Off The Shelf

Nesting.  Nope, not the kind that birds make.  The nesting I’m talking about is used to control how the database treats your search terms when you’re building your search in a database or online.

By now you have probably heard of the Boolen Operators: AND, OR, and NOT.  These connectors are used between your keywords to tell the database how you want to combine your words and what kinds of terms should be present in your search resuts.  But what happens when you need to use different connectors (maybe a combination of ANDs and ORs) in one search box?  You need to “nest” your terms!

Nesting involves putting parantheses around like concepts to keep them together.  These parantheses are also code for the database to perform the command that’s inside of the parantheses first before adding what is outside of the parantheses, just like in math equations.  Take this search for example:

alcohol AND (adolescents OR teenagers) 

With this search the database will retrieve articles on alcohol AND adolescents or alcohol AND teenagers.  Without the parantheses the database takes your search terms literally and will search for your terms in the order you type them.  For instance, if you removed the parantheses from the bolded example above, you would find articles on alcohol and adolescents as well as articles on teenagers (without the alcohol aspect).

And sets of parantheses can be nested inside other sets of parantheses, like russian nesting dolls. 

(Alcohol OR drug OR (substance N3 abuse)) AND (teenagers OR adolescents)

Remember, the command inside the inner-most parantheses always gets processed first.

Nesting your terms comes in particularly handy when searching online in search engines like Google.  Google does recognize Boolean Operators like ANDs and ORs and will obey search commands like using parantheses in your search!  By nesting your search terms, you are better able to control how Google handles your search terms.  And when you’re searching millions upon millions of information sources, every little bit helps.   Next time you’re searching in Google, try nesting your terms and see how your search results change!

If you would like further explanation on how nesting works in the databases or online, give us a call in the library and we can walk you through how to effectively use this concept.

–Jennie

I blogged last week about how Ebrary now allows direct exporting to RefWorks. Well they’ve been busy adding even more new features. You’re no longer required to download the Ebrary Reader to utilize the InfoTools functions. So perhaps if you’ve had trouble in the past using ebrary on a computer where you don’t have administrative rights to download, now you can more easily use Ebrary.

Ebrary has provided this short video (3 mns) highlighting these new features. They also provide a more comprehensive video demonstrating how to use the Ebrary database (11 mns).

Ebrary is one of our ebook databases. If you haven’t explored ebooks yet, perhaps now is the time!

“Books are a great source of information for your papers, research and coursework. Books and ebooks allow an author to explore a topic in great depth. They can offer a different perspective than articles because they tend to provide a deeper overview or framework for the topic. You also do not have to read the whole book. If only a chapter is useful you can simply use it and cite only that chapter.”

-From our guide Finding Books & Ebooks (located on the Guides & Tutorials page)

-Sommer

RefWorks is a web-based citation manager that allows you to store, organize and create bibliographies from the articles you have located in the Capella Library and other resources. If you are not using it now and want to find out more click here to access information on signing up for a free account.

If you are currently using RefWorks or plan to sign-up you may not be aware of  a feature called RefShare. This feature allows you to create a link to a particular folder of  articles and you can send that link to others to view.

Here is a link from my RefWorks account for some research I did on the TEACH Act:

I can email this link and others can view the articles, but they can not alter the list unless I give them permission.  Pretty neat huh?

Want more on information on how this works, it was surprisingly easy.  Here is a link to a handout and the last section on the last page shows how to share articles with others using RefShare. Click here.

So start sharing your article searching brillance with your peers! If you have any questions on using this RefShare  please contact a Capella Librarian.

Robin

Wikipedia has recently announced that they will be using expert editors on entries for living people.  The general public will no longer be able to change an entry and see it posted immediately.  From now on, an expert editor will have to approve the changes before they go live.

This is designed to avoid some of the problems Wikipedia entries have had due to “vandalism,” where false information is placed in an entry.  Living people, who face personal repercussions from this type of vandalism, are the first to have their entries monitored this way.

While this change affects only Wikipedia, it does highlight some important questions about the internet and collaborative media:

• Who is the author?  Do they have to identify themselves?
• Does the author face any repercussions if they post something that is false, misleading, stolen, etc.?
• Who gains if there is false information provided? Or if the appropriate context is missing?

In many ways the internet is the  “wild west” of the information age.   There are very few gatekeepers to make sure that you are getting what you think you are.  Wikipedia, which started as a free-for-all, is now putting gatekeepers in place. 

But much of the internet is still strictly caveat lector: reader beware!

- Erin

Great news! You can now export Ebrary ebooks to your RefWorks account. If you haven’t already heard us rave about RefWorks, then be sure to check out our blog posts about RefWorks.

Below are the instructions for first enabling RefWorks function in ebrary, followed by the export directions for a single ebook or for exporting your entire Ebrary Bookshelf. I found these directions by clicking on Help in the Ebrary database. (Directions modified somewhat.)

Enabling EndNote or RefWorks

You must enable integration with EndNote or RefWorks before ebrary displays the buttons that support the feature. (You only have to do this one time and then you’ll be able to export every time you use ebrary.)

1. Click My Settings, located to the right of the language choice drop-down menu.
2. In the Managing Bibliographic Information area, click the Show EndNote buttons check box, the Show Refworks buttons check box, or both.

By default, no buttons are displayed.

3. The next time you perform a search, go to your bookshelf, or use the InfoTools drop-down menu while viewing a book, you can export the citation information.

Saving Bibliographical Information With RefWorks

RefWorks is an online research management, writing, and collaboration tool that you use over the Internet. Before you can save bibliographic data using RefWorks, you must create an account with RefWorks.

To save bibliographic data for a single document:

You have these choices:

• Click the RefWorks button below the document on the search results page.
• Open the document in the ebrary QuickView Reader and choose InfoTools > RefWorks.

RefWorks imports bibliographic information about the document. If you are not logged in to RefWorks, RefWorks prompts you to log in first.

Note: The prompt from RefWorks might be displayed in a different tab or browser window.

To save bibliographic data for all documents in a bookshelf folder:

1. Sign in to ebrary. Select the Bookshelf tab. You must be signed in to view your bookshelf.
2. Select a folder you have created. You can only save bibliographic information for documents in your folders.
3. Click the RefWorks button.

RefWorks imports bibliographic information for each document in the folder. If you are not logged in to RefWorks, RefWorks prompts you to log in first.

-Sommer

There are two ways to use the journals in your discipline:  search them for articles on a topic or browse them to see what’s in recent issues.

As learners working on assignments, you’re probably searching pretty frequently.  But do you spend any time just browsing?

Browsing is useful in many ways.  Regularly browsing recent journals in your field can:

• Inspire you with new ideas
• Illuminate where the field is heading
• Show you areas that are being ignored

Newbies in a field often don’t know what they don’t know.  Browsing can help correct that.

Experienced researchers already know a lot about their field, but browsing can help them quickly stay on top of anything new.

Want to know how to browse journals in the library?  Check out our new guide: Browsing the Contents of a Specific Journal.

- Erin

PsycBOOKS added the following titles to its coverage list in June and July 2009. Of the titles added, 3 were APA books and 37 were designated classic books.  Classic books are landmark titles in psychology and are selected by APA experts.

APA Books

1.    Courtroom modifications for child witnesses: Law and science in forensic evaluations, © 2008, by Hall, Susan R.; Sales, Bruce D.

2.    Psychotherapy with cardiac patients: Behavioral cardiology in practice, © 2008, by Dornelas, Ellen A.

3.    Women street hustlers: Who they are and how they survive, © 2008, by Rockell, Barbara A.

Classic Books

4.    Analysis of the phenomena of the human mind, in two volumes, Vol I, © 1829, by Mill, James

5.    The Anatomy of melancholy: What it is with all the kinds, causes, symptomes, prognostickes & severall cures of it (4th ed.), © 1632, by Democritus

6.    Chirologia: or The naturall language of the hand: Composed of the speaking motions, and discoursing gestures thereof; whereunto is added Chironomia: or, The art of the manuall rhetoricke: Consisting of the naturall expressions, digested by art in the hand, as the chiefest instrument of eloquence, © 1644, by Bulwer, John

7.    A commentary and review of Montesquieu’s spirit of laws, © 1811, by Destutt de Tracy, Antoine L. C.

8.    Contemplations moral and divine: In two parts, © 1675 (Reprinted 1679), by Hale, Matthew

9-11.    An elementary system of physiology, Vol 1-3 (2nd ed.), © 1828, 1830, by Bostock, John

12.   Elements of criticism, Vol. 1, 2nd (American from the 8th London ed.), © 1816, by Home, Henry

13.   Elements of mental and moral philosophy, founded upon experience, reason, and the Bible, The, © 1831, by Anonymous

14.   Elements of moral philosophy: Comprising the theory of morals and practical ethics, © 1825, by Parkhurst, John L.

15.   Essays on some of the first principles of metaphysics, ethicks, and theology, © 1824, by Burton, Asa

16.   Essays on the nature and principles of taste (from the Edinburgh 1811 ed.), © 1812, by Alison, Archibald

17.   Family monitor, or, A help to domestic happiness (2nd American ed.), The, © 1829, by James, John Angell 

18.   First lines of the practice of physic, with notes and observations, practical and explanatory, and a preliminary discourse in defence of classical medicine, in two volumes, Vol 1, © 1816, by Cullen, William; Caldwell, Charles

19.   The freedom of the mind, demanded of American free men; being lectures to the Lyceum on the improvement of the people,  © 1830, by Nott Jr., Samuel

20.   Hints for an essay on the pursuit of happiness (designed for common use), © 1818, by Oliver Jr., Benjamin L.

21.   An inquiry into the opinions, ancient and modern, concerning life and organization, © 1822, by Barclay, John

22.   Lectures on the philosophy of the human mind, Vol 3, © 1830, by Brown, Thomas

23.   Letters on the elementary principles of education, Vol 2 (6th ed.), © 1818, by Hamilton, Elizabeth

24.   Letters on the logos, © 1828, by Upham, Charles W.

25.   The life of Edward Lord Herbert of Cherbury, written by himself, © 1830, by Herbert, Edward Lord

26.   The light of nature pursued, Vol 7 (2nd ed., rev. and corrected), together with some account of the life of the author, © ND, by Tucker, Abraham

27.   Medical inquiries and observations upon the diseases of the mind, 4th ed., © 1830, by Rush, Benjamin

28-29.   The philosophy of zoology, or a general view of the structure, functions, and classification of animals, Vol. I-II, © 1822, by Fleming, John

30.   Plan of the founder of Christianity, © 1831, by Reinhard, F. V.; Taylor, Oliver A. (Trans)

31.   A preliminary discourse on the study of natural philosophy, © 1831, by Herschel, J. F. W.

32.   Principles of legislation: From the ms. of Jeremy Bentham, bencher of Lincoln’s Inn, 2nd. Ed., © 1830, by Dumont, M.; Neal, John (Trans)

33.   The spiritual mustard pot: containing a demonstration of the existence of God; answers to three objections to the divine origin of the scriptures; and an essay on the origin of religion, © 1824, by Cogitans, John

34.   Transactions of the phrenological society, instituted 22nd February 1820, © 1824, by Anonymous

35.   Treatise on the philosophy of the human mind, being the lectures of the late Thomas Brown, M.D., Vol II (Abridged, and distributed according to the natural divisions of the subject), © 1827, by Brown, Thomas; Hedge, Levi (Ed.)

36.   The treatise on religious affections, somewhat abridged, to which is now added a copious index of subjects, © 1821, by Edwards, Jonathan

37.   Truth displayed: In a series of elementary principles, illustrated and enforced by practical observations, in three parts, © 1816, by Osborn, Benjamin

38.   Two treatises in the one of which, the nature of the bodies; in the other, the nature of man’s soule; is looked into: In a way of discovery, of the immortality of reasonable soules, © 1644, by Digby, Kenelme

39.   The works of President Edwards: With a memoir of his life, in ten olumes, Vol. I, © 1829, by Edwards, Jona

40.   Zoonomia; or the Laws of organic life, in three parts, Vol 2 (4th American ed.), © 1795 (reprinted 1818), by Darwin, Erasmus

Note: To read any of these ebook go to the Articles, Books & More page. Scroll down to PsycBOOKS and type in the title.

- Jennie

An anecdotal list in no particular order.

1. You have been searching for 20 minutes to 1 hour with no success (don’t wait hours or days to get help).

2. You want to learn how to use RefWorks to store and organize your Library Research.

3.  You are starting your Dissertataion Literature Review and want to discuss some strategies.

4. You are working on your Comprehensive Exam and need help finding information on a specific topic.

5.  You are new to Capella and would like an overview of  the Library. Click here for an online Tour of the Library.

6.  You want to know what the weather is like in Minneapolis – First Hand!

7.  You opened Lexis Nexis or any database and it frightens you.

8.  You need to know “what the heck” a peer-reviewed article is and WHY faculty are so obsessed with them.  Click here for information on “Peer-Reviewed Articles and How to Find Them”.

9.  You want help evaluating a source that you found outside the Library. Click here for a guide on Evaluating Sources.

10.  You are about to fling your computer at the wall and quit Capella because you can’t find information on your topic.

Calling a Capella Librarian: Click Here to hear what a typical call sounds like.

Robin

As you may already know, scholarly articles are typically found in peer reviewed journals. That means only those articles that gain approval from the reviewers are actually published. That leaves a lot of rejected articles.

So what happens to them?

Some are reworked and resubmitted elsewhere, and others just disappear. But so many articles are rejected at least once that a group of graduate students in mathematics have created their own open-access journal: Rejecta Mathematica. This journal only publishes articles that have been rejected by other journals. You can see the journal’s website and inaugural publication here.

This brings up some interesting questions about scholarly literature, which can affect your dissertation literature review and your own chances of being published:

• How much research is lost because there isn’t a journal on the topic? (Many articles are rejected because they don’t match the usual content of a journal.)
• If you are using articles from the 2nd tier of journals in your field, are you filling your literature review with rejects? And is that a problem?
• Are authors aiming too high? Are we missing out on great research that just can’t fit in the top journal or two?

What do you think?

- Erin