16 ways to uncover the best research and information out there

Yesterday, I ranted talked about the role of Google in obtaining useful information on an academic level.  Today, some ideas on going ‘beyond’ Google.  Or, if you really do like Google, how to get the most out of it.  Let’s sniff out the winning ways:

Photo by BryonRealey

Photo by BryonRealey

  1. Show positivity in your quest for accurate data and important information – There’s no point in making your search casual.  Research is just as important as the coursework itself.  In fact, it’s probably more vital, given that you’re meant to back up your claims and sources and reasoning.  As a result, take your search seriously and allow a positive attitude while you work.
  2. Make good use of librarians and use their expertise in taking what you need to help in your study – Ask questions and explain what you’re trying to find.  You’re not looking for the librarians to give you the answers to life, you’re looking for them to point you in the right direction.  A good librarian can help uncover amazing resources that you can then use to your full advantage.
  3. Use your own initiative too! – Librarians can help you out, but I bet you could surprise yourself with how much you could unearth yourself.  Actively pursue what’s available at your institution and beyond.  The more you consider for yourself, the more focused your questions will be when you do need to ask others for guidance.
  4. Discover books outside the library (and still borrow them) – Searching the library catalogue in isolation may not uncover all the books available to help your study.  Go beyond the library catalogue…use COPAC, check the British Library catalogues, browse your subject and specific keywords on Amazon.  And when you find the books that sound useful, borrow them through the inter-library loans system.  All libraries have a slightly different way of dealing with inter-library loans, so ask how your system works.
  5. Use a multiude of resources – That is to say, exploit the Internet and libraries to the full.  Most libraries subscribe to a number of journals and collaborative sites that will keep you knee-deep in the latest word on what you study.  Citing the latest papers in your field (so long as they’re relevant!) will help show you know your stuff.
  6. Public libraries hold additional benefits – Don’t ignore public libraries just because your institutional libraries hold so many goodies.  One benefit of a local library is that they subscribe to various online services too, giving you free access to useful databases, encyclopedias, business stats, and so on.  If you’re living away from the family home, sign up with the library where you’re now staying.  Then you’ll be able to use the resources from two different library areas, because they do all differ slightly.
  7. Use subject portals – If Google really does impress you that much on search, use it to find ‘portals’ on the broad topics you’re studying.  But if you can bear to go beyond your own attempts at search, check your library website (or ask a librarian) for their online list of handpicked websites that cater to your specialist subject.  The less work you have to do finding the sources of information, the more time you get to read through the information itself.
  8. Use Search Operators – Sticking with Google again, when you want to make sure you’re getting worthwhile results, you need to make sure your query is damn good.  Google Guide can help you along the way with references on search operators like this and this.
  9. Improve your Google search with date-related articles – If you want only the latest information, or if you’re researching something that hadn’t happened longer than a fortnight ago, Google cannot help with just a standard search.  However, if you add &as_qdr=d to the end of the web address when you make your search, Google adds a little dropdown menu after the search term, allowing you to find results from the last 24 hours, week, month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, or year.  As an example, check the difference between a standard search for ‘university’ and a search for ‘university’ in only the past week.
  10. Check other search engines – Maybe search is the way you like to work.  Google is just one of many search tools.  For other ways of researching the Internet, check out the alternative search engines out there.  They all have unique benefits and may be just what you’re looking for to bring the quality of your Web search forward.
  11. Check forums, news sources, online journals and anything that carries up to date research and information – Not all pages get indexed by Google, even if Google points to their main homepage.  And when Google does index it, that doesn’t mean it’s updated straight away.  Get bookmarking!
  12. Make the most of RSS feeds – Save time and bring the information straight to you.  If you aren’t using a feed reader, or you don’t know what RSS is, check out the following links to discover the magic…Road 2 Graduation (What is RSS?) / Angela Maiers (The Power of RSS Feeds) / Mashable! (RSS & Giving Away Music) / Internet Duct Tape (Really Simple Syndication) / Pelf-ism (Step-by-step to RSS) / Problogger (What is RSS?) / Back in Skinny Jeans (How to explain RSS the Oprah way)
  13. Don’t rely on a single source for an ‘answer’ – Whether it’s a reference book or a trusted website, they don’t always get their facts 100% right.  If you want to be sure, use a number of resources.  That’s pretty much the point of this whole post.
  14. Remember your own reference books – You have set texts and reading lists for a reason.  Hopefully your bookshelf has at least a few books.  The detail may be easily accessible within the pages of these books.  See what you can find here first, because it might help you save time looking elsewhere.
  15. Don’t give up – Academic research is not meant to be easy.  Sometimes you have to work hard to uncover the best references.  You won’t find what you want in a single 30 minute session.  It just isn’t going to happen.
  16. Your resources are tools, not answers – Reference, information, data…it’s all out there to help you create the best work and achieve the most in your study.  Treat your sources as tools to do the job and you’ll be less likely to think you’re ‘missing’ the solution.  The solution comes with your skill in using the tools.  From that point, it just needs to be set out on the page.

Do you have any solid ways of uncovering the information you need?  Are you a winner when it comes to research?  Where do you generally find your best information?

Google vs libraries? Do we face an information dream or nightmare?
sunset_directions-photo-by-saavem

sunset_directions (photo by saavem)

I was an early adapter to the Internet.  I was dialling up to Bulletin Boards and sending off for underground magazines on floppy disc before the internet as we know it was around.  And in the infancy of ‘the Web’, when it meant little more than something spiders created, I was telling everyone at school how amazing the Internet was.  You could chat to people around the world, find information on your favourite band, get detailed information to help with homework, look up the most amazing jokes, and a million other things!

None of my friends really cared at the time.  But in a flash, the Internet was THE big thing.  Fast forward to today and now it’s simply the norm.  We take it for granted, despite its relative newness.

As we have speedily adapted to this new way of life, has the internet replaced more traditional sources in terms of ease and accuracy?  The 5th June edition of Times Higher Education discussed ‘the Google generation’, wondering if we have become too dependent (and Google-eyed) on the online search beast.  Has the ease of finding information led to less critical thought and innovation, at a time when you’d rather expect the free flow of data to open up new possibilities?

I recently found a fantastic article from the site Publishing 2.0:

What newspapers still don’t understand about the web

After reading, I thought it’s no wonder most of us use Google as the first (and often only) port of call for information.

And in terms of academic research, going as far as Google Scholar (still Google!) and Wikipedia isn’t exactly breaking out into a secret world of exclusive information.

Google clearly does have a huge scope.  You’d be mad not to use it.  I do so frequently on a daily basis.

The problem is when we rely almost solely on just one resource.

(more…)

Do you want Web 2.0 help for your educational development?

Brian Kelly, of the great blog UK Web Focus, has recently been reflecting on the different approaches that universities have in using Web 2.0 tools (I’ve commented on the matter there too).

Institutions obviously want to know how they can reach out to students effectively and maintain quality contact.  They want to make sure that the right information and help is there for each and every student.  They would like to succeed in making their lives a little clearer and a little easier.  In the process, they hope that your lives will also become a little easier.

In recent years, it’s obvious that the end-user (i.e. YOU) calls a lot of the shots.  If you’re not publishing blog posts, you’re updating your Facebook profile.  If you’re not Tweeting, you’re sharing photos for the world to view (and possibly even reuse).

No longer is the Internet just a bunch of static views and specific functions.  Now you can create mashups, specialise on YOUR terms, and personalise to your unique and individual brand.

For us as ‘Generation Y’ (as it’s known), we’ve grown up with the Web and all the exciting developments that we take for granted.  It’s led to this:

  1. Students don’t want specifics imposed upon them (who wants – or needs – that now?);
  2. Students don’t appreciate the changes from what they see as a platform for personal and social interaction, to a platform that’s been hijacked by educators and officials as a method of contact and coming closer.

It doesn’t matter that your uni is developing new tools to make your life easier.  Firstly, you may disagree that it helps your individual circumstances.  Secondly, it clouds the boundaries between personal/social life and educational/study life.

With so many Web 2.0 tools out there, the point is that you can pick and choose the services you want/need. It’s mainly up to you, as an individual, to decide what’s important.  That’s an essential component of the Web 2.0 idea.  It’s a fluid, changing space.  To an extent, you help to create the rules.  Once the fluidity is taken away, much of the ‘Web 2.0’ badge may as well be gone.

So the big question is, in what ways can universities achieve a solid base that you – as users – can embrace, but then further develop yourself?

Has your uni helped to give you more control of your educational pursuits online?  Do you make use of social networking and Web 2.0 tools to further your education/career, or do you see these functions as purely a tool for entertainment purposes?

[Update: I’ve found that new research by JISC has found that nearly three quarters of those students who use social networking sites (which is almost every student) use the sites to discuss coursework with others.  Over a quarter do this frequently.  But does this mean that students want a social networking connection to their tutors, or is it better to keep the discussion between peers as another way to do group work…?]

Make writing work for you

You might not think it, but you write differently, dependent on what tools you use.

Our brains engage on different levels when typing compared with when we use pen and paper.

Desk 1 (photo by woodsy)

But what other factors change the way your brain tackles the creative process?

1. Location

Be it in your room, in the library, on the steps of a large building, at a mate’s house…wherever you are, your emotions are altered based on your surrounding.

In turn, your writing takes on a different life.

The next time you can’t get the words out, your creativity will burst through when you just change where you are.  Just pick up your stuff and take it somewhere else.

Better still, take it somewhere new.  See how the unknown surroundings open your thoughts up to places you didn’t know existed.

2. Format of the paper/screen

Paper comes in various types, suited to all sorts of situations.  Plain paper, lined paper, squared paper, notation paper, and so on.

Standard lined paper may restrict the way in which you work.  Why not buy a plain moleskin notebook and let the perfectly empty canvas take you to the heart of your creativity?

3. Shape and size of medium

Are you an A4 fiend, or an A1 wonder?  Do you open the word processor window in fullscreen, or do you keep half the screen real estate available to other applications?

The physical appearance of what you use to write with can also lead to different actions within the creative process.

An enormous sheet of blank paper may be screaming out to some people as a challenge to be covered, while others will see an ever bigger piece of paper as an ever shrinking confined space.

4. Time of day/Weather

Most of us know that we react better at certain points in the day.  However, we also take cues from the state of the atmosphere.

When the sun is out and there’s peace all around, you may fare far better with a sunny disposition.

Alternatively, the sun may be a distraction for having fun, so your prime writing time may be on a dull day when nobody wants to leave their room.

It all depends on personal preference.

Of course, we can’t control the weather, but it’s worth getting an understanding of what influences you.

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The act of writing is more than a simple set of processes that you either have or don’t have.  You have the power to form a state in which the writing comes easily.

Before you work on inspiration, you have to find the right surroundings and tools to be inspired…