MScBIMM Oct 2013 Finding Research Evidence

Editor's Notes

• #2: Welcome and intros.
• #3: How to find information for your projectsHow to develop an effective search strategy when you need to find information for an essay or projectThe range of resources available and how to use them to find good quality and relevant informationEvaluating information for quality and relevanceManaging referencesResearch from Uni of Huddersfield shows that correlation between library usage and good grades.
• #4: Hands on exercise: Sources game.
• #5: Magazine (A regular publication aimed at a profession, business or interest....trade/popular)Good:Latest news: events, jobs, products etc, concise info, easy to obtainBad: lacks detail, can be bias, old issues hard to come byStandards (An agreed, often legally binding level of quality or way of doing something....regional, Nat, Internat, profession/sector) Good: Created by experts, confidenceCompany/market research report (Well researched overview of a company or product market. Could contain future trends, financial data, competitors and SWOT analysis)Good: Up-to-date: latest research/data,Insider information: information not freely available elsewhere, objective, accurateBad: Hard to locateWebpageGood: All subjects covered,easy to use,mobileBad: accuracy, no editorial control, anyone can add information, provenanceNewspapersGood: Daily information ie. up-to-date, edited, current issues accessibleBad: Sensationalist, biased (unbalanced), harder to get back issuesConference proceedings (Collofaca papers distributed after a conference, cont the contributions made by researchers, academics etc)Good:Up-to-date: latest research, ideas, thinking on a subject, focussed/specialist, stringent quality controlBad: Too specificJournalsGood: Up-to-date,Focussed: specialist subject areas, qualityBad: Too specificBooksGood: overview,background knowledge, edited/qualityBad:Currency, detailed/specific information
• #6: More information about the range of resources available on the BIMM Library Subject Guide.
• #7: Group discussion:What can you see in the picture…fruitIf type ‘fruit’ into database will get millions of hits, how can you break it down ie. search for something more specific to get more manageable resultsCan you be more specific ie. Type of fruit: apples, oranges, bananas etcLocation: Stall, market, outdoor market, fruit market, BritainDetail: boxes, signs, astroturf, prices, colour of fruit, lights, pound £ signs, special offer etcPeople in background: old, young, male, female > stall holder, customers, browsers etcThink of related subjects eg. retail, commercial, financial, point-of-saleShopping, shops, fish/meat/clothes market, shopping centres, high streetTown, city, centre, British townNutrition: vits and minsAlso: Orange or Blackberry: fruit NOT telephoneApple: fruit NOT computerThinking beyond the obvious, looking for the detail that might make a difference.
• #8: The National Building Information Model Standard Project Committee has the following definition:Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility. A BIM is a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a reliable basis for decisions during its life-cycle; defined as existing from earliest conception to demolition.Keywords: management, building, information, modellingAlternative: BIM, Virtual Building Environment and Virtual Design and Construction (US)Management: coordination, control, decisionsBuilding: facilityInformation: knowledge, documentationModelling: modeling, models, virtual building, building process, integrated project models.Specific: Software > AutodeskRevit, Autoscheme etc Stakeholders (design team > Contractors > owners/operators) Building lifecycle: cost m’ment, construction m’ment, project m’ment, facility operation (conception-demolition)Related: Project management, shared knowledge
• #9: Next……….. Searching and evaluating information
• #10: Need to carry out a literature search:Finding the information available on a subjectFinding information to inform, underpin and shape your researchFinding what has already been written on a subjectAnalyzing, evaluating and making judgements about the info foundIdentifying the main trendsFinding appropriate information: the information needs to be suitable for your needie. right level, current if important, sufficient breadth or detail etc
• #11: Show the students how to refine their search using:FTContent typeSubject termsPublication dateLanguage etcHave another go.
• #12: Google Familiar and easy to useFinds too much informationFast resultsAccess from any computerAccess to some books and journalsDesigned to sell you things eg. shoesSearch results sponsored…no accident that Wikipedia, Amazon etc at top of search resultsSearches for info from any sourcePay for academic informationSummonEasy to useFinds lots of academic infoFast resultsAccess from any computerAccess to lots of books and journalsDesigned to find you information: up-to-date, focussed/specificSearch results by relevanceSearches quality resources eg. Peer reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings , research etcFree accessto full text ie. Information not freely available elsewhere
• #13: Which articles have cited an earlier articleie. Way of looking forward in the literature-if have found excellent article, can use a citation index to see which articles have subsequently cited it Find articles on similar/related subjects: Citation implies subject relationship, so can find papers on a similar topic without using any keywords or subject termsFind out how many times a paper has been cited ie. gauge the usefulness/quality. esteem of a paperDetermine which are the best journals in your field: citation data used to rank journals within particular subject areas…..useful way of seeing how journals perform in relation to others in the same subject area
• #14: Citation data and journal citation reports available from Web of Science (Knowledge).Have a look on Web of Science:Citation infoJournal Citation Reports
• #15: Remember more information about searching for information and resources available on LibGuide.
• #16: ZetocBL current awareness service - provides access to the British Library's Electronic Table of Contents of around 20.000 current journals and around 16,000 conference proceedings published every yearThe database covers from 1993 to the present, and is updated on a daily basis. It includes current awareness services, so that subscribers can receive notification of relevant new material either from particular journals, authors or on particular subjects (keywords)CituLikeHeadline articles from recent publicationsSome journals publish an electronic table of contents for the most recent issueBrowse all the recent articles in these journals just as if they were on your bookshelf Currently 13507 journals onlineTicTocSearch for 1000s of journal table of contents (TOCs) RSSfeeds by title, subject or publisher, export citations or link to full text, and then save TOCs in your ticTOCs account Google Alerts and BlogSearch as well.More info at link.
• #17: Inter Library Loan service: request copies of books and journals not held by MDX. £3 charge. Register as DL first. More info on our website.SCONUL Access http://www.access.sconul.ac.uk/The SCONUL Access Scheme provides reciprocal access and borrowing rights for staff and students to approximately 170 member institutions in the UK. Apply online.Other libraries (specialist, catalogues etc):British Library http://www.bl.uk/COPAChttp://copac.ac.uk/COPAC is a union catalogue that gives access to the merged online catalogues of members of the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL). Twenty  major university libraries currently contribute to COPAC.Search25 http://www.search25.ac.uk/:helps you discover library resources across London and the South East. You can also see where the libraries are and find out how to visit them.SUNCAThttp://www.suncat.ac.uk/SUNCAT, a union catalogue of serials (periodicals) for the UK, is a tool for locating serials held in UK libraries.
• #18: How do you decide if the information is any good? Especially important with the Internet.What do you think about this quote?
• #19: We’ve looked at the fun resources, now we’re going to look at more traditional resources……Divide class into group and hand out worksheet and 4x items.Discuss. No right or wrong answers. All items found by doing a search on Robots.Which items are most relevant: Wikipedia, academic journal, magazine (Newspaper about decorating project)Which items would be no use:Newspaper, Wikipedia, magazine (?)Which item has the most academic authority:Academic journal (refs, citations, language, source, peer reviewed....although doesn’t say on print-out, know who authors are etc. Magazine uses non-aca language, newspaper not from academic source, Wikipedia......Are any of the items bias:newspaper could be (probably not in this case), Wikipedia could be (sum info, edited favourably etc), magazine has advertising etcWhich item is the most current:Magazine Jan 2010,Newspaper Dec 2010,Wikipedia 15th Oct 2012, Academic Journal 2006Would need to continue search.
• #20: Take feedback and discuss.Authority : Who is the author? What is their knowledge base/qualifications? How have they carried out their research? Relevance : Is this what I need? Will it answer my question? Is it at the right level?Intent : What is the purpose of information e.g. financial gain, propaganda, academic etc?Objectivity : Balanced view? Opposing views represented? Links to supporting information?Currency: How old is this information? When was it last updated and by whom?
• #21: Referencing and Plagiarism libguide includes information on how to reference material correctly.Also information about Plato, LDU support and links to helpsheets.Referencing tutorials available on request.EIS LibGuide bring together all the resources for your subject area.
• #22: RefWorks is online software that helps you collect, store and organise the references you use in your work. It makes producing a reference list or bibliography quick and easy. It is web-based, so you can access your references from anywhere, and you will never loose them if your computer fails.