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James Samuel Guy Chemistry Library
1515 Dickey Drive
Atlanta, Georgia 30322

CHEM 190-001: From Sand to Supercomputers: The Story of the Information Revolution

Course Guide
October 2, 2007

For additional information contact: Donna Hudson, Physics Liaison
Office: Chemistry Library, 431 Atwood Chemistry Center
Phone: 404/727-7897
Email: libdth@emory.edu

Office Hours: Mon. 2-3 pm; Fri.10-11 am

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Table of Contents

• Library Basics-FAQ's
• Developing a Research Process
• Locating General Information on Your Topic: Using Encyclopedias
• Finding Books and Print Journals at Emory: Using EUCLID
• Locating Magazine and Scholarly Journal Articles: Using Databases
• Using Google Scholar
• Evaluating Print and Web Resources
• Citing References and Avoiding Plagiarism

Library Basics - FAQ's

• Your EmoryCard is your library card.
• All library resources can be accessed from the library home page, http://web.library.emory.edu.
• EUCLID is the library online catalog, http://www.library.emory.edu/.
• From the EUCLID main screen you can also access databases, electronic journals, Reserves Direct, interlibrary loan, and your personal library account information.
• Help and information are available at all campus libraries.
• Once you have chosen a topic for your research paper, you are encouraged to talk to me or to other librarians to help you find books and journals about your topic. I strongly encourage you to meet with me to help you.
• To find books on your topic, search EUCLID.
• To find journal articles on your topic, search databases.
• To find out whether the library owns the journals your are interested in finding, search the eJournals database, http://ejournals.emory.edu, or EUCLID.
• Books circulate for 28 days.
• You may recall any checked-out item. Recalls require a person to return the item within 14 days. Recalls may be made via EUCLID's Request button.
• Interlibrary Loan requests are submitted electronically via ILLiad, http://www.library.emory.edu/uhtbin/nph-illiad, in EUCLID. In most cases, there is no charge for borrowing books or for photocopies of articles. Pick up and return of interlibrary loan materials is at the Woodruff Library Circulation Desk.
• Printing from library computers and photocopying is $0.08/page with your EmoryCard and $0.15/page if using a coin-operated machine. Photocopying from microforms is $0.15/page with your EmoryCard.
• Books have Library of Congress (LC) call numbers. Periodicals in Woodruff Library have LC call numbers and are shelved with the books in the stacks. Call numbers for books and periodicals are found in EUCLID.
• Current issues of most periodicals are shelved alphabetically by title in the Matheson Reading Room of the Candler Library. Cehck EUCLID for the location of chemistry, physics, matematics, cmoputer science, environmental science and geology periodical titles.
• In the Chemistry Library, and Mathematics and Science Center Reading Room, booksand periodicals are shelved in the stacks by LC call number; all periodicals, current and bound, are shelved alphabetically.

Developing a Research Process

Select a Topic and Determine the Focus

• Use a general or subject-specific encyclopedia or handbook to help you gain understanding of your topic.
• Write a statement or question that helps you identify the focus of your topic.

• Write down the key words and search terms that will best describe your topic when searching the library catalog (EUCLID) and article databases.
• Decide what article databases to use. Refer to this subject guide or use Databases @ Emory to give you suggestions on which database(s) to search.

• Use the keywords identified in developing your search strategy.
• From your search results, choose articles that appear to be of interest.
• Read abstracts, subject headings, descriptors, index terms and any other information available in references of interest to find additional searching terms to increase searching yield.

• Many databases will indicate if Emory owns the item of interest by displaying an icon that says PDF Full Text; Linked Full Text; Find It @ Emory etc.
• If the reference does not clearly indicate if Emory owns the journal article you need, search EUCLID, the library catalog or the eJournals database.
• When searching to see if Emory owns the article you need, search for the journal title not the title of the article.
• If you want to find out if Emory owns a book, search EUCLID. Look for the title or author/editor of the book not the title or author of a specific chapter.

• Evaluate all of your resources for accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency and coverage. Use the same criteria for books, journal articles and web sites.

• Use the style manual recommended by your professor.
• If you have questions about citing sources and plagiarism refer to library guide, Citing Your Sources and Plagiarism.

Locating General Information on Your Topic: Using Encyclopedias

As an example for this course, find information on the topic "INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY". For help in identifying general and subject-specific encyclopedias owned by Emory, go to Databases @ Emory, http://web.library.emory.edu/databases/. Select Encyclopedias, Dictionaries & Thesauri at the "Category" drop-down box.

Encyclopedias to try:

Access Encyclopedia of Science and Technology

Encyclopedia Britannica Online

 

 

SEARCH: "INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY"

Finding Books and Print Journals at Emory: Using EUCLID

EUCLID is Emory's online card catalog. Search the catalog using key words you have developed in your search strategy. If you have difficulty finding information in EUCLID you may need to concentrate on identifying the Library of Congress Subject Headings used to describe your topic. Ask your librarian to help you find Library of Congress Subject Headings for searching.

 Search Library of Congress    

 Subject Headings:      

INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY

INFORMATION REVOLUTION

COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLGY

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS

INTERNET             

Locating Magazine and Scholarly Journal Articles: Using Databases

Two good databases to begin searching your topic are the Academic Search Complete database or the Research Library database. You may recognize the Research Library database by its former name, Periodical Abstracts. Both of these databases provide references to magazine and scholarly journal articles.

To locate either the Academic Search Complete database or the Research Library database, go to Databases @ Emory, http://web.library.emory.edu/databases. Type the name of the database ("Academic Search Complete" or "Research Library") into the search box after the category Find Databases.

Connect to the Academic Search Complete database and try to find information on "INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY" by typing the phrase in the "Find" search box.

Specialized databases in science can be found by going to Databases @ Emory, http://web.library.emory.edu/databases/. Many databases can be found by going to the category Find by Subject and choosing "science and technology" in the drop-down box to the right. At the Find by Subject category you may also go to a specific science discipline, e.g. "BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES" or "PHYSICS". Go to the category "PHYSICS" and choose the database "Inspec".

Inspec

Inspec is a leading source of literature in the fields of physics, electrical engineering, computers and control, and information technology. It includes journal articles, techicial papers, books, conferences, proceedings, dissertations, and reports.Try doing the same search in Inspec on "INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY" by typing the phrase in the "Quick Search" box. Be prepared to go to "Advanced Search" and refine your topic and limit the number of your references. In the "Advanced Search" box, try refining your references using the term "medicine".

Web of Science
A major database for searching in the sciences, social sciences and humanities is Web of Science. Type "Web of Science" in the Find Databases search box, Databases @ Emory, http://web.library.emory.edu/databases/.

When beginning a search in Web of Science, remember to "turn off" the radial check mark boxes for any of the databases you are not interested in searching, i.e., Social Sciences Citation Index, Science Citation Index, or Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Leaving all boxes checked means that your search will be executed over all three databases.

In this search example, "turn off", Social Sciences Citation Index and Arts & Humanities Index. In Web of Science you may also "turn on" the boxes for additional chemistry databases, Current Chemical Reactions and Index Chemicus. A second reminder before you begin searching: Choose the time span you wish the search to cover. The default is 1955 to date (all years).

Try searching "INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY" as a Quick Search. Again, be prepared to search your topic in "Advanced Search". In Advanced Search it is easy to refine your search by additional topics, language or document type, such as "article" or "review".

Example: Refine your search by topic: TS =medicine, then combine "set 1" and "set 2" and document type, "article'. Then try the same search as a General Search. Note: on the General Search it is easier to refine your search by language and document type.

There are many nice features in this database including Citation Searching. Citation Searching allows the user to find authors and papers that have "cited" an earlier known paper. This technique of identifying cited papers is used frequently for building a bibliography of papers that are related to a subject of interest. References can be sorted in different order, e.g. relevance and times cited. The Find it @ Emory button is prominently displayed.

Using Google Scholar

Google Scholar, http://scholar.google.com, is not a library database. It is freely available to anyone who searches the Internet. Many scholarly resources including peer-reviewed papers, technical reports, theses and books can be found on Google Scholar. If Google Scholar has been able to determine that Emory owns a book or journal article identified in a search, the notation "Full Text @ Emory" will appear prominently. A less prominent "Find It @ Emory" will appear if Google Scholar is unaware of Emory's ownership of an item. Clicking on "Find It @ Emory" will allow you to verify Emory's holdings. Caution: Google Scholar also includes references that are not free and require payment before viewing. Always check EUCLID or the e-Journals database first before you agree to pay for a reference.

Evaluating Print and Web Resources

Accuracy

Make certain the author provides a contact address/phone number or e-mail address.
Know the distinction between author and webmaster.
Questions to ask: Who wrote the page and can you contact him or her? What is the purpose of the document and why was it produced? Is this person qualified to write this document?

Authority

Questions to ask: What credentials are listed for the author(s)? Where is the document published? What is the URL domain? Who published the document and is it separate from the webmaster? Does the publisher list his or her qualifications?

Objectivity

Determine if the work is a mask for advertising. If it is, the information may be biased.
View any web page as an infomercial on television.
Questions to ask: Why was this written and for whom? What goals/objectives does this document meet? How detailed is the information? What opinions, if any, are expressed by the author?

Currency

Questions to ask: Is the information current or updated regularly? Is the information outdated? How up-to-date are the links on a page? Are there dead links on the page?

Coverage of Web Documents

Questions to ask: Are the links, if any, evaluated and do they complement the documents' theme? Is the page all images or a balance of text and images? Is the information presented cited correctly? If the page requires special software to view the information, how much are you missing if you don't have the software? Is it free or is there a fee to obtain the information? Is there an option for text only, or frames, or a suggested browser for better viewing?

The results of your evaluation based on the criteria will determine whether you have obtained information that could be of value to your research.

Citing Your References and Avoiding Plagiarism

One of the best practices to avoid plagiarism is to allow yourself enough time to read, take notes, write and think about what you are writing. This way you allow yourself enough time to take notes that preserve the original author's ideas, words and phraseology. Make sure you clearly make a distinction between yourself and the work of others you read. Careful attention to detail in recording exact quotes, titles, authors and page numbers of sources make accurate citing easy. For additional information see the library research guide, Citing Your Sources and Plagiarism, at http://web.library.emory.edu/services/ressvcs/citation/citationstyles.html.