Week 3

Task 1 and 2 Exploring ECU Library and Finding A Journal:

On the Blackboard Academic Suite under Useful Links there is a link to the ECU Library page I clicked on this.

Once on the ECU Library page I clicked on Journal Articles (Databases) which took me to a page which allowed me to go to select which way I wanted to search for the journal article I wanted.

I chose title and it took me to a list of Online Databases.

On the Online Library Database page I clicked on ABI/Inform Global (ProQuest) as Gary our lecturer had requested we use this specific one. Then in the advanced option I wrote “Global Warming” as this is what the task for the week asked me to look up.

15,494 items came up in the search so I went back to the advanced search and typed “economic impact” under the second search panel underneath “Global Warming”.

In this search 214 documents came up, this was still far too many journal articles to look through.

So I went back to the Advanced Search where “Global Warming” and “economic impact” were still in the Search bars and changed one of the scroll options to “Document title” and just above More Search Options were two boxes under the title of limit results to “Full text documents only” and “Scholarly journals, including peer-reviewed” which I selected. In the first screenshot here the Document text has been selected. In the second one the two boxes for "Full text documents" and "Scholarly journals" have both been selected.

The search brought back 7 documents. I then went back to the Advanced Search and added one last item which was “business” as this is what part of the weekly task asked me to do. This brought back one document on Global Warming.

In this last screenshot is the very first journal article out of seven that appeared when searching for "Global warming" AND "economic impact" and also the only article that appeared when searching for "Global warming" AND "economic impact" AND "business. Which is essentially what the task was asking from me in the first place.

If this was not what I was looking for I could easily go back and change the search options such as instead of having a “Document text” I could have it as a “Document title” or “Abstract.”

Task 3:

10 Useful Functions or Search Tips:

Depending on what a user is looking for Journal Articles are usually the most up to date sources, as they are always releasing new text. Books are good for looking up information for anyone but it does save your eyes from looking at a screen for long periods of time when looking for a journal article.

There are hundreds of Databases to look through when searching for a journal article. ABI/Inform Global (ProQuest) is a good one to use. You can make your search more efficient by making your search very specific by only looking for the subject as a Document title, Document Text, as an Abstract and then limiting results to only “Full text documents only” and “Scholarly journals” which will bring the user back a very precise search. If the information is not sufficient enough, change some of the search options such as from a “Document title” to a “Document text” or reducing the amount of extra words you have in your search. As the first line of words is crucial but the extra spaces underneath where you can search for extra options can be cut down if necessary.

The more specific you can be about your search the more precise the results will be. If you know a title or an author this may be a more efficient way of finding a book or journal rather than going to keyword and trying to find it that way.

Task 4, 5, 6 and 7 Exploration of MedlinePlus Website:

I went onto the MedlinePlus website and had a look at some of the health topics and drug information. Shown in this first screenshot in the Medline Plus website and in the second is a screenshot of the Health Topics page which I had a look through.

As the task asked in Task 5 I clicked on the “I” in the alphabetical ordered letters as I wanted to look up Influenza Vaccine.

I found it under “Influenza Vaccine, Inactivated” and l read through the information that was present.

I went into the Health Topics section as I wanted to look up Eye Injuries. Here are two screenshots from my searching. The first is actually looking up the topic and the second is going into the sub section of "Eye Injuries."

Someone who may use this service would be a patient who has been prescribed a certain medicine and they want to find out more about it and what it does. A person may hear about a particular drug that can help someone who has certain problems and inform them of this so they can talk to their doctor about it.

Information included on the drug information sections include:
What does it do?
“Why is this medicine prescribed?”
“How should this medicine be used?”
Precautions and safety procedures
Side effects

When in the health topics section a person who may be experiencing pain can find out what it is and what might be causing the problem so they can inquire about it to their general practitioner. It would be useful website to anyone who is looking up medical information as it is an authentic website with a “Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg, Director, National Library of Medicine” behind it.

It could also be used for other doctors to look up information or students to use for their assignments as well. Parents who have children with prescribed medication may want to look up extra information of what their child may be taking.



Lecture and Tutorial:

The only difference between the two classes was that in the lecture three questions were on the board otherwise both classes pretty much taught the same information about the use of libraries, databases and journals. The three questions that were present before class in the lecture include:

1. What are online Libraries or Databases can you name some?
2. What would you use Libraries or Databases for?
3. What are their advantages and disadvantages?

Readings for the Week:

The first reading of the week from BBC World titled “Finding what you want on the web” written by Bill Thompson explains that as a user Google can be a very efficient tool if used properly as there is a lot of material out there that can be used for research and that he does not need the use of his encyclopaedias right by his side. There are two sub headings “Wide-ranging web indices” and “Searching well.” “Wide-ranging web indices” deals with a search engine not being able to come across all websites such as Medline. He explains that Google is a good tool with several functions which he likes and usually comes back to after finishing with other search engines like Yahoo and the old HotBot search engines. The “Searching well” sub heading discusses ways Google does its job and problems with it as well.

The second reading of the week “Bare Bones Lesson 7: Basic Search Tips” gives examples of how to improve a way a user searches for certain topics in a search engine. Keywords, Double Quotations, Wildcards and the plus and minus techniques are all mentioned here as well as the Boolean method. The words “AND”, “NOT and “OR” are also included and should all be in capital letters so no confusion is made with the search engines even though most will understand the terminology.