Off The Shelf

Legal research is always challenging, but Google Scholar is now providing an option that allows you to do some legal research which might make it a little easier.

Sometimes the toughest part of conducting legal research is trying to find a legal case on a specific topic.  It’s difficult to search the millions of state and federal cases using keywords and Law Reviews can also be time consuming to search for cases on a topic.

Google Scholar has added legal cases to their search by providing an option to search Legal opinions and journals.  See below for an example how to use this new tool.

Caution: As with anything on the free web, Google Scholar can make mistakes.

Search Example Topic: Lawsuits involving universities

1) Go to www.scholar.google.com.

2) Select the radio button to search Legal opions and journals and type your keywords in the search box.

3) Use your results to identify case names or citation numbers.

4) Go to LexisNexis and search using either a case name or citation number.

-Sommer

We’ve recently added some subject specific encyclopedias to our Gale Virtual Reference Library database.  Subject encyclopedias are a great place to go for an overview of a topic and learn the fundamentals and basics.  They’re an excellent place to start your research, as they provide a wealth of background information that will help guide your search.

The recently created Capella University Library Tutorial Finding Resources for Your Dissertation Literature Review: Leaving No Stone Unturned has been recognized by the American Library Association/Association of College and Research Libraries Instruction Section’s  Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online (PRIMO) as an example of exemplary online instruction materials.

Whether you are working on your dissertation or a Literature Review for a class this tutorial has many helpful interactive pieces that will help you find the resources you need to analyze and synthesize in your review.

Here are some interactive pieces in the tutorial you may want to check out: 

• Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Resources
• Keyword Searching
• Bibliographic Mining and Cited Reference Searching
• Searching by Methodology
• Finding & Using Dissertations in Research
• Basic RefWorks

Robin

Recently we turned off the default full-text limiter in our PsycINFO database.  But don’t worry – you can still find full-text articles in PsycINFO!  Here’s the scoop…

The PsycINFO database is an index of millions of article abstracts and citations.  It actually does not contain any full-text articles of its own.  Any full-text articles you find when searching in PsycINFO are pulled from cross-over with the other EBSCO database (PsycARTICLES, SocINDEX, etc). We used to have the full-text limit turned on as a default when you opened PsycINFO, but we recently turned it off to allow for an expanded search because we weren’t fully utilizing the database and all the articles you could find with it. 

While you will still see full-text articles (HTML and PDF full-text links) in your PsycINFO articles results, you will also see many more articles that say “Check Article Linker.”  Click “Check Article Linker” and the database will automatically run a search across all the other library databases to see if we have that article indexed full-text elsewhere (many we do!!).  You will then get a pop-up window with a link directly to that full-text article in another database (if it is available). 

If the article is not available you will see a “Sorry” message and a link that will take you to our Interlibrary Loan Request Form.  You can then submit an Interlibrary Loan request for the article and we will request it for you from another library.  Articles will be emailed to you in 3-5 business days.

If you have any questions regarding PsycINFO or the Check Article Linker Link, please feel free to call or email us in the library.

~Jennie

When using the library databases, most people try to create one search that will get all the articles they need.

Sounds easy, right?  Just put together the magic formula of keywords and boolean operators (AND and OR), and suddenly get what you need.

And sometimes it is that easy.  But you have to remember that the databases are just trying to match words, and different authors may use very different words.  When those words are equivalent, all you have to do is use the OR operator:

juvenile OR adolescent

But what do you do if some authors use a single word term, and other are using multiple words or phrases to describe the same thing?  Sure, you can build a search using parentheses to help organize all these different keyword possibilities.  If you’ve ever tried that, you’ll know that it quickly becomes unwieldy:

(cybersecurity OR cyberattack) OR  ((computer OR  network) AND  (security OR virus OR attack))

YIKES!

That’s when you should consider doing multiple searches.  It’s a lot easier to do a search for cybersecurity and cyberattack, pull out the relevant articles and then do a second search for your alternative terms.

Multiple searches are also helpful when you’re looking for multiple aspects of a topic.  For example, if you are looking at family therapy vs. marital counseling and divorce, you can do one search for marital counseling and divorce, and a second search for family therapy and divorce.

Remember, searching isn’t magic.  It’s really about adaptability and patience.  You go out into the databases, throw some stuff at them, and see what sticks!

I will admit that doing a bunch of different searches can quickly become confusing.  Where was I? What did I find?  That’s when it’s helpful to use the Database Research Log to keep track of what you’ve done.

- Erin

There is a common myth out there that “Everything is available on the web.”  I run into this with learners sometimes, who think they can get scholarly journals for their assignments online, through Google or Yahoo.  In reality, scholarly journals are tightly copyrighted.  Only about 8% of journals are published open access, or free.  Others charge you $20-$30 per article. 

So why does this myth persist?  There are a lot of websites that pose as journals, even though their content is not scholarly or peer reviewed.  Don’t let them fool you!  Who you trust for information says a lot about who you are as a professional.

Next time you are wondering about whether an article from the free web is scholarly, use these three simple evaluation rules.

Rule One:
Approach every new website as an investigator would.  Look for an “About Us” link.

Here is the Asian American Philanthropy Journal.  Notice that the articles seemed suspiciously short.  There were no citations or reference lists. 

Clicking the About Us link showed that none of the contributors are scholars   They are entrepreneurs and consultants.  That would put this information on the same level as a smaller regional newsletter, in my estimation.  These articles are not appropriate for the courseroom.

Rule Two:
Check out the root of the website.

If the website has a long address, go to the URL and delete the ending.  The root website might give you clues about the author.  For instance, here is an article that came up in an article search for “Urie Bronfenbrenner.”

literacy.kent.edu/cra/2006/mterry/Terry-ecologicalparadigm.doc

It’s hard to tell from the document what it is or who wrote it, beyond that he/she claims to hold a PhD. 

literacy.kent.edu/cra/2006/mterry

Deleting the end and leaving  the root of the URL (web address) gives us this address, which takes us straight to the author’s biography.

It still doesn’t look like this is a scholarly journal article, but it does provide some nice citations at the end, which we could use to point us to better articles.

Rule Three:
Check Ulrichsweb, from the Capella Library.
(Library Home > Articles, Books and More > Ulrichsweb.com).

This index includes information about more than 300,000 periodicals.  It uses a little referee shirt symbol if a publication is peer reviewed.  Anything with a ref shirt should be fine for using in the courseroom.

Learn more about Peer Reviewed Journals and how to search Ulrichs.  See our guide “What are peer reviewed articles, and how do I find them?”

- Erika

PsycBOOKS added the following titles to its coverage list in December 2009. Of the titles added, 5 were APA books and 20 were designated classic books. Classic books are landmark titles in psychology and are selected by APA experts.

APA Books

1. Behavioral emergencies: An evidence-based resource for evaluating and managing risk of suicide, violence, and victimization, © 2009, by Kleespies, Phillip M. (Ed.)

2. Correcting fallacies about educational and psychological testing, © 2009, by Phelps, Richard P. (Ed.)

3. The duty to protect: Ethical, legal, and professional considerations for mental health professionals, © 2009, by Werth Jr., James L.; Welfel, Elizabeth Reynolds; Benjamin, G. Andrew H. (Eds.)

4. Realizing social justice: The challenge of preventive interventions, © 2009, by Kenny, Maureen E.; Horne, Arthur M.; Orpinas, Pamela; Reese, Le’Roy E. (Eds.)

5. Trauma services for women in substance abuse treatment: An integrated approach, © 2009, by Hien, Denise; Litt, Lisa Caren; Cohen, Lisa R.; Miele, Gloria M.; Campbell, Aimee

Classic Books

6. The constitution of man, considered in relation to external objects (5^th ed., rev., corrected, and enlarged), © 1835, by Combe, George

7. Dissertations on the history of metaphysical and ethical, and of mathematical and physical science, © 1835, by Stewart, Dugald; Mackintosh, James; Playfair, John; Leslie, John

8. Elements of logick; or, A summary of the general principles and different modes of reasoning (4th ed.), © 1824, by Hedge, Levi

9. An essay concerning the free agency of man, or, The powers and faculties of the human mind, the decrees of God, moral obligation, natural law, and morality, © 1820, by Baylies, Nicholas

10. Examination of the advantages of solitude; and of its operations of the heart and mind; with an enquiry into its prejudicial influence on the imagination and passions, Vol . 2, © 1805, by Zimmerman, John George

11. Grammar of logic and intellectual philosophy, on didactic principles; For the use of schools and private instruction, © 1822, by Jamieson, Alexander

12. An inquiry into the human mind, on the principles of common sense, © 1764, by Reid, Thomas

13. Logic; or, The art of thinking: In which, besides the common, are contain’d many excellent new rules, very profitable for directing of reason, and acquiring of judgment, in things as well relating to the instruction of a mans self, as of others, © 1685, by Arnauld, Antoine

14. Man, in his physical structure and adaptations, © 1888, by Mudie, Robert

15. Mental philosophy: A popular view of the nature, immortality, phenomena, and conduct of the human mind, © 1838, by Mudie, Robert

16. The moral instructor, and guide to virtue and happiness, being a compendium of moral science (in 4 parts, 2nd ed., rev.), © 1819, by Torrey Jr., Jesse

17. A new family encyclopedia; or, Compendium of universal knowledge: Comprehending a plain and practical view of those subjects most interesting to persons in the ordinary professions of life (5th ed.), © 1835, by Goodrich, Charles A. (Ed.)

18. Observations on the growth of the mind; with remarks on some other subjects, © 1838, by Reed, Sampson

19. The philosophy of human nature, © 1812, by Buchanan, Joseph

20-21. Phrenology, or the Doctrine of the mental phenomena, Vol. 1 and 2: Physiological part with plates (3rd American ed., greatly improved by the author from the 3rd London ed.), © 1834, by Spurzheim, J. G.

22. Psychosophia: or, Natural & divine contemplations of the passions & faculties of the soul of man, in three books, © 1653, by Mosley, Nicholas

23. Religion in its relation to the present life, © 1841, by Johnson, A. B.

24. System of moral philosophy; or Christian ethics: Designed for the use of parents in their domestic instruction, advanced classes in Sunday schools, and literary institutes (2nd ed.), © 1837, by Lacey, William B.

25. Three books of wisdom (2nd ed., corrected), © 1707, by de Charron, Sieur; Stanhope, George (Trans.)

Note: To read any of the these ebooks – go to the Articles, Books, and More page.  Scroll down and click PsycBOOKs.  Once  in the database, type in the title.

~Jennie

If you’ve ever asked a librarian about research on the internet, you’ve probably heard that you should be careful about the information you find. Most internet sites lack editors and fact checkers (that’s YOUR job), so there are many factual errors and inconsistencies that can creep in. That’s compounded by the fact that many websites are researched using only the internet, so an inconsistency on one website can spread all around the web.

But, I bet you’ve wondered, just how often can that happen?

I can’t give you any statistics, but I do a lot of searching and I periodically run into factual errors on the internet.

Here are two recent ones:

Here’s an image of Elizabeth Cady Stanton from a website that appears to be devoted to American History.

And here’s Clara Barton from a National Parks Service website:

Look familiar? I’d trust the Parks Service on this one. But this isn’t the only example of Clara being mistaken for Elizabeth. A Google image search finds several others.

Sometimes the mistake is one of degree. This Wikipedia entry on the children’s rhyme Yon Yonson claims that the song dates “back to the time the Swedes arrived in the New World.” There’s even a footnote. Although the description of the footnote have been removed since I last visited this Wikipedia entry, the footnote still links back to a Wisconsin Historical Society entry for a document about the first Swedish settlement in Wisconsin. Seems legitimate, but it has nothing to do with Yon Yonson. Not even a Jan Janson!

And the real story is that the Swedish settlement of what is now the United States predates the European settlement of Wisconsin. New Sweden was a colonial outpost in Delaware in the early 17th century. Check out this encyclopedia entry on New Sweden from Credo Reference.

Whenever searching the internet, it’s important to keep a watchful eye on anything you find. Repetition doesn’t make something true. Nor does a citation from a legitimate source guarantee that it was used correctly. Let your own knowledge help guide you in sniffing out inaccuracies, and when in doubt, do some more research. While mistakes do appear in more traditional, published resources (I have found those as well), it’s less likely to occur repeatedly. If you find two legitimate sources that agree (and that don’t cite each other directly), you’re probably on good factual footing.

-Erin

Determining the right keywords for your search is essential.  Keywords are the building blocks of your search and will either make or break your search.  Databases are precise matching tools.  When you’re typing keywords in the databases you’re going to get results that use the exact words and phrases you searched.  “Garbage in, garbage out” when it comes to keyword searching.  Poor keywords will produce poor results.

Some of your topic words may have the appearance of being good keywords, but it’s good to learn to recognize the words that are unproductive for searching .  Words such as impact, effects, benefits, consequences and so on, are words that are referred to as Bucket Terms because they are too generic.  We all want to use these bucket terms, but authors use very specific words when they write, like the pebbles that fill the bucket.

For example: You may want to know the effects of Hurricane Katrina, but authors aren’t using the word “effects.”  Their papers are going to focus on the specific outcomes instead.  They’re using words like flooding, fire, drowning, looting, homelessness, displacement, and insurance losses.  They may never use the word effects, even though that’s the point of their article.  Using the specific terms will be much more effective.

-Sommer

In November Erin blogged about scholarly article rental.  Well apparently there is a company that allows you to rent your textbooks.  Chegg.com offers textbook rental with different options for the length of time: Semester (125 days), Quarter (85 days), and 60 day rental.

While I haven’t used the service nor can I vouch that their claims are true about how much money students have saved, it might be worth checking it out if you’re looking for more options for purchasing your textbooks as a new quarter is right around the corner.

As usual, textbooks are not available in the Capella Library (or they would be linked in your courseroom and not required for purchase), and the Capella Librarians do not sell textbooks (that’s the Bookstore’s job).

-Sommer