Middlesex University

Learning Resources Information Skills

CMT3342 Assessment

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Information Skills Information Literacy

When looking for information, you need to think about the following:

What do I need to find out? Why do I need this information? When do I need the information by? How am I going to find the information? Where am I going to find the information? Who created this information i.e. how do I know if it is

relevant and trustworthy?

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What do I need to find?Which type of information do I need to find?

• Facts• Figures (statistics)• Images• Theories• Case studies• Projects• Reviews, Reports, etc.

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Why do I need this information?

• To provide background knowledge• To answer a question• To get new ideas• To understand a topic• To substantiate a theory• To support a hypothesis• To prepare me for a seminar or discussion• To write an essay

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When do I need the information?

• Before I can begin to write an essay and/or begin a discussion (verbal or written)

• Before a deadline date! • Therefore

– you need to think about how long it will take you to get hold of this information

– e.g. time to go to the library, order material from other libraries, purchase material, learn how to access and use databases, etc.

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How am I going to find the information?

• It is useful to start by understanding your subject (background reading)– Wikipedia, Google, Google Scholar, dictionaries,

etc.• Gather possible search terms• Begin with the general - and work your way

to the specific

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Using the Internet

• The Internet is a useful starting point when you want to obtain information on any subject.

• Some search engines are recommended for specific needs.

• Free online resources such as Wikipedia, online journals, subject specific web pages can also be useful

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For background knowledge only

• Wikipedia• Google• Google Scholar

Important:Use them to understand the topic, but do not use

as a reference or citation in your coursework

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How good is the information?

• Wikipedia– Everybody can contribute to Wikipedia– The audience, i.e. the users correct mistakes– Information does not have to be correct,

• Advantage: can be better than some textbooks, because of its collaborative nature

• Disadvantage: Tug of war between different schools of thought

– Controlled by Wikipedia Project

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How good is the information?

• Google– Everybody can put up any information– One does not always know who the author is– Does not have to be correct (there is a lot of

misinformation out there)– No control over content

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How good is the information?

• Google Scholar– Searches indexed sources including many of the

databases available via Middlesex University (free via Middlesex, a possible charge via Google Scholar)

– Comes up with publications some of which do not comply with academic standards

– Controlled by Google (and not by academia)– Publications listed show

• Citation index (useful as impact measure)• PDF full text access in many cases (easy access)

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Search Terms Begin with the General and work your way to the Specific e.g.

Green Computing Manufacture

Environmental Design

Considerations

Carbon Footprint

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Working Practice

Green Computing

Manufacture

Flexible Working

Home Working

OperationsDisposal

Reuse

RecycleEthical

Considerations

Subcontractors

Environmental Design

ConsiderationsNew

Technologies

MaterialsCarbon

Footprint Energy Efficiency

Subcontractors

Standards

Mobile Networking TechnologyWi-Fi

DataCentres

Environmental Impact

Energy Consumption

Installation

WorkplaceStandards

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Use Several Search Terms

• Increase the number of search terms to narrow the search

• Decrease the number of search terms to broaden the search

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Where am I going to find the information?

• To find information resources available for your research, go to the Library and IT support page

• Here you can access the following key resources which provide information & support for your studies:– The Library Catalogue– Subject Resources– Journals and Electronic Resources– Summon

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Library and IT Support Page

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Four types of Search Tools

• Summon – search across electronic databases• Library catalogue – search books and other

publications available through Middlesex library

• Journals and e-resources• Subject resources

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How good is the information?• All publication found via

– Library catalogue– Summon– Electronic bibliographic databases provided by MDX library– Subject guides– E-books and e-journals provided by MDX library

• Are academically sound• Have been written by academics• Have been peer-reviewed by other academics• Information usually very good, but can still be mistaken

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Summon

• Searches across all databases• Recommends the most relevant databases• Finds the most relevant publications as well• Does not search all types of academic texts• Search also IEEE Xplore and ACM digital library

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Summon Home Page

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Summon Search Page

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Summon – Results

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The Library Catalogue

• Good for finding – paper copies and electronic copies of

• books, CDs, DVDs and academic journals

• General keyword– Searches all fields

• Journal keyword– Only searches Journal titles– Cannot search inside journals, but…– It provides a link to the Website of the journal, where

you can search for topics inside the journal

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Library Catalogue Link

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Library Catalogue General Keyword

• Searches almost all fields– Author name– Subject Keywords– Title of publications– Does not seem to search journal title field

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General Keyword

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Search Results Listed

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Hyperlinks

Details of the Book

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Journal Keyword

• Searches for Journal titles with the search terms

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Changing to Journal Keyword

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Search Results Listed

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Hyperlink to Journal Access

The Journal in the Library Catalogue

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The Journal Web Page

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Library and IT Support Page

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Journals and E-Resources

• Collection of a variety of resources– Alternative access route to journals– E-books– E-journals– Databases– Newspapers– Research Repository (publications of MDX

researchers)

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E-books

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E-books Resources

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E-Books at Morgan and Claypool

All e-books are also in the library catalogue

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DatabasesShort for Bibliographic Online Databases

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A for ACM digital library

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ACM Digital Library

Only ACM publications are accessible as full-text. Other publications are accessible as full-texts via other databases.

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I for IEEE Xplore

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IEEE Xplore search engine

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IEEE Xplore Results Page

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Publication Page

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Download Citation

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Downloaded Citation

• Sohaib, O.; Khan, K.; , "Integrating usability engineering and agile software development: A literature review," Computer Design and Applications (ICCDA), 2010 International Conference on , vol.2, no., pp.V2-32-V2-38, 25-27 June 2010doi: 10.1109/ICCDA.2010.5540916URL: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.ezproxy.mdx.ac.uk/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5540916&isnumber=5540905

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Access Full-Text

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Full-Text

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Save Full-Text

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Other online databases

• Computer Source, which is part of the EBSCO database

• Lecture Notes in Computer Science (Springer)

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Computer Source

Computer Source aims to provide the latest information and current trends in high technology

• This database offers full text for around 300 publications (in some cases back as far as 1985), plus indexing and abstracts for around 450 publications

• Topics covered include computer science, programming, artificial intelligence, cybernetics, information systems, robotics and software

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Computer Source

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Lecture Notes in Computer Science

Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) is a series of computer science books that has been published by Springer since 1973

• LNCS reports research results in computer science, especially in the form of proceedings, post-proceedings and research monographs

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LNCS

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Other Useful Databases

• Other useful databases include: The Web of Knowledge (this includes the Index to

Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP) and the Science Citation Index ) and Business Source Complete

• Also consider databases in other subject areas For example, the Design and Applied Arts Index can be useful for finding information on games design and digital interactive design

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Library and IT Support Page

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Subject Guides

• Provide information on the resources available in different subject areas

• Provide all kinds of other information related to publications and library use

• Useful if you don’t know which resources to access• Useful if you don’t know how to…

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Library Subjects

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Subject Guide Science and Technology

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Subject Guide SaT: Resources

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Subject Guide Science and Technology: Information Skills

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Subject Guide SaT: Referencing and Citation Rules

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Referencing Harvard system

• You must reference all materials that you use with a citation (often called a reference) embedded in your text

• You must provide a list of references at the end of your text

• Instructions on how to reference and cite material used can be found on the Subject Guide

• Other Referencing Guides– http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm – http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pxc/refs/index.html – http://unihub.mdx.ac.uk/Assets/eis-extended.pdf

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Evaluation

• Each publication has to be evaluated with regards to its– Relevance– Impact

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Relevance • How close is the text to the question I am trying to

address?• Degrees of relevance

– Very relevant = 3– Relevant = 2– Marginally relevant = 1– Not relevant = 0

• Read all publications that are very relevant• Check all publications that are relevant, but discard, if

they are not useful right now• Do not read marginally or irrelevant publications

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Impact

• How many people have read this article?• How many people have cited this article?• Degrees of impact

– Numbers of Citations in Google Scholar – Relative to the publication year

• Young articles cannot have many citations

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Impact-Relevance Evaluation

High Impact Low ImpactHigh Relevance

Extremely Important for your topic. Read understand and Use

Very Important for your Topic. Read, understand and use where appropriate

Low Relevance

Read the relevant bits and use, if this one of the seminal works in the area

Do not read or use

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Help with Searching for Literature

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Ask a Librarian

http://askalibrarian.mdx.ac.uk/ or via Subject Guide – Information Skills 04/19/23 70

• MyLearning give you access to:• Library resources, Summon, CMT3342 etc• Any problems in accessing:

– http://askalibrarian.mdx.ac.uk/

• Or visit the library

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