Week 3 - Online Library and Databases

Lecture 21/3/08

Online library and databases are a quick and easy way to get information from trustworthy sources. The information that is kept within these sources are up to date and are usually free to access.

Advantages of online libraries and databases include:

Online Libraries:

• Convenience
• 24/7 access
• Current information

Databases:

• Current information
• 24/7 access
• Searchable
• Browsable

Disadvantages for these include:

Online Libraries:

• Lots of information is hidden and only accessible through subscription
• You need to know ways of finding specific information

Databases:

• Lots of advertising
• Difficult to navigate
• Subscription only access on specific information

Tutorial

10 useful functions and search tips for the ECU library site.

1. Use journal articles (database).
2. Then click into find database by title.
3. Click into ProQuest. This will help you to find peer reviewed information.
4. Key words. These narrow down the topic and help you break away from unrelated information.
5. Quotation marks.
6. Advanced search. This can help you find more specific information that you might not be able to find in normal search conditions.
7. Check the boxes for limit search results. "Full text documents only" and "Scholarly journals, including peer-reviewed". This limits the results to documents that are trustworthy and give you all the information.
8. Use Boolean search words such as AND, NOT and OR.
9. Use the ? to replace a singular character (not at the beginning of a word). Searching t?re will come up with "tire", "tyre","tore".
10. Switch between the types of examples the search will give you (for example Citation and abstract or Classification code etc.).

Medline plus

The medline plus website, is a site which provides information on all medications and health topics that could be a factor in any ones life around the world. I think that this site would be used by people that are wanting to no exactly what is affecting them at anyone time and how the medications that will be given to them will help and affect their body. This could also be a good site for people that are scared about a sickness and to see what is needed to treat them and the effects it could have. This could give them a bit of peace of mind and calm their worries about the sickness they have.

Reading Summary

Finding what you want on the web.

Finding what you want on the web is a very hard thing to do. It requires you to explore the full web not just what you search through Google. Google is the most common search engine used on the web and covers a large section of the visible web. However the amount of information that is on the web is growing and more and more untrustworthy sites are making it into the search, while more valuable information is being pushed into the dark. Because of this we need to start using other resources to find the information that we need and which is credible.