Off The Shelf

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

As an undergraduate student I was the queen of procrastination. It was unbelievable how much schoolwork I could put off and then cram into the last two weeks of classes.

Of course, as an adult graduate student I was busy juggling work, home and school all at the same time. I quickly learned that I just couldn’t pull all nighters any more. The procrastination had to end.

Ending procrastination doesn’t just benefit your sleep schedule and your sanity. It also improves your library research abilities.

How so?

Well, by giving yourself more distance between your library research and your due date, you have time to:

• use Interlibrary Loan to get great resources not in the library
• try other databases and other searches to get the best resources
• learn how to use new tools such as Google Scholar or RefWorks

For all of you doctoral learners, ending procrastination now will help you schedule your time and learn how to pace yourself with research and writing.  This is a very important skill for writing your comps and dissertation.  Neither of those can be done overnight with a pot of coffee!

If you need help planning your time, you can try the Assignment Calculator, which outlines the whole process from selecting a topic to editing your final draft.

As you think about starting Winter quarter, it may be time to give procrastination the ole heave ho!

. . . or maybe the quarter after that . . .

- Erin

PsycBOOKS added the following titles to its coverage list in November 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.  Body image, eating disorders, and obesity in youth: Assessment, prevention, and treatment (2nd ed.), © 2009, by Smolak, Linda (Ed.); Thompson, J. Kevin (Ed.)

2.  Cognitive therapy for suicidal patients: Scientific and clinical applications, © 2009, by Wenzel, Amy; Brown, Gregory K.; Beck, Aaron T.

3.  Complementary and alternative therapies research, © 2009, by Field, Tiffany

4.  The glass ceiling in the 21st century: Understanding barriers to gender equality, © 2009, by Barreto, Manuela (Ed.); Ryan, Michelle K. (Ed.); Schmitt, Michael T. (Ed.)

5.  Group development in practice: Guidance for clinicians and researchers on stages and dynamics of change, © 2009, by Brabender, Virginia; Fallon, April

Classic Books

6.  Abstract of a course of lectures on mental & moral philosophy, © 1840, by Mahan, Asa

7.  Attractions of language, or a popular view of natural language, in all its varied displays, in the animate and the inanimate world; and as corresponding with instinct, intelligence and reason; a physiological description of the organs of voice; an account of the origin of artificial, spoken language; and a brief analysis of alphabetical sounds, © 1842, by Taylor, Benj. F.

8.  Elements of mental philosophy, embracing the two departments of the intellect and the sensibilities (Vol. 1), © 1840 (Reprinted 1850), by Upham, Thomas C.

9.  Elements of psychology: Included in A critical examination of Locke’s Essay on the human understanding (3rd ed.), © 1842, by Cousin, Victor; Henry, C. S. (Trans.)

10.  Elements of the philosophy of mind, applied to the development of thought and feeling, © 1840, by Ricord, Elizabeth

11.  An essay on the connection of mental philosophy with medicine, © 1841, by Allen, Nathan

12.  Essays on the formation of the human character, © 1840, by Owen, Robert

13.  Inquiries concerning the intellectual powers and the investigation of truth (11th ed.), © 1841, by Abercrombie, John

14.  Letters to mothers (4th ed.), © 1840, by Sigourney, L. H.

15.  Logic, or the art of reasoning simplified:… with exercises on a variety of interesting topics to guide and develope the reasoning powers of the youthful inquirer after truth, © 1837, by Parker, S. E.

16.  Nuces philosophicae, or, The philosophy of things, as developed from the study of the philosophy of words, © 1842, by Johnson, Edward

17.  Outlines of imperfect and disordered mental action, © 1840, by Upham, Thomas C.

18.  Popular lectures on ethics, or moral obligation: For the use of schools, © 1841, by Mercer, Margaret

19.  Psychology, or A view of the human soul, including anthropology, © 1841, by Rauch, Frederick A.

20.  Theological criticisms, or, Hints of the philosophy of man and nature, in six lectures, to which are appended two poetical scraps and dogmas of infidelity, © 1843, by Adams, F. W.

21.  The works of Charles Follen, with a memoir of his life, in five volumes (Vol. 2), © 1840, by Follen, Charles

22-23.  The works of Charles Follen, with a memoir of his life, in five volumes (Vol. 4-5), © 1841, by Follen, Charles

24-25.  The works of Jonathan Edwards, A.M., with an essay on his genius and writings, by Henry Rogers; and a memoir by Sereno E. Dwight, in two volumes (Vol. 1 -2; rev. and corrected), © 1840, by Edwards, Jonathan; Rogers, Henry; Dwight, Sereno E.; Hickman, Edward (Ed.)

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

You have research and library problems?  We have solutions.  Below is a table with the most common problems learners run in to as they conduct research for their assignments and links to corresponding video tutorials and PDF guides.  Try learning something new over break and see if you can solve those persistent problems you’ve encountered as you research.

-Sommer

I’ll admit it – I’m a total Google Scholar addict.  I can’t tell you how often I open up that search page and type in a title or topic.  It’s really  useful, especially when I get a call from a learner who has only half a citation.

But Google Scholar isn’t without its problem.  Professor Peter Jasco has developed quite a reputation in the library world as a cataloger of Google Scholar’s many issues.   Very recently many of the Capella Librarians read his November 2009 Library Journal article “Google Scholar’s Ghost Authors.”

It’s an interesting read.  Apparently Google Scholar frequently picks random words and indexes them as author names.  Password and Subscribe are busy authors in the world of Google Scholar.  I thought it would never be more than one of those “good to know” tidbits about information retrival.

But then it happened to ME!

Right there in Google Scholar is the handout from a MN Library Association presentation three Capella Librarians created last spring.  Only it gives LA Form as the author, instead of us.  LA Form is not that prolific an author, with only one other document to his/her name.  And that’s just an application for a graduate program.  P Form, on the other hand, is much busier, especially with coauthor R Illustrations.

 
Of course, it’s a bit fishy that our handout is even in Google Scholar to begin with, since it’s not actually scholarly.

It just goes to show you that you have to be careful whenever you are doing research.  Mistakes are everywhere.  You can’t let a computer algorithm replace the evaluative powers of your own brain.

- Erin

Most Capella Library databases default to search only the full text available to you immediately in the Capella Library. When you are working on coursework, often with tight deadlines, this is helpful.

However databases also classify articles in journals to which the Capella Library does not subscribe. So how do you see those articles?

In the lower part of the screen in most of our databases is a limiter box that  usually defaults to being checked,  labeled “Full Text”. If you uncheck this limiter you will see articles that may be in another Capella Library database by clicking the link Check Article Linker, or are not in the Capella Library and are available through Interlibrary Loan.  So for example, if you are doing a long term project such as a dissertaton or major paper, you may want to remember to uncheck the full text limiter when you search and see all the articles the databases has classifed on your topic.

Any questions? Ask-a-Librarian

Robin

Academia.edu is a little bit Facebook and a little bit Twitter, but completely focused on helping connect you with people who are conducting research in your field and keeping up with the current research trends.  When you sign up for a free account it also gives you your own academic web page.  Here’s the example for the About page at Academia.edu: http://oxford.academia.edu/RichardPrice

Academia.edu is for current graduate and doctoral learners, faculty, department members, and post-doctoral.  So get started today and see what you think, using your quarter break to get your account rolling.  Follow and be followed by researchers with similar research interests.  It’s not only a networking opportunity but allows you to ensure you’re current with the trends and research in your field!

-Sommer

We get many calls and emails from frustrated users who do a search in ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)  and don’t see the PDF Full Text link which  indicates the article is available.

ERIC is a little different than our other databases so the the “trick”  is to remember when you are searching ERIC if you don’t see the PDF Full Text link click on the link Check Article Linker. This link will search all of the other Library databases and bring up a link to the article or journal, if the text of the article is available in a database other than ERIC.  If it is not available there is a link on this screen to the interlibrary loan form. So remember if you don’t see a pdf full text link in ERIC,  click Check Article Linker and very often the article will be found in another Library database.

Any Questions? Ask-A-Librarian

Robin