biological orientation linda pye, head of technical services (x7021) linda.pye@swosu.edu ...

Biological Orientation

Linda Pye, Head of Technical Services (x7021)linda.pye@swosu.edu

http://faculty.swosu.edu/linda.pye/Biological Orientation Spring 2010.htm

Information Literacy

Information Literacy

It is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

Information Literacy

Information literacy is common to all disciplines, to all learning environments, and to all levels of education.

Science, engineering and technology are rapidly changing and it is vital to the practicing scientist and engineer that they know how to keep up with new developments and new sources of experimental/research data.

Information Literacy

“The level of trust that has characterized science and its relationship with society has contributed to a period of unparalleled scientific productivity. But this trust will endure only if the scientific community devotes itself to exemplifying and transmitting the values associated with ethical scientific conduct. It is therefore incumbent on all scientists and scientific institutions to create and nurture a research environment that promotes high ethical standards, contributes to ongoing professional development, and preserves public confidence in the scientific enterprise.” –National Academy of Sciences

Information Literacy

Scientific Research Cycle

Scientific Research Cycle: An Overview

Research & Development Initial Reporting of Results Author’s Finished Report Peer-Reviewed Publication of

Research Article Studies of Previous Work News Reports

Scientific Research Cycle: Research & Development

Academia Industry Government

Experimentation Fieldwork Literature Review Library & Web

Research

Informal Communications: Email Instant Messaging Discussion Lists Blogs Social Networking Conversations

Scientific Research Cycle: Initial Reporting of Results

Patents (or patent applications) Conference Papers/Presentations

If funding runs out or the work appears to be a “dead end,” this may be the only report ever generated.

Scientific Research Cycle: Author’s Finished Report

Preprints Often posted to a preprint

server; author establishes priority and solicits comment prior to formal review

Technical Reports Reports of research

performed by gov’t agencies, private industry, or academic departments

Dissertations/Theses A student’s final report of

research performed for a graduate degree

Scientific Research Cycle: Peer-Reviewed Publication

Completed paper is submitted to a journal; the editor(s) send the paper to another researcher in the same field of work for comment and verification of the quality of work; the paper may be returned to the author for corrections, elaboration, etc. before final acceptance.

Letters Journals Also known as “rapid

communications” journals, publish shorter articles and offer authors faster publication than other research journals

Scientific Research Cycle: Studies of Previous Work

Review Articles An expert in a field reports on the “state of the

art” of the area of research. May appear in a Review Journal (“Annual Reviews in…; Reviews of…”) or in a research journal.

Monographs (books) Encyclopedias Handbooks Textbooks

Scientific Research Cycle: News Reports

May occur at any point in the research process Newspapers Magazines

News and features, usually for a general or interested-amateur audience

Trade Journals News and features

for professionals in a a particular field

Television

Timeframe for Info

Books Articles Newspapers Web Pages

Once Quarterly – Weekly Daily – Multiple Ed. Hourly – Anytime

0 1000 2000 3000 4000

Internet

Databases

Periodicals

Newspapers

Books

Years Old

Differences Between Informational Resources

Expectations of Students

Information Literacy in Science and Engineering Undergraduate Education (1999), pp. 16-17.

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Peer-Reviewed Research Articles Information is

produced by the researcher

Conference Papers

“original content”

Review Articles Information

summarized by someone other than the researcher

Handbooks, Encyclopedias, etc.

“study of the original”

Books and E-Books

You can’t judge a book by its cover

E-Books

Just because its in a different format doesn’t disqualify it as a book

resource

Periodicals

MAGAZINES Popular Info Audience:

General Public Amateur Interest

Purpose: Hobby Pleasure Curiosity

JOURNALS Scholarly Info Audience:

Researcher Professional Who

Needs to Stay Up-to-Date

Purpose: Goal-Driven

Research Paper Certification, Tenure Job Requirement

Difference Between Scholarly and Popular Literature

Popular Magazines Scholarly Journals

Overall appearance

Glossy paper, advertisements, heavily illustrated, attractive in appearance

Sober and serious, may contain graphs or charts, no glossy paper, specialized advertisements

Audience General Public Scholars, professionals and students

Authors Reporters Scholars in the field

Documentation Sources sometimes cited for news articles, but rarely

Cite sources in footnotes or bibliography

Purpose Provide general information or summarize research

Report on original research or experimentation

Article Acceptance Procedure

Articles written by hired reporters, edited by magazine editors, and published

Often undergo a "peer-reviewed" process -- reviewed by other scholars in the field before being published. Sometimes these journals are called "refereed journals"

Peer Reviewed or Refereed

Scholarly sources are concerned with academic study, especially research for individuals such as, students, teachers, professors, or any other professional who need current information to stay informed of changes to their profession or area of expertise. Many scholarly journals are peer reviewed or refereed, that is, these articles have been subjected to a rigorous approval and editing process by other scholars in that discipline. This process doesn’t apply to popular magazines.

Science Peer Review in a Nut Shell

Examples of Peer-Review

Journal of Economic EntomologyBiological ReviewsJournal of Parasitology

Biology Databases

http://faculty.swosu.edu/linda.pye/Biological Orientation.htm

Types of Searching: Keyword vs. Subject

Keyword Flexible Less accurate Affected by

Boolean Operators, Truncation Symbols and punctuation

Subject Rigid Very Precise Predetermined

vocabulary established by the Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, and other groups

Indexing vs. Full-text

Indexing

Indicates the only information available about the article is the citation. Additional searching will be necessary using the Periodicals List.

Full-text

Indicates the entire article can be found within the database, no physical searching is necessary

Standard formats are: HTML & PDF

World Wide Web: Pros & Cons

Strengths: Web vs. Library

Web Current events and

news Statistics and Other

Information by Gov.’t Full-text Resources

(expired copyright) Pop Culture

TV Movies Music

Opinion Information about

Organizations & Groups

Library Research Based

Books & Articles Works Cited/

Bibliographies Full-text Resources Authoritative & Peer-

reviewed Materials Information about

People & Cultures Easier to Search

Library Catalog Databases

Why Can’t I Get this Info on the Web?

Humanities American History $29.95 / yr Journal of Teacher Education $30 / yr College English $75 / yr

Nursing & Allied Health Applied Nursing Research $224 / yr Nursing Science Quarterly $280 / yr Journal of Community Health Nursing $475 / yr

Sciences Journal of the Optical Society of America $1,760 / yr Journal of the American Chemical Society $3,589 / yr Journal of Physics $7,115 / yr

This doesn’t include pricing for electronic access or database subscriptions.

Surface Web

Ever wonder what you might be missing?

Google2.7 billion searches per month

Indexes 16% of the SWIndexes 0.03% of the WWW

Deep Web

NO SEARCH ENGINES ALLOWED

54% of DWis databases

DW is 500 timeslarger than SW

And a 1,000 times

higher in quality too

Diving into the Deep Web

There’s nothing wrong with Google.But have you tried one of these?

Entrez (Life Sciences Search Engine)SCIRUS (Science-Specific Web Portal)

Infomine (Scholarly Internet Resource Collections)BioMetaCluster (Life Sciences Metasearch Engine)

INTUTE (Educational Research Portal)NSDL (National Science Digital Library)

Echo (History of Science Directory)eNature Field Guides

DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals

What the Net is Generating

RSS Feeds (Annual Reviews) Blogs (Biology-Blog)

Top 100 Liberal Arts Professor Blogs Wikis Social Networking

Jove (Wired article) Lab Action (YouTube for Scientists) ScientificCommons (New Science Consortia) PeerClip (bookmarking for physicians) Public Library of Science (open access literature) SciLink (online network of scientists & authors) SciVee (sync tools & resources to connect science

publications to online video)

Evaluation

Evaluating Print vs. Electronic

Publication ProcessAuthorship & AffiliationsSources & Quotations

Bias & Special InterestsAuthor Qualifications

Publication Information

Remember to Evaluate!

Authority Who created it? Who is responsible? What credentials do they hold? What makes them

qualified to discuss the topic? Accuracy

Can the information be verified? Check the facts!

Objectivity How is the information being presented? Is it objective or biased? What’s the point of view?

Currency (important based on subject) When was it published? When was it last updated?

End of Session

Thank Youfor listening!