How to Find Information on Controversial Topics

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How to Find Information on Controversial Topics

• AFHE 304
• September 15-19, 2003
• Sandy Campbell and Allison Sivak
• Science and Technology Library
• University of Alberta

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Outline

• Introduction
• Whats New for 2003
• Information Truths
• Finding Information
• Evaluating Information
• Kinds of Information Sources
• How Do You Find the Different Kinds of
  Information?
• Tricks for Getting the Material
• Systems for Keeping Your References in Order

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Librarys Goal in Instruction

• To ensure that U of A graduates are able to
  independently locate and evaluate required
  information.

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What is Information

• Information is the content transmitted during the
  communications process

U U U
U U U
Information
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Whats New for 2003?

• 1) New Library Catalogue
• 2) Chat (Virtual) Reference Services
• 3) Silent, quiet and common study floors in all
  libraries

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Whats New for 2003?

• 5) E-journals most current issues e-only by
  January,2004
• 6)Wireless networks in some areas of all libraries

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Whats New for 2003?

• 7) Improved E-mail-only Notification
  featuresHeads Up notice / Overdue notice /
  Request arrival / Recall notice
• 8) Expanded Sunday and Holiday hours

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Two Aspects of Information Use

• Where to find information
• How to evaluate information

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Information Truths You Need to Know

• Most of what you find on the Internet is junk.
• If information is useful, it probably has a price
  attached to it.
• Most useful information is organized.

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Finding Information

• If you cant figure out where to find a piece of
  information, think about who would be motivated
  to have it collected/created and published.

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Evaluating Information

• Critical Reviews of Journal Articles
  http//www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/criticalrevi
  ews/index.cfm
• Critical Evaluation of Resources on the Internet
  http//www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/criticaleval
  uation/index.cfm

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Learning to Spot the Lies

• How to Lie with Maps
• SCI G 108.7 M747
• How to Lie with Methodology
• EDUC BF 38.5 S312
• How to Lie with Statistics
• SCI HA 29 H88

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Kinds of Publications

• Academic Publications
• Government Publications
• Newspapers/Magazines
• Corporate Publications
• Association Publications

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Academic Publications

• Scholarly articles
• Books
• Conference papers
• Technical reports

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Strengths of Academic Publication

• Peer Review
• other scholars review the work before it is
  published to ensure that it is of high quality
• Ulrichs International Periodical Directory tells
  you if a title is peer reviewed
• Tenure
• permits faculty members to publish the truth as
  they see it without fear of political
  interference or monetary reprisals

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Government Publications

• Federal, provincial, municipal
• may have a political bias
• Kinds of publication
• Statutes and regulations
• standards
• Informational publications
• Research publications

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Newspapers/Magazines

• Grade 6 reading level
• (magazines and newspapers)
• Purpose is often to entertain
• Content controlled by editors/advertisers
• Often have a well-recognized bias
• Letters to editor are a good source of local
  opinion (often not indexed)

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Corporate Publications

• Public relations information
• News Releases
• Brochures
• Business information
• Annual reports
• Regulatory filings
• Technical information (research)

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Association Publications

• Usually highly focussed
• Often intelligence-rich, but money-poor
• Kinds of publications
• web-sites
• newsletters
• annual reports
• action statements
• books/magazines

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Other Formats

• Cartographic materials
• William C. Wonders Map Collection
• Data
• Statistics Canada (CanSim)
• Data from other government sources
• Data from private sources

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How Do You Find These Different Kinds of
Information

• Library Home Page
• Web search engines
• SciTech Reference
• SciTech Subject pages
• Indexes and Abstracts
• Corporate and Government Web-sites

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Which Search Engine to Use?

• Search Engine Showdown Search Engine Features
• http//www.notess.com/search/features/byfeature.sh
  tml
• Search Engine Watch Search Engine Features for
  Searchers
• http//www.searchenginewatch.com/facts/ataglance.h
  tml
• Comparison of Search Engine User Interface
  Capabilities
• http//lisweb.curtin.edu.au/staff/gwpersonal/compa
  re.html
• How to Choose a Search Engine or Directory
• http//library.albany.edu/internet/choose.html

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Reference Collection and Subject Links

• Sci/Tech Reference Collection
• Lots of good material only available in paper
• Sci/Tech Subject Links
• Where the librarians publish their favorites
• Always being revised and updated

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Databases (Indexes and Abstracts)

• CAB Abstracts
• Agricola
• Envrionment Abstracts
• Web of Science (Science Citation Index)
• CPIQ
• Canadian Newsstand

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CAB Abstracts

• (1973 to the present)
• international coverage of all aspects of
  agriculture, horticulture, animal production and
  forestry
• CABI Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences
  International.

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Agricola

• (1970 to the present)
• U.S. agricultural and life sciences information
• 3.3 million citations to journal articles,
  monographs, theses, patents, and technical
  reports.

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Environment Universe

• (1975 to the present)
• Includes all aspects of humankind and technology
  impact on the environment
• microfiche of most of the articles available in
  SciTech Library (Envirofiche)

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Web of Science(Science Citation Index)

• Includes
• Art Humanities Citation Index
• 1989-present)
• Science Citation Index Expanded(TM)
• (1989-present)
• Social Sciences Citation Index (1989-present
• Paper copy 1955- current
• Online 1975 -current
• Where have important articles been cited?

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CPIQ

• Canadian content
• Some scholarly journals but mainly trade
  magazines
• The most general Canadian content magazine index

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Canadian Newsstand

• Various dates - (1985 to the present to
• 2000-present )
• Fulltext access to major Canadian newspapers.
  Full text is available for the articles and
  transcripts but graphical material (photos,
  illustrations, graphs, etc.) is excluded.
  Classified ads, advertisements, and stock market
  reports are also excluded.

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Tricks for Getting the Material

• OneCard (NEOS Libraries)
• Request a book
• TAL Card (The Alberta Library)
• E-journals
• E-books
• Government web-sites
• Inter-library loan

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The Alberta Library

• Get your free card from the Circulation Desk in
  Cameron
• Allows you to borrow up to 5 books at a time
• Gives you access to more than 200 libraries in
  Alberta including
• NAIT
• Edmonton Public

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COPPUL Undergraduate Library Card

• Council of Prairie and Pacific University
  Libraries
• Allows undergraduates to borrow books at any of
  the western universities and some colleges

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Electronic Journals

• Linked directly from the catalogue
• Small percentage of the collection
• More than 8000 now available
• More coming through JSTOR

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Books 24 x 7

• Full text of books available on line
• Mainly computer support books
• NetLibrary
• More than 1000 books on a variety of subjects

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Systems for Keeping Your References in Order

• ProCite
• http//www.library.ualberta.ca/subject/healthscien
  ces/procite/index.cfmwhat
• EndNote

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How to Cite Electronic Titles

• Same basic rules apply
• Citation Style Guides for the Internet and
  Electronic Sources (http//www.library.ualberta.ca
  /guides/citation/index.cfmInt)

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• Sandy Campbell Allison Sivak
• Reference Librarian Academic Library Intern
• Science and Technology Science and Technology
• Library Library
• 1-26 Cameron Library 1-26 Cameron Library
• (780) 492 7915 [phone]
• sandy.campbell_at_ualberta.ca allison.sivak_at_ualberta.
  ca