Research is the most important step in geotechnical writing, so we have to start to dig into the library.  This assignment is intended to get you familiar with the pitfalls and shortcomings of database searches. I have four items for you to research using (a) Voyager (MTSU on-line catalog), (b) Web of Science (a full text database), and (c) GeoRef (GSA's on-line, but citation-only, database).

This assignment consists of two parts: Part A and Part B.

• Part A is a "show and tell" assignment; there is NOTHING to turn in. All you have to do is read through the mateial and follow my lead. You need to do the searches (unless you are already adept at Walker Library online science database use) and confirm my results so you become familiar with doing periodical searches. This should allow you to learn a little about the useful features of the databases involved without getting buried in details.

 
• Part B involves doing on-line research and then either (1) printing downloaded references or (2) going to the library to photocopy references you have located there, or both. The fruits of your labors in Part B, exercises 1 & 2 are "due" next week; however, you will not be submitting any of Part B at that time. Rather, the work you do in Part B is all preparation for next week's writing exercise.

Important comments:

[A] MTSU's Walker Library regularly changes vendors for its on-line databases. The instructions below may no longer be accurate for locating references if a change has recently been made. I will make an effort to stay up on these changes, but be aware that these instructions may be obsolete. If so, do your best to complete the assignment & please let me know ASAP via e-mail.

[B] Before you begin Part B of this assignment, you have to pick a tentative topic for your research paper. Some of you may already have a topic that you are interested in, but nonetheless, you should read my web page on picking an appropriate topic.

Part A. This is a brief exercise introducing you to MTSU's online search resources. You will use various search engines to locate research quality information, housed either in the library or available online. You should complete this exercise sooner rather than later (so you have time to do Part B as well), and it should only take a little time.

If you are somewhat unfamiliar with doing research at Walker Library (WL), I suggest trying either one of two sources:

Suppose I have recently discovered in middle Tennessee, what I interpret to be ancient seismites, or at least, that I've developed an interest in them. (If you don't know what a seismite is, try Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seismite)

Using WL's FAQ to delve further, we'll start with "how do I find a book?" (assuming that maybe you don't realize what this course is really all about!)

We click on (in case you already closed this window): "Books and more" (i.e. infosearch) and enter "seismites". What happens (as of 8-27-2011)?

Answer: "No catalog results found. Did you mean: semites?"

Unfortunately, that means that Walker Library has no shelved volumes (e.g. books or memoirs) that focus on seismites. But fortunately (and even better!), infosearch -- with the keyword "seismites" -- locates more than 100 articles.

See how easy that was? Of course, the key to good citation (i.e. source) research is not locating a bunch of titles, but rather assessing how useful they are based on YOUR research goal(s).
 

So let's break this down:
1) narrow: a) Topic = "Mt. St. Helens" = bad (i.e. too broad); b) Topic = "changes in debris flow composition at Mt. St. Helens based on tephra composition" = good (may be, however, TOO narrow; for example, may not be enough recent publications)
2) a dozen = 12 (or so)
3) recent: not all 12 have to be that recent, but it helps if you have too many recent references, rather than not enough
4) readily available: with today's online databases, you shouldn't have to turn to interlibrary loans except as a last resort; in other words, if the full text of your source isn't available online or in Walker Library, choose a different source or a new topic (don't waste your time on a source or topic that requires extra effort unless you are in love with it!)
 5) research quality: I refuse to try to compile a comprehensive list of peer-reviewed journals. Suffice it to say this DOES NOT include "Science News", "Time", "Newsweek", "Mother Earth News", or "National Geographic Magazine." It does include "Science", "Nature", "Geology", etc. You should, in fact, become familiar with some of the top journals in Earth Science for your own sake. Here, for example, is a list of the top 10 geology journals based on "impact" as of 2008: http://sciencewatch.com/dr/sci/09/sep27-09_2/
6) common theme: you have to find SOME way to pull your sources together into a common topic -- your angle, or plot, or "hook" if you will. You have to find a common perspective or aspect of your sources that is narrow, interesting, and a recent research finding. Yes it's tough, but it will teach you a lot about research, writing, and the topic at hand.

Important caveat: the only way to be SURE of whether you can support your research topic is to read a few papers, look at the contents of their bibliographies, and determine how many sources you can compile full-text copies of, sources that help you develop your integrated topic (i.e. a topic that is researched and discussed in several different papers with several other papers providing supporting information). No database can do this for you, you have to READ sources and think about potential topics.

Ok, so let's get back to Walker Library's infoSearch results.

1) Obviously, "seismite" is NOT a narrow topic. We might choose instead "Ordovician" and "seismite" or "Taconic orogeny" and "seismite" (both of which age-limit our search).
2) Likewise, our current search has yielded more than 100 periodicals (although NO books in Walker Library).
3) Recent: It appears that many of these publications are five or fewer years old.
4) Readily available: InfoSearch lists 69 of these publications as being "full text". That is GOOD!!! You can't do much with just an abstract (and they don't qualify as valid citations for your research paper bibliography). Likewise, I haven't clicked on a lot of the links (I'm on a slow connection as I write this) but it appears that MTSU's infoSearch subscription makes many (but certainly not all) of these periodicals available (at no additional charge) to the MTSU community as downloadable pdf's. Based on the journal names, a few are also available in the WL stacks.
5) Research quality: Indeed, this is a strength of this database -- it lists the total number of sources returned (seismite = 149), as well as the number of peer-reviewed sources (69) among them.

Notes: By using advanced search and combining (Ordovician) and (seismite), I got 26 sources, with 20 of them being peer-reviewed. That seems like it might make an okay research topic. I could, for example, maybe focus in on the style of deformation as compared to the distance from the epicenter in these deposits, or deformation style vs. paleogeography of the location. Meanwhile, with (Taconic) and (seismite) I only got 6 sources, with 4 being peer-reviewed. That doesn't look too promising.

Now let's turn to our other major source of sources (so to speak), in Walker Library:
the Geosciences ("Geog & Geology") subject guides - http://library.mtsu.edu/libdata/rqs.phtml?subject_id=28 (provided just in case you closed that window)

Rather than use Georef (which is an exhaustive list of citations, but contains NO direct links to text), let's instead use JSTOR. A quick search with (Seismite) returns only 5 references, but they are all peer-reviewed and full text. Plus, some of these didn't show up under infoSearch. A good thing to note, and an excellent way to expand our search and retrieval success. However, on the downside, only one of these concerns the Ordovician, and it is not available via WL's subscription.

Notes: Turning to Georef and using (Ordovician) and (seismite) and (Taconic) I got 20 sources. Unfortunately, when I limited my search to "Linked full text", I got NO returned records. That doesn't mean that Walker Library has none of those papers in the stacks, it simply means that I would have to either walk the stacks to see which, if any, of these periodicals are available, or I would have to know what journals Walker Library holds (nested underneath this link, there are even more specific listings of WL's Geoscience holdings, but they take some time to navigate and comprehend).

Web of Science: (seismite) = 43 records; (Ordovician) and (seismite) = 3 records; (seismite) and (Taconic) = 0 records (?). Unfortunately, full text access does not look promising through this database either, but at least it provides ideas for possible sources elsewhere, or (*gulp*) through MTSU Interlibrary loan.

Well, that pretty much wraps up my attempt to illustrate two strategies for source searches via MTSU's online database services. I hope this gives you some idea of what you are after, and how you should look for it. One last point: if in doubt, always try "Article Linker" or "Full Text link" or the like: you never know what might pop up. I'm often somewhat surprised by what we do (and don't) have access to through WL's online subscriptions, and you may be too.

Part B of this assignment involves you doing online searches for yourself. From this point forward, most of the work in this class is designed to get you a bit farther along the path to picking your research topic, researching it, or writing about it. Good luck!

Note concerning searches A, B, and C For each of these searches, be sure to document the keywords you used, as well as the search engine, and your results (e.g. email yourself a citation list, if this is supported by the database). That way, if you need to go back at a later date to find the references again, you won't have to waste time on recreating your search strategy from memory.

Search A.  If you have not yet done so, you should read my webpage on picking an appropriate topic. Once you have done that, begin your quest by comparing two different search approaches at MTSU's main library. Doing this, you should try to identify between 5 and 15 or so library items. If you get much more than 15, then (if possible) narrow your search a bit. If you get less than 5, then be sure to broaden your search.

1. Using InfoSearch via WL online interface determine the number of non-periodical references (non-journal items) in our library that somewhat broadly relate to a geoscience topic in which you think you might have a lot of interest -- i.e. a potential research topic. Try as many different keywords and keyword combinations as is necessary to uncover a good single batch of references. Be sure to note (write them down!) exactly what those specific keywords were. Note: As illustrated by my earlier search, some topics have NO non-journal holdings in Walker Library. To some degree, this depends on the research interests and biases of the faculty, but also on the buying preferences and biases of MTSU reference librarians, i.e. it can't be helped. Do your best and broaden your search if necessary.

2. Using the InfoSearch via WL online interface determine the number of periodical (aka serial) references recovered using the same as, or more specific keywords than above.

3. After you complete your work with MTSU's InfoSearch database, consider the following: Which reference type is more abundant in MTSU's printed and online sources: books or periodicals? [This information could be helpful to you in future library research (and should be obvious from the get-go).]

Search B. Next, use one or more of the science databases from MTSU Walker Library's "Geography and Geology information sources" and perform a keyword search using keywords of your choosing.  These databases include: Academic OneFile; JSTOR; Science Magazine; and Web of Science (among the best).

Doing this you should try to pick up between 5 and 15 full-text research papers (aka "journal articles"; not, I repeat, NOT items from publications for the general public, like National Geographic Magazine or Science News Magazine.) If you get a lot more than 15, then narrow your search more. If you get less than 5, then broaden your search more. How many references can you find? Record (e.g. email the record to yourself) the full bibliographic citation for ONLY the most recent full text articles (not abstracts!). If no full text articles are available for your topic, then I suggest you try another topic as that one will probably be more trouble in the long run and maybe even impossible to use for your research paper.

Search C. Using GeoRef, and keyword(s) of your choosing that fit your topic, find all references from journal articles (i.e. "serials") published within the last five years or sooner (i.e. place limits on your search via the provided "click boxes").  If you are successful, be sure to record the keywords along with your references. You should begin your search as narrowly as possible, trying to access only journal articles that very exactly fit your research topic. Doing this you should try to pick up between 5 and 15 research papers. If you get a lot more than 15, then narrow your search more. If you get fewer than 5, then broaden your search more.

NOTE: If your final reference list contains fewer than 5 recent (i.e. published in the last five years or less) journal articles in Walker Library's holdings or its full-text, online databases, then you probably need to consider picking different topic. Or you will have to rely on Interlibrary Loan, which is notoriously undependable in terms of getting items to you in a timely manner. The following search should help you to make a final decision concerning your topic, based on full-text availability.

Search D. This final search, in some cases, may be time-consuming, but it will certainly be informative. From the list of serial-based references that you just compiled for your topic via Part B, no. 1, searches A, B, and C, (i.e. the paragraphs just above), determine how many of your journal articles are on the shelves in our library or available through online databases. Perhaps you have already gotten 15. If so, you're done! (i.e. you can go on to exercise no. 2, below.) If not, according to MTSU's Walker Library website, there are now four ways to do this -- take your pick: How to get full text. (I'll allow them to elaborate on this topic -- I'm tired of writing.)

The idea here is two-fold. (1) Get a feel for which electronic databases help you to easily identify available research materials. (2) Find out how much material is readily available for the topic you want to research. The second one is time-consuming, but it is your ultimate goal.

Your second task for Part B is really just my attempt to convince you to get started early on Assignment 2 (next week's exercises). This involves collecting  information on your research paper topic from select, research-quality, library resources. If you have not yet done so, you should read my webpage on picking an appropriate topic. However, if you have already completed Part B, exercise no. 1 (above) you should already have chosen your topic and determined whether our library can support your research.

For Assignment 2, you will use at least three references on your research topic, which you've gathered through Walker Library, to write an encyclopedic dictionary entry (see Wikipedia). To gather these resources, you should use the information you collected above (Part B, exercise no.1) to tentatively determine what references you want to use. Then go to the library for print resources, or online for full-text database resources, look over your choices, and choose a few general references. Photocopy or print these resources (as instructed in Assignment 2). Note: If you don't read assignment 2 first, it will probably be very hard to know just what to gather.

If you wait for another week (or two!) to actually look over these resources -- and it turns out they are not what you expected -- you may have to start over with a new topic or new resources. It is much better to do the footwork (or "mousework") now and know what you have at your disposal. That way, you can hit the ground running on your encyclopedic dictionary entry.

Note: Do not contact me late next week saying "I couldn't find a topic." Find materials on SOME geoscience topic with which you can write an encyclopedic dictionary entry. Or early in the week, come and see me if you have done your best on Part B, no. 1, and failed to find a workable topic. That is, don't wait until the last minute and say "I've tried nothing and I'm all out of ideas." (a little-known cultural reference to "The Simpsons" -- before it got really tired and unfunny.) Whether or not you have succeeded in choosing a topic by next week, you still need to write an entry. Don't lose points just because you haven't yet settled on a topic. Assignment 2 is much more about demonstrating your writing and research skills than it is about finding the "perfect" topic.

The simplest one of all. Send me e-mail from your preferred e-mail address so that I can compile an e-mail list for the entire class. That way I can send you due date reminders, update class information, or if necessary, hound you for late assignments. This is less necessary than in the past (thanks to D2L), but still a good idea if you have trouble accessing your MTSU student account, or don't check it often. In any case, I would still like everyone to email me and a) tell me how this assignment is going and b) how you feel about this class.

[Note: If you should happen to drop the class at a later date, send me another e-mail so I can remove you from the list. It sometimes takes WEEKS before I am notified that a student has dropped. In a few cases, I don't know until the end of the semester.]

Good luck!