HIS231 - Tools & Resources for Finding Useful Info Martin Crabtree – MCCC Library February 9, 2009

HIS231 - Tools & Resources for Finding Useful Info

Martin Crabtree – MCCC Library

February 9, 2009

Martin J. Crabtree - MCCC Library

Agenda

• Finding books• Periodicals• Inter-library Loan (aka getting stuff from other

libraries)• Review electronic searching

– Keywords, Boolean searching, truncations, & field limiters

• Accessing electronic databases from the library• Searching the Web

– A few things to consider when using search engines– Thinking about the quality of the web info you find


Finding BooksUsing The Card Catalog

• The catalog is available online. Used to find books, videos and other material in the MCCC collection (not periodicals).

• You will also find items available at the Mercer County Public (MCL) libraries.

• You can request that materials from MCL be brought to the college. Deliveries arrive Tuesday and Friday afternoons. (DVD’s not available from MCL)

• Link to the catalog is on the library’s web pages.

http://www.mccc.edu/student_library.shtml


Periodicals

• Periodicals include:– scholarly journals– newspapers– Magazines

• Periodicals represent the bulk of

published scholarly information.

• The library has a number of periodicals available in print, on microfilm, and especially via electronic databases.

• The library staff can help determine if a specific periodical is

available from the library.

PANIC! The library doesn’t have what I

want!

OR

Getting things from other libraries

If the library doesn’t have what you need, we will get it for you.


Using interlibrary (ILL) loan

Three steps to ILL1. Search the Mercer County [public] Library holdings via

the college’s online catalog & place a hold.

2. Search Jersey Cat to find & request materials statewide online.

3. Place an ILL request in person or online. The library will search internationally for the item you want. Note: This ILL request form is only for a specific book or article.

• ILL requests do take time, allow 2-3 weeks for materials to arrive, though they often come in sooner (especially true for articles).

http://www.mccc.edu/student_library.shtml

http://www.mccc.edu/student_library_ill_form.shtml


Using interlibrary loan

• Supply as much information as you can for needed items.

• For books: Title, Author, publisher, publish date, edition number, ISBN #

• For periodicals: periodical name, article title & date, volume & issue number, pagination (pages the article is on/pagination)*

* - Pagination is required by JerseyCat

So why can’t I just go to another library and get the stuff myself?


In some cases you can…

• At The College of New Jersey, you just have to show your MCCC ID.

• As a MCCC student, you can also use over 20 other college/university libraries as well– Fill out a form– Have it signed by the MCCC library– Present the signed form & your MCCC ID to

the other library– Valid for one year (through June 30, 2009)

Searching Electronic Databases

And The Web Too


Starting An Electronic SearchKeywords

• Keywords are often used when searching electronic databases and web search engines

• They are words that will likely appear within articles that are relevant to your search. – For example:

• Ozone• Layer• Depletion• Atmosphere• Hole

• The search programming looks for only those items that contain the keywords you supplied.


Starting An Electronic SearchBoolean Searching/Logic

• Boolean searching - Connecting keywords with the terms– and– not– or

• For example– eagles NOT football– (car or automobile) and exhaust

• More Terms = Fewer “Hits”


Electronic Searchingbeyond just keyword

• To search for a phrase, use quotation marks – “weapons of mass destruction”

• Truncations allow you to search for related words in a single search– The * is usually used. For example searching

histor* would yield hits for: history, historical, historic, etc.

Let’s take a quick look at how Boolean searching can help

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=thomas+jefferson

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=thomas+jefferson

Electronic Databases Available From The MCCC

Library


Electronic DatabasesIn General

• Over 60 databases available

• Not every article is available full text though many are

• Abstracts (summary) is often available when full text is not


Electronic DatabasesIn General

• Accessible at any computer on the MCCC/JKC campus network

• Can print/e-mail/download articles

• Most are available off campus, though you do need to use a password.


Accessing Databases Remotely

• You can access most of the databases from any computer with internet access.

• To log on to the databases, use your:– student ID number (no dashes)– your last name (include punctuation here)


Remote Login Screen

Use your student ID number & last name


Some useful databases

• JSTOR – Scholarly journals in history and other subjects. Coverage begins

with the very first issue up to 2004 (a moving date, 5 years ago)– All full text– Can not email articles, can print or save as a .pdf

• EBSCOhost - Academic Search Premier– Broadest of the databases covering everything from science to the

humanities including many scholarly journals– Not every article full text– Need Acrobat Reader for some articles

http://www.mccc.edu/student_library_online.shtml



More Databases

• The reference section of the database page includes:– Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre &

Performance– Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt– Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art &

Architecture– Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in the Ancient

World

http://www.mccc.edu/student_library_online.shtml#ref

Finding and Using Web Information


Some things to consider when searching the web

• Everything is NOT on the web and may never be

• No search engine covers the entire web

• The “invisible web” is huge!

• Though there has yet to be consensus, estimates put the size of the invisible web to at least 200% bigger than the “visible” (or surface) web.Source: The Invisible Web by Chris Sherman


Searching the World Wide Web Search Strategy

• Searching the Web is much like database searching:– Use keywords and Boolean logic (and, not, or) to better

define your search, use double quotes for phrases, etc.

• When searching the web, also consider:– Different search engines yield different results. You may

want to try using more that just your “regular” search engine

– Use the search engine’s “advanced search” to select limiting parameters (language, date, domain, etc.)

http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

PANIC AGAIN!

The website I found looks great only I don’t read German (or French, or Russian, or Italian, or Spanish, or Chinese,

or…)


Using web pages that aren’t in English

• Web sites exist that will help in translating web pages.

• Babblefish is one such site at: http://babelfish.altavista.com/.

• The translations are not always the best, but still there is a lot of useful non-English web info out there.

http://babelfish.altavista.com/

Evaluating Web Information

Is this stuff any good?


Evaluating Web Sites

• Quality varies greatly from site to site

• YOU are the sole evaluator of the quality of information a site provides


Evaluating Web Information

Five evaluation criteria

1. Accuracy - is it reliable?

2. Authority - is author qualified on subject?

3. Objectivity - is the information biased?

4. Currency - is the information “new” enough?

5. Coverage - does the info completely cover the topic?

Using Wikipedia


Using Wikipedia

• Wikipedia is sometimes a useful source of information in some instances

• But, the information contained here is not inherently scholarly information.

• Wikipedia is probably best at covering pop culture topics as well as obscure subjects not well represented in scholarly publications.

• Let’s look at an entry for organ donation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_donation

Think about it…

Would you want you doctor to base his/her diagnosis or your lawyer you

defense in court bases on information they got from Wikipedia?


The Bottom Line…

Buyer Beware• The web contains a vast amount of information…but

not everything

• Anyone can put information on the web, hence the quality of web information varies greatly

• YOU will often be the only person to decide if the quality of the info you find on the web is good

Now let’s look for some information…

Using the information you find

...and giving credit where credit is due.


Using the Information You Find

• Always give credit to the author or creator of the information that you use.

• This includes not only the actual facts, conclusions, and ideas that an author presents but also the words that he/she has used.


Citing your sources of information

• Scholars routinely list the sources of the information they use as part of their work

• You will frequently need to include a list of the sources of information you have used for an assignment in college.

• To make it easy for others


There are two major format styles used at MCCC

• The APA (American Psychological Association) style.– The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

at: BF76.7.p83 2001

• The MLA (Modern Language Association of America) style.– MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers at: LB 2369 .G53

2003

• The both manuals are available in the library in the reference stacks & on reserve

• Neither manual is available on line.


Added APA & MLA info is at the Research & Report Guides link


There’s so much info out there!

Can you help me find the good stuff?


Getting help finding what you need

• Feel free to ask any of the MCCC librarians.

• A list of resources for HIS231 is also available on line at:– www.mccc.edu/~crabtrem/his231/his231.htm

http://www.mccc.edu/~crabtrem/his231/his231.htm

Now let’s find some information…

Documents

HIS231 - Tools & Resources for Finding Useful Info Martin Crabtree – MCCC Library February 9, 2009