Fulbright Preacademic SeminarResearch Methods: Computer & Web

Techniques

Vivien Petras

vivienp@sims.berkeley.edu

Outline

1. Find / research resources

2. Evaluate resources

3. Manage resources

1. Find / research resources

Find / research resources - basics

Why use the Web?• Quick• Up-to-date• Overview• Convenient• Most library resources are web accessible

Find / research resources – what you should be aware of

• Where do you go for research assistance?• What are the resources for your discipline?• What is the vocabulary/language of your

discipline?• Research methodologies• Sources: primary, secondary, format of

resources

Find / research resources – First steps

Identify: • Realm of your research• Research question(s)• What you hope to find• Resources to turn to

One of the more important questions you have to answer is where to search. Never assume that one resource provides all the answers.

Where to search…

• Five-Step Search Strategy. From the UC Berkeley Teaching Library: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Strategies.html

• Choose the best search for your information need. From NoodleTools: http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html

• How to choose a search engine or directory. From University at Albany: http://www.internettutorials.net/choose.html

Searching the Internet

1. Search engines

2. Subject directories

3. The deep / invisible web

4. (Metasearch)

5. Advanced web searching

6. Specialized resources

7. Discipline-specific resources

1. Search engines

• No human selection or interference in search / selection

• Not organized by subject• Search the whole web not only academic

information• Full-text of web pages• Not filtered for quality: you need to evaluate!• Work best for specific, quick queries

The best search engines to use. From UC Berkeley Teaching Library: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SearchEngines.html

2. Subject directories

• Human selection of web sites• Organized by subject• Subject categories not standardized• Searchable but usually not full-text of web

sites indexed• Much smaller than what search engines cover• Good for overview

The best subject directories to use. From UC Berkeley Teaching Library:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SubjDirectories.html

3. The deep / invisible web

• Pages cannot be found in search engines / rarely in subject directories

• Behind subscription passwords or dynamic pages

• Searchable databases that are usually of higher quality and more specific

Choosing invisible web databases. From NoodleTools.http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/

advicedepth.htmlWhat is the invisible web. From UC Berkeley Teaching Library.http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/

InvisibleWeb.html

3. The deep / invisible web - Example

4. Metasearch

• Metasearch engines search more than one search engine at once

• Remove duplicate search results• Often omit Google as search engine• Can’t use any advanced search options

Usually you are better served searching the search engines individually.

Metasearch engines. From UC Berkeley Teaching Library.

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/MetaSearch.html

5. Advanced web searching

Concept processing / clustering– SurfWax http://www.surfwax.com– Exalead http://www.exalead.com– Clusty http://www.clusty.com

• Graphical presentation– Kartoo http://www.kartoo.com– Mooter http://www.mooter.com

• Narrowing / expanding your search– Ask.com http://www.ask.com

• Expert searching– Google Answers http://answers.google.com– Yahoo Answers http://answers.yahoo.com

5. Advanced web searching - Clusty

5. Advanced web searching - Kartoo

5. Advanced web searching – Ask.com

6. Specialized resources

• News: Google News http://news.google.com

• Blogs: Technorati http://www.technorati.com

• Newsgroups: Google Groups http://groups.google.com

• Mailing Lists: Tile.net http://tile.net

• People: Yahoo People Finder http://people.yahoo.com

• Reference: University at Albany Reference Collection. http://library.albany.edu/reference

6. Specialized resources - Blogs

• Commentary• Not scholarly, but might provide a fresh and current

outlook on things related to your research

6. Specialized resources: Scholarly material

• For academic research, use library databases or academically oriented web resources

Search engines for scholarly material:• Infomine (annotated & organized by subject)

– http://infomine.ucr.edu

• Windows Live Academic – http://academic.live.com

• Google Book Search – http://books.google.com

• Google Scholar– http://scholar.google.com

6. Google Scholar / Windows Live Academic

• Quick alternative to library databases• Mostly articles found by search engine robots (or

collaborations) from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, web

• Full text (if available) or citation• Might be connected to your library’s journal

subscriptions• Google Scholar: Cited-by feature (similar to Web of

Science)• Windows Live Academic:

– provides reference manager format– provides list of journals covered

(http://academic.live.com/AcademicJournals.htm)

6. Google Scholar / Windows Live Academic

• Not comprehensive• Some subject areas might not be

represented• Results can be random• Ranking of results not clear• Can have articles that are not scholarly• Google Scholar:

– don’t disclose which sources are indexed and which aren’t

– can’t import results into reference management software

6. Windows Live Academic

6. Google Scholar

7. Discipline-specific resources

• Check your university library for subject guides.• UC Berkeley Subject guides:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/AboutLibrary/libraries_collections.html

• Academic and Professional Resources Organized by Fields of Study. Purdue University: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/resources/fieldsam.html http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/resources/fieldsnz.html

• Social Science Information Gateway Tutorials for different social science fields: http://www.sosig.ac.uk/training/virtual_training.html

Find / research resources – more links

• Consult your library web pages.• UC Berkeley Teaching Library:http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/

Internet/FindInfo.html

• 21st Century Literacies. From NoodleTools:http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/21c.html

• The Building Blocks of research. From NoodleTools:

http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/1over/infolit1.html

• Googling to the Max: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/

Internet/Google.html

2. Evaluate resources

Evaluate resources - basics

How do you know that the web page you are reading:

• provides accurate information? • is up-to-date?• is scholarly enough to provide valuable

information?

What makes a web page “good”?

Evaluate resources - criteria

1. Accuracy

2. Authority

3. Objectivity

4. Coverage

5. Currency

1. Accuracy

• Reliable information? • Content verifiable through some other

source?• Are sources documented with footnotes or

links?• Quality links to websites on similar topics?• Additional sources for research

(bibliography)?• Is there an editor or someone who

verifies/checks the information?

2. Authority

• Who is responsible for the content?• Is it somebody's personal page?• What type of domain does it come from (.edu,

.gov, .com)? • Is it published by an entity that makes sense?• Is the background of the author explained?• Can the author be contacted?

3. Objectivity

• What is the purpose of the site?• Is there a balanced viewpoint?• What is the audience of the website?• Does the site contain advertising?• Who is funding the site?

4. Coverage

• Is the information comprehensive for your needs?

• Is there information reproduced? If so, is it altered?

• What does this page offer that is not found elsewhere?

5. Currency

• When was the content created?• How often is the information revised?• How current are the links?• How persistent is the page?

Evaluate resources – more links

Evaluating web resources:• UC Berkeley Teaching Library

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

• Johns Hopkins Library http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/

General evaluation of information resources:• UC Berkeley Teaching Library

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Evaluation.html

• Cornell Library http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill26.htm

3. Manage resources

Manage resources - basics

Whenever you search for an academic paper or another scholarly endeavor, it pays to keep track of the resources you found.

You probably want to:• Keep track of what you’ve seen• Find it again• Re-use• Organize• Cite

Manage resources

1. Content / learning management

2. Bookmark management

3. Reference management

4. Citing your resources

1. Content management

• Refer to Jeanette’s file organization tips• Come up with a strategy on how to manage

your content – per class, per research project, per year– class notes, project ideas, bookmarks, references,

articles, scholarly material

• AND be consistent!

2. Bookmark management

Goal: keep track, manage, cluster and annotate your links

• Del.icio.us (social bookmark manager) http://del.icio.us/

• Connotea (bookmarking for scientists) http://www.connotea.org

• Free bookmark managers http://www.lights.com/pickalink/bookmarks/

2. del.icio.us - search

2. del.icio.us – individual bookmarks with tags

3. Reference management

If I could offer you only one tip for the future: reference management would be it. :)

• Keep track of your references while you are collecting them.

• Put them in a format that is re-usable or in a common citation format (or use a reference manager).

• Keep a master file of all references (besides separate files for individual papers / projects etc.).

• Annotate and make notes about your references right after you read them.

• Invest into reference management software.

3. Reference management

• CiteULike: http://www.citeulike.org

– Free – Web-based– Mostly for web resources– Exports to Bibtex or Endnote

• Refworks http://www.refworks.com/

– Web-based– Your organization might have a group account– Generates bibliographies in several formats– Tutorial: http://www.refworks.com/tutorial/

3. CiteULike - search

3. CiteULike – individual references with tags

3. Reference management

• Reference Manager: http://www.refman.com

– Search and import from bibliographic databases– Output any bibliographic style– Directly connect to your word processing program– Tutorial:

http://www.refman.com/training/tutorial/RefManBasics.asp

• Endnote: http://www.endnote.com

– Like Reference Manager– Tutorial: http://www.endnote.com/training/

Check for student discounts in your university bookstore or computer store.

3. Endnote – references

3. Endnote – search and import

4. Citing your resources

• Even if the resource is on the Internet, do not assume it’s free.

• Always cite your source, especially if you are quoting (copying & pasting) directly from it.

• For web resources, a date is necessary (date of last access).

• How you cite is dependent on the style requested for your paper.

• Endnote and Reference Manager can connect your citations directly to your bibliography in your word processing program.

4. Citing your resources - links

• Citing Electronic Information. From the Internet Public Library: http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/netciteFARQ.html

• Style Sheets for Citing Resources. From the UC Berkeley Teaching Library: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Style.html

• Citing References. From University of Wisconsin-Madison: http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Documentation.html