Week Three in Accessing Knowledge!

14/3/08

Week Three Lecture Overview

This weeks lecture focused on 'Online Libraries and Databases'. It told us the advantages and disadvantages of using both of these sources, and informed us what they were all about, and how they worked. Online libraries and Databases are similar but not the same, though they are both informative and usual.

• Online Libraries are convenient, broad, current, electronically formatted, and you can access it at anytime, anywhere.
• The types of online libraries include: online text repositories, electronic books, online journals, musicals and artwork.
• A limitation of using the online library is that in many cases only the catalogue is online.
• Another limitation is that you must reference correctly, in order to not misuse the copyright issues.
• Online databases are similar to online libraries, though they focus on data collection, search and browse facility and the distribution of data.
• Types of online databases include; people searches, e-mail directories, maps and atlases, government information and statistics, news and media and portals.
• The advantages of online databases are that they are comprehensive, current, kept up-to-date, browsable, searchable, 24/7 access and is in electronic format.
• The disadvantages include lots of advertising, difficult to navigate, info overload and you might have to pay.

TUTORIAL ACTIVITIES

For this I had to carry out my tutorial activities at home, as I could not make it to class due to having surgery. I did this by downloading the tutorial workshop for week 3 and completed the tasks that were assigned.

• The first thing I did was go on the internet and go into ECU Library Service. (http://www.ecu.edu.au/library/). I spent some time just browsing this website and exploring some of the functions it has available.
• After I had explored the site thoroughly and new my way around, I then searched for an online journal article on the 'economic impact of global warming on business'.
• Then went I had got my article I went back into the ECU Library site and searched for 10 useful functions/ search tips on this site, which are listed below:

1. ECU Library Catalogue: You can do a quick search or an assisted search. You would find anything from books to Cd's found at any ECU campus .
2. FindJournal Articles: An ECU research portal is MetaQuest or can be found INdoor (title/subject).
3. Reserve Collection Services: There is either eReserve Collection or Print Reserve Collection. Here students and staff can borrow books, CD-Roms etc.
4. Journal Title: You can search here for a journal as all journal titles held by ECU are available in the database.
5. Find Websites: Find them by topic, search engines or frequently used websites.
6. LibraryResources by Faculty: Provided by faculty library teams to meet specialized subject needs.
7. ECU Referencing Guide: Available online to help you with referencing, quoting etc.
8. Ask the library: If you have any queries about finding information or using databases you can ask a qualified librarian.
9. Learning to find information: You select an area that interests you and you learn more about it. These are helpful before you use the resources such as journal articles.
10. Student information: Here you would find quick links such as SIMO, news and important dates (eg. exams)

• After I got the above 10 useful functions I then visited the MEDline plus website (http://www.medlineplus.gov/). I browsed this website, becoming familiar with the MEDline plus site.
• I then used the built in search engine in this site and searched 'diabetes'. After i searched this I found a site that contained of usual information, which is shown below.

• When I had finished looking over the article, I clicked on the hyperlink text 'Interactive tutorials'. This was a site, that talked through the what you had searched. In my case I had clicked on Asthma, and then the site talked about asthma, and had a variety of usual links about Asthma on the left of the screen.

• I think the people that might use a service is the general public and people that want to know about their health without going to the doctors. They may use this site as a health precaution to stay healthy or they can not get to doctors becuase the doctors surgery is closed or the patient has to work.
• Another group of people that may use this service may be students that are studying an assignment, as it may come in handy to discover the information they need.
• The tutorials are well set out, there is a voice over, graphics and relevant information on the site.
• The interactive tutorials start with an introduction, followed by what the issue is, cause, effects, prevention, treatment and a summary. There are also questions that relate to the information provided.
• With this information provided whoever is using this site, would walk away from it knowing more about the issue they have researched and becoming more familiar and knowledgeable on the topic.

Reading Summary:

Finding what you want on the net: This website is about analyst Bill Thompson talking about searching the net, and trying to find what you want. The site mentions good searching without the search engine 'google' would not be easy. Also mentioned in the article is wide-ranging web indices and searching well.

Bare Bones: This site is about tips when searching the web. It gives out multiple guidlines on how to constuct an effective web search. One tip that is displayed and explained on the site is to use (+) plus and (-) minuses in front of the word to enforce their importance and inclusion and exclusion in searches.