1 Dave Inman Project Research Project Research
1
Dave Inman
Project ResearchProject Research
2
Process of ResearchProcess of Research
Literature searchLiterature search
Refine searchRefine searchLiterature reviewLiterature review
More focusMore focus
3
TimescaleTimescale
Start early in life of project
Intensive in months 1-2
On-going throughout first semester
Further research in semester 2
4
SourcesSources
Past projects
Books Library Friends Tutors
Journals / magazines Library
Web Tutor / friend recommended sites Search engines
5
Past projectsPast projects
6
LISA (www.lisa.sbu.ac.uk)LISA (www.lisa.sbu.ac.uk)
7
Search for JournalsSearch for Journals
8
Journals in ComputingJournals in Computing
9
Electronic JournalsElectronic Journals
10
Database Cross-Searching
Many subjects are cross-disciplinary and so the ability to search across several databases is a useful time-saver.
http://www.sosig.ac.uk/
11
Library catalogLibrary catalog
12
Web Search EnginesWeb Search Engines
Two kinds:
Manually updated
(e.g. Yahoo!)
Auto updated (e.g. AltaVista)
13
Links to Search EnginesLinks to Search Engineshttp://www.sbu.ac.uk/home/gateways.shtmlhttp://www.sbu.ac.uk/home/gateways.shtml
14
Links to Search EnginesLinks to Search Engineshttp://www.sbu.ac.uk/home/gateways.shtmlhttp://www.sbu.ac.uk/home/gateways.shtml
15
Search Engine Display Chart
How can you search How can you search more effectively?more effectively?
Plan your search in advance
Become familiar with advanced search concepts
Learn to use search engine features & search syntax
Review and refine your searches
Overview of Search Overview of Search ConceptsConcepts
Boolean Operators - AND, OR, NOT lions AND tigers cheetahs OR jaguars NOT cars
Field and phrase searching “Safari Corporation Inc.” title: "Safari Corporation Inc.”
Truncation using wildcard symbol lion*
Parentheses (lions OR tigers) AND (zoos OR parks)
Example SearchExample Search
Topic
The possible link between mobile phones and brain tumours
("mobile phone*" OR "cellular phone*") AND ("brain tumour*" OR "brain tumor*")
Search Engine IssuesSearch Engine Issues
Complex Boolean searches do not work on all search engines
Different search engines have different features and syntax
Case sensitivity - use lowercase unless searching for a proper name
Searching FeaturesSearching Features
Complex queries (Boolean, parentheses, truncation etc) supported to varying degrees
Almost universal: Use of + and - signs eg +jaguars -cars Phrase searching using double quotes " "
Stemming - sometimes automatic
Field searching and limits title, url, date, language, domain
May be in separate "advanced" search page
May be in form of menus or check-lists
Relevancy RankingRelevancy Ranking
Factors used to rank results:
Number of occurrences of word(s) on page
Where the word(s) occur ie more important if found in title or at top of page
Page contains all words
Words found near or next to each other
Link popularity - sites ranked higher if they have lots of other sites linking to them
22
Intelligent Agents: WiseWire
An ‘agent’ you can train with your preferences
http://wires.wisewire.com/
23
GoogleGoogle
Uses citations or "backlinks".
A page is ranked as important if lots of other pages point to it.
A page will be ranked more highly if lots of other pages with high ranking point to it.
Google! Looks at over a billion links.
Also try Google Print (http://print.google.com/) for finding info in books
Also Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/) for academic work
24http://www.zotero.org/ http://www.zotero.org/
25
ReferencesReferences
Chapter 4 of :
Dawson, C.W. - Computing projects: A student's guide - Prentice Hall 2000
Parts © Netskills,University of Newcastle
http://www.netskills.ac.uk/
Web tutorial on ICT research (http://snurl.com/projsources)