

http://www.teoma.com/ Refine First, Teoma organizes sites into naturally occurring communities that are about the subject of each search query Results Teoma determines the best answer for a search by asking experts within a specific subject community about who they believe is the best resource for that subject. Resources Finally, by dividing the Web into local subject communities, Teoma is able to find and identify expert resources about a particular subject. These sites feature lists of other authoritative sites and links relating to the search topic.

Refine First, Teoma organizes sites into naturally occurring communities that are about the subject of each search query

Results

Teoma determines the best answer for a search by asking experts within a specific subject community about who they believe is the best resource for that subject.

Resources Finally, by dividing the Web into local subject communities, Teoma is able to find and identify expert resources about a particular subject. These sites feature lists of other authoritative sites and links relating to the search topic.

Subject Directories Human-selected sites picked by editors (sometimes experts in a subject) Often carefully evaluated and kept up to date, but not always -- frequently not if large and general Usually organized into hierarchical subject categories Often annotated with descriptions (not in Yahoo!) Can browse subject categories or search using broad, general terms NO full-text of documents . Searches need to be less specific than in search engines, because you are not matching on the words in the pages you eventually want. In Directories you are searching only the subject categories and descriptions you see in its pages. Recommended – Librarians‘ Index, Infomine, Yahoo!, About.com, AcademicInfo

Human-selected sites picked by editors (sometimes experts in a subject)

Often carefully evaluated and kept up to date, but not always -- frequently not if large and general

Usually organized into hierarchical subject categories

Often annotated with descriptions (not in Yahoo!)

Can browse subject categories or search using broad, general terms

NO full-text of documents . Searches need to be less specific than in search engines, because you are not matching on the words in the pages you eventually want. In Directories you are searching only the subject categories and descriptions you see in its pages.

Recommended – Librarians‘ Index, Infomine, Yahoo!, About.com, AcademicInfo

Subject Directories How It Works We at LII have a rigorous commitment to data quality. Every site entered in the LII database is reviewed at least twice--sometimes three or four times--before it goes "live." An active weeding program keeps us current--while sites change and die all the time, our weekly report nearly always has under 100 "dead" sites.

How It Works

We at LII have a rigorous commitment to data quality. Every site entered in the LII database is reviewed at least twice--sometimes three or four times--before it goes "live." An active weeding program keeps us current--while sites change and die all the time, our weekly report nearly always has under 100 "dead" sites.

Specialized Databases The Web provides access through a search box into the contents of a database in a computer somewhere Can be on any topic, can be trivial, commercial, task-specific, or a rich treasure devoted to your topic Locate specialized databases by looking for them in good Subject Directories like the Librarian's Index, Yahoo!, or AcademicInfo; in special guides to searchable databases; and sometimes by keyword searching in general search engines

The Web provides access through a search box into the contents of a database in a computer somewhere

Can be on any topic, can be trivial, commercial, task-specific, or a rich treasure devoted to your topic

Locate specialized databases by looking for them in good Subject Directories like the Librarian's Index, Yahoo!, or AcademicInfo; in special guides to searchable databases; and sometimes by keyword searching in general search engines

Search Strategies Analyze Your Topic Why – terms and features Distinctive words or phrases? No distinctive words or phrases? General terms get the "wrong" pages Overview of a broad topic? Narrow aspect of a broad/common topic? Synonymous, equivalent terms, or variant spellings or endings that need to be included?

Analyze Your Topic

Why – terms and features

Distinctive words or phrases?

No distinctive words or phrases?

General terms get the "wrong" pages

Overview of a broad topic?

Narrow aspect of a broad/common topic?

Synonymous, equivalent terms, or variant spellings or endings that need to be included?

Features Of Your Search Enquiry Phrase Searching The Boolean Operators

Phrase Searching

The Boolean Operators

BOOLEAN “AND” Children AND Television AND Violence

Children AND Television AND Violence

BOOLEAN “NOT” "biomedical engineering" AND cancer AND NOT "Department of" AND NOT

"biomedical engineering" AND cancer AND NOT "Department of" AND NOT

BOOLEAN “OR” (Sarajevo OR Sarayevo) AND peace

(Sarajevo OR Sarayevo) AND peace

BEST Search Engines What are the BEST Search Engines? Choosing search engines - criteria Searching with NEW technologies “ Smart” Search Engines & Meta-Search Engines Search Engine Strategies Directories to find quality pages on your topic Assessing the research merit of Web pages

What are the BEST Search Engines?

Choosing search engines - criteria

Searching with NEW technologies

“ Smart” Search Engines & Meta-Search Engines

Search Engine Strategies

Directories to find quality pages on your topic

Assessing the research merit of Web pages

Search Engine Value How do you measure Web Search Engine Value ? Size, freshness & unique pages How comprehensive are they? Ranking of results What order are results displayed in? Default search mode effectiveness Intuitive and easy to use? Advanced search options Can you perform complex searches Can you limit by date, type of site, etc? Overall convenience and usefulness Do you get junk or good stuff?

How do you measure Web Search Engine Value ?

Size, freshness & unique pages

How comprehensive are they?

Ranking of results

What order are results displayed in?

Default search mode effectiveness

Intuitive and easy to use?

Advanced search options

Can you perform complex searches

Can you limit by date, type of site, etc?

Overall convenience and usefulness

Do you get junk or good stuff?

Is Google the best search engine? The Very First Search Engine 3-4 billion pages searchable First 500 KB of pages fully indexed Good ranking Google by popularity Yahoo! by relevance and popularity; also pay for position sites sprinkled in. Default AND Advanced search adequate Sometimes a lot of junk Choices besides Google and Yahoo! Look For New, Smart Linguistic Analysis Helps sort out and mine results

The Very First Search Engine

3-4 billion pages searchable

First 500 KB of pages fully indexed

Good ranking

Google by popularity

Yahoo! by relevance and popularity; also pay for position sites sprinkled in.

Default AND

Advanced search adequate

Sometimes a lot of junk

Choices besides Google and Yahoo!

Look For New, Smart Linguistic Analysis

Helps sort out and mine results

What other tools exist for finding information through the Internet? 1. Virtual Reference Rooms . For example an online dictionary, handbook or directory The Internet Public Library Reference Centre - www.ipl.org/ref/ 2. Find Discussion Groups on almost any subject 3. Locating people by name by locating List Serves e.g. Google groups 4. Explore the International Web from within other countries

1. Virtual Reference Rooms . For example an online dictionary, handbook or directory The Internet Public Library Reference Centre - www.ipl.org/ref/

2. Find Discussion Groups on almost any subject

3. Locating people by name by locating List Serves e.g. Google groups

4. Explore the International Web from within other countries

Google Search

Google Search

Google Search

Google Search

Librarians Index Search

Librarians Index Search

Librarians Index Search

Librarians Index Search

Librarians Index Search

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