Introduction to Library Research

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Introduction toLibrary Research

• Part 2
• The MSB Online Library and
• Evaluating Sources

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How to know where to look?

• In part one last week, we talked about
• choosing a topic,
• choosing a type of search (subject, citation, or
  keyword) and
• strategies for choosing keywords.
• This week well learn to
• choose where to look (databases, catalog,
  websites) and
• how to evaluate what we find.

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How to know where to look?

• Think of your search like shopping.
• Choose your source based on what youre looking
  for. For example, if youre looking for ice cream
  you wouldnt go to a shoe store. Youd go to a
  grocery store or a specific ice cream store like
  Dairy Queen. Think of searching like that.

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MSB Online Library

• Starts here http//library.msbcollege.edu/
• The online library contains
• Over 46,000 journal, magazine and newspapers
  online, spanning 30 years.
• Over 5,700 e-books.
• Recommended web sites.
• Online help
• And more explore the site! Be sure to notice
  
• the Online Students page.

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Databases

• What are databases?
• 1) A private collection of e-"stuff"2) A
  specific search engine for finding
• and getting the "stuff"

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Databases

• Private?
• In the library databases, the stuff is
  proprietary stuff, that you have to pay to see
• Not going to find it on the free internet
  (Google, MSN, etc.)
• Example
• Consumer Reports has a website that offers a
  small selection of free articles. However, if you
  try to click through to any of their
  recommendations or buying guides, you will
  quickly be asked to buy a subscription to get
  access.
• However, the library databases include
  e-versions of Consumer Reports, so you can go to
  the database (ProQuest), do a search for Consumer
  Reports and your product, and find the full-color
  reviews, charts and buying guides for free

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Databases

• The library pays so that you dont have to!
• But thats why you must
• 1) Go through the library website
• 2) Log in each time you click through to a
  database, you will see a log in screen

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that looks like this. Use the same info that
you use to log in Blackboard and your student
email.
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Databases

• Stuff?
• Databases contain many types of electronic
  documents
• E-journals, articles, newspaper stories etc.
• Professional reports
• E-books and e-book excerpts
• laws and legal docs, business intelligence,
  financial data, images, website links
• general documents
• Databases have professional sources that include
  articles from journals, reports, trade
  publications and news

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Databases

• Articles make up the majority of database
  contents, so its ok to think of it as
• Articles Databases
• or
• I need to find an article I need to use a
  database
• but be aware that there is ALSO much more in
  there.

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Lets Tour the Databases

• 360 Search
• E-journal portal
• EBSCO, Gale, and ProQuest

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To access the databases

• Start at the library homepage (http//library.msb
  college.edu/ )
• Click on Subscription Databases to find
  articles from journals, reports, trade
  publications and news

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Youll see a menu of links to all of our database
services, plus short descriptions of what each
service provides.
Well start by exploring 360 Search and the
E-Journal Search!
These three services in the top row each link to
a collection of many different databases. (The
other eight links on the page each go to one
separate database) However, since these top three
are all multi-database links, they contain the
most content and end up being the services
students use most. So well take a few moments
to cover these three links.
You see twelve links here, but MSB actually
provides over 3 dozen different databases.
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First lets explore

• 360 Search
• Search almost all databases at once!
• Great for finding an article, if you already know
  the title, but arent sure what database to use.

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Select Advanced to search with Boolean Operators
The default search is by database, but you can
search by subject too. Click on the subject to
see which databases are included in the search
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Narrow search with topics Sort by title,
author, source Go to the article by clicking on
the article title or the Journal by clicking on
the Source
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E-Journal Search

• When you know the journal you want, find it fast!

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• EBSCO

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When you click this logo on the library databases
page, you will see
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this EBSCO menu.
These links in the middle of the page are links
to each of the separate EBSCO databases. If you
want to search one specific database, find it
here and follow the link.
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These links at the top of the page will let you
search more than one EBSCO database at once.
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This is a view of the EBSCO search screen.
links for other types of searches
and limiters down below.
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This is a view of an EBSCO results screen.
Click on the title of a result OR the Full
Text links
to see the content.
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Notes

• 1) A couple EBSCO databases have search
  interfaces that look slightly different, but
  operate in the same way.

2) For more EBSCO help, there are more EBSCO
tutorials here http//students.msbcollege.edu/lib
rary/guides/ or ask your librarian.
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Now lets look at
Gale was formerly known as InfoTrac. When you
click this logo on the library databases page,
you will see
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the menu of all the Gale databases. Each link on
this page is a link to one specific
database. One way to search is to find the
database you want and click the blue, underlined
title of the database.
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Remember to scroll all the way down the list when
looking at the Gale databases. There are more
than 20 available.
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If you want to search more than one database, you
can either use the Quick Search box
or check off a number of databases from the list
and click the continue button above to search
many Gale databases at once.
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At the search interface, be sure to click the
More search options link
to make sure you get all the search options.
NOTE Make sure the documents with full text
box is checked for each search
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Notes

• 1) Many Gale databases have specialized search
  interfaces. However, these special interfaces
  usually are easier to use and have good built-in
  help.

Again, there is a longer Gale tutorial
at http//students.msbcollege.edu/library/guides/

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And now,

• When you click this icon on the library database
  page

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you will be brought directly to the search page.
You can search from here of course, but you will
automatically search all four ProQuest databases.
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But if you open the Database drop-down menu you
can see and choose from the different ProQuest
databases.
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Remember to check off the Full text documents
box for each search.
And consider exploring the More search options
link for help building your search.
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Once again, if you want more information on
ProQuest, there is a tutorial at

• http//students.msbcollege.edu/library/guides/

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Databases more information

• Hopefully, that gives you a basic idea of how
  library databases are accessed, how they look,
  and how you can search them.
• I cant cover each database here, but free to
  explore them on your own.
• You can also ask me (your Online Librarian) for
  more information on any particular database.
• For help choosing a database, please see our
  guide to databases by topic
• http//students.msbcollege.edu/library/guides/dbgu
  ide.html

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E-Books

• Find them in the catalog, some databases, and
  Books 24x7
• MSB Library e-books are found in our
• Online Catalog
• Follow catalog link on library homepage
• Search MSB e-books
• Follow the link in the catalog record
• See the e-book guide here
• http//students.msbcollege.edu/library/ebooks/
• for details

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E-books

• Most of our e-books are provided by a service
  called NetLibrary
• There is a small collection of Gale Virtual
  Reference Library and Greenwood books that are
  both in the catalog and from the databases page
• Some databases have e-book excerpts

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Books24x7

• Not part of the MSB Library, but is part of MSB
  Online.
• Business and IT topics only (so far)
• Access through SharePoint
• Our help page (including login information)for
  Books24x7 can be found here
• http//students.msbcollege.edu/library/resources/2
  47.html

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Web sources

• The Library is here to help you search the web
  and find good research websites.
• We have a collection of Recommended Websites for
  many programs and topics on our library webpage.
• To find these, click on the Recommended Websites
  link on the library homepage, then browse through
  the different categories.

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Web sources

• One other tip instead of sorting through
  millions of results in Google, Yahoo or MSN
  searches, try out the
• Librarians Index to the Internet
• at http//lii.org/
• The LII works just like any other search engine,
  except it has two major benefits
• It only searches a collection of librarian
  selected research sites - sites that have been
  chosen for having good information
• It doesnt contain all the commercial or
  advertising results you get in Google etc. - no
  more having to weed through useless Amazon.com or
  e-Bay results trying to find informative sites.

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Additional Tips

• If you have a citation, you know where to look!

Look up the information in the database listed.
Cheney, C. L. (2005). Brothers gonna work it out
Sexual politics in the golden age of rap
nationalism. New York New York University
Press. Retrieved May 23, 2007, from NetLibrary.
Garrity, B., Concepcion, M. (2007, May). A
Hip-Hop History Lesson. Billboard. 119(18). 8.
Retrieved May 23, 2007, from EBSCO MegaFILE
database.
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Additional Tips
You could look up the information in 360 Search
Cheney, C. L. (2005). Brothers gonna work it out
Sexual politics in the golden age of rap
nationalism. New York New York University
Press. Retrieved May 23, 2007, from NetLibrary.
Garrity, B., Concepcion, M. (2007, May). A
Hip-Hop History Lesson. Billboard. 119(18). 8.
Retrieved May 23, 2007, from EBSCO MegaFILE
database.
or look up the Journal title in the Journal
Search!
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Additional Tips
If theres only a URL, then look on the internet.
If theres only a URL, then look on the internet.
National Museum of American History. (2006,
July). National museum of American history
displays recent hip-hop acquisitions. Retrieved
May 23, 2007, from http//www.americanhistory.si.
edu/news/pressrele ase.cfm?key29newskey383
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Evaluating Sources

• What does it matter where I find it, as long as I
  get the information?
• Remember the shopping analogy? There are also
  quality issues.

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The Secrets of Sources

• Credible sources make your argument stronger
• Your teachers are watching!
• Your bosses will be watching!

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Secrets of Sources

• Published materials (traditional sense) USUALLY
  have better reputations
• Why? Because of
• Editors reading the material ahead of time
• Publishing companies only letting good stuff be
  published
• Library materials librarians only selecting
  credible sources for the collection
• The idea is that other respectable folks are
  checking the stuff ahead of time.
• BUT there are differences, not everything is A
  material. For example, some publishers choose
  items for popularity or good marketing rather
  than for reliable information.

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Secrets of Sources
There is a spectrum of credibility among
traditional sources. Three general categories of
material exist among published material

• Scholarly/Peer Reviewed/Academic materials
• vs.
• Trade Publications
• vs.
• Popular Sources

Please take a look at the guide describing these
materials on the library website. http//students.
msbcollege.edu/library/guides/popularscholarlytrad
es.pdf The guide talks about these in terms of
magazines and journals, but the same ideas can be
applied to books and other published documents.
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Scholarly/Peer-Reviewed/Academic

• Characteristics
• Scholarly communication written for scholars by
  scholars in a particular field.
• Research findings
• Few illustrations

Examples Medical Sciences Journal of the
American Medical Association Business Academy of
Management Review
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Trade/Professional

• Characteristics
• For workers in a specific field
• Written by professionals for professionals
• Purpose keep readers updated
• how to
• Usually numerous illustrations

Examples Medical Sciences Family Practice
Management Business Harvard Business Review
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Popular

• Characteristics
• Many illustrations and ads glossy
• Readers general public
• Inform or entertain

Examples Business Consumer Reports Medical
Sciences Health Other Time, Newsweek, People
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Evaluating Websites

• Who is backing/endorsing/publishing/writing the
  information?
• Why?
• Selling stuff? Joke? To inform? To entertain?
• Fair? Balanced? Objective?
• How does it compare?
• Compare the information to other sources on the
  same topic. Does the info seem sound?
• Can you trust the information? How?
• Does the website cite its sources?
• Explain its research? Anything?

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Website Evaluation

• Compare
• Check the info against something else
• Corroborate
• Check enough sources to get the whole story
• Context
• Does the context of the website affect the
  information?

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Comparing Resources

• Take a moment to compare these two websites.
• The first is the first result of a Google search
  for home business. The second the result of a
  slightly more specific search that excludes .com
  sites.
• http//www.homebusiness.com/
• versus
• http//www.bizpathways.org/
• .com web addresses are for COMmercial sites
  and are often sites of businesses or other people
  trying sell you something. .org sites are only
  for proven non-profits (which doesnt
  automatically make them trustworthy every time,
  but is something to consider).
• Which of these sites seems more authoritative?

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In conclusion

• Exploratory research Explore!
• Focused research shop and trial error
• What sort of info do you want?
• Overview? In-depth? Statistics?
• Scholarly? Popular? Trade?
• Book? Article? Recent? Historical?
• What type of searching? What keywords/subjects?
• Where will you look?
• Databases? Which one?
• Library catalog for books?
• Websites? Which search engine?
• Not successful? Ask a librarian or try a new
  strategy.
• Dont forget quality matters.

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More info?

• There are a few more web searching tips on the
  library website
• http//students.msbcollege.edu/library/online_tuto
  rial/search_tips.htmlwebtips
• Always feel free to ask your librarian for advice
  in seeking out reliable sources.

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Questions? Comments? Contact the Online
Librarian Elaine Settergren
esettergren_at_msbcollege.edu http//students.msb
college.edu/library/onlinestudents/