Finding Information in a (Semi) Digital Age The Art of Digital Research

1. Finding Information in a (Semi) Digital Age The Art of Digital Research Organizing the Web?

2. “As we strive to create a more civil public discourse, a more adaptable and creative workforce, and a more secure nation, the humanities and social sciences are the heart of the matter, the keeper of the republic—a source of national memory and civic vigor, cultural understanding and communication, individual fulfillment and the ideals we hold in common.” • The Heart of the Matter – The Humanities and Social Sciences for a vibrant, competitive, and secure nation  (American Academy of Arts & Sciences. 2013 p.9)

3. This shows the United States from space at night-time. You can tell from the tilt of the earth that it is winter-timer. Daybreak is approaching, but it still is hitting Europe in this shot of the US from space http://jjbjorkman.blogspot.com/2012/12/us-from-space.html

5. “Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it” (Samuel Johnson) • “Intelligence is not the ability to store information but the ability to find it” (Albert Einstein) • Information Technology – helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information Office of Information Technology (UMN) • Knowledge Management (KM)

6. How do you acquire relevant data/information? • How do you organize your Web search to get relevant information • How do you organize your Web search to filter out less relevant information • How do you organize your Web search that to disregard irrelevant information • Searching for Information that is accessible & accurate

7. How do you acquire relevant data/information? • How do you organize your Web search to get relevant information • How do you organize your Web search to filter out less relevant information • How do you organize your Web search that to disregard irrelevant information • Searching for Information that is accessible & accurate For Your Purpose

8. The Data Stream Acquiring and/or accessing data +? Managing data +? Making sense of the data – turning the data into information Publishing the data and information Your Research Other Research Data Data Information Information Publication Publication Library - database

9. Important Ingredients • Some sort of device – computer, smart phone • Browser • Portal – Google • Database – Library – Jstor

10. Important Ingredients • Some sort of device – computer, smart phone • Browser • Portal – Google • Database – Library – Jstor • YOU It really is about YOU

11. Most used web browser in country or dependency as of June 2013, • Google Chrome • Internet Explorer • Mozilla Firefox • Safari • Opera http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Countries_by_most_used_web_browser_(update).svg

12. Words entering the dictionary “recently” • Telecommunications • Byte • Internet, web, web 2 • Laptop, floppy disc – came and went – flash drive, smart phone • Software, hardware • Knowledge Management (KM) • Data Mining (Kurt Thearling) • Information Technology (University of Minnesota) • Intranets • Massive Data Analysis

13. Cloud Computing • Location-independent computing, allowing linked servers to provide software and data to computers and other devices on demand • G-mail at the University

14. Computers have been used to coordinate data/information between multiple locations since the 1950s • The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was an automated control system for tracking and intercepting enemy bomber aircraft used by NORAD from the late 1950s into the 1980s • In later versions, the system could automatically direct aircraft to intercept by sending instructions directly to the aircraft's autopilot • In the 1970s, computer engineers at research institutions throughout the United States began to link their computers together using telecommunications technology • Funded by ARPA (now DARPA), the computer network was called the ARPANET • The network spread beyond academic and military institutions and is now known as the Internet

15. "The World-Wide Web (W3) was developed to be a pool of human knowledge, which would allow collaborators in remote sites to share their ideas and all aspects of a common project”(“Human-Computer Interaction Toward the Year 2000” p. 907) • Initially these facilities were available primarily to those in high-tech environments, but in the 1990s the spread of applications like e-mail and the World Wide Web, combined with the development of cheap, fast networking technologies, computer networking become almost ubiquitous • The Web comprises interlinked hypertext documents contained on the Internet • With a web browser – Netscape, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari - anyone can view web pages containing text, images, videos, or multimedia and navigate between them using hyperlinks • The number of computers that are networked is growing • A very large proportion of personal computers regularly connect to the Internet to communicate and receive information • "Wireless" networking, often utilizing mobile phone networks, has meant networking is becoming increasingly ubiquitous even in mobile computing environments

16. Deep Web Research 2011 (Marcus Zillman, The Virtual Private Library) • Even the best browsers only pick up a small portion of data on the web • Deep Web Research (Marcus Zillman, LLRX.com) • What is the "Invisible Web", a.k.a. the "Deep Web"? (U California, Berkley) • Research Tips for Paralegals: Utilizing the Deep Web (Jenny Blake, Associated Content from Yahoo) • Using the Deep Web: A How-To Guide for IT Professionals (Steven R Grichawka, TechDeepWeb.com) • 100 Useful Tips and Tools to Research the Deep Web (Online College Blog)

17. A Personal Oddessey • Squires, R.H. and A.P.Holder, "The use of computers in the presentation of pollen data" New Phytologist vol. 69 (1970) 875-882 • Hill, A.G. and R.H.Squires, "Graphs drawn by computer" Area vol.4 (1970) 48-52 • IBM 1130 main frame, batch mode, Fortran IV language, paper tape

18. Internet presents new challenges University Library Online Workshops

19. General Principles • The Web is not a source of information - it is • a repository of digital information • a tool allowing access to non-digital information • University of Minnesota Libraries

20. The Web is not disorganized; it is organized by hardware, remote hosts or servers, to which you have access, and local hosts, the computers used by individuals, corporations, and governments to compile information to be placed on servers The content of the Web is organized by the individuals, corporations, and governments that compile the information How do these entities organize their web content? • How they do business • Purpose of the web page • Important information for clients/customers

21. Web producers United States Minnesota Xcel Energy University of Minnesota Rod’s Page

22. Organization of Web Coal, electricity, and clean energy http://www.epa.gov/ http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/ http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/ http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/ http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/coal.html

23. Assignment • Describe the idea and practice of “wilderness” in the United States (5 pages) • Due next week

24. Web expanse – e.g. Wilderness • Google <wilderness> 58.9 million results • Google Scholar <wilderness> 765,000 results • Google Books <wilderness> 16.6 million results • University of Minnesota Libraries • Books <wilderness> 5.635 • Articles <wilderness> 198,961 • JStor <wilderness> 83,302 • ProQuest Congressional <wilderness> 2,261 • LexisNexis Academic <wilderness> Search the news >3,000 Law review articles >3,000 • USA.gov <wilderness> 1.04 million • <wilderness act>  290,00,000  • <BWCAW> 25,500 • Minnesota Public Radio 827 stories • Minneapolis Star Tribune 92 results • Minnesota Department of Natural Resources 1010 results

25. Wot to do? Limit your search in some way • Limit your search term(s) Add additional text – “wilderness act of 1978” “wilderness” and “minnesota” – each site may have its own rules for searching • Limit the period of your search – to the past ten years for example • Limit your search to particular sites, specific authors, journals, books

26. General Principles • Skills that were used to find information in the non-digital world are the same as that are used for finding information in the digital world • The skills which you all develop as users of “brick” libraries, those containing printed material, will stand you in good stead • The electronic medium involves a new technology, therefore it requires some different mechanical skill • However, it does not require different intellectual skills • If you are deficient in using "traditional" libraries, you will be deficient in using the web • You can, however, kinda ignore the nuances of the Library of Congress Classification system or the older Dewey Decimal Classification system for cataloging books although they are still used as a way of organizing books on shelves

27. Browsers allow you access to the Web - Google, there have been more Browsing the entire web using a word and a search engine is very inefficient, albeit fascinating, like browsing in a library The best browsers only find a small fraction of the information about a particular topic on the Internet – deep web research You should start by searching a restricted part of the web, perhaps one with which you are familiar and one in which you have a high degree of confidence of finding relevant and valuable material

28. You can start at the home page of a particular institution or a particular organization • United States • Minnesota • Dakota County • Minneapolis • Nature Conservancy • Xcel Energy • University of Minnesota Libraries • Problem, is of course, you have to be able to identify the organization that is relevant without overwhelming you with data • Use Google to do an initial search? But how do you “know” which site/document is the “best”?

29. A good place to start might be the sources from which you get your usual information – people, place, dates, main issues • Star Tribune • Wall Street Journal • Electronic versions of journals – Time, The Economist • Minnesota Public Radio • NBC • WCCO • Rush Limbaugh • Rachel Maddow

30. United States government • science.gov An initiative of 18 U.S. government science organizations in 14 federal agencies • foodsafety.gov • regulations.gov • healthcare.gov • mymoney.gov

31. Congressional Research Service • Legislative branch agency in the Library of Congress • works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation • areas of research • Open CRS • CRS Reports (collected by Stanford University) • CRS Reports (National Council for Science and Environment) • CRS Reports (ProQuest Congressional) • CRS Reports (The National Agricultural Law Center)

32. Digital Libraries – digital information and digital images of print University of Minnesota Libraries (Your Academic Survival Headquarters)

33. Digital Libraries – digital images of printed materialCommercial Publishers • Google Books • Wiley Online Library • American Legal Publishing: Online Library • EBSCOhost (accessed via University of Minnesota Libraries) • ProQuest Congressional (accessed via University of Minnesota Libraries) • LexisNexis Academic (accessed via University of Minnesota Libraries) • HeinOnline (accessed via University of Minnesota Libraries)

34. Nonprofit Organizations – All have biases • The Cato Institute • The American Enterprise Institute • Common Cause • The Wilderness Society • American Farmland Trust • The Constitution Society • National Pork Producers Council • California Avocado Commission

35. Social Science Research Network • Committed to the rapid worldwide dissemination of social science research • Composed of a number of specialized research networks in each of the social sciences

36. H-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online • An international consortium of scholars and teachers, creating and coordinating Internet networks to advance teaching and research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences • H-AmIndian American Indian History and Culture • H-Amstdy American Studies • H-Business History of Business and Commerce • H-CivWar U.S. Civil War History • H-Energy Energy History • H-Environment Environmental History • H-HistGeog Historical Geography • H-Law Legal and Constitutional History • H-Pol United States Political History • H-Rural Rural and Agricultural History • H-SHEAR Early American Republic • H-Urban Urban History • H-Water History of Water • H-West History and Culture of the North American West and Frontiers

37. Blogs • beSpacific.com (LLRX.com) • Environment, Law, and History • Environmental Law Prof Blog • Law and the Environment

38. Evaluating Internet Resources • Evaluating Web Pages (University of California, Berkeley) • Evaluating Information Sources (University of Minnesota) • Do not forget, virtually anyone can place material on the Web • One way to evaluate information found on the Web is to consider the source of the information • Domain names then become an important characteristic – .com .org .edu .net • One type of information is information that has already been published in a different medium • Such information may have already gone through some sort of peer review • Under this category come the journal articles that can be found in libraries and online • These materials are usually outdated and will not be updated

39. Questions to ask • Who created the site? • What organization created it? • When was the site created? • What was the last update? • How well can you identify who wrote the site material? • What credentials does the author of the site material offer you to justify his/her authority? • Are references given? • Are links given? • How long and with what kind of continuity has the site been maintained? • Does the material on the site take into account other perspectives?