We have now come to that place in time where the researchers will be separated from those who want
to be researchers. If you pay attention and do the suggested exercises and then practice regularly
you will have more library skills than 90% of the graduate students and a great many faculty members. Remember,
always treat those who know less than you with respect and kindness.
Objective:
You have already accomplished a great deal in learning to navigate a research library and most of these skills will remain
useful as long as you are a researcher of any type. The next several lessons are going to look at different aspects
of the same task, locating journal articles in academic, scientific or learned journals. We will also touch on some
peripheral sources like newspapers and reports.
Discussion
Our main topic here is Finding Journal Articles. The INDEXES or ABSTRACTING SERVICES are normally
the means to do this. You might already be familiar with some of these. Two common ones are The Reader's Guide to Periodical
Literature and InfoTrac. These tools are often referred to as simply databases,search tools or search engines.
No matter what you call them, separate them in your mind from the freebies such as Google and Yahoo.
As we mentioned earlier, both indexes and abstracting services constitute a database of journal articles.
You can normally look for articles by subject or keywords, the title of the journal, words in the
title of the article, the author's name, etc. In the paper version, these will normally refer you to a number
which will lead you to a citation in the case of an index. In the case of an abstract, you will get the citation
with an abstract.
The last ten or fifteen years have seen the proliferation of computer based indexes and abstracts. Since
abstracts and indexes are databases, these turn out to be wonderful examples of advanced technology
helping us in our research. The computer allows searches that your predecessors could only dream of.
Common Features
- At least one search window where you can enter your search terms. Most search tools have a
"quick search" and an "advanced search".
- List of Results, normally some standard type of record with more information immediately available. The minimum would be a citation.
Everyday we see an increase in the number of full text articles that are available.
- The Journal List; not every journal is included in every index or abstracting service.
Some are only covered for certain periods of time. In most instances, these arrangements are strictly financial and
are put together by the publishers of the journals and the indexers. If you think that a service
should be covering a particular journal but you are getting no hits, check with a librarian or look within
the search engine for the list.
Highly Desired Features
Like the best cars, watches or computers, some of these search tools provide extremely advanced features
that cause them to be admired by their users. These would include:
-
Comprehensive Search Screen Selecting this link will take you to a good example of a comprehensive search screen. (You will probably need to click on "Begin a New Search Session" Note the different
options that are available.
- Descriptors - Here is a link to an illustration of descriptors. They are valuable for 3 reasons.
- they tell you in a very precise way what the article is about.
- they are usually hyperlinked and will automatically begin a new search on that term. This is useful when narrowing your
search or combining terms.
- Remember to use the desriptors when you are summarizing your research as they will be very useful in
differentiating between papers. Inclusion as a descriptor also suggests that these are extremely
important points and you should be sure that you recognize and understand them.
- Controlled vocabulary - Descriptors are generally selected from a controlled vocabulary. This means that certain
terms are always used for particular concepts; a list of fixed terms with unalterable meaning.
An example might be the use of the word adolescent to describe articles about teen-agers or young adults -
even if the term, adolescent, is never used in the article.
- Search History Page - Many of our bibliographic databases have search history pages.
Selecting the link will show "Strategy 2" and "Strategy 3" combined to result in "Strategy 4."
- Access to the article - Most of the bibliographic databases now link to the journal article or to the USCAN Web catalog
so that you can acquire it easily.
Which tool to use?
There are numerous and very different bibliographic databases available to the USC community.
The search tools range from the very simple InfoTrac Web suitable for most freshmen in any course to
databases like Inspec and Engineering Village which are relatively complex and subject specific aimed at
specialists.
For your convenience, at the top of this page you will find a link to INDEXES. There you can find them
arranged alphabetically and by subject. Those of you doing research in the sciences might benefit from
the Finding Journal Articles link on the
Science Library Home Page.
THE REMAINDER OF THIS COURSE WILL EXAMINE VARIOUS SEARCH TOOLS.
Information Literacy Issues
Standard #1 was concerned
with the student determining what their information need is. Standard #2 looked at your
ability to access the information that was determined to be needed. Now in Standard #3
we will begin to realize that everything we read is not necessarily true and worth retaining. We will
examine the process of evaluating the
ideas, the publication or source of information as well as the author or speaker.
Everyday we are aware of conflicting claims from business entities, political parties and the editorial pages.
Should we believe everything we hear or read? How can we find out the truth?
Standard Three
The information literate student evaluates information and its sources critically and
incorporates selected information into his or her knowledge base and value system.
Performance Indicators:
3-1. The information literate student summarizes the main ideas to be extracted
from the information gathered.
Outcomes Include:
A. Reads the text and selects main ideas
(You might have to read and re-read paragraph by paragraph to understand some papers.
One useful exercise is to underline or highlight all unfamiliar words (or symbols) and then look them up .)
B. Restates textual concepts in his/her own words and selects data accurately
(Try writing summaries of each paragraph. Are other interpretations possible?)
C. Identifies verbatim material that can be then appropriately quoted
(Can you identify the important points in each paragraph, and then, the entire paper?)
3-2. The information literate student articulates and applies initial criteria for
evaluating both the information and its sources.
Outcomes Include:
A. Examines and compares information from various sources in order to evaluate reliability,
validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, and point of view or bias
(In many cases it is important to know if the material is peer-reviewed, who is the author,
is there a sponsoring organization and are they reputable.)
B. Analyzes the structure and logic of supporting arguments or methods
(Never take any statement at face value. Many writers just say what
they want the masses to hear. There is no reason for you to be one of them.)
C. Recognizes prejudice, deception, or manipulation
(The news shows on television often have opposing speakers on a given subject. Who are the speakers?
Are they from a particular party, organization or publication? If they don't agree, can you identify their particular
interest or prejudice? Practice and take notes until it becomes second nature.)
D. Recognizes the cultural, physical, or other context within which the information was
created and understands the impact of context on interpreting the information
(Many current topics are extremely controversial. Try to recognize these
topics and identify each side. Your university experience is an excellent vehicle for trying out ideas.
For many people, it is the one time when they can explore ideas that may not be the same as those espoused
where they came from.)
Questions, comments or make an appointment with the Inquiry Librarian.
