If you're new to academic databases, it can be tricky at first to understand what their purpose really is and why they do not all have the full text. It can also be difficult to understand the difference between the database and the platform or provider.
Back in the dark ages before the internet, you had three key ways to find information on a topic -- the library card catalog, indexes and guides, and following citation trails. In reality, these things still exist, we've just started using computers to help do a lot of the work (and often improve the tools in the process).
Indexes would have a list of publications they subscribed to that covered a particular topic. The American Humanities Index (for example) received copies of hundreds of journals that covered the humanities, as well as many literary magazines. They would then create a citation for each article and decide what topics were covered by that article. They would then create several different index cards for that one record: One with the author's name at the top, followed by the full citation, and two to three more with different topics at the top of the card, followed by the citation.
Let's make up a citation to show an example:
Smith, John. 1999. "Mark Twain's Role in Shaping Southern Literature" Journal of Crazy Ideas 42(1):20-28
The index would have been arranged alphabetically. If knew John Smith had written an article, but, you couldn't remember where it was published, you turn to "Smith, John" and find the citation. If you were interested in Mark Twain, you'd turn to "Twain, Mark." Or you might find it under "American Literature." Once you knew your citation, you could go find it in the library. At the time, this was the best way to find the articles that you needed. However it was limited by the constraints of space. Indexes tended to have small print, abbreviated journal titles, and could only index an article under a limited number of topics. There was no space to print abstracts of each article either.
Databases are working with this same model. They collect the citation and apply subject headings to it. However, since the information is all on computers, you no longer have the problem of space. Instead of having a citation repeated in three to four places, one record is created with distinct fields. The computer searches those fields for a match. As server space became cheaper, it became easier to add more features like abstracts and even full-text. In a nutshell, online databases have much more flexibility in searching. It also means that it can be harder to focus your search.
The database provider is much like the publisher of the old indexes (some of which are still around). They take the information and package it into an easy-to-use form. Typically, each provider has their own distinct platform. EBSCOHost, ProQuest and CSA are each providers with their own platform. The platform is then used to search and display the data you need. Often providers own (or license) several different databases, all of which are then available on their platform.
As a rule of thumb, the database is the collection of indexed information. The platform is the software that searches and displays information.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Tips & Tricks: Understanding Academic Databases
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Information, Technology & Culture Round-up
Today's IT&C Round-up covers privacy concerns, copyright protection, the digital divide, social networking, and the impact of technology on our lives.
Technology & Culture
Europe Clears Mobiles on Aircraft
"Mobile phone calls will be allowed on planes flying in European airspace under new European Commission rules. The decision means that mobiles could be used once a plane has reached an altitude of 3,000m or more." We'll see whether the United States follows suit on this.
Overloading the Brain: Multitasking
"We make choices like this every day. We decide where to go to college, what to eat for dinner, who to date. And a lot of our choices are irrational, influenced by irrelevant information. We are of course capable of making deliberate, logical choices as well; recent science suggests that the brain is like a hybrid engine, constantly switching back and forth between reasoned calculation and rapid intuition. But what determines how we will handle a particular problem in life? How do we know what part of our cognitive repertoire will be in play today?"
The study invoked does not actually involve multitasking, but, the author discusses the implication of mental fatigue on decision-making and how multitasking adds to that strain. Is this a fair extension? Perhaps, perhaps not. However other studies have shown that "...multitasking may seem more efficient on the surface, but may actually take more time in the end." Indeed, multitasking is suspected to inhibit learning. The UCLA conducted an experiment on multitasking "...in which 14 men and women in their 20s were asked to learn a simple classification task under two sets of circumstances: once with no distractions, and then while simultaneously counting the number of high-pitched beeps they heard through headphones. In both cases, subjects learned the new skill just fine. But the study, using MRI scans, showed that when asked to multitask, the subjects used a totally different part of their brains — the striatum rather than the hippocampus." Essentially, because a different area of the brain is active, it inhibits the ability of the individual to recall the information in a flexible way.
Social Networking
He loves me? He loves me not? Check Facebook.
Having been on Facebook for a bit myself, I've been intrigued by the way it spreads social status information. XKCD poked fun at Facebook's dating profiling months ago. However, I find it interesting that this aspect finally caught the attention of CNN. Social networking isn't solely for keeping track of who's involved with who.
Collaborative Innovation Networks: Innovation through Social Networking
"A question. What connects Facebook enthusiasts in China busy translating the social networking site into Mandarin and a community of orthopaedic surgeons swapping ideas on how to treat spinal injuries? The answer. They're both examples of a worldwide phenomenon that is changing the way people -- and ultimately businesses -- develop ideas.
Collaborative Innovation Networks (COINs) are online communities of like-minded people working together to create innovations. Author and scientist Peter Gloor originated the term. He describes it as a "cyberteam of self-motivated people with a collective vision.""
Similarly, social networking has led to the development of the microfinancing model, allowing individuals to choose to lend money to people who would normally be considered too risky by most banks. Kiva.org is a non-profit organization where the investors are repaid though do not make any money from the loan. Prosper.com works more like a standard loan where the money is paid back to the investors with interest. How well do the programs work? I'm not sure. From an investor's point of view, it spreads the risk around. From the borrower's point of view, it could be as bad as some of the high interest credit cards. Still, it's a fascinating concept.
Digital Divide
Navajo Nation Likely to Lose Internet Service
The Navajo Nation will likely lose internet service over the possibility that they had been double-billed previously. The E-rate program that pays for their service will be withholding money from the provider.
Privacy and Information Access
Health Database Was Set Up to Ignore ‘Abortion’
Johns Hopkins University said Friday that it had programmed its computers to ignore the word “abortion” in searches of a large, publicly financed database of information on reproductive health after federal officials raised questions about two articles in the database.
Search engines should delete personal data held about their users within six months
"The body was set up to provide expert opinion to the European Commission and to make recommendations in the areas of personal data and privacy. The Commission usually adopts the recommendations the body makes.
The report also said search engines did not need to gather additional personal data, beyond the IP address of a machine being used, in order to deliver basic search results and advertisements." That last is particularly interesting, in light of another article in which Dr Richard Clayton, a computer security researcher at the University of Cambridge, declared that the Phorm targeted advertising system breaks current privacy laws in the UK.
Last but not least: Copyright
Do Student's Lecture Notes Infringe on the Professor's Copyright?
University of Florida professor Michael Moulton thinks copyright law protects the lectures he gives to his students, and he's headed to court to prove it.
Moulton and his e-textbook publisher are suing Thomas Bean, who runs a company that repackages and sells student notes, arguing that the business is illegal since notes taken during college lectures violate the professor's copyright.
This is one of the stickiest copyright controversies I've seen recently. Do your notes violate copyright law? Is the law only violated if the notes are then sold? Does a lecture even count as protected material or does it signal lazy teaching if the notes are reused from year to year? You tell me.
Friday, April 04, 2008
New JSTOR platform launches today
Regular JSTOR users might notice that the database looks a bit different today. JSTOR has just released an updated interface. Here's what they say about it:
- We are excited to announce that the new JSTOR platform will be launched on Friday, April 4. The behind-the-scenes process for switching from the existing JSTOR to the new platform will begin around 7:00 a.m. EST. We will be making changes throughout the day, but the vast majority of users should experience no interruption or downtime.
A document describing features of the new platform is included in the JSTOR Sandbox (sandbox.jstor.org). The Sandbox also has links to tutorials and training materials focused on the new JSTOR interface.
You can see the new JSTOR by linking through the library's Databases A-to-Z page or any of our subject pages.
Need help with the new JSTOR? Stop by the reference desk (or IM us at SkidRef).
Enjoy!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Information Tips and Tricks: Article Citations, Part II
Article Citations 101, Part Two: Practicing Reading a Citation
In part one, we talked about how to identify the parts of a citation. You'll want to take a look at that post first. Now we’ll dissect a couple citations. While these citations are good examples of some of the variations you may see, each field has its own citation rules. Many journals and databases also have their own rules. However, with some basic concepts and practice, you’ll be able to decipher any citation. Familiarizing yourself with some of the different citation styles such as APA, Chicago and MLA will also help you understand both reading and writing citations. For more information on citations visit the library's citation page. To help you create citations for your own work try the Citation Machine.
Citation from EBSCOHost Academic Search Premier:
Article Title: “MARK--RECAPTURE--RECOVERY MODELING AND AGE-RELATED SURVIVAL IN LITTLE PENGUINS (EUDYPTULA MINOR)”
-- Like most databases, the article title is listed first.
Authors: Sidhu, Leesa A.; Catchpole, Edward A.; Dann, Peter.
-- the word “By” makes this one easy, doesn’t it?
Journal Title: Auk
-- This one might have been tricky for you. No “Journal of” to tip you off. But, the only thing “Auk” could be is the journal title.
Volume & Issue: Vol. 124 Issue 3
-- Spelled out nicely for you.
Pages: p815-827, 13p
-- Most bibliographies will not list how many pages long the article is.
Date: July 2007
Odd Things: (AN 26133923)-- This is a code that EBSCO uses to identify that particular record. This is not something you would use to cite this article; however, you can use that code to find that article again in Academic Search Premier.
EBERHARDT, L. L. 1985. Assessing the dynamics of wild populations. Journal of Wildlife Management 49:997-1012.
Article Title: Assessing the dynamics of wild populations.
-- In this case it’s after the author and the year. However, the journal title is obvious.
Author: EBERHARDT, L. L.
-- Right where you’d expect the author in most bibliographies.
Journal Title: Journal of Wildlife Management
-- “Journal” makes it easy to tell the original source of the article.
Volume & Issue: 49
-- Many styles of bibliography will put the volume & issue before a colon and the pages after it. Usually it follows the form Vol (issue): pp-pp. Here there’s only one number beforehand. How do you know whether it’s the volume or the issue? In truth, you can’t know for sure. They may be listing the volume only and assuming you’ll figure out the issue based on the page number. Or they may only publish issues without using volumes at all. If requesting this via interlibrary loan, put it in either space and add a note about the citation.
Pages: 997-1012
-- see volume & issue explanation above
Date: 1985
-- It’s the only number that could possibly be the date, if nothing else.
Information Tips and Tricks: Article Citations, Part I
Welcome to the first of another new regular column on the Scribner Library Blog! Here you’ll find research tips and tricks from basic concepts to tricky details. Whether you’re a research neophyte or a master of information, we hope you’ll find something useful here. For our first few tips, we’ll be starting with some basics.
Article Citations 101, Part I: The Basics
So, you’ve found a citation, and, the abstract of the article sounds like exactly what you need. But what is it and where is it? Alternately, you've found an article that looks great. What information do you need to know to find it again? Or to tell someone else where to find it? Today, we’ll cover the basics of the parts of a citation of a journal article. In part two, we’ll dissect some examples.
The main pieces of a citation are as follows:
Article Title – The title of the article is often listed first in citations in electronic databases. This allows people to scan their hits to find relevant articles. However, it is rarely listed first in bibliographies, unless there is no author listed.
Article Author(s) – Often listed after the article title in e-databases, but, almost always first in most bibliographies.
Journal Title – Usually after the article title and author, the journal title is often underlined or italicized in bibliographies but not always. Sometimes you’ll simply need to follow your intuitions. Journal titles will be broader interest than the article title and often contain the word “journal”.
Volume & Issue –Volume and issue are publishing terms. For example, let’s say the Journal of Widgets runs one issue per month, but, two volumes per year. Therefore, the October issue would likely be Volume 2, Issue 4. Knowing an article is from 1994, but, not which volume and/or issue could lead you to having to search through that entire year to find that article. If there is no issue, but, there’s a month given be sure to note the month.
Pages – Just like in a book, this tells you were to find the article you want. However, some journals will use continued pagination from issue to issue, but, not volume to volume. Issue 1 of the Journal of Widgets would end on page 128. Issue 2 would begin on page 129, and, so on through that volume.
Year/Date – Date of publication. Always at least a year.
For more on citations, visit the library's citation resources page as well as the Article Citations Part II.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
New database trials
The library is currently offering trial access to several research databases. If you haven't checked our trial database page in a while, take a look. New trials include:
- Aluka (African Studies)
- CQ Electronic Library (American government, politics, history, public policy, and current affairs)
- Literature Resource Center & Literature Criticism Online
- National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts
- Readers Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982 (Multidisciplinary/General interest)
Enjoy!
Information, Technology & Culture Round-up
They Know Who You Are, They Know What You've Bought
RFID tags can be highly useful bits of technology, but, they are not without risk of abuse. All it takes to read them is a scanner. If every item in your home contained a RFID chip from when it was purchased, while it might make it easier for you to check out at the store, it might also allow a criminal to scan your home to know what items you have. Washington State has enacted a law that "makes it a Class C felony to intentionally scan another person's identification remotely without his or her knowledge and consent, for the purpose of fraud, identity theft, or some other illegal purpose." However, this law would not stop businesses from collecting the information for targeted advertisement. Engadget discusses the potential for abuse. Even if businesses themselves didn't abuse the information they collected, collected information always has the risk of being stolen. In some cases, privacy is required for true security.
Death of the Print Encyclopedia
Encyclopedia publishers are steadily moving away from the standard print tomes that have been library and home standards for generations. In many ways the move makes sense. Electronic encyclopedia can have longer entries and are easier to maintain. Yet I'll admit a certain fondness for that kind of reference material that I suspect won't completely disappear. While electronic media make it easy to find information on a particular topic, you can't have the same moments of serendipitous discovery as an entry on another page caught your eye.
Professor as an Open (Face)Book
Apparently more and more professors have moved to Facebook and other social networking sites. Is this cool? Creepy? I think that depends on the professors and the students coming across them to be honest. As someone in the academic field who has been involved in social networking for the past seven years, I think this trend is likely to continue to grow.
A Computer Screen You Can Fold
Similar in concept to the Kindle, the Readius is an e-book reader. However, the makers of the Readius wanted a larger screen without sacrificing portability. The solution? An e-ink screen that can be folded.
Genetic Testing Gets Personal
Personalized medicine, the detection of people's individual health risks and the tailoring of preventive strategies and therapies just for them, has been a buzzword for years. But it remained elusive until technological advances allowed researchers to scan huge stretches of human DNA quickly and at relatively modest expense…"
If you haven't seen the movie Gattaca, I'd recommend it. It explores the many-fold issues surrounding profiling people by their genetic makeup. These issues are becoming real, despite the fact that we've barely scratched the surface in our quest to understand how genetic disposition relates to environmental factors.
And that's the information, technology & culture round-up.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Information, Technology & Culture Round-up
Welcome to the first Information, Technology & Culture Round-up. How will technological innovations change the way we access information? Where is the line between personal privacy and public information? How do we filter through all of the information that is thrown at us every day? These are the kinds of topics we'll be discussing here on a somewhat regular basis.
ISP Tracking and Targeted Advertising
How would you feel if a company monitored every move you made on the internet? A company called Phrom is working with several ISPs to do just that. The goal is to then tailor advertisement to your interested, based upon where you've been online. This is not a new concept. Facebook continues to be criticized for using the Beacon program for both targeted ads and publishing user's internet activities to their friends. New York State Assembly representative Richard Brodsky has proposed legislation that would impose limitations on Internet data collection practices. However, states hands are often tied due to the Commerce Clause, which limits the ability of states to regular interstate businesses.
Freedom of Information? Maybe not.
Since September 11th 2001, states have “steadily limited the public’s access to government information…” Where should the line between transparency and public protection be? To better understand the importance of the openness of government information, see what the Dallas Morning News would have looked like “…without access to government records and meetings.”
Online Gaming as a Model for the Real WorldEpidemiologists have already used World of Warcraft as a model of how epidemics spread. Now "Charles Blair, deputy director of the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies, said he thinks the game could provide a powerful new way to study how terrorist cells form and operate." This isn't the first time that someone has considered gaming as a way of exploring terrorist development. Clive Thompson realized that in his efforts to deal with superior players in Halo 3, he "...had, quite unconsciously, adopted the tactics of a suicide bomber -- or a kamikaze pilot."
"So after a few weeks of this ritual humiliation, I got sick of it. And I devised a simple technique for revenge... It's not just that I'm willing to sacrifice my life to kill someone else. It's that I'm exploiting the psychology of asymmetrical warfare."
And that's the IT&C Round-up.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Where's the Circ Desk?
Please be advised that the library’s Circulation Department (including the front desk area) will be recarpeted during the week of January 7th. We will therefore need to shift the location of our circulation and reserves services.
Beginning Monday, January 7th:
- Books and other materials may be checked out at the library’s reference desk.
- Laptop computers will NOT be available for check-out during this period.
- DVDs and VHS tapes will be stored in an alternate location and will be available for check-out upon request. There may be a short delay as we retrieve them for you.
- Reserves services will continue to operate but will be set up in a temporary location. If you need reserves assistance, please e-mail Jane Kjaer (jkjaer@skidmore.edu) or see her in person in room #131 (an immediate right upon entering the library).
- Interlibrary Loan items can be picked up and returned at the Interlibrary Loan office, located on the library’s first floor, around the corner from the IT Help Desk.
We anticipate that work will be completed by Friday the 11th, but resetting the department may extend into the early part of the following week.
We thank you for your patience during this process.
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