The power of digital literacy

1. The power of digital literacy Comprehensive user education to successfully navigate the Internet Part 2 - Topics Course developed by University Library of Debrecen

2. Overview • Topics covered: • developing a topic/research question • broaden or narrow a topic • identify keywords for a topic • identify research tools • basic steps of a catalog search • use connectors and truncation • understand the difference between keyword and subject searching

3. Getting started • Research is not a linear process, but you can follow certain steps to make your efforts more efficient and effective: • Choosing and developing a topic • Decide on a tentative subject or area of interest • A subject is a broad area of interest from which a more specific topic can be chosen. A research topic, therefore, is a relatively narrow area of interest that can be thoroughly researched and discussed.

4. Sources of ideas • Getting ideas for your topic. • Brainstorming: Create a concept map • Looking at popular news articles and blog posts to see what’s currently in the news about your topic. • Consult an encyclopedia or online reference resources for the subject or discipline • Check your library catalog for books and other resources on the topic. • Internet: a Google search can be helpful in finding additional ideas.

5. Exploration of the subject • Conduct a preliminary exploration of your subject • How has this subject developed or changed over time? • What key concepts and terms are used in this subject area? • What are some of the currently disputed or controversial questions concerning this subject? • Who are the key thinkers and researchers in this area? • What are some of the key publications in this subject?

6. Focusing a broad topic • Narrow your topic • Develop a tentative focus  • Find background information on your topic   • Look for magazine or journal articles  • Choose a particular perspective on the issue • Limit your search to a specific time period , • Add a sub-topic focusing on a particular event, time, person or group, and/or place • Combine themes to choose a focus

7. Information Requirements What information do you need about your topic? Do you need material in alternative formats, like videos, art prints, annual reports, etc.? How much information do you need to gather? Will you need to provide illustrations, maps or other forms of graphical presentation? How current must your information be

8. Appropriate research tools • There are many categories of research tools that will help you locate information on your topic. • OPAC online catalog • subscription databases • Internet academic knowledge resources • reference resources (mostly in print, but increasing available over the Internet).

9. Definig reserach tools A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes. Information can easily be accessed, managed, and updated. In one view, databases can be classified according to types of content: bibliographic, full-text, numeric, and images. A bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records. A bibliographyis a systematic list of books and other works such as journal articles.

10. Database elements Traditional databases are organized by fields, records, and files. A field is a single piece of information; a record is one complete set of fields; and a block is a collection of the same fields. We refer with index to the items of a block.

11. Understanding citations Citation:A reference to a source used in an article, essay, book, etc. Most citations include the following information: • Articles: • Author • Article title • Journal or magazine title • Volume number of the journal or magazine • Date of publication • Page numbers of the article (some citations only include the beginning page number) • Books: • Author • Book title • Date and place of publication • Name of the publisher • Edition number

12. Bibliographic data Formal criteria Subject based criteria

13. Bibliographic data - journals • Journal Title:Academic radiology • Journal Title Abbreviation:Acad Radiol • ISSN:10766332 Electronic ISSN: 18784046 • Publication Info:Reston Va : Association Of University Radiologists. Vol. 1/no. 1 (Sept. 1994)-Frequency:Monthly • Country:United States • Language:English • Alternate Titles:Acad Radiol; Academic radiology • Notes:Also issued online.; Official journal of the Association of University Radiologists ... • Indexing:Index medicus (Full) v3n1,Jan. 1996- -current; MEDLINE (Full) v3n1,Jan. 1996- -current; PubMed (Full) v3n1,Jan. 1996- -current • URL:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/10766332 • Journal ID(s):NLM Unique ID: 9440159 LCCN: sn 94001198 • Subjects:Radiography; Radiology

14. Research tools Functions of a search platform: Search types: simple, advanced, browse Limiting options Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT

15. Simple and advanced search • Simple search: • Searching for keywords stored in the data fields of the record • in the whole database: all keywords • in a defined field • Advanced search: • Searching for keywords in different data fields at the same time.

16. Browse Searching for the alphabetical list of indexes • Browse for: • author • title • Subject

17. Keywords vs. subject • To find subject headings for your topic: • Look to see if the database has an online thesaurus to browse for subjects that match your topic. • Some databases publish thesauri in print (e.g. Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms for the PsycInfo database) • Start with a keyword search, using words/phrases that describe your topic. • Browse the results; choose 2 or 3 that are relevant. • Look at the Subject or Descriptor field and note the terms used. • Your results will be more precise than your initial keyword search.

18. Boolean operators Boolean operators define the relationships between words or groups of words. AND   Narrow search and retrieve records containing all of the words it separates. ORBroaden search and retrieve records containing any of the words it separates. NOTNarrow search and retrieve records that do not contain the term following it. ( )Group words or phrases when combining Boolean phrases and to show the order in which relationships should be considered: e.g., '(mouse or mice) and (gene or pseudogene)

19. Boolean operators (example) Both words must appear in each reference. This will narrow your search. Cat and dog will retrieve all references which contain both terms. Both words must appear in each reference. This will narrow your search. Cat and dog will retrieve all references which contain both terms. The second word must not appear in any reference. This will narrow your search. Cat not dog will retrieve all references with cat, except references which include dog. (With NOT operator you may exclude useful references.)

20. Limiting results • Limiting results: • language • date • document type (book, journal, etc.) • location

21. Truncation • Truncation searching allows you to retrieve documents containing variations on a search term. • Truncation works in many search engines, databases and catalogues. • Truncation uses symbols (or wildcards) to replace letters in words. You can use them to get more results than you would with one word. • Different databases, catalogues and search engines use different symbols. Some of the most commons are: • (asterisk), ? (question mark), # (pound sign), • % (percent sign)

22. Truncation Not sure which variant of a word is likely to produce the best search results? Could it be computer or computers or computingorall of them? If you only want to do one search, but don't know which variant of a word is best, use a word stem for all variations of the word, such as comput* to retrieve any of the following : computer, computers, computing. The symbol following the word stem (*) will vary, depending upon the database or the search engine you are using. The asterisk (* ) appears to be used most commonly when searching the Web. Always check the Help function to acquaint yourself with the attributes specific to each search utility you use. Some search engines may not support truncation while others will automatically finds plurals.

23. Exercises – OPAC search