Reflection on Stebbin’s Essay September 29, 2008

Stebbin’s article discussed how to search successfully. It reiterated a lot of what we have been talking about in class such as truncation (*) and using Boolean operators. It also discussed how to limit your search based on characteristics such as year published, publication type, or language. In using Stebbin’s recommendations I’m sure I could do a search and get very successful results.

I didn’t necessarily learn anything brand new; it just reinforced what I have learned previously in our library class about researching. I feel as if class helped me understand more effectively because we were actively learning, discussing, and doing examples. This article just explained the same concepts, but in someone else’s words. This could be beneficial to students who learn differently than I do.

This article is very relevant to a class on information and research because without having an effective first search for a source, you won’t be able to find sources with good information. In being able to truncate and use Boolean operators in your searches, you will find more reliable sources with more useful information.

I can apply this to my life as a student because when I was in high school one of the reasons I struggled with research papers is because I didn’t know where to start looking for information. If I would have known then what I know now about finding good resources, maybe my research would have gone smoother and produced better results.

This reading relates to our library class of course because it is what we have been discussing in class. It also relates to my business classes because we always discuss how when you are trying to effectively prove a point the better synonyms and descriptive words used the more convincing you can be to management or your staff.

Vocabulary September 15 September 17, 2008

Scope: extent or range of view, outlook, application, operation, effectiveness, etc.: The range of one’s perceptions, thoughts, or actions.

Authority: an accepted source of information, advice, or a quotation or citation from such a source

 

SOURCE: Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Sep. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/authority>.

 

 

THREE TYPES OF REFERENCE BOOKS (other than encyclopedias and dictionaries)

 

DIRECTORIES list names and addresses of persons, organizations or institutions.  Directories may provide other pertinent information, such as the purposes, the dues an the officers of organizations.

 

ALMANACS give facts, statistics, and basic information on almost everything from agriculture to zoos.  They are an excellent reference source for population, business, sports, and agricultural statistics.  They also list the elected officials of state and local governments.  A typical almanac will include a section of important events that occurred during the year.

 

INDEXES Lists of citations to articles or newspapers; may be general or very specialized

 

SOURCES:

“PowerPoint on How to Research with Reference” <http://www.bentonville.k12.ar.us/Users/BHS/bhslibrary/TYPESOFREFERENCE_files/frame.htm>

 

“Types of Reference” < http://www.usna.edu/Library/Refbks.html>  2003.

Vocabulary September 10 September 17, 2008

Boolean operators

A method of combining search terms by expressing the relationship of one concept to another generally using ‘and’, ‘or’, ‘not’. The expression “Value 1 and Value 2″ requires both values to be in the grouping retrieved; “Value 1 or Value 2″ will retrieve either of the values; “Value 1 but not Value 2″ will retrieve only Value 1 items with no mention of Value 2.

For example, searching “gone and wind” would pick up the title Gone with the Wind as well as Margaret Mitchell of Atlanta, the Author of Gone with the Wind“; “gone or wind” would pick up the above titles plus Going, Going, Gone; Wind and Beyond; Wind in the Willows; The Parade’s Gone By; and Watching the Wind.

 

Truncation

When doing a search in a library catalog, using the base of a word followed by a * will allow the search to bring up any forms of the word not just the direct word.  Such as if you use search* instead of search your results will include searching searched searches etc.

 

Concept Map

a type of diagram which shows various relationships between concepts

A concept map can reveal patterns and relationships between the concepts.

 

Searching

Examining carefully or thoroughly,  To make a thorough examination of; look over carefully in order to find something; explore.

 

Browsing

To glance at random through a book, magazine, etc.

To look leisurely, as in a store or library

 

SOURCES:

            Boise State University, http://library.boisestate.edu/reference/bbrin/jargon.htm, “Library Jargon Defined or What Does THAT Mean????” 2006.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA, Inc. 17 Sep. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/browsing>.

 

Reflection on Read’s Wikipedia Article September 17, 2008

        Brock Read’s article, “Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?” discussed the validity of Wikipedia, an on-line information source that anyone visiting the website can insert information.  The author explains how he tested the editor’s by placing errors into the pages and seeing if and when they were corrected.  Read went into more detail showing how many professors say Wikipedia is not a good source, and then shows the opposition and signs of Wikipedia’s success.  The article also shows how you personally can create, edit, or grade a Wikipedia article.

        I previously knew a lot about the Wikipedia controversy.  Throughout my first two years of college many professors always start talking about sources by saying Wikipedia cannot be used, and state that it includes many falsities.  I learned from Read’s article that editors do look at new postings added to the site.  I also learned that some professors are starting to come around, and are attempting to make Wikipedia a more reliable source.

        This article is extremely relevant to a class on information and research because Wikipedia is continuing to grow as an on-line source for researching.  The most important part of information and research is to make sure the sources used are credible; the article discusses the credibility of Wikipedia.

        I can apply this to my life as a student because every time I type my search into google.com for a research assignment one of the first listing is information on the subject on Wikipedia.  I have looked at Wikipedia often and I always find that I like how easy it is to use, how much information is presented, and the easy fashion in which the information is portrayed.  I always struggle with not being able to use Wikipedia as a source, and this article helps me understand why or why not professors agree.

        In my management information systems class we are discussing credibility and sources on the internet.  We have also been discussing Wikipedia in this class, because we always discuss the most popular, well known sites, which includes Wikipedia.

 

September 8th’s Vocabulary September 10, 2008

·         Library Catalog: A list of inventory of all the materials within a specific collection or at a particular location.

(Davidson College’s Library Jargon, http://www.davidson.edu/administrative/library/refer/jargon.asp, 2007.)

 

·         Brief Record:  When you first do a search for a book or database, the list of results are brief records.  Here it gives partial information on the book such as the author, title, and call number.  If you click on these brief records you can then view the full record.

 

·         Full Record:  The collection of information about an item listed in a database. For example, a record for a journal article will contain citation information (author, title, journal title, publication information, volume number, date, page numbers) as well as subject headings, an abstract, and other information. A record in the Library Catalog contains citation information as well as subject headings, a call number, and information about the item’s status.

 

(Davidson College’s Library Jargon, http://www.davidson.edu/administrative/library/refer/jargon.asp, 2007.)

 

·         Subject Headings:  A word, phrase, or group of words that describes the subject content of a book or other item. In most databases, subject headings, which can also be called “descriptors,” are a form of controlled vocabulary. A given item may have more than one subject heading.

(Davidson College’s Library Jargon, http://www.davidson.edu/administrative/library/refer/jargon.asp, 2007.)

·         Library of Congress Classification:  a system for classifying books and other materials, using for its notation both letters and numerals to allow for expansion: originally developed at the Library of Congress for classifying its books and subsequently adopted by other libraries.

 

(Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.)

 

·         Dewey Decimal Classification:  a system of classifying books and other works into ten main classes of knowledge with further subdivision in these classes by use of the numbers of a decimal system: devised by Melvil Dewey, published in 1876, and used in many libraries in the U.S. and elsewhere.

(Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.)

 

·         PURL (related to the acronym URL):  A PURL is a Persistent Uniform Resource Locator. Functionally, a PURL is a URL. However, instead of pointing directly to the location of an Internet resource, a PURL points to an intermediate resolution service. The PURL resolution service associates the PURL with the actual URL and returns that URL to the client. The client can then complete the URL transaction in the normal fashion. In Web parlance, this is a standard HTTP redirect.

 

(A Project of OCLC Research, http://purl.org/,  2008.)

 

September 3rd’s Vocabulary September 4, 2008

• Primary Sources:  an original fundamental and authoritative document pertaining to an event or subject of inquiry; a firsthand or eyewitness account of an event
• Secondary Sources:  Any document that describes an event, person, place, or thing, usu. not created contemporaneously.  An example of a secondary source is a bibliography.
• Tertiary Sources:  A complilation of primary sources, secondary sources, or both.  Examples include catalogs, library directories, and reading lists.
• Government Documents :  Monographs, serial publications, reports, or official communication published by any public governing body–federal, state, county, or municipal.
• Archives:  A special collection of non-circulating historical materials related to a library or institution, or The area of the library that houses these records.

 

Sources Used for Above:

 

·         Brin, Beth.  “Library Jargon Defined or What does THAT Mean???”  Albertsons Library.  2006.  Boise State University. 8 Dec. 2006.  <http://library.boisestate.edu/Reference/BBRIN/jargon.htm>.

 

·         Webster’s New Millennium™ Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7)
Copyright © 2003-2008 Lexico Publishing Group, LLC

 

August 27th’s Vocabulary September 3, 2008

Periodicals

Various publications that are issued on a regular schedule, other than daily.  These increments range from weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.  

Circulation

In terms of a library, circulation is also known as lending.  It is the process of checking books in and out for people, while making sure whatever is borrowed is returned in good condition.  There is a circulation desk in our library and here you can also go if you have trouble with the computers in the library.

Reference Collection

Non-circulating current or heavily used books containing key sources of information.  Books not meant to be read cover-to-cover, such as dictionaries, handbooks, and encyclopedias, shelved together in a special section of the library called the reference area. Reference books may not be checked out because they are needed by librarians to answer questions at the reference desk.

< Adapted with permission from http://www.lib.vt.edu/research /libinst/glossary.html on 11 July 2002.>

Public Good

A library is a public good.   This means that everyone can use it, and they aren’t making a profit.

Blog

An online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page; also called Weblog, Web log.  Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.

< Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition, 2008 Lexico Publishing Group>

Blog Post

One entry or writing in a blog may include writing, pictures, videos, or links.  This could be an original post on a new idea or a response to another post.

 

How true is a primary source? September 3, 2008

            In Eicher’s “Primary sources: Handle with care-but DO handle,” primary sources were discussed, along with their validity.  Eicher starts off in a library setting where he happens upon a primary source of Abraham Lincoln and discusses how you can’t just assume all primary sources are 100% truth.  It discusses how you should read multiple sources on an event and piece together the truth, because every person recalls a situation differently.  The article also defines primary sources as, “original records, created in real time,” and offers some places to find them.

            I have previously heard about primary sources in high school when we were first learning how to format bibliographies.  However, I usually assumed that they were a lot more reliable than researched essays on the time period.  This essay showed how to read multiple sources to try and piece together the actual events, so know I know to be cautious and not gullible.

            This reading is relevant to a class on information and research because you never want to assume everything that’s read is true.  It offers suggestions on what to think about when researching such as, does the writer either trying to make one side look better, or do they have a personal motive in writing this article.  The article also lists some websites to find documents on the internet, which may be helpful in research of all kinds not only for this class, but for others too.

            As a student, I have witnessed this in research when I was writing an essay on free will.  Different authors of various blogs and essays on the internet often differed in their definition of free will depending on something happening in their personal or business life or how they see themselves as free willed.  I had to research an array of sources in order to define free will as I had decided was the actuality.

            This relates to what I am studying in management, because in both cases it talks about honestly and dishonesty in people’s perspectives.  In both it is important to be educated, use your head, and decide which information will show what actually happened.