Gary Handmanghandman@library.berkeley.edu643-8566

Doing Research Online: A Crash Course

Where do you plugthis damn thing in?

1. Describes organization of library information

2. Introduce selected sources for finding books and journal articles

3. Discuss how to develop search strategies4. Discuss how to select article databases

(and determine what’s in them)5. Introduce a group of basic moves and

features common to many online catalogs and indexes.

6. Practice using these features in selected databases.

The Information Universe •BooksBooks

•Journals (Magazines) & Journals (Magazines) & Newspapers Newspapers

•Government docsGovernment docs•MapsMaps

•Media (video, sound Media (video, sound recording, etc.)recording, etc.)

•Computer files (e.g. CD-Computer files (e.g. CD-ROMS, data files)ROMS, data files)

•Dissertations Dissertations •ManuscriptsManuscripts& THE WEB…& THE WEB…

The guy next to meis soooo hot!

The Information Universe

Why/when books?Why/when journals

Not all books or journals are

created equal…particularly in the

areas of mass comm, film, pop

culture

Book vs Journal Articles

•Reality TV and Product Placement

•Fan Cultures

•Sex and the City and Audience Research

•Cross-over between celebrity and politics

•Soccer, media portrayals, and German nationality

•Sitcoms and political reflections of time and social norms

•Internet spoilers for TV shows and audience engagement with thenm

•Representations of Italians in Film

•Media effects on inspiring charity and givingness

•Healthcare and medication advertising

•Comparison of Good Morning America and Today Show re politics, etc.

•Govet discourses of subcultural identity and counter-hegemonic uses of new media to oppose these

The Information UniverseThe Information Universe

The guy next to meis soooo hot!

…But how do you find this stuff?

The Information UniverseThe Information Universe

Library Catalog(s)

Journal/NewspaperIndexes (article databases)

Library Catalog(s)

Pathfinder: UCB Library holdings only

MELVYL (CDL cat): All 9 UC Campuses

•An inventory of what the library owns

•Search by Author, Title, Subject

•Whole books and print and electronic journals, NOT what’s inside of those publications

NOTE

WELL

The Information Universe: Books

Doherty, Thomas Patrick.Teenagers and teenpics: the juvenilization of American movies in the 1950s

Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 2002.

Get da Book in da Stax

Look it Up in Pathfinder or MELVYL by Author, Title, or Subject :

Call #

UCB Main PN1993.5.U6 D53 2002

The Information Universe: Finding Articles Article Databases

(Indexes/Abstracts)

• Produced by different commercial publishers; often look/act differently from one another.

• Regularly updated (yearly, etc.)

• Many come in both print & online

• Allow subject/author searching in a group of journals in a particular discipline or topical area.

• Some indexes also offer abstracts-- short description of article content

I know! I’lldo my paper onMarilyn Manson!

The Information Universe

LibraryLand

(land of organization, control, and sensibility)

The Net =Anarchy

Google Rocks!

Choosing an Articles Database (Index)

Indexes/Abstracts come in various “flavors”

--from narrow discipline focus to general/pop lit

--from citation only to abstracts to full-text

--links to library holding – no links (you need to look up the journal holdings in another catalog)

--Some journals are indexed in multiple databases--The same journal may be full-text in one db and citation only in another

Choosing an Articles database (online index)•Check out FIND INFORMATION: ARTICLES: BY SUBJECT pull-down on the Doe/Moffitt Library page: www.lib.berkeley.edu/

•For Mass Comm check out: ABOUT THE LIBRARIES: LIBRARIES A-Z: MASS COMMUNICATIONS

•For Film check out: ABOUT THE LIBRARIES: LIBRARIES A-Z: FILM STUDIES

•Listings of subject-specific electronic resources: FIND INFORMATION: ELECTRONIC RESOURCES: Electronic resources: subjects A-Z

Choosing an Articles database Gary’s Picks for 1st Passes

•Expanded Academic Index•PCI Full Text (Periodicals Contents Index)• For Film•MLA Bibliography•FIAF Index•Film Literature Index •International Index to the Performing Arts

Where and How to Look?

•Reality TV and Product Placement

•Fan Cultures

•Sex and the City and Audience Research

•Cross-over between celebrity and politics

•Soccer, media portrayals, and German nationality

•Sitcoms and political reflections of time and social norms

•Internet spoilers for TV shows and audience engagement with thenm

•Representations of Italians in Film

•Media effects on inspiring charity and givingness

•Healthcare and medication advertising

•Comparison of Good Morning America and Today Show re politics, etc.

•Govet discourses of subcultural identity and counter-hegemonic uses of new media to oppose these

How to Begin? Before you click: THINK

•Formulate a concise, concrete statement of

the research problem•Formulate your search in terms of

keywords and key phrases:

The impact of television advertising and television violence on school performance and pre-adolesecent social interaction.

How to Begin? Before you click: THINK

•Think of synonyms for key words/phrases

The impact of television advertising and television violence on school performance and pre-adolesecent social interaction.

ChildrenYouthAdolescents…etc.

CommercialsAds…etc.Academic achievement

Grades…etc.

MediaTV…etc

Socialization, relationships,peer interaction…etc.

Once you’ve found something that looks promising,Check out the “official” subject headings

Common Search Features:

•Basic and Advanced Search Screens

•Trunction: “wild card” that allows you to scoop up broader results:* # or ? Depending on db

--e.g.: Advertis* will give you:advertise, advertising, advertisers, advertisements

•Search by keyword or by phrase•Search specific fields (e.g., SUBJECT, TITLE)•Use of AND, OR, NOT

<Bob Dylan and Robbie Robertson>< Bob Dylan or Bruce Springsteen>< Bob Dylan not Bruce Springsteen >

Common Search Features:

--Save list of good stuff--Mail Articles/Citations to yourself

But Remember: Not everything is online!!!!!:

•Article Databases: Generally only go back 10-20 yrs online (some exceptions – e.g. Historical Newspapers)

•Not every publication is indexed

•Fairly small (but rapidly growing) subset of the books and journal universe is currently available in full-text

•The sciences currently have it better than the humanities and social sciences

Online is Cool

The Information Universe

Remember Also:

•Not every topic has lots written about it, either in books or journal lit.

--Research on very current topics--Research on extremely specific topics--Research on topics off the beaten

academic track or off the pop culture radar

What to do if too much is turning up:

•Narrow your topic: •e.g.: geographically, chronologically; by race, gender, ethnic group; •Specific focus or aspect of the topic (e.g. ethical, social, economic, political aspects)

What to do if nothing is turning up:

•Broaden your topic / go for the more general / select a different angle•Rethink your search strategy (new keywords, new concepts, etc.)•Bail out and choose another topic

Connecting from off-campus

Instructions at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/HELP/CONNECTING FROM OFF CAMPUS

…being driven over the edge by your research?

Call me:Gary Handman643-8566

ghandman@library.berkeley.edu