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Judy Reading & Mat Andrews
WISER: looking things upReference sources onlineThis session will introduce some useful online reference resources such as biographical sources, encyclopaedias, dictionaries and handbooks for questions requiring quick answers.
What will you learn in this session?
• Which general online databases on OxLIP can be used to find quick answers to a range of questions
• Which subject- or area- specific online databases will help most in finding quick answers, in particular questions about people and statistics
• How to make basic searches on these databases
Why not just use Wikipedia or Google?
• Facts not opinion: anyone can edit Wikipedia or put up a webpage; Wikipedia has a bias towards certain countries and types of information
• Go to the source: these resources are based on printed works which employ professional research teams – if facts on the internet are right, this is often where they will have originated
• Don’t waste time: you will find lots of inappropriate search results on Google
General online reference tools
• KnowUK
• Oxford Reference Online
• Science Direct
• Blackwell Reference Online
• CREDO
• Encyclopaedia Britannica
Ken Livingstone; sub-prime mortgages
Afon; St. Catherine; Jewish calendar
[conversions]; spleen
Blavatsky
Coeducation; asbestosis
Tidal power;[statistics]
Key individual resources
Look in Title list or within Subject List in OxLIP eg
•Oxford English Dictionary
•World of Learning
Look within the collections to see the titles they include eg Whitaker’s Almanack is in KnowUK
Subject or area specific resources
Look under Subject in OxLIP eg
•Grove Art Online
•Knovel Critical Tables
•If you have a query you can’t answer ask your subject librarian – see http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/collections/librarians
Biographical resources
Historical:
•Who Was Who (via KnowUK)
•Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
•American National Biography
•World Biographical Information System
Current:
KnowUK: Who’s Who, etc
Statistical resources
Statistical sources:
Social Science Library Data Search
CIA World FactFile
Nationmaster.com
National statistics
International organisations: UNESCO, OECD, World Bank, IMF
Databanks:Economic and Social Data Service for National and International data
UK Data Archive
SourceOECD
OU Data Library at Nuffield
Help from Mark Janes at Social Science Library and Jane Roberts at Nuffield
Any questions?
Ask an Oxford Librarian: http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/ask/
Bodleian Main Enquiry Desk (2)77162
Subject librarians listed at http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/collections/librarians
Your presenters:Judy Reading [email protected] Mat Andrews [email protected]