This week I discovered that “trusty old Google” may not be so trust
worthy after all. Sure you can find the answer to almost anything you want to
know, but it’s not exactly the best at giving you verified material. After
several hours of trying to search for material on google and the Massey
University website I felt as though I was drawing a blank and had possibly not
picked the best topic to research. “Action must be taken to improve New
Zealand’s immunization rates.” With the recent attention this topic has had in
America over unvaccinated children in “high-class” areas I thought I would be
able to find quite a bit of information on this topic. However none of it
seemed to have any solid background in science.
I found that simply “google searching” and idea or phrase was not
giving me great results, nor was scrolling through pages of unspecific material
on the Massey University library site. The lack of results was becoming very disheartening
until I luckily came across Google Scholar which gave me access to a wide
variety of reports, experiments and research from appropriate sources. From
here I began to find it fairly simple to find the information I needed and
researching became a lot easier.
During the research process I also found that using references that I have
found during researching was very helpful. I would read a report that had small
amounts of the information I wanted but by using the references in these
reports I was able to find a lot more of the material I wanted.
If I were to have found Google Scholar earlier I would have wasted a
lot less time on trying to find information that was just not there. This
experience has helped me to broaden the way I research and has taught me new
ways to find information which will be a great tool in future reports and
assignments throughout my degree.
6 comments:
Hi Nicole, I felt the same way about my topic...When I started using Google Scholar and the Massey Library and could not find any solid scientific information, I thought that I had not chosen a good topic for research. But then, I started using different terms for the search and got some results. I also found extremely helpful to use the reference list from the papers, that was how I found some authors and could do a search by author's name.
Great tip about the references Nicole. I tend to do the same thing when I think I have found an important research article to used for an assignment. In fact I have had to do that for this position paper as the search for reliable and easy to understand research for the anti fluoridation argument has been arduous. Have you tried the search engine Discover?? I have found that engine very helpful and fruitful in past papers and it has the "peer reviewed" filter which saves a lot of work when assessing the worth of the research.
I tried using discover initially but it didn't seem to get me anywhere. I should probably give it another chance after this assignment though as I have learnt a few different techniques for searching for information now.
Have a look at the library tutorial on how to search discover, the database runs on its own "Boolean" language which means even a simple * can widen your search parameters and yield better results.
I agree with Ana on looking at the references for more authors, however don't get stuck in what I call "journal circles" , When you end up reading too many journals and don't write the essay until the last minute.
I will try using discover in my next assignment, thanks. I feel that what I learnt during this assignment will make it easier to use discover now.
This assignment seems to have been a big learning curve for all of us when it came to finding appropriate material. However I feel we all learnt how to find the information we needed after adjusting our search style.
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