Content: Finding Resources

Editor's Notes

• #2: To develop your digital practitioner skills or guide and advise students, finding and evaluating information is key to that process.This part of todays workshop will have a look at some tips and ways forward Enabling good search is about defining a good search strategy, knowing what resources are available and which information is best suited to your needs, its about specifying your requirementsSince google has become a verb, include some tips and shortcuts you can use to limit and filter your results using the google search engineUHI / Orkney College Library services has many resource available and these can be searched in a myriad of ways including the multi search search {millie} that will search through all your library’s collections both physical and electronicThe College uses the Harvard referencing style and we can have a look at the online tutorial the college has provided, when choosing information to include it is important to also cite and ensure you are not infringing any copyright restrictionsThe last part of this session will look at resources outwith the college and some of the worldwide open educational resources that are available to lecturers and students.
• #3: Planning your searchA useful tool for students to determine their subject or area of interest is by listing what they already know about the subject, this can really help building a plan of action for an essay or piece of workOr using mind mapping tools to determine subtopics or related topics is a great start for building the structure of an essay software such as Xmind allows your mind map to be exported to a word document with your proposed structure [YOUTUBE VIDE LINK]Some subjects may have related, variant or synonyms, using a google search can help locate other keywords for the subject or using a thesaurus to determine related words is useful [click on the reverse dictionary link] or using subject specific dictionaries is also useful to help create a very precise search strategy(can be either general or subject specific) A quick search on your topic can also be useful, google does synonym search automatically so it will pick up resources that have been indexed with a synonym To determine the hierarchy of your specific subject or where it may sit within a subject areausing dictionaries specific to that subject can be very helpful [LINK TO ONLINE BIOLOGY DICTIONARY]ORKNEY College library also allow you to search by subject area for ejournals [CHOOSE A SUBJECT HEADING UNDER BROWSE E JOURNALS BY SUBJECT] this will then show you all the subject headings under the subject you have chosen.
• #4: To further determine your search requirements it’s useful to consider the followingThe answers to these questions will help provide valuable information that will help you select the best databases for your topic and develop your search strategy.Primary or secondary sources, a primary source (in journalistic terms) is a first hand account of an event that has occurred and the source or person recording the event was present, these can take the form of diaries, letters, reports, photographs, creative works, financial records, memos, and newspaper articles (to name just a few types). An example of a primary source can be archival or vital records such as birth and death certificates or a literary manuscripts, primary sources can also be found in mass media Secondary sources are usually derived from primary sources. a secondary source of information is one that was created later by someone who did not experience first-hand or participate in the events For the purposes of a historical research project, secondary sources are generally scholarly books and articles. Also included would be reference sources like encyclopaedias. Other attributes worth considering when embarking upon search for a piece of work is the type of publication, is your topic best searched using popular publications or scholarly publications, how in depth is the piece of work you are about to do, is it a new concept or theorem that is only available as a research topic, some information professionals would suggest avoiding Wikipedia like the plague but it can be a great jumping off point for finding other related resources of nearly any given topic with their further reading section at the bottom of an article, conversely, wikipedia will also usually have the most up to date information on specific computer/ online / programming oriented topics.Depending on the time period you are researching will also help determine what type of resource would be of most benefit, checking a databases coverage can help refine your sources prior to searching, using journal based indexes can be most beneficial if your area of research is new and also news related indexing services can be of great use when real time up to date information is required.Considering where something is published or relating it to a specific area and what language you require can also be useful in refining your search strategy.All of these questions can help you create a high precision low recall search, enabling time to be saved sifting through meaningless irrelevant resources.American in bias but useful little page http://www.noodletools.com/debbie/literacies/information/5locate/adviceengine.html
• #5: Google or other search engines have their place in information retrieval, as said earlier with the term ‘to google’ or googling added to the OED way back in 2006, it has become the first and foremost point of contact for most users for retrieval of digital information.Google’s back-end is like any other database and uses similar syntax to enable filtering of search results.Parenthesis / tilde – synonyms / define: / site:
• #7: Create list on a topic of your choice that includes sources from the following:Google scholarE-resources from your libraryJournal articlesEbooks from your library
• #8: When choosing your source or determining the authenticity of a resource, the open university created the following PROMPT modelhttp://www.open.ac.uk/infoskills-researchers/evaluation-introduction.htmhttp://www.open.ac.uk/infoskills-researchers/resources/S5_PROMPT_Checklist.pdfPresentation – where did you find the information, on a website, is it clear and well presented? Relevance –is it related in some way to your given topic, reading an introduction or overview can give you a quick summary and help decided its relevanceObjectivity – does it give a balanced impartial view of your topic, does it use emotive language or have a potential hidden interestMethod – from a research point of view, the method used garnering the information used in the resrouce you’re interested in is very important, understanding the methods used in your area of expertiseProvenance – can help ascertain the validity of a piece of information are they respected in their field of expertise, where has it been published we are also self publishers, has the piece of information been cited in other resources, has it been peer reviewed?Timeliness – has the information been superseded, or does it tell you when it was publishedUsing your library’s resources can negate this as your librarian will have ensured that the information you have access to is of an impartial, clearly presented, authenticated and relevant in nature!
• #9: Orkney College library has specific guidance on how to create references and bibliography for assessment, Orkney abide by the Harvard rules for citation and the college has included an online referencing tutorial for people to become familiar with the standard [second link]An understanding of your institutions policies on copyright and plagiarism are very important with today’s apparent availability of all knowledge online, it is important to stress to students that it may be displayed or available online but restrictions will apply for its use or inclusion in other bodies of work.Orkney has included information regarding the college’s license and what can legally be done with information they hold and also a useful checklist for staff to ensure they abide by Copyright Law when using digital materials.
• #10: Within the digital environment there is a movement to share, repurpose and recycle resources in a legally responsible way, has show you some of the collections of open resource collections available Learners can benefit from:enhanced quality and flexibility of resourcesseeing/applying knowledge in a wider context than their course would otherwise allow, e.g. international dimensionfreedom of access (e.g. at work/home/on placement) and enhanced opportunities for learning (cf the Capetown Declaration)support for learner-centred, self-directed, peer-to-peer and social/informal learning approachesskills development (e.g. numeracy) through release of generic OER that can be re-used and re-contextualised in different subject areasthe opportunity to test out course materials before enrolling – and compare with other similar coursesopportunities to be involved in OER initiatives either through contributing towards OER development, testing or evaluation, marketing activities, acting as an ambassador for OER with other learners or staffauthentic or 'real-life' learning experiences through OER that link to employer or professional sector activities The OER originator can benefit from:student/user feedback and open peer reviewreputational benefits, recognitionbenefits (efficiency and cultural) of collaborative approaches to teaching/learningopportunities to work across sectors, institutions and subject disciplinesincreased digital literacies (particularly around IPR)reaching a wider range of learners Other staff/users can benefit from:availability of quality peer reviewed material to enhance their curriculumcollaborative approaches to teaching/learning (CoPs)professional/peer-to-peer learning about the processes of OER releaseincreased dialogue within their organisation or with other peers in the sector and globallypreservation and availability of materials for endangered subjectsopen access to legacy materials Educational Institutions can benefit from:recognition and enhanced reputationwider availability of their academic content and focus on the learning experience (linking to widening participation agenda)increased capacity to support remote studentsefficiencies in content production (particularly around generic content that can be used across subject areas)new partnerships/linkages with other institutions and organisations outside the education sectorincreased sharing of ideas and practice within the institution, including greater role for support servicesa buffer against the decline of specific subjects or topics (which may not be sustainable at institutional level but can be sustained across several institutions through shared resources)supporting sustainability of legacy materialsincreased understanding of IPR new relationships with students as they become collaborators in OER production, release and use Other sectors (eg, employers, public bodies, private bodies, 3rd sector)access to repurposable contentinput to scoping, development and endorsement of OER in their focus areanew potential partnerships with content providers and other sectorsupskilling - increased understanding of IPR, curriculum development and learning technologiesunderstanding of customer needs - (for example, commercial publishers  finding out what kinds of OER and learning resources are wanted by teachers and/or learners)
• #11: http://www.open.edu/openlearn/education/creating-open-educational-resources/content-section-0
• #12: A really good example of OER in practice is the khan academy a not for profit organisation that hosts a huge amount of courses and materials covering a myriad of subjects that are free for anyone to use www.khanacademy.org
• #13: There are many institutions out there that are making their courseware publically available, MIT are a great example of thishttp://ocw.mit.edu/courses/comparative-media-studies/cms-998-videogame-theory-and-analysis-fall-2006/index.htm
• #14: OER CommonsLaunched in Feb 2007 to provide support and build a community around the use/reuse of OERsEncourage people to contribute to OER and have a number of tools and tutorial to helpMany partners including Creative Commons and the OU OpenLearn, including many US based universitieswww.oercommons.org
• #15: www.apple.com/education/resources/
• #16: Jorumhttp://www.jorum.ac.uk/ Jorum is a free online repository for teaching and support staff in UK Further and Higher Education Institutions. Jorum encourages sharing, re-use and repurposing of learning and teaching materials. It hosts a range of learning and teaching materials such as Word documents or PowerPoint presentations, as well as complex learning packages that combine various multimedia formats such as video, audio and animation. The Jorum website contains help and advice about accessing the resources You are able to Find / Share / Discuss resources via the Jorum site.
• #17: www.resourceshare.ac.uk/
• #18: http://www.jisc-content.ac.uk/