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Strategy3_MineWhat YouFind

Strategy #3: Mine What You Find

Ok, so you have found resources and now what do you do with them? What do you do when you found a really awesome scholarly article related to your topic but you can't find other articles like that one and you need at least 5 scholarly article for a research assignment?

This strategy will help you:

The Learning Outcome for this researching strategy is to: Demonstrate effective information seeking skills for locating, selecting, retrieving and evaluating information:

  • Utilize a variety of sources and tools both print and electronic
  • Discern between scholarly and non-scholarly sources; as well as primary and secondary resources
  • Compile, categorize and manage citations during the information seeking process
  • Employ ethical and legal standards when using sources and information
  • Critically evaluate information sources and resources

 

Knowledge

Narrowing in or digging down into scholarly articles around a topic you are researching requires some strategic thinking and searching tips. First, mine what you have already found! Second, know what parameters or criteria you want to include in your searching process to find useful articles. Are you looking for only recent (last 5-10 years) articles? Research articles that only contain a particular methodology (like quantitative or qualitative research)? Articles only written by a certain author? Or do you want to search just one particular journal?

Here are some examples:

  • Do you only want to see only articles published in the last 5 years? You can select a time frame to search (left side of search list) in Google Scholar or set a time frame in the Usearch tweaking menu on the right side of the search list. 

 

Basic Skills

Forage the content of a good article

  • For a really good article that you find, hunt through the references at the end of the article to find other articles that sound interesting. Copy the titles of those references and paste into Google Scholar to find that article.
  • Study the abstract for additional keywords you can use that may help you find similar articles.
  • Keep a list of keywords you find so you can use them later to add to search strings, or replace words in a search string

Find a Book you found in Google Scholar at the Marriott Library

  • You will be surprised how many books the library owns ... in the millions! So if you find a book that looks interesting in Google Scholar, we may have that book. So copy the title from Google Scholar and paste it into the Usearch search field ... cross your fingers (LOL)
  • During this time of COVID-19 you may not be able to get to that book, but make a note to check out that book after the library opens back up. But in the meantime if you really need a book now, check out this video to learn how to request a book be mailed to you Links to an external site.
  • If we do not have the book, look at the version on Amazon or Google Books. You can see excerpts of parts of books, that might give you some other citations to check out or find. Google books has a search field in their left menu; use your keywords to search there too.
  • Books provide a good overview of topics (especially the first few chapters)

Use the CITED BY LINK in Google Scholar to see who has cited that article

  • When you find good articles in Google Scholar, click on the CITED BY link to see who has cited that article. This is especially helpful when you find an older article. The cited by link will show  more recent publications and research.

 

Level Up to Advanced Skills

We have 3 types of books in the catalog:

1. Traditional Books are available in the stacks on level 1 and 2. See the location at Available At:

  • If you click on the Virtual Browse tab you will see other books around where that book is located on the shelf with the call numbers for those books too

2. E-Books can be accessed directly online if you are authenticated to the library website – click on VIEW IT link and then click to open in a new window so you can read it.

3. ARC Books ARC books must be requested online from the catalog (click on the request button and log in with your UNID) then pick the book up at the reserve desk 15-20 minutes later

Google Hack TIPS: 

  • Use Boolean search terms to search Google and :
    • Use " " to search a phrase like homeless, and use AND, OR, or NOT to widen or narrow your search with other keywords
    • For example: LGBTQ AND discrimination  - will narrow your search
  • Use search term with a ":" for example:
    • interview:homelessness
    • pdf:climate change
    • youtube:prisoner experience
    • oral history:LGTBQ
  • Click on news or videos links under the Google Search box to narrow down to videos

Additional Resources

Sometimes you may want to search the grey literature. Scholarly work that has not been peer reviewed and is often harder to find.

1. What is the Grey Literature?

  • Can be newer than journals or books - (pilots, experiments not yet ready for peer review)
  • Niche literature - not profitable enough for publishers, or does not easily fit in specific disciplinary journals
  • Can be a pilot or a prerequisite of material being submitted to a peer-reviewed scholarly journal

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2. Complete another round of research using Google and Google Scholar to find 2 grey literature articles for each member of your group directly related to the team’s topic.

Google and Google Scholar TIPS: 

  • Use Boolean search terms:
    • Use " " to search a phrase like "homeless veterans", and use AND, OR, or NOT to widen or narrow your search with other keywords
    • For example: aging AND "mental illness"   - will narrow your search
    • Click on the images link to see photos
    • Click on news or videos links to narrow down
  • Use search term with a ":" for example:
    • pdf:homeless families
    • grey literature:aging AND social media
    • blog:Asians AND mental health
    • gov.org:disability AND deafness

Grey Literature Databases for searching

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3. Evaluating Grey Literature

Since grey literature is not vetted through peer review, it is important to take extra steps to evaluate the grey literature you find.

Then you will analyze each of your sources using the 5 component of the RADAR freamework Links to an external site.

The handout used in this assignment was adapted from: Mandalios, Jane. "RADAR: An approach for helping students evaluate Internet sources." Journal of Information Science 39.4 (2013): 470-478.

 

 

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