Finding & Using Information from the MCCC Library

1. Finding & Using Information from the MCCC Library Martin J. Crabtree MCCC Library

2. Agenda • The College’s Card Catalog • Electronic Searching • Keywords & Boolean Searching • Electronic Databases at Mercer • What’s a database? • Databases available through Mercer Library • Accessing the databases • Some things to consider when using the web

3. Using The Card Catalog • 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

4. Finding Books • Unlike school and public libraries, MCCC uses the Library of Congress (LC) system. • The LC is an alphanumeric system, the “R” section is medicine. • RB37.3: Medical laboratory technology as a profession • RC109-216: Infectious and parasitic diseases • RC121.A6: Anthrax

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

6. Periodicals Periodicals include: scholarly journals newspapers Magazines Periodicals represent the bulk of published scholarly information. The library has a number of periodicals available in print, on microfilm, and especially via electronic databases. The library staff can help determine if a specific periodical is available from the library.

7. Medical Laboratory Technology Periodicals at Mercer • Journal of Laboratory & Clinical Medicine • Laboratory Medicine • Medical Laboratory Observer

8. Searching Electronic Databases And The Web Too

9. Starting An Electronic SearchKeywords • Keywords are used when searching electronic databases and web search engines • First step - Generate a list of words (keywords) that describes or is commonly used when discussing your topic. For example: • Ozone • Layer • Depletion • Atmosphere • Hole

10. Starting An Electronic SearchBoolean 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”

11. Searching More Than Just KeywordsPhrases & Truncations • To search for a phrase, use quotation marks • “survival of the fittest” • Truncations allow for searching related words all at once • The * is usually used. For example: • “child*” would include: child, children, childhood, childproof, etc.

12. Electronic Databases at the Mercer Library

13. What are electronic databases? • A collection of electronically searchable information (frequently, but not limited to, periodical articles) that is accessible via the internet • Access to this information is by subscription only, paid by the library. • It is accessible via the internet, but it is not truly web information.

14. Electronic DatabasesIn General • Over 60 databases available • Not every article is available full text though many are • Abstracts (summary) is often available when full text is not

15. Electronic DatabasesIn General • Accessible at any computer on the MCCC & JKC campus network • Most are available off campus, need to request a password (forms available after this class). • Can print/e-mail/download articles

16. Getting to the databases • Use the library quick link at mccc.edu to get to the library’s homepage • Go to the “Online Databases & Search Engines” link (in the left column) of any of the library’s web pages.

17. Databases with useful information • CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature)– One of the premier databases for medical field information. Drawback many articles aren’t in full-text. • Health Source: Nursing Academic Edition – Less comprehensive than CINAH but still contains many scholarly journals in much more than just nursing.

18. Some of these databases may be helpful too • Biomedical Reference Collection • MEDLINE • Nursing & Allied Health Collection

19. Let’s look at some of the databases • Topic: Botulism

20. Searching the World Wide Web How can I find what I want?

21. Some things to consider when searching the web • Everything is NOT on the web and may never be • No search engine searches 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.

22. Searching the World Wide Web Search Strategy • Searching the Web is much like database searching: • Use keywords and Boolean logic (and, not, or) to better define your search, use double quotes for phrases, etc. • When searching the web, also consider: • Different search engines yield different results. You may want to try using more that just your “regular” search engine • Use the search engine’s “advanced search” to select limiting parameters (language, date, domain, etc.)

23. Searching the World Wide Web Search Engines & Meta Sites • Become familiar with your search engines features: • http://www.infopeople.org/search/chart.html • http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/features/ • http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SearchEngines.html • Meta search sites (like Ask Jeeves, Dogpile): • Allow you to search more than one search engines at once. • Can generate more “stuff” to sift through • Limited to only basic searches, can’t use advanced search features • Some results can be from “paid for listing” search engines

24. The Invisible WebWhy is so much being missed? • When using a search engine, you are searching a database that represents what is known to be on the web • Spiders or crawlers roam the web from link to link generating this database • Works extremely well for static all text pages in the HTML language • The problem arises when pages are ever changing or not in HTML

25. So where is all of this stuff hiding? • By far, a great amount is contained in databases (both paid and free) • Other places include: • Non-text information such as photos or audio • PDF formatted documents • Very new web pages • Password only access information

26. Finding the invisible stuff • The key is knowing when you need “invisible” information and then where to find it. • Not every web search requires looking in the invisible web. • Search engines work best when looking for a narrow, focused topic.

27. Some helpful invisible websites • http://www.cdc.gov – The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention • 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 • http://www.mccc.edu/~crabtrem/mlt/mlt.htm - MLT Resource Guide from the MCCC Library

28. Evaluating Web Information Is this stuff any good?

29. Evaluating Web Sites • Quality varies greatly from site to site • YOU are the sole evaluator of the quality of information a site provides

30. Five Evaluation Criteria • Accuracy - is it reliable? • Authority - is author qualified on subject? • Objectivity - is the information biased? • Currency - is the information “new” enough? • Coverage - does the info completely cover the topic? • Search engines may put you out of context, go the home page or the “about us” page to help evaluate the site

31. 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

32. Let’s take a look at a website…

33. Still people can get fooled…

34. Now let’s try out the databases…