Physics 3501 Search Strategies

& Resource Selection

Phillip FitzsimmonsReference and Digitization LibrarianAl Harris Library phillip.fitzsimmons@swosu.edu

Capstone Research Class

Your class Web page, containing all of the information presented in this session, is available at the link: Physics 3501.

Remember:

• Make sure you understand your assignment completely. Plan ahead so that you satisfy all it its requirements.

• Do preliminary research to make certain you can find enough information on your topic to do your assignment.

• Get most of the information for your assignment through the Library Home Page. Use Web sites mostly for getting ideas, not as sources for your assignment.

• When in doubt ask your Professor.

Three Places for Resources:

Place Resources• Catalogs Books

• Databases Articles

• Internet Web Pages

Search Technique Number One:

Keywords

Identifying Keywords:

• Identify the significant terms and concepts that describe your topic from your thesis statement or research question.

• These terms will become the key for searching catalogs, databases, and search engines for information about your subject.

Keyword Phrases:

• Single concept, multiple words• Some electronic resources require

keyword phrases be enclosed with punctuation– Quotation marks – SWOSU Catalog – Parentheses

Examples of Keyword Phrases:

• “Robot Technology”• “Trends in Robotics”• “Industrial Robots”• “Robotic Handicap Assistance”

Search Technique Number Two:

Basic Boolean

Boolean

• AND = Narrow

• OR = Expand

• NOT = Exclude

Boolean Operators

• Connect keywords only• Must be placed between keywords

--ANDNarrows your search

--ORExpands your search with synonymous terms

--NOT– Excludes words from your search– If used too much, it can work against you!

Examples of Using Boolean Operators:

• Robots and Military• Robots and Engineering• Robots or Senses• Robots or Electronics• Robotics not Movies• Robots not Fiction

The Resources:

Resource I: Books

• Al Harris Library holds over 300,000 volumes. Use the library catalog to find print and ebooks.

• We have more than 164,000 ebooks. They are exactly like print books except they don’t have to be checked out and can be read on your computer. Many are about current scientific topics.

• Books will provide information for the scientific and social aspects of your topic.

Use keyword and Boolean strategies when searching the catalog:

Click link to Other library catalogs to get to

Open WorldCat:

Open WorldCat:

• Open WorldCat can be searched using keywords to find out what books have been written about your topic.

• If Al Harris does not own the book you need, you can use Open WorldCat to request the book from another library. This is called an Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

Open WorldCat: (Linked to the Library Home page.)

Source II: Databases

• Ebsco: Academic Search Complete• Ebsco: Computer & Applied

Science• Ebsco: Military & Government

Science• Ebsco: Business Source Complete• Science Citation Index• Web of Science or Web of

Knowledge

Click Science & Math link to find appropriate Databases:

Search: “solution” in the database Today’s Science

The Switchgrass Solution—Green Gold? February 2008

Use keywords from the end of the article to do searches in other databases.

Source III: Web sites• Domain Names are the last letters at the end

of web addresses such as .org, .com, .edu, .gov., .mil.

• Including .edu, .gov, or .mil in your Web search will improve the quality of your search results by retrieving only educational, government, or military Web sites.

Examples: Robotics site:gov,

Soft Robot site:edu, Robot sensors site:mil.

• Consider the following Domain Names: .edu — education, .gov —government, .biz — business, .eu — European country, .in – India, .cn – China.

• For a dictionary of Domain Names go to: http://www.techdictionary.com/domainlist.html.

Source III: Web sites

• Google Site Search:1. Use keyword and Site search strategies for

finding credible information on the Web. 2. Always be aware of the bias of each site.

• Government sites1. Use USA.gov to find information in sites you

do not know about.2. Use key phrases “technical report” or

“special report” in your search to get the information you want.

usa.gov is the information clearinghouse for the entire Federal Government. Use it to search all government Web sites simultaneously.

Government Web sites for your assignment:

• NASA-- http://www.nasa.gov/• National Science Foundation--

http://www.nsf.gov/• Department of Energy--

http://www.energy.gov• Government Information Clearinghouse--

http://www.usa.gov/

Tip for searching Government Web sites:

• Include the key phrase “technical report” or “special report” to your search. This will bring science-oriented documents to the top of your results and that are also brochure- and book-length.

Click Instruction link to get to APA citation guide:

APA Citation Guides: Digital

• Citing Sources in APA Style : Al Harris Library (SWOSU) 

http://campusguides.swosu.edu/apa

• OWL: Purdue Online Writing Lab http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/

Writing Center Spring 2015 hours

• Where: (Al Harris Library--B3)

Spring 2015 Hours • The writing center will open for business on Monday, January 26.

  To schedule an appointment

• email writingcenter@swosu.edu. • Call (580) 774-7083, • “like” the S.W.O.S.U. Writing Center on Facebook, or follow us on

Twitter (@swosuwrites) for the most up-to-date scheduling information. Please keep in mind that these hours are subject to change depending on consultants’ schedules as the semester progresses.

 

Recap:

1. The assignment: Know your assignment and cover all of its requirements.

2. Search strategies: Keywords/Boolean3. Apply strategies to resources4. Places of resources:

Catalogs, for BooksDatabases, for ArticlesWeb, for Web sites

5. Try to find three resources that you can use before you leave.

6. Contact me or any of the other librarians for future help.

Questions?• Contact me:

– Phillip Fitzsimmons– 744-3030

phillip.fitzsimmons@swosu.edu

Please evaluate this class at : https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MHXJ898