Research in Allied Health
Sherrod Online Library Essay
Mandy Haggard
Sherrod Online Research Orientation
The Sherrod Library Research Orientation was actually very informative and entertaining. It provided me with quite a few facts that I had previously never heard before. I thought that it was very organized and that its layout was easy to follow. Each module focused on a specific skill and provided simple steps on how to research a topic effectively. I enjoyed the interactive features and sound effects and found it an interesting way to learn new things about the research process. I also liked the quizzes at the end of each section because they helped to summarize the information I had learned and left it fresh in my mind.
The first section that I completed was the section on proper usage of the internet. It shed light on a lot of common misconceptions that students have about the internet. I learned more about what the internet actually is and how to better use it as a source for information on a topic. The internet is not owned by any one company or group of people. It is a network of smaller international networks joined together like a web. One of the most interesting parts of this module was the section on search engines. When I do my research, I usually stick to my favorite search engine and don’t really explore any of the others. But I learned that each search engine actually only includes about 1/6 of the information available for a given topic on the internet. This means that 75% of a topic’s information will go unseen if I only use one search engine. The module also addressed some issues about the internet that I hadn’t really thought about before such as censorship, organization, and validity. Not all information on the internet is usable. Some of it may be outdated, or not from a credible or reliable source.
The first module I completed helped me in the process of choosing which sources to choose depending on what type of topic I am researching and which type of information would be suit it. The first things I learned are how to choose whether to use the library or the internet to start my research. This module really emphasized the many differences between library and internet sources. The information in a library is always organized, reviewed, and permanent. There is a definite system in a library that can be used to find a certain type of information on a topic. The sources in a library are also always reviewed, sometimes more than once, and you always know the information is credible. Also, the information found in a library is often a collaboration of info that has been collected over the years. It is a permanent collection of information that is meant to be added to as new information becomes available. The internet, however, is completely the opposite. Information on the internet is not at all organized. When you type your topic into a search engine, all kinds of different sources come up on your screen in a completely random order. They are not categorized by type of source or date. The information could be a book, article, journal, or just a personal webpage someone has made about the subject. Also, on the internet, not all information you come across is reviewed. This means that contrary to researching in the library, you may have to decide if the info you find online is even appropriate to use for your project. Sources found on the internet can also be outdated. Since there is no organization about how old the information is, you may find a source that was written as much as 20 years ago. For these reasons, the module suggested that it is a better idea to start researching a topic in the library and then move forward to find additional information on the internet.
Because of progress in technology, now there are a number of sources that can be found on the internet that used to only be found in the library. Students can now look up books on the internet just like they can in the library. E-books can be found on the library using online libraries such as the Sherrod online Library. These books are arranged and categorized similar to the way they are in the library. You can find a book on your topic by typing a keyword or phrase into the subject search. Periodical indexes help organize the information accessible on the internet. They mostly help categorize journals, books, and articles to make them easier to find. An example of a periodical index is Infotrac Onefile. It has different sources to choose from so that the researcher can find information that will be most useful to their specific researching needs. Mostly, periodical indexes are used for finding articles from scholarly journals. These usually have information written by experts and is geared toward professional readers. You can select whether you need your article to be peer-reviewed or not. You can also find magazines on the internet. They are called e-zines and they come in a wide variety, from pop culture magazines, to scientific magazines. The type of magazine that would be the most helpful to the researcher depends on what kind of topic is being researched. Pop culture magazines have information about celebrities, current events, music, and entertainment. These magazines usually have a lot of advertisements, pictures, and fashion icons. Their articles are very short and are not usually on heavy subject matter. They are geared specifically toward the general public. There are also a lot of scholarly magazines that can be accessed by the internet. They are quite the opposite of pop culture magazines because they contain almost no advertisements and use a limited amount of pictures and colors. They have longer, more in depth articles and usually focus on a certain scientific subject that has been consistently researched by experts. This type of magazine is geared toward an experienced researcher, expert, doctor, or someone who needs detailed information on a subject.You can search any type of magazine by subject.
The orientation also helped make it more clear to me which sources should be used for which projects. If I need information about a current event, I would check a newspaper or the internet, because information is routinely updated in both. However, if I were researching a historical event, I would obviously find exactly what I was looking for in the library since it houses information from decades ago. The modules also really helped better explain the organization found in a library and how the sources are arranged. It told about the two systems libraries use to separate their books according to subject. This makes it much easier to find what you need in the midst of such a vast amount of information. One of the systems used in the library is the Dewey Decimal system. It uses numbers to represent the subject, section of the library it is located, and the author’s name. The second system was established by the American Library Association and uses letters. The letters represent the same thing the numbers do in Dewey’s system. It would be very difficult to find what you need in the library without these systems.
I really found all of the modules in this exercise very informative and I thought the quizzes were a good way to solidify the information in my mind. I was able to use this information about research to choose my sources for the research project in this class. In the past, it has been rather confusing for me when trying to decide which source is the best and where to get it from. But now I am able to distinguish the differences between the many different types of sources and where the best place to apply the different types of information is. I also learned why it is important to use a variety of various sources in a research process. It is always more effective to get information from different sources because each one serves a specific purpose to the project and brings a certain element to the collaboration of research. Overall, I learned a lot about effectively gathering research for a topic and how to better apply it in my paper from this online exercise. I think it was presented in an entertaining manner and thus was easier to understand and retain by a student.