Biological Orientation Biol 2022

Linda Pye, Head of Technical Services (x7021) The Al Harris Library

linda.pye@swosu.edu

What Is Information Literacy?

It is a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.

Information Literacy

It’s common to all disciplines, all learning environments, & all levels of education.

Science is a rapidly changing field and it is vital for the practicing scientist to keep up with new developments and new sources of experimental/research data.

This requires a high level of information literacy.

Information Literacy

“The level of trust that has characterized science and its relationship with society has contributed to a period of unparalleled scientific productivity...” –National Academy of Sciences

Scientific Research Cycle: An Overview

Research & Development Initial Reporting of Results Author’s Finished Report Peer-Reviewed Publication of Research

Article Studies of Previous Work News Reports

Scientific Research Cycle: Research & Development

Academia Industry Government

Experimentation Fieldwork Literature Review Library & Web

Research

Informal Communications: Email Instant Messaging Discussion Lists Blogs Social Networking Conversations

Scientific Research Cycle: Initial Reporting of Results

Conference Papers/Presentations

If funding runs out or the work appears to be a “dead end,” this may be the only report ever generated.

Scientific Research Cycle: Studies of Previous Work

Review Articles An expert in a field reports on the “state of the

art” of the area of research. May appear in a Review Journal (“Annual Reviews in…; Reviews of…”) or in a research journal.

Monographs (books) Encyclopedias Handbooks Textbooks

Scientific Research Cycle: News Reports

May occur at any point in the research process Newspapers Magazines

News and features, usually for a general or interested-amateur audience

Trade Journals News and features

for professionals in a a particular field

Television

Scientific Research Cycle: Peer-Reviewed Publication

Completed paper is submitted to a

journal; the editor(s) send the paper to another researcher in the same field of work for comment and verification of the quality of work; the paper may be returned to the author for corrections, elaboration, etc. before final acceptance.

Examples of Peer-Reviewed Journals

Journal of Economic EntomologyBiological ReviewsJournal of Parasitology

Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Peer-Reviewed Research Articles Information is

produced by the researcher

Conference Papers

“original content”

Review Articles Information

summarized by someone other than the researcher

Handbooks, Encyclopedias, etc.

“study of the original”

Periodicals

MAGAZINES Popular Info Audience:

General Public Amateur Interest

Purpose: Hobby Pleasure Curiosity

JOURNALS Scholarly Info Audience:

Researcher Professional Who

Needs to Stay Up-to-Date

Purpose: Goal-Driven

Research Paper Certification, Tenure Job Requirement

Difference Between Scholarly and Popular Literature

Popular Magazines Scholarly Journals

Overall appearance

Glossy paper, advertisements, heavily illustrated, attractive in appearance

Sober and serious, may contain graphs or charts, no glossy paper, specialized advertisements

Audience General Public Scholars, professionals and students

Authors Reporters Scholars in the field

Documentation Sources sometimes cited for news articles, but rarely

Cite sources in footnotes or bibliography

Purpose Provide general information or summarize research

Report on original research or experimentation

Article Acceptance Procedure

Articles written by hired reporters, edited by magazine editors, and published

Often undergo a "peer-reviewed" process -- reviewed by other scholars in the field before being published. Sometimes these journals are called "refereed journals"

Books and E-Books

You can’t judge a book by its cover

E-Books

Just because its in a different format doesn’t disqualify it as a book

resource

Doing Research for a Paper in Biology

Choose a topic Discuss your ideas with your professor.

Do some brainstorming & come up with some keywords for your topic.

May need to look through some books or journals on that topic. May even need to do a literature review in a database.

Doing the Research… Search the databases, such as :

BIOSIS Previews, Zoological Record Online, Medline, or other applicable science databases.

Academic Search Complete (general database).

Most faculty expect students to use scholarly journals.

Search the library’s online catalog for books and government documents to use, if it’s OK with your professor to use those sources.

Check the Periodicals List to

determine what access, if any, the Library has to the journals that you need. Order through Interlibrary Loan any article or book that is not accessible through the Library.

Types of Searching: Keyword vs. Subject

Keyword Flexible Less accurate Affected by

Boolean Operators, Truncation Symbols and punctuation

Subject Rigid Very Precise Predetermined

vocabulary established by the Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, and other groups

Indexing vs. Full-text

Indexing

Indicates the only information available about the article is the citation. Additional searching will be necessary using the Periodicals List.

Full-text

Indicates the entire article can be found within the database, no physical searching is necessary

Standard formats are: HTML & PDF

Searching the Biology Databases

http://faculty.swosu.edu/linda.pye/Biological Orientation Fall 2010.htm

Remember to Evaluate!

Authority Who created it? Who is responsible? What credentials do they hold? What makes the

authors qualified to discuss the topic? Accuracy

Can the information be verified? Check the facts!

Objectivity How is the information being presented? Is it objective or biased? What’s the point of view?

Currency (important based on subject) When was it published? When was it last updated?

Evaluation

Evaluating Print vs. Electronic (from Owl at Purdue)

Publication ProcessAuthorship & AffiliationsSources & Quotations

Bias & Special InterestsAuthor Qualifications

Publication Information

Writing Your Paper

For writing help, you may refer to the resources that are provided on the web page for this class.

Find out which style guide you are to use for your bibliography and be consistent in following that style.

Strengths: Web vs. Library

Web Current events and

news Statistics and Other

Information by Gov.’t Full-text Resources

(expired copyright) Pop Culture

TV Movies Music

Opinion Information about

Organizations & Groups

Library Research Based

Books & Articles Works Cited/

Bibliographies Full-text Resources Authoritative & Peer-

reviewed Materials Information about

People & Cultures Easier to Search

Library Catalog Databases

Why Can’t I Get this Info on the Web?

Humanities American History $29.95 / yr Journal of Teacher Education $30 / yr College English $75 / yr

Nursing & Allied Health Applied Nursing Research $224 / yr Nursing Science Quarterly $280 / yr Journal of Community Health Nursing $475 / yr

Sciences Journal of the Optical Society of America $1,760 / yr Journal of the American Chemical Society $3,589 / yr Journal of Physics $7,115 / yr

This doesn’t include pricing for electronic access or database subscriptions.

Surface Web

Ever wonder what you might be missing?

Google2.7 billion searches per month

Indexes 16% of the SWIndexes 0.03% of the WWW

Deep Web

NO SEARCH ENGINES ALLOWED

54% of DWis databases

DW is 500 timeslarger than SW

And a 1,000 times

higher in quality too

Do not hesitate to ask a librarian if you need any guidance with your research!

Thank You!