finding information in a digital age. knowledge management knowledge is of two kinds. we know a...
TRANSCRIPT
Finding Information in a Digital age
Knowledge Management
Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it
Intelligence is not the ability to store information but the ability to find it
• Acquiring, Accessing• Managing• Digesting• Incorporating information into your work
Some General Readings
Knowledge Management (Gene Bellinger)Data Mining (Kurt Thearling)A Paradigm for Understanding the Internet Navigating the World Wide Web The History of Computers and the Internet Office of Information Technology Newsletter
Some Terms
Information Technology helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information
Office of Information Technology (UMN)Electronic Research Administration (NIH)Electronic Grants Management (UMN)
E-research
Electronic Research Collections (ERC) (UIC)Electronic Research Library (WWW Virtual Library)
General Principles
• Skills used for finding information in the non-digital world are the same as those used for finding information in the digital world
• The skills which you all develop as users of libraries containing printed material will stand you in good stead
• The electronic medium involves a new technology, therefore it requires some different mechanical skill
• However, it does not require different intellectual skills• If you are deficient in using "traditional" libraries, you will be deficient in using the
web
General Principles
• The Web is not a source of information• The Web is both a repository of digital information and a tool allowing access to
traditional information • The Web is not disorganized; it is organized by hardware, remote hosts or servers,
to which you have access, and local hosts, the computers used by individuals, corporations, and governments to compile information to be placed on servers
• The contents of the Internet, including the Web, is organized by the individuals, corporations, and governments that compile the information
• The best portals only find a small fraction of the information about a particular topic on the Internet
Evaluating Internet Resources
Evaluating Web Pages (University of California, Berkeley)Evaluating Information Sources (University of Minnesota)
Do not forget, virtually anyone can place material on the Web One way to evaluate information found on the Web is to consider the source of the
informationDomain names then become an important characteristic One type of information is information that has already been published in a different
mediumSuch information may have already gone through some sort of peer review Under this category come the journal articles that can be found in libraries and online These material are usually outdated and will not be updated
Questions to ask
Who created the site? What organization? When was the site created? What was the last update? How well can you identify who wrote the site material? What credentials does the author of the site material offer you to justify his/her
authority? Are references given? Are links given? How long and with what kind of continuity has the site been maintained? Does the material on the site take into account other perspectives?
Citing sources
All references in the text should be made by using endnotesElectronically Published Information • Source or author • URL - the electronic location• Date last updated • Date visited Text Publications - choose a style and stick with it • The Chicago Manual of Style Online• Style Manuals and Citation Guides (University of Minnesota)If the electronic information is a digital version of a written publication • then give a reference to the written publication • only give a reference to the url if it is stable
Deepwater Horizon Cases
The Deepwater Horizon incident has led to claims for the death of 11 individuals, numerous claims for personal injury, and the release of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, with resulting claims for environmental and economic damage.
Currently, there are motions pending before the Multidistrict Litigation Panel to consolidate all cases related to the Deepwater Horizon incident into a single MDL case
There are also requests pending before the panel to have the litigation assigned to various districts across the country
Cases relating to the Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill assigned to Judge Carl Barbier, Section J (U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana)
Gulf Oil Spill; Order Granting Preliminary Injunction (Hornbeck v. Salazar CA 10-1663) Gulf Oil Spill; Drilling Moratorium Decision (Hornbeck v. Salazar CA 10-1663)Eastern District of Louisiana
Browsers
A software application for accessing and transmitting information resources on the World Wide Web (Wikipedia)
An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) – URL May be a web page, image, video, or other piece of contentHyperlinks present in resources enable users to easily find related resources
FirefoxInternet ExplorerGoogle Chrome
Search Engines
Images ScholarBooksPress Center
How Google WorksGoogle Blog Directory
Google Guide; making searching easier Google Tutor’s Google Search ManualGoogling to the max (UC Berkeley)
BingYahooAltavista Dogpile
A Research Problem
Sources of Information
Strategies to access
Strategies for managing – sources and information
Wilderness Research
FirstGov.org <wilderness act> 21,667 <wilderness> 43,535
Google <wilderness> 34,400,000 English pages
University of Minnesota Libraries <wilderness> 4687 records
LexisNexis Academic <wilderness act> 450 law review articles <wilderness> >1,000
JStor <wilderness> 30,453 articles
Research in the Electronic World
The World Wide Web contains two types of electronic information
• Reference information – information which will direct you to material that may or may not be electronic – access to material stored in various buildings
• Factual information, that gives you the necessary digital information about a particular subject and that may or may not be accurate, timely, or relevant to your research - access to digital material stored on various computers
Increasingly web sites – pages with specific URL – are doing bothUniversity of Minnesota LibrariesA Major Research Tool For You? The World Wide WebSearch the Web more efficiently
Cooperation between Universities and Commercial Publishers
ProQuest
University of Minnesota Libraries• ProQuest Newspapers• ProQuest historical newspapers. Minneapolis Tribune • Digital Sanborn maps, 1867-1970. Minnesota
• Periodicals index online • Dissertations & Theses
University of Minnesota Libraries
A. Sticks - texts - books, journals, and maps B. Clicks - electronic databases Indexes collections of databases, including journals, statistics, and images• JStor• LexisNexis Academic• GPO AccessE-journals – the full text articles which may or may not also appear in print• Government Information Quarterly• Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers• Annals of the Association of American GeographersStatistics • LexisNexis Statistical
University of Minnesota Libraries Resources
Finding Books
Finding Journal Articles
• Electronic Databases: Indexes • Electronic Journals
Finding Web Sites
Finding Business Sources
Citing Government information Sources (University of Nevada, Reno)
Writing Guide: Conducting Electronic Research (Colorado State University)
Writing for the Web (useit.com: Jakob Nielsen's Website)
Writing for the Web: A Primer for Librarians (Eric H Schnell)
Federal Government Information
Official
USA.gov: The U.S. Government's Official Web PortalFedWorld Information Network (National Technical Information Service, NTIS) GPO Access Home Page (Government Printing Office)
Unofficial – Commercial
Federal Citizen Information CenterGovSpot.com
Official – Nonprofit
University LibrariesWebJunction
Legislative Materials
Official
The Library of Congress Thomas Library of Congress
Unofficial – Commercial
HeinOnlineLexisNexis Congressional
Unofficial – Nonprofit
Legal Information Institute
Executive Materials
Official
The White HouseNational Archives
Unofficial – Commercial
HeinOnlineLexisNexis Congressional
Unofficial – Nonprofit
Legal Information Institute
Regulatory Information
U.S. Administrative Law (Wikipedia)
Regulations.govCode of Federal RegulationsFederal Register
The Cornell e-Rulemaking Initiative• Regulation Room
• Airline Passenger Rights
LexisNexis CongressionalHeinOnline
Judicial Information
Official
Supreme Court
Unofficial – Commercial
HeinOnlineLexisNexis CongressionalFindlaw
Unofficial - Nonprofit
Oyez Legal Information Institute
Digital Libraries
Online-Libraries that do not requiring subscriptions
Open Library
Online-Libraries that require subscriptions
Questia Media, Inc. is a leading provider of copyrighted information and educational resources for the digital age
Research Using the Web
Ask a question and place it on the web – via a ListServe
Carry out your own research
List Serves (electronic mailing lists) Blogs
Social Science Research NetworkH-Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online
Federal Government
Nonprofits
Hindsight (Minnesota 2020)Land Trust Alliance
Individuals
beSpacific
News Media
Text and Digital
Minneapolis Star TribuneLillie Suburban Newspapers (Public Notices) Minneapolis St. Paul Business JournalFinance & Commerce
Audio/Video/Digital
Public Broadcasting Service•Now National Public RadioMinnesota Public Radio
Digital
MinnPost.comBringMetheNews.com
Op-Eds
George Will (Washington Post)E. J. Dionne (Washington Post)David Brooks (New York Times)Paul Krugman (New York Times)
Columnists
Tom Meersman (Minneapolis Star Tribune) covers the environment and natural resources issues, such as water pollution, invasive species, wildlife and wetlands 1996-2010
Neal St. Anthony writes business columns and articles weeklyStephen Wilbers teaches seminars in effective business writing. His column appears on the
first and third Monday of each monthKenneth Harney is a nationally syndicated real estate columnistChris Farrell is economics editor for American Public Media's weekly "Marketplace Money"
showDennis Anderson is outdoors editor and columnist
Stephanie Hemphill (Minnesota Public Radio)
Non Profit Web Sites
ProPublica Journalism in the Public Interest
Think tanks based in the United States (Wikipedia)
Political advocacy groups in the United States (Wikipedia)
Print and E-journals
The AtlanticGovernment Information Quarterly
Solutions
Electronic Journal Collection at UMN
Blackwell's Synergy (Blackwell Publishing) Cambridge University Press Journals Ecological Society of America Environment and Planning Harper's Weekly Hein Online Ingenta Interscience (Wiley) JStor
Kluwer Online National Journal Titles Nature Oxford University Press Science ScienceDirect including Academic Press (Elsevier) Scientific American Archives Society of American Foresters University of Chicago Press
Encyclopedias
WikipediaThe Encyclopedia of EarthEarth PortalE-encyclopedia (Google)Encyclopedia Britannica MSN EncartaInfoplease
Encyclopedia Smithsonian
Unconventional Sources
Wikipedia
How Stuff Works
Congressional Quarterly
ProductsPublic Affairs Collection OnlineCQ Weekly Online The CQ researcherGuide to Congress How Congress worksGuide to the U.S. Supreme Court How to access the federal government on the Internet State and local governmentCongress and the nation
Legal History Sites
University of Chicago Library
Mesothelioma Litigation and Its History (Ezinearticles) Asbestos Litigation in the U.S.: A New Look at an Old Issue (Institute for Civil Justice)