Subject Gateways and Web Services for Research An introduction to search engines (and the pros and cons of Google), internet gateways, usenet groups and RSS feeds, mailing lists and other electronic networking opportunities Written by Roger Mills and Grazyna Cooper Presented by Sue Bird WISER Focus on
36
Embed
Subject Gateways and Web Services for Research An introduction to search engines (and the pros and cons of Google), internet gateways, usenet groups and.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Subject Gateways and Web Servicesfor ResearchAn introduction to search engines (and the pros and cons of Google), internet gateways, usenet groups and RSS feeds, mailing lists and other electronic networking opportunities
Written by Roger Mills and Grazyna CooperPresented by Sue Bird
WISER Focus on
“One of the major issues academics will face over the coming years is how to utilise, and teach students to utilise, the Internet in their research”
Professor Dolowitz (2004) Department of Politics, University of Liverpool
“A high proportion of all staff interviewed tended to rely on the same sources. Work is needed to persuade people to look outside their "comfort zone" for information in order to ensure they are locating the best information for their purposes”.
“Big Blue” Final Report (2004), Manchester Metropolitan University
Well trodden paths…
…finding relevant, high quality, authoritative information on the Internet
The problem
Using search engines• Is Google enough?
— Pros:— Easy— Very fast— Huge scope— Sophisticated search
algorithms
— Cons:— Far too much retrieved— No evaluation— Does not search ‘deep’ web
– databases, priced content etc
— Search algorithms are secret— Can’t save or combine
searches
Google is not enough• So Google have introduced Google Scholar• http://scholar.google.com • Searches some ‘deep web’ content – but we don’t know
what – no list• Can be set up to link direct to locally-available full text• Has new features – ‘cited by’ link, grouping of different
versions, web search, document delivery (BL Search)• But algorithms are still secret• As is frequency of update – slower than Google
Battle of the giants• Microsoft has just entered the fray with
Windows Live Academic (http://academic.live.com/)• Competing with Google Scholar• Coverage currently limited to computer science, electrical
engineering and physics from scholarly societies• Coverage list published http://academic.live.com/journals
• Microsoft has just entered the fray with
Windows Live Academic (http://academic.live.com/)• Competing with Google Scholar• Coverage currently limited to computer science, electrical
engineering and physics from scholarly societies• Coverage list published http://academic.live.com/journals
Saving & refining searches• Most general search engines don’t allow this• Requires local software e.g. Blue Squirrel’s WebSeeker
- a meta-search engine which saves results to a local database, allowing filtering, combining, e-mailing of results etc
• Or use SCOPUS http://www.scopus.com which searches web sites as well as journal articles and allows export to Endnote etc.
• Some subject-specific databases are adding similar web searching capabilities, but most don’t
Academic subject gatewaysOften better than general search engines:
• Link to evaluated resources
• Focused on specific subject areas
• Up-to-date
• Variety of information and services provided
• Ability to customise
• Useful descriptions of resources
Resource Discovery Network (RDN)• JISC-funded: a free national service for the learning,
teaching and research community• A collection of Internet resources
• 100,000 resources and rising
• Subject-specific services via hubs
• http://www.rdn.ox.ac.uk
8 Existing RDN hubs• ALTIS - Hospitality, Sports, Tourism and Leisure• Artifact - Arts and Creative Industries• BIOME (Health (OMNI) and Life Sciences)• EEVL (Engineering, Maths, Computing)
Search tipsread search engine's help screens use specialised resources first don’t waste time! use mirror sitesbookmarkremember casesword ordercheck your spellinguse synonymsURL’s are case sensitivetruncate URLguess URL
Gullible's Travels• “Our students love the net,
which is OK.
The problem is, they also trust it,
which is not”.
Block, M. (2004). Library Journal
Best strategy• No searching service is perfect• Be knowledgeable about the types of subject-oriented tools.• Develop skills in using basic syntax, boolean operators etc.• Define what you seek!
state what you want to find in few sentences select keywords, underline the main concepts select synonyms and variant word forms combine synonyms, keywords and variant word forms
• Find resources on the Invisible Web• Be patient or get up early!• Experiment and be flexible!
Conclusion• Maintain a balanced diet!• Five a day…