I've done it. You've done it. Everybody is doing it. We hop online, open our favorite browser, and type in a few key words to see what there is to see about a topic we're interested in. Does it matter if the topic is formal or informal in nature? Does it matter if the information we are looking for is for school, work or pleasure? For me I find that the answer is 'Yes' just as much as it is 'No'. But I like to think that training as I am to be a librarian (those special beings trained in information seeking strategies) and as a graduate student, that I know when I should be searching the world wide web and when I should be searching specialized databases.
But am I consistent in my searching? Could I be easily fooled if nudged in the wrong direction for my searching? I like to believe that I am able to discern between credible websites, based on research and logic, from those based on opinion, imagination, or personal beliefs. But what about everyone else? What kind of information seeking strategies are they using online? How well are they able to discern fact form fiction?
All these thoughts have been tumbling about in my mind for a few days now as a result of reading a yahoo.com news article by Dykes posted on February 2, 2010. The article talks about a press release posted on January 28, 2011 from Pearson, a provider of educational materials and services. The press release discussed a study where children were told to research an endangered animal, the "Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus." They found a website dedicated to the imaginary animal on which they based their research project on. Reportedly, after being told it was a hoax and the animal didn't exist, some of the children still believed the information they had found online to be true.
Dr. Donald Leu, one of the researchers involved in the study, states, " Anyone can publish anything on the Internet and today's students are not prepared to critically evaluate the information they find there" (Miller, 2011). While the details of Leu's study are not known and so the validity of the results can not be verified, the study still brings up some important research questions - How accurately are students evaluating online information? And what online researching techniques are they being taught to help them find that information?
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Journal #2 - Youth and Technology: Databases and Search Methods
Here's an overview of the databases I used with while looking for articles to abstract for the group research project on youth and technology.
Using SJSU Library:
Database Search Conducted:
I preferred the option of cross searching various databases all at once. I used the Library and and Information Science subject guide to start.
I did choose to remove Google Scholar from my preselected choices of databases. I've used Google Scholar in the past and choose to remove it this time because it tended to slow down the search process since a large number of results would be returned - not all relevant.
Main Databases Accessed:
Started cross searching the following databases:
Education (General) Databases:
I found that I would follow one link in an article to another article during my search finding articles that I wouldn't have found when using my keywords.
Using SJSU Library:
Database Search Conducted:
I preferred the option of cross searching various databases all at once. I used the Library and and Information Science subject guide to start.
I did choose to remove Google Scholar from my preselected choices of databases. I've used Google Scholar in the past and choose to remove it this time because it tended to slow down the search process since a large number of results would be returned - not all relevant.
Main Databases Accessed:
- Library Literature & Information Science Full Text
- Academic Search Premier
- Emerald Management Xtra
- Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text
Started cross searching the following databases:
- ScienceDirect
- Academic Search Premier
Education (General) Databases:
- Academic Search Premier
- Education Full Text
- Education Research Complete
- ERIC via Ebsco
- PsycINFO
I found that I would follow one link in an article to another article during my search finding articles that I wouldn't have found when using my keywords.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Journal Entry #1 - How Have I Researched?
After reading through the research models, including the ACRL standards, and viewing the research language presentation reflect on your practice of research to this point in your career as a student. How do you research? What strategies do you use that are successful? What difficulties do you encounter? Have you engaged in primary research? Or is it primarily secondary research? What strategies and methods do you hope to learn this semester?
Reading through the research models brought to mind a lot of different ways that I have conducted research over the years. I can only recall two times where I have conducted research using surveys or questionnaires. One used open ended questions and the other closed ended or multiple choice questions. I have done some quasi experiments, mostly setting up tests for children to see how they score, but there are often difficulties in working with experimental groups and accurately comparing them to control groups. I find that I have mostly conducted different types of qualitative research over the years.
According to Dr. Luo's lecture on research methods in Library and Information Science (LIS), qualitative field research involves observing social phenomena in a natural habitat as opposed to an artificial experimental setting. I have done this type of research when observing and recording interactions between between librarians and patrons in my LIS studies and interactions between children, their peers, and adults for my child development studies.
I have been both the outsider observer, having no contact or interference with the events being observed, and an interactive observer, asking the participants questions about how they interpreted the situation I was observing. I find being an outside observer give me the most non-bias ability to interpret my observations, but that being an interactive observer does allow for the best knowledge of what those in the experiment were motivated by.
While I have conducted some types of primary research by collecting data through the use of questionnaires and observations, I find that I have mostly conducted secondary research. A large majority of my research up to this point has been done by using other primary research to collect data on groups and phenomenons that I would not normally have access to. The instances where I have done primary research has been done on a much smaller scale.
I hope to sharpen my skills for developing and conducting primary research throughout this semester. I feel that in the immediate future I will want to use different types of primary research to collect data on a local level about what patrons, youth and adults, want, need, or expect from their library. This data would then be used to help develop programs that are custom fitted to the needs of our patrons which will generate support and boost library usage.
Reading through the research models brought to mind a lot of different ways that I have conducted research over the years. I can only recall two times where I have conducted research using surveys or questionnaires. One used open ended questions and the other closed ended or multiple choice questions. I have done some quasi experiments, mostly setting up tests for children to see how they score, but there are often difficulties in working with experimental groups and accurately comparing them to control groups. I find that I have mostly conducted different types of qualitative research over the years.
According to Dr. Luo's lecture on research methods in Library and Information Science (LIS), qualitative field research involves observing social phenomena in a natural habitat as opposed to an artificial experimental setting. I have done this type of research when observing and recording interactions between between librarians and patrons in my LIS studies and interactions between children, their peers, and adults for my child development studies.
I have been both the outsider observer, having no contact or interference with the events being observed, and an interactive observer, asking the participants questions about how they interpreted the situation I was observing. I find being an outside observer give me the most non-bias ability to interpret my observations, but that being an interactive observer does allow for the best knowledge of what those in the experiment were motivated by.
While I have conducted some types of primary research by collecting data through the use of questionnaires and observations, I find that I have mostly conducted secondary research. A large majority of my research up to this point has been done by using other primary research to collect data on groups and phenomenons that I would not normally have access to. The instances where I have done primary research has been done on a much smaller scale.
I hope to sharpen my skills for developing and conducting primary research throughout this semester. I feel that in the immediate future I will want to use different types of primary research to collect data on a local level about what patrons, youth and adults, want, need, or expect from their library. This data would then be used to help develop programs that are custom fitted to the needs of our patrons which will generate support and boost library usage.
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