Information LiteracyCSS101 - Part 2

Martin J. CrabtreeMCCC LibraryOctober 2004

Agenda

• Review: so just what IS information literacy?

• Using the the Mercer Library’s catalog• Review: searching electronic resources• Review: databases and Web information• Your turn to use the databases & the

web

What is information literacy?

Information literacy is the ability to:• Realize that you need information to

find something out/answer a question• Know where to go to get the

information you need• Ask the right questions to get the

information you need• Put all the information you found

together to answer your question

Using The MCCC Card Catalog to find books and

more• The catalog is available online. Used to find books, videos and other material both in the MCCC collection and the Mercer County Public (MCL) libraries.

• You can have materials from MCL brought to the college. Deliveries arrive Tuesday and Friday afternoons. (DVD’s not available from MCL)

• You will need to have your student ID card to borrow books or use the library’s computer lab

The link to the catalog is on the library’s web pages.

Let’s look at the Mercer Library’s Catalog…

Starting An Electronic SearchKeywords

• Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and web search engines

• First step - Generate a list of words (keywords) often nouns that describes or is commonly used when discussing your topic. For example:– Ozone– Layer– Depletion– Atmosphere– Hole

Starting An Electronic Search

Boolean Searching/Logic

• Boolean searching - Connecting keywords with the terms– and– not– or

• For example– eagles NOT football– (car or automobile) and exhaust

• More Terms = Fewer “Hits”

Searching More Than Just Keywords

Phrases & Truncations• To search for a phrase, use quotation

marks– “weapons of mass destruction”

• Truncations allow for searching related words all at once– The * is usually used. For example:

• “child*” would include: child, children, childhood, childproof, etc.

Electronic Databases at the Mercer Library

Electronic Databases at MCCC

In General

• Over 40 databases available• Many contain periodical articles• Some are useful for searching specific

subjects like business, art, or criminal justice.

•Others are also useful tools like the Encyclopedia Britannica and the Oxford Dictionary

Electronic DatabasesIn General

• Accessible at any computer on the MCCC/JKC campus network

• Most are available off campus, need to request a password.

• Can print/e-mail/download what you find

Let’s take a look a the databases…

Using the World Wide Web

Using the internet/world wide web

• Before using the web for most college research, try using databases first:– You will have fewer hits to go through– You’ll likely find some good information

quickly– The information is always high quality

• The internet & web are not the same thing

Some things to consider when searching the web

• Everything is NOT on the web and may never be

• No search engine covers the entire web

• The “invisible web” is huge!

• Though there has yet to be consensus, estimates put the size of the invisible web between 2 and 500 times bigger than the “visible” (or surface) web.

Searching the World Wide Web

Search Strategy• Searching the Web is much like database

searching:– Put together a list of keywords describing the

information you desire– Use Boolean logic (and, not, or) to better define

your search, use double quotes for phrases, etc.

• When searching the web, also:– Consider which search engines/sites may best suit

your search needs. Different search engines yield different results.

– Use the search engine’s “advanced search” to select limiting parameters (language, date, domain, etc.)

Some helpful invisible websites

• www.lii.org - searchable annotated directory of Internet resources

• www.freepint.com/gary/direct.htm - Direct Search, large listing of free databases

• infomine.ucr.edu [NO www] - good for searching academic information

• completeplanet.com [No www] blend of database, directory, & search engine information.

• www.firstgov.gov - search federal government sites

Evaluating Web Sites

Is this stuff any

good?

Evaluating Web Sites

• Quality varies greatly from site to site

•YOU are the sole evaluator of the quality of information a site provides

Five Web Info Evaluation Criteria

1. Accuracy - is it reliable?2. Authority - is author qualified on

subject?3. Objectivity - is the information biased?4. Currency - is the information “new”

enough?5. Coverage - does the info completely

cover the topic?

The Bottom Line…

Buyer Beware• The web contains a vast amount of information…but

not everything

• Anyone can put information on the web, hence the quality of web information varies greatly

• YOU will often be the only person to decide if the quality of the info you find on the web is good

Now let’s visit a site…

Now it’s your turn…