General Info

  • Library Home page from UF main page
  • 4 brick and mortar libraries of use to CSD: Library West (Smathers – main campus), Health Science (Shands), Education Library (Norman Hall), Mather’s Science (science & engineering related – main campus)
  • Library catalog searches all libraries
  • Try: “Autism and computers”
  • Look at left side bar to expand topics in specific field
  • Hint: side bar also helps to identify terms as they are used in the field, e.g. “computer assisted instruction”
  • Use Remote Log On or VPN to access UF stuff from off campus

Useful Vocabulary

  • Search engine – software that sorts and retrieves information within a database
  • Database – collection of different resources
  • Host service/”aggregator” – organization/business that makes the database & search engine available (akin to a publishing house)
  • EBSCO 
  • CSA
  • Illumina
  • Pubmed
  • .pdf – portable document format (large image file that matches the print version of an article – it is the digital reprint of a printed page [okay, about 97% of the time] and thus is simply an e-version of print)
  • .html – hyper text markup language – one “language” of computers, essentially a digital communication code for connecting different points in cyber space

Searching

  • Journey to an article works like this: host service  search engine  database results list  article
  • You may not “see” each step – sometimes, the host service & database & search engine all appear to be the same thing – but these are the steps to getting to an article!
  • Control the search process: search sendselect
  • Set a time limit on searching: 20-30 minutes (or 15 or 10 – searching can be fast)
  • Locate articles by looking at titles, then read the abstract – make yes/no decision “Does this look useful?”
  • If YES, then send/save the article (email to self or save to reference manager) and READ LATER
  • If NO, then go back to results list and keep looking!
  • do not get caught up in reading while you are searching – these are 2 separate processes

Databases

  • Best Strategy! Use Subject Guides and Specialties Communication and Science Disorders
  • Library has subject-specific library guides -- Bookmark “CSD library Guide”
  • From library main page  smather’s library  finding help  subject guides and specialities  CSD
  • Or, use link on class page in Annotated Bibliography assignment
  • Databases are usually topically organized – so, different databases are better for different searches/research questions.
  • There is still a lot of overlap between databases – the same question can be searched in Pubmed, CINAHL, and PsychInfo and many of the same results will come up in all 3 databases, but the order results take will be influenced by the bias of the database.
  • In general, medically-oriented databases have more overlap with each other than with non-medically oriented ones. So, Pubmed, CINAHL, PsychInfo will be more similar to each other than they are to ERIC, Socio Abstracts, or LLBA.
  • Database Descriptions (database, general focus, example RQ)
  • Pubmed (Medline) – bio-medically related topics (lots of basic science – best for diseases/conditions, but also for clinical)
  • “What are the symptoms of autism?”
  • CINAHL-- medicine, therapies, clinical practice (EBSCO)
  • “What are the treatments for autism?”
  • ERIC – educational
  • “What is school life like for high-functioning autistic children?”
  • Sociological Abstracts – behavioral/demographics, population trends
  • “What is the economic impact of having a child with autism?”
  • Psych Info – just about everything except biological
  • “What is the impact of early intervention on non-verbal autistic children?”
  • LLBA – linguistically oriented (phonology, morphology, syntax, etc + ESL, bilingual)
  • “What are the linguistic features of autistic speech?”
  • Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) is good for general academic searching, but DO NOT limit your searches to just this database! To get there, begin at Library Databases tab Project starters  Academic Search Premier

Tricks of the Trade

  • Google/Google Scholar to get to general stuff when you need to learn terms and become familiar with a field
  • When you’re striking out in an academic database, Google (both regular and Scholar) can be a good place to start
  • Email interested selections to self and read at leisure
  • Each host service or journal has a slightly different way of expressing the concept “email” -- look for the words “email” and “share”
  • Email stuff to self using APA style when you can
  • Look for citation options on each host, publisher or journal that you’re on – most provide some way of generating a single citation of the copy-and-paste variety (as opposed to an app that generates a whole list)
  • Consider opening an account with an academic bookmarking program or reference manager to keep all your stuff in one place and out of your inbox: 2collab, citeulike, refworks, zotero, Mendeley, connotea, diigo (useful, will save anything, but no citation app) or delicious (the easiest one, but with least power to do anything beyond save; no citation app) – see “Student Resources” in class left side bar for link.
  • Save to an online account, too (yahoo, gmail, refworks, etc)
  • Explore search terms in each of the databases to see what that field calls something (usually in left side bar – use )
  • Limit searches to scholarly/peer-reviewed articles when possible (in other words, limit the search itself to only peer-reviewed or scholarly publications – every search engine/host service provides a way to do this)