Mastering the Search Engine

I found it extremely helpful this week in class when Badke went through the various search engine tools that are available to us. Of course we are all familiar with Google and I personally remember the days of Ask Jeeves, but I can personally account for times I was trying to do a research assignment and I just could not find what I wanted through my key words searches in Google.
Badke introduced us to all the various searches that are available from Trinity such as Refworks and EBSCO Host. These are incredible tools available to us because we go to the school. It was helpful to learn how to correctly use key words and how to work other forms of searches that I never knew existed. Now it will be much easier to get good information and references because I now know how to work the system better.
Badke also went through and showed us various other sites that I have never heard of. These were interesting because they all incorporated a different unique take on search engines. The one that showed a circle map of all the possible search results was pretty smart because it visualized the results in something that was easy to flip through and pick out the best results for your search.
Now that I know how to use search engines better I shouldn’t have as much trouble finding my information for my research assignments. Also, the Google Scholar search will be something that I will definitely utilize for now on.

After sitting in class this week, reading Badke and working on the second assignment I feel as if I may be making some progress to say in the research world. The difference between keyword and subject searched still seem to have too much overlap to distinguish them as two types of searches. After going through what seemed like hundreds of word combinations in both the keyword and subject searches, it seemed to me as though I was arriving at the same results. This is when Badke's simplicity came into play, "Stay calm, stay focused," and you can't forget, "read the directions." Directions for a database sounded like some sort of joke to me but believe or not are quite helpful. I have now realized the subject search is a branch off the keyword search and sometimes there is just a lot of overlap. With this knowledge though still comes the frustration of not being able to find enough information for my topic!
The concept of search engines other than Google though? Hmm...I am enjoying the different types of Google branches there are though. I have found that exploring as Badke told us the different ways to use Advanced Search or Google Scholar has truly helped in narrowing down my topic and find specific information that I am looking for.

Journal Searches

I have been learning a lot about how to search things on journal databases. EBSCO host was something that I have learned and used for years, however, I had no idea how to use their new interface and how to easily find what I was looking for. And learning to (quote) resist the urge to fill the search boxes with words (end quote: my quote button isn`t working) was the biggest thing for me to learn because I always have a tendency to type as many words as I can think of, and I thought that it would make the search more narrow (Badke 86).
Another important lesson regarding EBSCO and search engines in general, which was both funny and practical, was to remain calm. This was an good thing to hear because typically when I can`t find what I`m looking for within the first few minutes are start get extremely upset. The internet offers such a vast amount of information it is difficult to sift through it all and to narrow it down to only the information that you need. That`s why it is so important to know how to search and to focus your searches to the desired information.
After I finally focus my search enough to actually find the Journal I was looking for I always end up wondering why the ones that I am looking for are not offered for free on the internet. I had no idea that the world would fall apart so much as Badke jokes about. But I must wonder what other options there for funding for journals, from universities, from government and the costs are going way down as many are electronic now.

Search Engines on the Net

I had always thought internet search engine and I are like two people from different planets that will never understand each other. It’s funny how Bake mentioned in class that he found some people would talk to their computers and wish the machine could understand their mind. “Oh, I guess he’s talking about me.” I have to admit that I didn’t believe internet research could have some sort of strategies until I read Badke’s book. It’s like finding a magic formula dealing with an unsolved math question. I start highlight the websites he list in the book and add to my favorite site. Now internet research and I are start getting to know each other, for I have learned how to write the “language” in that tiny box.

It’s so nice Badke even suggest the best search engines for us to use so that we don’t need to go to some random search engines and get a whole bunch of junk information we don’t need. Knowing where you are going is so important in internet research. I think people like Badke can enjoy research so much is because they know how to use the right way to find the exact information they need.

the joys of frustration

“If you prepare yourself for yourself for journal database frustration, you’re less likely to mutter to yourself when it happens” (Badke, 85). Okay, I must confess, I am one of those people that is constantly frustrated by technology; and yes, the muttering comes out. Well, that may be an understatement…there’s more volume and physical contact. Needless to say, I don’t have much patience when it comes to computers.

Researching requires a lot of patience, according to Badke. He admits that we will have unpleasant encounters while searching for journals, or, in general, researching. He suggests that we be consciously aware of the “traffic jams” we will come upon when researching.

The one thing I want to know is “how?”. I don’t have much patience to begin with, and even when I am expecting a traffic jam, I am still very frustrated. My fuse is short. Are there any other ways of avoiding frustration? Or do I just accept that it is part of the researching world and I should pray that God grants me more patience?

This ties in nicely what Badke says later on in the chapter to “uniquely identify your topic”. This is probably where many of us struggle. How do you uniquely identify a topic that you don’t know much about? Right, the one-minute summary. Can’t forget about that! By finding ways and words to uniquely identify my topic, I can hopefully eliminate some of the frustration that edges its way over to me.

Googly

Generally I thought the reading had some helpful hints. What I particularly liked about the this week’s lesson is the Boolean searches that you can do on Google. I’ve been stuck on doing simple keyword or phrase searches most of my school life. However, with the advanced searches I can now get much more specific to my topic. However, while I like Google I do not like Google Books or Google scholar. Google books is great for finding books, however actually being able to read them is the problem. Anybody who has tried to read large portions of book at a time on Google books knows what I’m talking about. It is extremely hard on the eyes, thus I would agree with Dr. Schut that it is good for checking a book out but not actually for reading them.

I also find Google scholar a pain to be honest with you. When I have searched it for information usually all I get are abstracts of books, journals which you need money to read, and worst of all Citations which tease you with good titles to articles you can never find. If I am searching for journal articles I find Ebsco Much more Helpful.

During this class I am becoming more aware of the need to understand the internet and its usefulness. I have often been frustrated using the internet and journal databases in order to find certain books for a school project. In chapter 6 i am able to understand more of how the internet works. I found it interesting to read all about the different abbreviations. for example,URL I never knew that it stood for Uniform Resource Locator.

In class i was pleased that we learned about all these different search engines that we could use. In chapter 6 it goes into detail about Goggle Scholar. It is a journal devoted to scholary literature- books, journals, articles, conference proceeding and academic web sites. I think now that I know what each engine does, I will be able to use each engine to its full advantage.

For each search engine it is important to use certain keywords. If you know what keywords to use, you will be able to obtain a more specific search. Some cites will rank the data ( that is  they assign probability percentages to tell you how likely it is that the search engine gave you what you asked for) THIS CAN BE VERY HELPFUL!

One helpful technique that goggle offers is the Boolean searches.

I think the best quote for the internet was said in the beginning of chapter six." The internet is wonderful and frustrating, helpful and potentially dangerous, beneficial and a waste of time. I think that this pretty much summarizes what most people think the internet is like. I think that it can be very helpful in my schooling, but also a waste of time because of Facebook. Overall I think that it is very useful, you just need to learn how to use it effectively.