Gary Handmanghandman@library.berkeley.edu643-8566

Doing Research Online: A Crash Course

Where do you plugthis damn thing in?

1. The current lay of Information Land2. A group of basic moves and features common to many online catalogs and indexes 3. How to develop/employ search strategies4. How to select databases (and determine

what’s in them)5. Practice using these features in selected databases. 6. How to get your hands on the material

you find

The Information Universe (Then)

Card Catalogs Contained:Records for:

•BooksBooks•Journals/Newspapers Journals/Newspapers •Other stuff (maps, Other stuff (maps, media, dissertations, media, dissertations, manuscripts…)manuscripts…)

The guy next to meis soooo hot!

The Information Universe: Books (Then)

Look stuff up by author, title, subjectGet a Call #

Kesey, Ken. One flew over the cuckoo's nest.

New York : New American Library, 1962.

Moffitt PS3561.E667.O5

Get da Book in da Stax

The Information Universe: Articles (Then)

Indexes/Abstracts

• Annual/semi-annual print volumes

• Allow subject searching in a group of journals in a particular discipline or topical area.

• Some indexes also offer abstracts-- short description of article content

I know! I’lldo my paper onMarilyn Manson!

The Information Universe: Articles (Then)

Wright, Robert. 'I'd sell you suicide': pop music and moral panic in the age of Marilyn Manson. Popular Music v19, n3 (Oct, 2000):365 (21 pages).

The Information Universe: Articles (Then)

Popular Music Music ML5.P66 Shelved: Latest issue in Reading Room

Get da call #

Wright, Robert. 'I'd sell you suicide': pop music and moral panic in the age of Marilyn Manson. Popular Music v19, n3 (Oct, 2000):365 (21 pages).

Popular Music Music ML5.P66 Shelved: Latest issue in Reading Room

Get da call #

Get da Journal in da Stax

Wright, Robert. 'I'd sell you suicide': pop music and moral panic in the age of Marilyn Manson. Popular Music v19, n3 (Oct, 2000):365 (21 pages).

The Information Universe: Articles (Then)

The Information Universe (Now)

Online Catalogs

Online

--Pathfinder--MELVYL (CDL cat)

Indexes & AbstractsPrint

The Information Universe (Now)

Online Catalogs

--Pathfinder--MELVYL (CDL cat)

The Information Universe (Now)

Online Catalogs

--Pathfinder--MELVYL (CDL cat)

Books in Stax

The Information Universe (Now)

Online Catalogs

Full-Text Online (ebooks, ejournals [but NOT individual e-articles]

--Pathfinder--MELVYL (CDL cat)

Books in Stax

The Information Universe (Now)

Online Catalogs

Full-Text Online (ebooks, ejournals [but NOT e-articles]

--Pathfinder--MELVYL (CDL cat)

Indexes & Abstracts

Journals in Stax

Books in Stax

The Information Universe (Now)

Online Catalogs

Online

Full-Text Online (ebooks, ejournals [but NOT e-articles]

--Pathfinder--MELVYL (CDL cat)

Indexes & Abstracts

Journals in Stax

Books in Stax

Full-Text Articles Online

Library Acquires Full-text materials in three ways:

•1. Subscribes to full-text journals (you can get to em’ via Pathfinder)

Animal genetics. <1986>

Published: [Oxfordshire] : Published by Blackwell Scientific Publications for the International

Society for Animal Blood Group Research, c1986-

Format: Serial

Location: BIOS: QP98.A1 A5;

Electronic Location(s): v.30(1999)- http://uclibs.org/PID/3382 Restricted to UC campuses

Library Acquires Full-text materials in three ways:

2. Links from electronic indexes and abstracts

ME, MOM & MARILYN MANSON. (Brief Article) BECKY EBENKAMP.

Brandweek April 17, 2000 v41 i16 p28

View text and full content retrieval choices

or 1 full page PDF

From Expanded Academic Index:

3. Subscribes to searchable full-text archives: e.g. JSTOR, Project

Muse

…But Remember!!!!

Not everything is online!!!!!:

•Indexes: Often only go back 10-20 yrs online

•Not every publication is indexed

•Fairly small (but rapidly growing) subset of the books and journal universe is currently available in full-text

•The sciences currently have it better than the humanities and social sciences

Remember Also:

•Not every topic has lots written about it, either in books or journal lit.

--Research on very current topics

--Research on topics off the beaten academic track or off the pop culture radar

--The quirky, strange, and over the top

What to do if nothing is turning up:•Broaden your topic / go for the more general / select a different angle•Rethink your search strategy (new keywords, new concepts, etc.)•Bail out and choose another topic

What to do if too much is turning up:

•Narrow your topic: •e.g.: geographically, chronologically; by race, gender, ethnic group; •Specific focus or aspect of the topic (e.g. ethical, social, economic, political aspects)

The Information Universe (Now)

LibraryLand

(land of organization, control, and sensibility)

The Net =Anarchy

Google Rocks!

How to Begin? Before you click: THINK

•Formulate a concise, concrete statement of

the research problem•Formulate your search in terms of

keyword and key phrases:

The impact of exposure of children to advertising television and television violence on school performance.

How to Begin? Before you click: THINK

Formulate your search in terms of:

•KEY WORD Searches : --Look for words anywhere in record: title, subject, abstract and full-text (if available)

•PHRASES:--Looks for words in the exact order entered

Keywords

e.g.-- Keyword: Cold War Horror Film looks for words Cold AND War AND Horror AND Film ANYWHERE in the record You would conceivably retrieve an article entitled: “At War With Your Refrigerator?: How to Avoid the Horror of Moldy Film on Cold Cuts.”

--Phrase: Cold War Horror Film looks only for those 3 words in that order; would not find a book entitledDepending on db: --May be able to limit keyword/phrase searching to specific fields: title, subject, or all fields.

How to Begin? Before you click: THINK

•Think of synonyms for key words/phrases

The impact of exposure of children to advertising television and television violence on school performance.

ChildrenYouthAdolescents…etc.

CommercialsAds…etc.

Academic achievementGrades…etc. Or television psychological aspects

Mass MediaTV…etc.

…

Truncation:

When appropriate, use truncation to scoop up broader results:* # or ? Depending on db

--e.g.: Advertis* will give you:advertise, advertising, advertisers, advertisements

Once you’ve found something that looks promising,Check out the “official” subject headings

Choosing a database

Indexes/Abstracts come in various “flavors”

--from narrow discipline focus to general/pop lit

--citation only to abstracts to full-text

--links to library holding – no links (you need to look up the journal holdings in another

catalog)

--Some journals are indexed in multiple databases--The same journal may be full-text in one db and citation only in another

Choosing a database

•Look at the alphabetical listing of indexes and abstracts on the library’s home page: www.lib.berkeley.edu

•Listings of subject-specific electronic resources on individual branch library home pages

•CDL Searchlight

What do you see on this page?

The Keyword/key phrase Tango

Environmental Racism and Fast Food

Marketing

Keywords in title