Gale Databases - Cengage Learning

An overview of the Gale Databases can be found at
http://find.galegroup.com/menu/commonmenu.do?userGroupName=east_gippsland

Health and Wellness Resource Center and Alternative Health Module 1980 - Apr 2008
Provides instant access to carefully compiled and trusted medical reference materials. Includes nearly 400 health/medical journals, hundreds of pamphlets, over 700 health-related videos from partner Healthology, Inc., and articles from 2,200 general interest publications in addition to a broad collection of Gale reference titles. Material contained in this Resource Center is intended for informational purposes only.
Guided tour http://http://galenet.galegroup.com/hwrc/storyboard/storyBoard.html

Science Resource Center April 2008
Researching science topics has never been easier -- with Science Resource Center, thousands of topic overviews, experiments, biographies, pictures and illustrations are just a few clicks away and the latest scientific developments are covered in articles from over 200 magazines and academic journals and links to quality web sites. The database covers curriculum-related science topics and offers teachers an easy-to-use tool to identify content directly correlated to state and national standards.
Click the Help or Toolbox icon for research tips and a guided tour.

General OneFile 1980 - APR, 2008
A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Millions of full-text articles, many with images. Updated daily.
Click the Help button for Search tips.

The Times Digital Archive 1785 - 1985
Researchers can search through the complete digital edition of The Times (London), using keyword searching and hit-term highlighting to retrieve full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page. The entire newspaper is captured, with all articles, advertisements and illustrations/photos divided into categories to facilitate searching.
Help Centre
http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/958/113/33801253w16/2!help_Keyword_Search


Price It! Antiques & Collectibles
An electronic database antique/collectibles pricing tool, containing data from a variety of sources, including online auctions (eBay), online antique dealers (GoAntiques & TIAS) and land-based auction houses. The database currently has over 23 million prices realized for art, antiques and collectibles in more than 100 categories and subcategories with over 10 million images.
Support Centre http://help.priceit.priceminer.com/support-center/index.php

Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition

Discover the key aspects of searching Britannica online.
Take a guided tour here:

http://corporate.britannica.com/library_all_tour.pdf

Australian Bureau of Statistics - Self paced training

The ABS provides many services for library's. This self-directed material is designed to raise awareness, interest and understanding of ABS statistics, and includes guides and Powerpoint outlines.
Self paced training:
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/343457a03b36b015ca257188001d914f!OpenDocument

Services for Library's:
Includes Guides andResources, promotional material, newsletter, etc.
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb00121564/5faf9f0d205a92caca25741000103f0b!OpenDocument

Internet Detective

Wise up to the Web - Use this free online tutorial to learn to discern the good, the bad, and the ugly for your internet research.

It looks at the critical thinking required when using the Internet for research and offers practical advice on evaluating the quality of web sites.

It’s designed to help students in higher and further education who want to use the Internet to help with research for coursework and assignments.

Learning objectives

By the end of the tutorial students will:
Understand that indiscriminate Internet research is not appropriate for university and college work.
know why information quality is an issue on the Web, especially for academic research.
have developed pratical skills to help critically evaluate information found on the Internet.
be aware of the issues of plagiarism, copyright and citation of Internet resources.

The tutorial will take around an hour to complete, but you can do it in more than one sitting.
http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/index.html

Links to Ebscohost Tutorials

Basic Searching for Public Libraries
http://support.ebscohost.com/training/flash_videos/BasicSearchingforPublicLibraries.html

How to create search and journal alerts
http://support.ebscohost.com/training/flash_videos/How_to_Create_Search_and_Journal_Alerts.html

Advanced Search with Guided Style
http://support.ebscohost.com/training/flash_videos/advancedSearchGuided.html

Creating and using folders for research
http://support.ebscohost.com/training/flash_videos/MyEBSCOhost.html

Reference Survival 7. Understanding your topic

Reference Survival 7
UNDERSTANDING YOUR TOPIC

Go to this National Library of Australia tutorial and complete it online.

http://www.nla.gov.au/nla/tutorial/mod3/topic01.htm

Reference Survival - Worksheets 2 and 3

WORKSHEET 2

‘Remember the “Gin and Tonic’
Practice this on a friend and note the relationship to Boolean Searching


1. Mix your friend a Gin and Tonic.What did you give them?

……………………………………………………………………….

2. Give them either Gin or Tonic. What did you give them?

............................................................................................................

3. Give them Gin not Tonic. What did you give them?

………………………………………………………………………..



WORKSHEET 3

Fill in the gaps on the following statements.

A database is made up of ……………………...

The major points of access are keyword, subject, ……………….… and title.

Keyword searching allows you to ……..………. Terms and concepts to retrieve records.

Boolean operators can be used to make a better defined ……..……..……

‘Adolescent or teen’ will retrieve records that contain either the word adolescent or the word teen or ………….….. of the words

Nesting preserves the ‘……….……….’ of your keyword search.

Truncation is used to find ……..…………….form of words in a keyword search

Stopwords are not keywords in a search and may stop a computer search. List three common stopwords . …………..…….. ………………….….... …………………………

Limiters let you ………......…….. the focus of your search.
List two common limiters ………………………………....... ………...…………………….

Reference Survival 6 - About Databases

SESSION 2: ABOUT DATABASES

Electronic databases can help you find magazine, journal and newspaper articles and other published information sources. The Library subscribes to a number of full text and bibliographic databases which are accessed through the library web site.

The databases may differ in the way that the screen looks or the type of information they store but essentially they all work on the same principles. Once you understand how databases work, you will be able to use almost any database.

A database is a collection of records, stored on a computer, with information about different items. When searching a database, it is helps to understand how a database is structured:
A Database is made up of RECORDS - one Record represents one article, book, video, magazine article etc.
Each record contains standardized FIELDS for information.
For example, there is a title field, subject field, author field, etc.
Fields are made up of WORDS.
The words you tell the computer to look for have to match with the words used in the field. If the word in the subject field is "adolescent" and you use "youth" or "teenager" your search won't retrieve that record even though the terms are similar. The records of a database are divided into these fields to allow the user to conduct specific searches.

For example:
If you know the author of an article but don't remember the title, you can do an author search that will retrieve all records that list that author's name in the author field.

Using a database to find information on a specific subject:
When you search for information by subject, only the subject field of a record will be searched for the words you type into the database. You are searching for specific words, that the people who created the database have assigned to the record to best describe the article (or book, video, etc.). It is necessary to know the exact terms that have been used for the subject search to work. If you type "teen pregnancy" as your subject search you may not get any results. The most commonly used words to describe that subject are "teenage pregnancy".
Many of the databases we use have Thesauri, or hierarchical subject access to assist with this.

Keyword Searching:
Searching for information by keyword permits greater flexibility. You do not need to know authors or subject headings to perform a keyword search. When you search by keyword, every field will be searched for the term(s) you have entered. However, this type of searching will also generally return more records, as well as some records that are not relevant to your topic.
Keyword searching allows you to combine terms and concepts to retrieve records for the most relevant articles, books, videos etc.

Using Boolean Operators, Nesting and other Search Limiters:
Boolean Operators can be used to combine words or terms when you search, to make a better defined search.
AND Example: teenage pregnancy AND prevention will retrieve records that contain both the word teenage as well as the word prevention.
OR Example: adolescent OR teen will retrieve records that contain either the word adolescent or the word teen or both of the words.
NOT Example: prevention NOT abortion will retrieve records that contain the word prevention only if the word abortion is not in the record.

Nesting is the use of parenthesis ( ) to put your keywords into sets. It preserves the "logic" of your keyword search.
Example: pregnancy and (adolescent or teen) This keyword search will retrieve records that contain the word pregnancy and the record must also contain either the word adolescent or the word teen or both of these words. Nesting is often used when search terms have similar meanings.

Truncation is used to find different forms of words in a keyword search. The Library catalog, uses the asterisk * as the truncation symbol.
Another commonly used truncation symbol is the question mark ?. The "help" function in the database usually tells you which symbol to use.
Example: teen* Will retrieve records that include the word teen, teens, teenager, teenage, teenagers.

Stopwords are commonly used words that will automatically stop a computer keyword search because they occur too frequently in records. Stopwords are usually listed in the help screens of the database you are using. When constructing a keyword search, choose the most important words.
Example: If you want to find information about "What programs are there to prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States?"
Your keywords are: programs, prevent, teenage, pregnancy and United States.
The words: what, are, there, to, in, and the, are not key words.
Many modern databases and internet search engines do allow ‘Natural language’ searches, but there is an increased risk of getting false hits.

Limiters let you narrow the focus of your search so that the information retrieved from the databases you search is limited according to the values you select. You can use more than one limiter if more than one is available. The use of limiters may also vary by database
Common limiters include:
Full Text – Click to limit results to articles with full text.
Cover Story – Click to limit results to articles that were featured as cover stories.
Publication - Enter a journal/magazine name in this field to limit results to articles only from that title.
Peer Reviewed - Limits search results to articles from peer-reviewed journals. Peer-reviewed journals are publications that include only those articles that have been reviewed and/or qualified by a selected panel of acknowledged experts in the field of study covered by the journal.
Date Published - Use this option to search for articles within a specified date range. Create a range by using the drop-down lists to specify the months of the range and enter the last two digits of the year in the entry fields to specify the years of the range.

Reference Survival - Worksheet 1

Why is the Reference Interview important?
………………………………………………………………................

When defining the topic, what do you need to identify?
……………………………………………………………………………

Name 3 possible sources of information?
……………………………………………………………………………

Reference Survival 5 - Evaluating and presenting the Information

EVALUATING THE INFORMATION

Once you have conducted a search, you must determine if the search results are appropriate for your clients needs.
You should evaluate both print and electronic information for good sources.
Ask yourself these questions and also check with your client

Is the information source reliable, can it be verified
Is the topic properly explained
Is it presented at the right level and in the right format
Is there enough information
Is the information current and still relevant.
Is it unbiased
Is it fact, opinion or propaganda

PRESENTING THE INFORMATION
There are different options for capturing or saving your search results, depending on the resource you're using. Some of the more common ways include:
Photocopying or printing
Copying and pasting
Downloading to disk
Forwarding to an email account


USING INFORMATION APPROPRIATELY
At all times staff should respect the privacy of people requesting information.
Adhere to the fair dealings section of the Copyright Act.

Reference Survival 4 - Electronic resources

DATABASES

Electronic databases can help you find magazine, journal, and newspaper articles and other published information sources. The Library subscribes to a number of online databases through Gulliver. The databases may differ in the way that the screen looks or the type of information they store but essentially they all work on the same principles. If you understand how databases work, you will be able to use almost any database. If in doubt, use the help button.

The Library Catalogue, Library subscription databases and Internet databases can be accessed from the library or remotely, by staff and the public.

The Local Collection Inmagic database sits on H:/Library/Inmagic/Inmagic.exe. It can only be accessed by one person at a time and can only be searched by staff.

Genealogy databases on cdrom can be accessed by the public, in the library where they are held.

Boardmaker software on cdrom can be accessed at all libraries (except the Mobile). It can also be used at community Centres at Omeo, Nowa Nowa, Cann River and Mallacoota.

Subscription databases are located behind the ‘Gulliver’ icon on the libraries home page. Remote internet access requires library membership number for verification. Victorias Virtual Library is also behind the Gulliver icon.

CDROMS
The library has a number of cdroms which, due to licence agreements, can only be used in-house.
The most popular of these are the Genealogy cdroms.
We do not do family history research for people
We do need to be able to demonstrate their use and how information can be retrieved and printed.
For complex enquiries, we refer people to the local Family History Centres at Bairnsdale or Lakes Entrance (details are available at the counter)

THE INTERNET
The internet contains a multitude of electronic documents residing on computers around the world. It is unique because of its multimedia capabilities and because it provides hypertext links. There are some useful search tools on the web that will help you locate relevant information.
They include:
search engines
subject directories
metasearch tools

It may be necessary to perform multiple searches using different methods to find the information you need.
We have included links to some verified internet sites within the library catalogue. These are generally government sites, community organizations, and homework helper sites. At the AMLIB Stockitem page, do a search ‘Internet’ at the Call no. field, to see what entries are currently attached. It is necessary to go to the catalogue record or OPAC to access the URL/web link.

Reference Survival 3 - Journal articles

WHEN TO USE AN ARTICLE IN A NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINE OR JOURNAL


Newspapers

You will find an article from a newspaper useful when you want to find immediate news, local news, photographs and editorials.
The information in a new newspaper article may be one day to one week old so they are an excellent source of up to date information.
Newspaper articles may help you find a summary or overview of an event and basic factual information covering who, what, where, when and how. They can also be a source of statistical information.


Magazines

You will find an article from a popular magazine useful when you want to find up to date general information on a subject.
The articles are often printed on glossy paper and have lots of illustrations so they are a good source of pictures. You may find articles about public opinion and the articles are usually written by reporters.
The articles in new popular magazines cover information which is one week to one month old so they are a good source of up to date information.
Popular magazine articles may be longer than articles in a newspaper, one to five pages, and the articles may give a more detailed analysis of events than newspapers.
Examples of popular magazines are Newsweek and Time.


Journals

You will find an article from a journal useful when you want to find very detailed information about a subject. Journals have articles about research, theories, the results of studies and experiments, and analysis. The information in a new journal article may be several months to several years old.
You may find statistics and graphs in journal articles. The articles in journals may be longer than the articles in popular magazines - five pages or more are not unusual.
Journal articles give detailed in depth information on a subject and are written by subject experts.
Before articles are printed in a journal they are often reviewed by other experts to see they meet the high standard for publication in the journal. This is called "peer review" - the authors have their articles reviewed by their peers or equals in their subject area. When a journal uses this review process before publishing articles, the journal is called a refereed journal.
Journal articles will have a reference list of all the kinds of information the authors used when they were writing their articles. These reference lists can give you ideas of where to look for more information on a subject.

Reference Survival 2 - Search the Catalogue

THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE, STOCKITEM SEARCH AND OPAC

This database forms part of our library management system. There are differences between the catalogue and stockitem searches, and the public access catalogue, which may give varying results.
Generally speaking, If you know the title of an item, you can search for it using the TITLE
e,g,. To kill a mockingbird.
If you know the author of an item, you can search by AUTHOR
e.g. Cookson, Catherine or Cookson, C or Cookson
If you don’t know the correct spelling, or to get different forms of a word, you can use truncation e.g. Solzen* or Cook*
An appropriate subject heading will retrieve a list of items on a topic, person or place
e.g. Geology or Spain
If you cannot remember the exact title, you can choose the KEYWORD button
e.g. smocking or aborig*
You can also use keyword if your term is new, very distinctive, or jargon, e.g. "cyberspace" or "HTML". Be aware that you may retrieve items not related to your topic
Selecting an item from a retrieved list will give you the item status and details. It’s call no., location, on shelf, on loan, on reserve, overdue, etc.

Reference Survival 1 - Introduction to Information skills

Benjamin Disraeli once said, “A fool wonders, a wise man asks”

SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION

This session is supported by a PowerPoint Presentation

If someone asks for information we try to find the answer that meets their need.
We often don’t know anything about the topic, so to ensure we respond effectively, there are some things we need to find out. We do this by conducting a ‘reference interview’.

1. Define the topic
This information assists in selecting keywords and alternative search terms.
Think about different forms of spelling e.g. colour/color, whales or Wales.

2. Who is the information for?
Is it for an adult or child?
What level of information is needed? e.g. Primary, tertiary, general interest

3. What type of information is needed?
Is it an assignment?
How much information do they want? 5 books or a single printed sheet.
Do they want differing points of view?
Does the information need to be cited?
Do they need pictures?

4. What format or source of information would be best?
Books, journals, internet, or other electronic resource
Current publications, historical articles, newsletters
Atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias
Government reports, statistics?

Once we know this, we can locate and retrieve the information.
Information can be found in a variety of print and electronic resources. You may need to search several.

Start with the most appropriate for the need.
If you are unfamiliar with the terms or words used, you might need to look them up in a dictionary, encyclopedia, or atlas to identify search keywords
Use the Library catalogue to find information on topics and particular items.
Using an appropriate subject heading will retrieve items relating to your topic.
Articles in periodicals can be good sources of current information. These may be in print or electronic format.

Information request forms
- Use this form if you get asked a question that is either complex, or if you can’t find an answer in a reasonable time. We can offer to find information on a deferred basis, using resources not always accessible during a desk shift.
- Staff can choose to complete this request themselves or pass the form to the reference librarian
- Conditions apply.

Inter Library Loan (ILL)
-We are often asked for books or journal articles we don’t hold, but these can often be supplied from another library.
-Use the ILL forms for books or journal articles to record these requests.
-ILL’s are sourced by the ILL officer
-Conditions apply.

INFORMATION ACCESS POINTS

Access points provide you with different ways to search for information. The major points of access are keyword, subject, author and title. These may vary depending on whether you use a print or electronic resource.

In print resources, information is generally accessed from the table of contents or from indexes located in the back of books or journal volumes

REFERENCE BOOKS
AT EG each branch has its own collection of core reference material that is ‘not for loan’
Reference materials serve a variety of purposes. They can provide:
Background or introductory information on a topic
Ways of finding specific material or items on a topic
Statistics or tables of data, as well as technical instruction.
Reference materials are not usually read from cover to cover. They are meant to be consulted quickly. Most reference materials provide useful indexes and /or tables of contents to look up specific information.
Be aware that the information in reference materials may overlap, or the titles may be misleading e.g. dictionaries may be called encyclopedias and vice versa.

LOCAL STUDIES COLLECTION
This is a closed collection of material that is by or about an East Gippslander or about East Gippsland. Many of the items are fragile or rare copies and should be handled with care.
People wishing to access this collection, must first sign an access agreement. Under 18 need parent or teacher consent. Forms are available at the circulation desk.
Items in the Hal Porter Study are ‘not for loan’.
Books and periodicals in this collection are catalogued on AMLIB.
The collection of ephemeral material, brochures, newspaper cuttings and the like, are searched through the Inmagic database.
Any photocopying should be done by staff and a Copyright declaration form should be completed.

Learning 2.0

When the internet first became popular, we saw information presented as blocks of information saved on computers and servers around the world. We could search for, read and use this information, but that was about it. Later, we began to use email. This amazing tool allowed us to communicate with family, friends and business colleagues around the world, person to person.
Now we have Web 2.0 - the interactive web.

You will have heard about the social networking tools available on the internet. They have produced a new language to which new words are added every day. Many of these tools may not have a particularly good image in the media, but behind the scenes, there are many positive uses.
Things like blogs, wikis, rss, podcast, flickr, del.icio.us, mashups, technorati, YouTube and digg, represent some of the new web tools which are freely available.

But, what is web 2.0, what are these things and how do we use them?

Helen Blowers from the Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenberg County in North Carolina, has devised a program which uses the new tools and technology to introduce her staff to them.
Helen has generously licenced the program under Creative Commons, which means we can all share her program and learn new skills through play, and have some fun along the way.

The program consists of '23 things' for you to work through and can generally be completed in 9-12 weeks. Just 15 minutes of play a day, will keep your learning on track. Help is always available either from myself or by sharing with other staff.

So if you're ready to start the learning 2.0 adventure, enter here...
http://egippslearning.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!