USING THE INTERNET FOR

RESEARCH AND ACADEMIC

WORK

 Internet is interconnection of computers all over

the world for the sole purpose of sharing
resources
 Internet is a resource for searching specific and
general information.
 THE INTERNET
• The Web and the Internet

The two are sometimes used interchangeably but there is a difference.

• The net and the web differ

• The Internet connects computers

• File transfer, involving a variety of protocols (e.g. ftp)

• The web connects pages

• Hyperlinks: the http at the beginning of the URL of every web page
 Internet history

• Roots in Cold War

• In 1958, the US created the Advanced

Research Projects Agency (ARPA) to regain a
lead in technology as the Russians had just
launched the Sputnik satellite into space.
 Internet history
• ARPAnet was the forerunner of the Internet

• In 1967, after years of development, ARPA net used packet

switching technology to transmit information. Packet switching
is a method used by network protocols including IP and Frame
Relay to deliver data across a computer network connection in
individually delivered small pieces. This method was considered
safer in case of an atomic attack. The advanced version is called
TCP/IP and without it the Internet would be impossible.
 History
• Gradually networking was created across the
globe
• ARPAnet technology was adopted by other
organizations around the world. The number of
servers worldwide started to increase
exponentially.
 History
• E-mail and usenet invented

• E-mail was invented in 1965. The @-sign

to separate user from host names was
introduced in 1971. Usenet, newsgroups,
mailing lists, and discussion groups were
made possible from 1979.
 History
• The http protocol was created to facilitate
browsing
• In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee created the http
protocol at CERN, Geneva. As a result it
became possible to use international networks
for web browsing.
 History
• Modern Internet era: the Web

• With the abandonment of ARPAnet in the early

1990s and the introduction of the first browsers
the Internet entered into a new era: the World
Wide Web was born, which quickly became in
the key stone of the knowledge society.
 History
• Current Web trends

• Everything connected to the Internet

• The Internet increasingly gobbles up everything

else (telephone, power supply, commerce,
entertainment, education, what not) into one big
machine, that grows enormously in power and
size.
 History
• University teaching and academic library affected

• This development will also affect the future of

university teaching and academic library support and the
relationship between the two. The amount of scientific
knowledge recorded in scientific and non scientific
journals doubles about every fifteen to seventeen years.
 Information Retrieval Tools
• There is therefore the need to have an idea of some
of the information resources available and to know
how to search them for the required information.
• Selected categories of information resources:

A. Search tools

(i) search engines

 Information Retrieval Tools
(ii) Meta search engines (uses the data of a web search engine to produce
its own results)

(iii) Subject specific search engines

B. Subject Information Gateways

C. Databases

(i) Subscribed (Institution)

(ii) Available but not subscribed

(iii) Free databases (e.g. Directory of Open Access Journals

 Information Retrieval Tools

D. Institutional Repositories

E. OCLC World Catalogue

F. Networked Digital Library of Theses and

Dissertations

G. Online Libraries

H. Free books
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE AN INDEPTH
KNOWLEDGE OF SELECTED E-RESOURCES

• Universities perform two basic functions: teaching and

research;
• Research is undertaken to increase knowledge in a
subject;
• New research builds upon past research;

• Academics conduct a review of previous research

before carrying out their own work
 WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE AN INDEPTH
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS IN SEARCHING SELECTED E-
RESOURCES

• "Standing on the shoulders of giants" is a famous phrase used

to describe academic research; It means we should look to
learn from the major thinkers who went before us before
developing our own ideas;
• University research relies heavily on academic publications
and libraries, but since the Web began in the 1990s the
Internet has become a valuable research tool alongside these
traditional sources.
 Search Engines
• SEARCH ENGINE is a program that searches documents for specified
keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found.
• Although search engine is really a general class of programs, the term is often
used to specifically describe systems like Alta Vista and Excite that enable users
to search for documents on the World Wide Web and USENET newsgroups
• A search engine like google can be used to look for other search engines. You can
call and use google by typing the google address at the URL www.google.com
• http://www.sou.edu/library/searchtools/
 Meta Search Engines
• A search engine that gets listings from two or more other
search engines, rather than through its own efforts.

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Meta
Search.html

http://www.metacrawler.com/

http://www.mamma.com/

http://www.dogpile.com/
 GOOGLE AS A SEARCH ENGINE AND
PROVIDER OF OTHER USEFUL SERVICES
• It is a popular search engine but it has limitations. It
cannot pull out records from sources that require
registration of some sort for use.
• For a single search it can provide millions of records.
This challenge can be addressed by using inverted
commas at the beginning and end of the search term.
SERVICES

(i) Google maps

GOOGLE
(ii) Google translate – translation to several languages

(iii) Google earth – download the application

(iv) Google plus – social chat network

(v) Google images – database of images

(vi) Google voice -

(vii) Google documents

(viii) Google scholar - articles

(ix) Google chrome - browser

(x) Google news – current information

(xi) Google books – preview of books

(xii) Google reader

Subject Specific Search Engines
• ACCOUNTING

http://www.taxsites.com/
• AGRICULTURE:

http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/ AgEcon
http://www.agnic.org/search/ AgNic
http://www.agview.com/ Agview1
 Subject Specific Search Engines
• BIOLOGY

http://www.biolinks.net.ru/ Bioexplorer
http://us.expasy.org/BioHunt/ ExPASy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gquery/gquery.fcgi
Entrez

• BOTANY

http://www.botany.net/IDB/ IDB
 Chemistry Search Engines
• Chemistry
http://www.chemspider.com/
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
https://www.chemicalbook.com/
https://www.organic-chemistry.org/chemicals/s
earch.htm
https://www.chemistryguide.org/
https://pacificu.libguides.com/c.php?g=495674
&p=3392399
 Subject Specific Search Engines
• CIVIL ENGINEERING

http://www.icivilengineer.com /
• CLASSICS

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/ Perseus
Digital Library
• COMPUTER SCIENCE
http://drdobbs.com/ DevSearcher
 Subject Specific Search Engines
• BUSINESS
http://www.bpubs.com/ BPubs
http://www.business.com/ Business
http://www.entrepreneurship.org/ EntreWorld

• CHEMISTRY
h
ttp://www.cambridgesoft.com/databases/login/?serviceid
=128

http://www.chemdex.org/search/results/taxonomy%3A34
4
 Subject Specific Search Engines
• ECONOMICS
http://ese.rfe.org/

http://www.helsinki.fi/WebEc/EconVLib.html

• EDUCATION
http://www.lessonplanet.com/ Education planet
http://www.lessonplanet.com/ Education world

• ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
http://www.envirolink.org/ EnviroLink
 Subject Specific Search Engines
• FOOD STUDIES
http://www.foodsafety.gov/ FoodSafety
• GEOLOGY
http://www.geo-guide.de/ Geo-Guide
http://www.geoindex.com/geoindex/ Geoindex
http://www.searchgeo.com/ Search Geo
http://www.usgs.gov/ USGS
• GEOGRAPHY
http://www.geo-guide.de/ GeoGuide
http://www.arcgis.com/home/ ArcGIS
 Subject Specific Search Engines
HEALTH
http://www.hon.ch/HONsearch/Patients/medhunt.h
tml
HON

LANGUAGE/COUNTRIES
http://www.arab.de/asearch.htm Arabic

http://www.netmasters.co.uk/european_search_en
gines/
European
http://www.ilovelanguages.com/ ilovelanguages
http://www.searchenginecolossus.com/ Colosus
 Subject Specific Search Engines

• HUMANITIES
http://vos.ucsb.edu/index.asp Voice of Shuttle
• KINERSIOLOGY
http://www.sirc.ca/ SIRC
• LAW
http://www.findlaw.com/ FindLaw
http://lawcrawler.findlaw.com/ Lawcrawler
 Subject Specific Search Engines
• LITERATURE
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Lit/
Literary Resources on the Net

• MATHEMATICS
http://mathforum.org/library/topics/probstat/
Drexel
http://www.math.fsu.edu/Virtual/ Mathematics
WWW Virtual
Library
http://lib.stat.cmu.edu/ StatLib
http://www.mathacademy.com/pr/links/index.asp
LINKS
 Subject Specific Search Engines
MEDICINE

http://www.hon.ch/HONsearch/Patients/medhunt.html
HON

/
http://www.nlm.nih.gov NLM

http://www.webmd.com/ WebMD
PHYSICS

/
http://physicsworld.com physicsworld
 Subject Specific Search Engines
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
http://www.politicalinformation.com/ Political Information

SCIENCE
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/ CiteSeer
http://www.scicentral.com/ SciCentral
http://www.science.gov/ Science.Gov
http://www.science.gov/ SciNet
http://www.scirus.com/srsapp/ SCIRUS
http://www.scitopia.org/scitopia/ Scitopia
 Subject Specific Search Engines
• SOCIAL SCIENCES
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue2/sosig
sosig

• SOCIAL WORK

http://www.socialworksearch.com/
Social Work Search
 SUBJECT AND MULTI SUBJECT
INFORMATION GATEWAYS
• MULTIDISCIPLINARY

http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/pinakes/pinakes.html
PINAKES

http://www.intute.ac.uk / INTUTE
http://infomine.ucr.edu/ INFOMINE
• SOCIAL SCIENCES

http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue2/sosig/ARIADNE
• PHYSICS
http://de.physnet.net/PhysNet/links.html
PHYSNET
 DATABASES
• What is a database?
 A collection of structured records

 structured in such a way to permit orderly retrieval, e.g. for research,

study, or administration. A database may contain citations or it may
have full-text articles. Every database has its own subject scope and
coverage. It is searchable in a variety of ways, such as title, author,
subject, and keyword. But only in its normal database environment,
using the database-specific search engine.
 DATABASES
• Types of databases
Bibliographic databases,

Full-text databases,

Numeric databases,

Image databases,

Audio/Video databases,

Mixed databases..
 DATABASES

• EbscoHost
http://search.ebscohost.com

• OARE http://oaresciences.org

• JSTOR http://www.jstor.org/
 DATABASES
TEEAL (The Essential Electronic
Agricultural Library)

**Bentham Science
http://www.benthamscience.com/
 DATABASES
• Oxford journals
http://www.oxfordjournals.org/

You can access full text articles in journals

covering the following subjects:
Humanities, Law, Life Sciences, Mathematics
and Physical Sciences, Medicine, Social
Sciences
 DATABASES
• Emerald
http://www.emeraldinsight.com

 Emerald currently publishes more than 160 journal

titles in the fields of management, information
science and engineering. Flagship titles such as
Management Decision, European Journal of
Marketing, Journal of Documentation, Leadership
and Organisation Development Journal, Journal of
Consumer Marketing, Library Management and
The TQM Magazine attract contributors from across
the globe.
 DATABASES
• Blackwell Publishing
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com

The Blackwell database covers the following subjects:

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting
Engineering, Computing and Technology
Health Sciences
Humanities
Law
Life and Physical Sciences
Mathematics and Statistics
Medicine
Social and Behavioral Sciences
The Arts
Veterinary Medicine, Animal Sciences, Agriculture and Aquaculture
 DATABASES
• ScienceDirect http://www.sciencedirect.com/

An information source for scientific, technical,

and medical research
• INFOMINE http://infomine.ucr.edu/

Scholarly internet resources

 FREE DATABASES
FREE
DOAJ ( Directory of open access journals)
http://www.doaj.org/
• Multidisciplinary databases
http://csulb.libguides.com/content.php?pid=147338&sid=1286279
http://clemson.libguides.com/content.php?pid=94851&sid=709062
http://www.library.fullerton.edu/guides/free_databases/Home.php

• BEAUCOUP REFERENCE AND EDUCATION LITERATURE

http://www.beaucoup.com/3refeng.html
• Business Management
http://www.businessresearchsources.com/database/free_d
atabases.html
 DATABASES
Economics
http://ideas.repec.org/
http://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/links/data_free.htm

Finance and economics

http://www.gfmag.com/tools/global-database/economic-
data.html#axzz1Yb43Mai4

Global finance
•
http://www.gfmag.com/tools/global-database/economic-data/1
0299-
the-worlds-richest-and-poorest-countries.html#axzz1Yb43M
ai4
 DATABASES
• Religion-Christianity
http://www.library.yale.edu/div/forfree.html
• Religion and philosophy resources
http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?
PID=20489
• Religion- Islam
http://www.altafsir.com/
 DATABASES
• MEDICINE
• http://www.priory.com/ Priory
medical journals
• http://www.freemedicaljournals.com/
Medical Journals
• http://highwire.stanford.edu/lists/freeart.dtl
HighWire Online Full text articles
• http://www.medscape.com/ Medscape
• SCIENCE
 DATABASES
MEDICINE
• http://www.racgp.org.au/library/freejournals
Online medical journals
• http://www.gfmer.ch/Medical_journals/
Free_medical.php Medical journals
• http://www.forusdocs.com/Free_Resources/
Free_Medical_Journals.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/journals/
PubMed Central Journals
 DATABASES
• GPO ACCESS ONLINE RESOURCES
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/databases.html

• UNESCO E-RESOURCES
• http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ulis/index.html
• Bibliographic records and Full text of UNESCO documents,
publications, periodicals.
• Bibliographic records of the Library's acquisitions.

• OpenJ-Gate FREE ARTICLES

http://www.open-gate.com/search/QuickSearch.aspx
INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORIES

• List of Institutional Repositories

http://www.inasp.info/file/
befc376be7b821ba0667ba35483234c2/list-of-
institutional-respositories.html
 ONLINE CATALOGUES
• WORLD CATALOGUE

http://www.worldcat.org/
 ONLINE LIBRARIES
• The European Library

http://search.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/en/in
dex.html
• The African Digital Library

http://www.africaeducation.org/adl/
• World Bank e-Library
http://oberon.worldbank.catchword.org/vl=10509
150/cl=14/nw=1/rpsv/home.htm
 ONLINE LIBRARIES
Free Management Library
http://www.managementhelp.org/

Baen Free Library

http://www.baen.com/library/

ONLINE LIBRARIES
http://educhoices.org/articles/
Online_Libraries_-
_25_Places_to_Read_Free_Books_Online.ht
ml
 ELECTRONIC THESES AND
DISSERTATIONS
• NETWORKED DIGITAL LIBRARY OF THESES AND
DISSERTAIONS

http://www.ndltd.org
 Information Retrieval Skills
• What is a database designed to allow you to do?

Retrieve shortlist of relevant articles

The aim of database searching for reference purposes is

(often) to retrieve a collection of say 50, mostly relevant
documents, primarily journal articles and preferably in
full text and in a single query. Several search actions are
normally needed to get to that query or search strategy.
 Information Retrieval Skills

• Database searching is a process

• Prepare: Identify key concepts, search terms

Decide: subject or keyword search (or both)

• Construct a query
 Information Retrieval Skills
• Build a keyword search statement (start simple).

• Limit to focus search results

• Screen your search results by some variable

(language, publication date, etc.). You can limit your
initial search statement (pre-limit), or post-limit after
reviewing results (recommended approach).
 Information Retrieval Skills

• Refine to expand or reduce results

• It's rare to get good results on the first try. If

you get too many results, add new concepts or
add limits to your search. Too few results?
Remove concepts that are not critical, remove
any limits.