3. On the side …
Library Book Sale
April 1st – April 6th
Mark Bowden talk
Author of “Black Hawk Down”
April 11th, 6-7:30PM, West
Village Commons 404
“The Immortal Life of
Henrietta Lacks”
Book Club
April 19th, 12:30-1:30, Cook 507
6. Check for CRAP
Currency
How recent is the
information?
Can you locate a date
when the resource was
written/created/updated?
Based on your topic, is
this current enough?
Why might the date
matter for your topic?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/helloeveryone123/393737419
3/sizes/m/in/photostream/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library
7. Check for CRAP
Reliability
What kind of information
is included in the
resource?
Does the author provide
citations & references for
quotations & data
Where are you accessing
this information?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/schnappi/5930145952/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library
8. Check for CRAP
Authority
Can you determine who
the author/creator is?
What are their credentials
(education, affiliation, exp
erience, etc.)?
Who is the publisher or
sponsor of the work/site?
Is this publisher/sponsor
reputable
http://rantchick.com/a-doctrine-on-respect/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library
9. Check for CRAP
Purpose/Point of View
Is the content primarily
opinion?
Is the information
balanced or biased?
What is the purpose of
the information? Is it to
inform, teach, sell, enterta
in or persuade
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/5484085301/sizes/m
/in/photostream/
Guidelines for CRAP provided by the Jean and Alexander Heard Library
10. Preparing to Search
Articulate your topic
Brainstorm
Strategize where to search
12. Technology Brainstorming
What kinds of (information) technologies?
Technologies used to achieve specific goals
Encourage communication or learning, etc.
Targeted towards certain populations
Business or college students, etc.
13. Search Terms and Keyword Reminders
Keywords come from the search question
Use Boolean “search connectors” to combine
keywords in ways that capture the results you need
Use broader terms/concepts when looking for
BOOKS.
Use narrower terms when looking for ARTICLES.
23. Formulating a Keyword Search
5. Formulate your search utilizing various
combinations of your words
String them together using AND/OR/NOT
Truncate *
Phrase Searching
24. Formulating a Keyword Search
6. Limit your search
Appropriate date range
Subject
Publication type
25. Good searching starts with good keywords
Boolean “search connectors”
AND OR NOT
For example:
spam AND internet security
• Combining >1 topic
OLED OR organic light emitting
diodes
• Combining synonymous terms
29. Phrase Searching
Use quotations to keep a keyword phrase intact
(words will be searched in the specific order)
Examples:
“Bank of America”
“Cisco Systems”
30. Putting it all together…
How Apple created and marketed its products successfully?
Apple Market* Success
“Apple Inc.” advertise innovate
Mac retail progress
Apple OR “Apple Inc.” OR Mac
AND
market* OR advertise OR retail
AND
success OR innovate OR progress
31. Search Terms and Keyword Reminders
Keywords come from the search question
Use Boolean “search connectors” to combine
keywords in ways that capture the results you need
Use broader terms/concepts when looking for
BOOKS.
Use narrower terms when looking for ARTICLES.
32. Finding Books
Towson Catalog
Collection and Call
Number
USMAI Combined
Catalog
Requests
TU WorldCat
Interlibrary Loan
(Illiad)
33. From:
Scholarly Journals
Searching Magazines (inc. Trade Publications)
Databases Newspapers
Cook Library
Peer-reviewed articles in multiple
Subject Gateways
journals
Journals
Computer Science
Towson: 64 journals with the words
“Computer Science” in the title
Databases
Computer Science Index: 500 journals on a
variety of topics
34. Let’s start searching!
Come up with keywords for your topic
Find a website – Check for CRAP
Find a book – Check for CRAP
Find an article – Check for CRAP
As you are finding information on your topic please fill in
the Google Doc worksheet
http://bit.ly/cosc111sp12b
35. Questions?
Feel free to contact me:
Laksamee Putnam
lputnam@towson.edu
410.704.3746.
Twitter: @LibrarianLaks
Or any reference librarian:
Visit Cook Library Reference Desk
410.704.2462.
IM – tucookchat
Notas del editor
Example: Someone studying technology and educationWhat population? (k12, college)Specific tasks/venues: Classroom or assignment use?What subject matter? (ex: biology or history?)What specific technology? (Blackboard, wiki, web site, videoconferencing, IM, online databases, what?)Who is using/”making” that technology? (Student or teacher?)What country? (one or comparing countries)What time period? ( and change over time)
Applications of information technology within a specific field – this can still be a huge topic that can benefit from some whittling down. Otherwise you can have too many sources to wade through, and too much trouble focusing your final product.Some ways to think about it:What are some examples of kinds of technologies you might want to pursue? (mobile communications, social media, software, robotics, etc.).Technologies are tools. They ideally should be used to achieve specific goals. For instance, certain technologies might encourage certain kinds of learning by college students. So one way to approach this would be to think of the goals that are important and then find out which technologies are being used to achieve them.Or, in some (many!) cases, technologies applied in certain ways might cause problems; then other technologies might be used to solve those problems. Computer hacking vs. computer security is one obvious example, but there are others!!Since your professor’s expertise is in INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, you might want to focus on this kind of tech. “as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is ‘the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware.’” – Wikipedia
We can’t search the innards of a book when we use the Towson Catalog to find books. Think of a book that is likely to talk about your subject.Examples: maybe you won’t find a book on the subject of motion detectors in the home. But you might find one on security systems for the home.Maybe you won’t find a book on Blackboard per se. But there might be a book that discusses online education that has a chapter on different systems like Blackboard or even Blackboard specifically.When we search for articles using databases, you can search for much more specific topics. Articles because of their length are more specific & also we can search the entire text of articles most of the time to find that needle in the haystack.
We can’t search the innards of a book when we use the Towson Catalog to find books. Think of a book that is likely to talk about your subject.Examples: maybe you won’t find a book on the subject of motion detectors in the home. But you might find one on security systems for the home.Maybe you won’t find a book on Blackboard per se. But there might be a book that discusses online education that has a chapter on different systems like Blackboard or even Blackboard specifically.When we search for articles using databases, you can search for much more specific topics. Articles because of their length are more specific & also we can search the entire text of articles most of the time to find that needle in the haystack.
Databases are more efficient!Search Academic Search Premier - facebook AND privacy Note difference between magazine and peer reviewed