Imaging the Body Workshop #1, Winter 2003
Searching for Information on the Web and in Databases
When you registered here, a computer account was automatically created for you. In order for you to access your account, you’ll need your name and birthdate. For an example, let’s use Homer Simpson, birthday 10/03/54. Follow the steps below to determine your login name and password.
1. Take the first three letters of your last name (e.g. SIM)
2. Add the first three letters of your first name (e.g. HOM) to the end (e.g. SIMHOM).
3. Add your birth day as a two-digit number (e.g. 03) to the end (e.g. SIMHOM03). This is your login name.
4. Your password is your birthday + 3 character month + two-digit year (e.g. 03oct54).
5. So Homer’s login is simhom03 and his password is 03oct54. Note that these are not case sensitive.
There are a number of different search engines on the Web. You should try your search on several different ones because each search engine indexes web sites differently and will return different results. Here are several popular search sites:
· Google (http://www.google.com) – a good first place to start. Clearly identifies sponsored links (sites that pay money to show up on searches.
· MetaCrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com/index.html). One of several search engines that searches other search engines (called a meta-search). This is one way of searching a number of different search engines. Meta-searches may not give all the same sites as searching the individual search engines.
· IxQuick (http://www.ixquick.com) Another meta-search engine.
· InfoMine (http://infomine.ucr.edu) A search engine that only searches on scholarly, academic, and government sites.
One of the many tricks is to think of as many different ways you might state your topic. The search engines are looking for exactly the word(s) that you’ve typed in. Plurals can give a different result.
Another useful trick is to open multiple windows in your browser so that you can have several searches or web pages open at the same time.
One of the great difficulties in using the Internet is that it is often difficult to determine the quality of the information you find.
There are five main types of web pages and the informational content can vary widely among them.
1. Advocacy web pages. An Advocacy Web
Page is one sponsored by an organization attempting to influence public opinion
(that is, one trying to sell ideas). The URL address of the page frequently
ends in .org (organization). Examples: National Abortion and Reproductive Rights
Action League, the National Right to Life Committee, the
Democratic Party, the Republican Party
2. Business/Marketing web pages. A Business/Marketing Web Page is one sponsored by a commercial enterprise (usually it is a page trying to promote or sell products). The URL address of the page frequently ends in .com (commercial). Examples: Adobe Systems, Inc., the Coca-Cola Company, and numerous other large and small companies using the Web for business purposes.
3. News Web Pages. A News Web Page is one whose primary purpose is to provide extremely current information. The URL address of the page usually ends in .com (commercial). Examples: USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN
4. Informational Web Pages. An Informational Web Page is one whose purpose is to present factual information. The URL Address frequently ends in .edu or .gov, as many of these pages are sponsored by educational institutions or government agencies. Examples: Dictionaries, thesauri, directories, transportation schedules, calendars of events, statistical data, and other factual information such as reports, presentations of research, or information about a topic.
5. Personal Web Pages. A Personal Web Page
is one published by an individual who may or may not
be affiliated with a larger institution. Although the URL address of the page
may have a variety of endings (e.g. .com,
.edu, etc.), a tilde (~) is frequently embedded somewhere in the URL.
There are five criteria that should be applied to any source of information.
1.
Accuracy
·
How reliable and free from
error is the information?
·
Are there editors and fact
checkers?
·
Almost anyone can publish on
the Web
·
Many Web resources not
verified by editors and/or fact checkers
·
Web standards to ensure
accuracy not fully developed
2.
Authority
·
What are the author’s
qualifications for writing on the subject?
·
How reputable is the
publisher?
·
Often difficult to determine
authorship of Web resources If author’s name listed, his/her qualifications
frequently absent
·
Publisher responsibility
often not indicated
3.
Objectivity
·
Is the information presented
with a minimum of bias?
·
To what extent is the
information trying to sway the opinion of the audience?
·
Web often functions as a virtual soapbox
·
Goals/aims of persons or
groups presenting material often not clearly stated
4.
Currency
·
Is the content of the work
up-to-date?
·
Is the publication date
clearly indicated?
·
Dates not always included on
Web pages If included, a date may have various meanings:
·
Date first created
·
Date placed on Web
·
Date last revised
5. Coverage
· What topics are included in the work?
· To what depth are topics explored?
· Web coverage may differ from print or other media coverage
Much of this information came from the web page Evaluating Web Resources by Jan Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate (http://www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webevaluation/webeval.htm)
Papers in scientific journal have been subjected to peer review, which means that other researchers who are working in the same field and are familiar with current research have read the paper and given comments to the author who then makes suggested changes. In order for a paper to be published in a peer-reviewed journal it must have passed the review. This ensures a higher quality of information and credibility.
There are a number of different databases that can be searched for scientific papers. The two that will be most relevant to your research are: Medline and Science Citation Abstracts (campus access only). There are others you might want to search that can be accessed from off campus. To find these resources:
1. From the Evergreen web site, choose Library under the Campus Tour
2. Select “Online Resources” from the Library home page
3. Select “Reference & Journals” from the Online Resource page
4. Use the letters at the top to jump to the appropriate part of the list and scroll to find the database you want.
5. Once you have done your search, mark the references that are interesting to you to create a “Marked List”. This list can then be emailed to you or copy and pasted into a Word document (this is what I usually do to make it easy to order papers).
Inter-library loan (ILL) allows you to order copies of papers directly from the computer. You must first establish an account (free) before you can request papers. Access ILL from the Library web page, Select “Library Services & Departments” and then scroll to ILL. After establishing your account, you can order copies of papers. (Helpful Hint: If you’ve copied your search results into a Word file, you can have it open at the same time and copy and paste the journal name, article title and authors into the ILL form.
1. Type the following URL into your browser (http://www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webevaluation/webeval.htm) and look at the “Original Evaluation Checklists” for each of the types of web pages.
2. Another web site with good criteria on evaluating web sites can be found at http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm. Go there and read at least the first page about “Screening Information.”
3. Go to http://www.dhmo.org and evaluate the information on this site. What is your opinion?
4. Pick a search engine listed above and type in “anabolic steroids.” Classify some of the web pages you find into the five categories listed above.
5. Refine your search to the health effects of anabolic steroids. Type “anabolic steroids” + “health effects”
6. Go to one of the databases of scientific papers and repeat steps 4 & 5.
7. Practice marking some papers and copying your marked list into a Word document that you save onto your disk.
Begin to search for papers that you’re interested in for your research topic.