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The Comedy of Errors: Assessing Citation Help in Databases

The Comedy of Errors: Assessing Citation Help in Databases. Mary Van Ullen and Jane Kessler, University at Albany. Database Citation Help. Help files General information Example citations Preformatted citations

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The Comedy of Errors: Assessing Citation Help in Databases

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  1. The Comedy of Errors: Assessing Citation Help in Databases Mary Van Ullen and Jane Kessler, University at Albany

  2. Database Citation Help • Help files • General information • Example citations • Preformatted citations • Included as part of the bib record, present in all styles supported by the database • Citations-on-demand • Generated when user specifies records and a citation style

  3. Errors in Ten Reviewed Citations

  4. Example of Retrieval Statement Error APA Format for article with doi assigned: Last name, First initial. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, volume(issue), page range. doi: Bibliographic record from Project MUSE showing doi: ArnoldianHumanism, or Amnesia and Autobiography in the Schwarzenegger Action Film Grady, Frank. Cinema Journal, 42, Number 2, Winter 2003, pp. 41-56 (Article) DOI: 10.1353/cj.2003.0003 APA example from “How to Cite Articles in Project MUSE” Example: Grady, Frank. (2003). Arnoldian Humanism, or Amnesia and Autobiography in the Schwarzenegger Action Film. Cinema Journal, 42(2), 41-56. Retrieved September 4, 2004 from Project MUSE database.

  5. Programming Error from Project Muse Bibliographic record: Poaching on Men's Philosophies of Rhetoric: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Rhetorical Theory by Women Donawerth, Jane, 1947- Philosophy and Rhetoric, Volume 33, Number 3, 2000, pp. 243-258 (Article) DOI: 10.1353/par.2000.0017 MLA Citation generated: Donawerth, Jane, 1947-. "Poaching on Men's Philosophies of Rhetoric: Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Rhetorical Theory by Women." Philosophy and Rhetoric 33.3 (2000): 243-258. Project MUSE. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 3 Apr. 2010 <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.

  6. Findings • Expecting substantial improvement from 2005 study • Overall error rate declined from 4.4 errors per citation to 3.4 errors per citation • In both studies retrieval statement was largest source of error

  7. Recommendations • Warn students! • Include citation feature in database evaluation • Talk to vendors • Many errors due to inattention to detail (Help files) or sloppy programming All’s well that ends well…

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