DATABASES

Learning outcomes for today By the end of this session you will be able to: ◦ Use boolean operators ◦ Understand the structure of information for research ◦ Differentiate the different types of periodicals ◦ Use databases to find relevant articles ◦ Locate a printed journal article

What types of information? News Ideas and opinions Theoretical analysis/theory Everyday practicalities (timetables, maps) Facts and figures History/background People’s experience Legal information

Where does information come from? Newspapers Blogs etc Organisations Publishing houses Academic Institutions TV/Radio

Whose involved? Producers Disseminators Facilitators Users

Publication cycle R&D Informal Communication: Blogs etc Preliminary Communication: Letters to editor, comments Conference Journal Article Information adapted Indexed Published as a book Appears in online catalogues Publication Cycle

Primary Sources Primary-original or firsthand ◦ Conference proceedings ◦ Theses ◦ Original documents ◦ Photographs ◦ Novels ◦ Films ◦ Statistics ◦ Research articles

Secondary Sources Interpret, analyse or repackage primary material ◦ Newspaper reports of the findings of another source ◦ Databases ◦ Review articles ◦ Textbooks Summarise and explain previously published work

Tertiary Sources Dictionaries Directories Use these to get an introduction to a topic often to be found in our reference collection.

Where do they fit into your research? You may need to construct information from primary sources. Use them to draw comparisons between your assessment and the conclusion of others Use secondary sources to get an overview of a topic, set it in its context and identify more specific information. Bring your interpretation to these sources.

Periodicals: What are they? Periodicals is an umbrella term for: ◦ Newspapers, ◦ academic journals, ◦ Magazines

Why are they important? Keep you up to date with latest news or developments Journals especially are written by experts in their field Newspapers and magazines can be a useful resource depending on the context of your research

Peer Reviewed Journals A scholarly periodical which requires that each article submitted for publication be judged by an independent panel of experts (scholarly or scientific peers). Articles not approved by a majority of these peers are not accepted for publication by the journal. Peer-reviewed journals can be identified by their editorial statements or instructions to authors (usually in first few pages of the journal or at the end)

Peer Reviewed Journals Formal in format Sources are cited with footnotes or a bibliography at the end of the article Authors are scholars and researchers in the field and are identified as such Purpose of the article is to publish the results of research Publisher may be a professional organization, research institution; usually not-for-profit Very little advertising Graphics are usually statistical illustrations, in black-and- white

What do we use to find relevant articles? Databases  Also known as Abstracts & indexes  Art Full Text  British Humanities Index (BHI Net)  Ebsco Business Source Elite  International Bibliography of the Social Sciences  MLA  Web of Knowledge  Zetoc

WARNING! Most of these egs. are not full Text No connection with our stock though we will have some of the journals in printed or electronic format Ignore class number on catalogue record