library research … with or without research @ the ecdhs librarythe ecdhs library
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Library Research
…with or without
research @ the ecdhs library
Databases vs. Google
Databases:
Professionally published information
Identifiable authority Easy search
paramaters Quick access to
quality information
Google:
Much personally generated content
Questionable authority
Difficult to focus search
May take a long time to get quality information
Offers the most popular search engine Has developed lots of other applications The most successful advertising
company in history Uses data mining & targeted advertising
based on user habits
Google Search Results
Results page lists links delivered in order of “Google authority,” affected by, amongst other things:
• Keyword frequency per page• Links to page from other sites• Profitability for Google
Google “Authority” Implications: Google good for quickly finding non-
controversial, authoritative sites(eg: a movie home page)
Google bad for quickly finding factual information on controversial topics(eg: Israel-Palestine conflict)
Skewed results towards “page spammers,” “content farmers,” and commercial / Google-owned sites
Google Search Example:
“Global Warming”
www.google.ca
“Global Warming”
~47,000,000 pages (@ time slide created) Lots of sponsored links - $$$ factor Wikipedia entry - $$$ factor Google News - $$$ factor Charities - $$$ factor Good (and poor / biased / outdated)
information sources
You must spend a lot of time assessingpage content to assure quality information!
Who wants to spend that much time trying to find good information?
Online Databases
…the time-saving solution!
Databases available to Drury:
EBSCO Host – huge database; international focus
Gale Cengage – big database;
lots of Canadian Content SIRS (Social Issues Resource Series) –
large; issue-based, American focus
Home-use passwords available!
Databases Available 24/7 Online:
… via the ECDHS Library Website Research Page
Thanks for viewing this tutorial presentation!
Mr. R. Thomson © E.C. Drury H.S. 2011
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