In his account of other people's opinions in their own words, it is important to treat this opinion very carefully.

Rules require reference to obtaining information is not a first-hand test it on the original.

On the content of references and quotations, be sure to explicitly express their agreement or disagreement, doubt, and to justify the objection. Objections like this view is wrongful - not enough, you need to explain - why illegal.

Do footnotes, and even more so to quote on a truism in science should not. Must exclude cases where it is desirable to specify who the first to express a particular idea.

Express their attitude to the quotation can be using so-called propositional attitudes such as: YS Stepanov rightly believes that ... or can not disagree with EM. Wolf, who writes: ... . Made in these cases, the expression is useful to borrow from experienced writers. In general, do not forget that real scientists can obtain not only scientific, but also language skills.

Lecture 9-10 (2:00). Subject: Internet in preparation coursework, thesis and Master's thesis

The method of information retrieval. Search for information. Using the Internet

Talk of that computer will soon replace the library, are now dim forecasts. Traditional libraries are still the main source of analytical information. It is different with the actual information, news and statistics. In working with these kinds of information a computer can be a great help.

Today there are two main information resources available on the PC.

Electronic multimedia encyclopedia on CD-ROM CD and DVD. Providing the same amount of information as the traditional paper publications, electronic encyclopedias occupy much less space. Thus, the multi-volume "Britannica" fits on 4 CDs. But most importantly, an electronic analog to facilitate quick information. In addition, due to the structure of hypertext (interlinked electronic text) in electronic encyclopedias each article there is a part of the structure of articles.

Resources of the web. This is already a wealth of information. The Internet is not only the largest, most encyclopedias, such as Britannica same, but a lot of archives of electronic publications on a variety of topics - from the highly technical to the extra-wide. It is the Internet can be for a beginner's main source of news and statistics.

The Internet gives the author the ability to quickly communicate with any "traditional" source of information - newspapers, publishing houses, libraries, educational institutions, government agencies, etc. In contrast to printed information data published on the Internet, constantly updated, which allows the author to daily and even hourly (!) to obtain information on topics of interest.

Using the Internet, the author can exchange ideas with thousands of people around the world. Finally, thanks to the Internet, you can access thousands of electronic texts published books. The largest of the digital library - project "Hutten-berg» (http://www. Guttenberg.corn) today accumulates more than twenty thousand e-texts).

Using the Internet, you can access a vast array of factual information. Today, even primary school children can publish their own page on the Internet. The service is free, creation page requires little specialized knowledge. Because along with accurate information internet is flooded garbage information, rumors and outright falsification. Need to be very careful and is critical to the information received from the pages of the Internet, it is necessary to use information taken from trusted sources.

Create a fairly comprehensive guide to the Internet is impossible in principle, since the web daily rise and fall thousands of pages of information and sites. To find information on the Web author will have to use one of its own tools - "Pathfinders", or search engines.

There are two types of search engines. First categorized directories. Information on the Internet pages are sorted in their topics and, as a rule, are added to the search engine by the creators of the pages. Convenient to work with the catalog when choosing a topic, not a separate page.

For example, to find the list of publishing computer books, you can go to the section of the catalog devoted to the computer, and then select "Press" ... and so on. However, most of the directories have a search engine on its own database, so what works for search engines, and traditional methods of finding relevant pages for the keyword or phrase.

However, not all creators of pages can (and want) to enter information about their own child in a directory. And then come to the aid of search engines of the second type, known as "spiders". They periodically inspect network space, and enter information about the found pages in a special code - a huge database on which the search is conducted.

User by going to the page the search engine enters a word for which you want to search. Words can be several, of which can be quite complex structures. Several search engines allow you to apply the so-called Boolean logic operators - words AND ligament and (or) OR and others of the same type. As a result, a request in Russian might, for example, look like this: "Bulgakov and Zamyatin without Kataev."

In addition to search engines search sites are equipped with a number of other useful services. So, you can read the latest news on any topic, see the hit parade websites to "Yellow Pages", etc.

Until two years ago, the Russian Internet users had to rely exclusively anglophone "search engines," not too confident to cope with the Russian text. Now everything has changed in the Network functions properly dozen Russian search engines.

In addition to general search engines, there are specialized search engines - such as scientific data, but the resources of the Network for the children, etc.

In general terms the search can be defined as an ordered sequence of actions you should take when faced with the need to find the information you need. A systematic approach to the problem will make your search and skilled and successful.

In addition, it will help to answer the question, "Why did not match?" And eliminate the anguish caused by fear, inspiring results for a given one topic.

Defining the issue

Question (question) - this is what you want to get an answer, a request (query) - this is what you type into the computer, and they are completely different voschi.

The question formulated in natural language, and only you can do that, because only you know the context. Librarians can help you, but at the stage of transformation of matter in the request.

Source selection information

Understand for themselves the problem, you need to decide where to look, if the choice is not determined by any circumstances. Sometimes you will be limited opportunities available in your organization, or by considerations of cost. However, you should have an idea of ​​what you lose in this.

Common misconceptions include the desire to rely solely on the database because of convenience or availability. But none of the database is not comprehensive. For example, in the biomedical bibliographic database MEDLINE no books, most of the articles get there no earlier than 4 months, and very rare references to the conference abstracts.

When you select a database, you must:

- Determine which phase of the publication includes information on the type you need, and to compare, the relative importance of its modernity, or quality;

- To use tertiary sources to find possible sources of information;

- Decide whether enough will be "pointer" (such as links) or necessary factual information (full papers), ie choose between the reference and the original database;

- To consider the characteristics of each possible source of information and determine where the search will be the most successful - in the database or in a less ordered sources (eg, Web).

In assessing the information source has to choose between its modernity (freshness) and quality. Quality is ensured by peer review, editing, and public opinion, though, with Jaruga hand, e-mail and computer tools deliver information faster, and conferences and other forums convey the news to readers rapidly than articles.

The novelty of the data - very strong argument "for" in assessing the source, but note that it becomes virtually useless when to apply the results of the most recent research is required funds are not available to you. On the other hand, sources of venerable age and in good standing may contain common knowledge, that the search was not worth wasting power.

Over time, the information is a certain cycle, the duration of which is determined by the particular circumstances. Thus, the results can be communicated informally reported at conferences, recorded in bibliographic databases, rescheduled and commented on by other authors.

The results, the factors of time, the participants in this process and the relationship between them is strongly influenced used "technology". For example, authors can submit their work directly to the public databases and publish them across the Internet without delays, characteristic of traditional forms of publication.

The effectiveness of the search depends on an understanding of the cycle to which stage appeal, what tools are available for searching at this stage and what the limitations of the chosen approach. For example, referring to a database like MEDLINE, you need to understand to find the information that appeared in the literature for at least a few months ago but did not find abstracts of recent conferences.

Consider what sources can be found at each stage of the cycle date.

Current sources. They contain information about the earliest stages, when it has just started or is and preparation.

Primary sources. Print and electronic sources, in which the work was first presented in a formal way.

Secondary sources. Primary information they cataloging, order, reissued, are in a compressed form or otherwise "enhance its value." These sources make it more user-friendly search and evaluation of primary data.

Tertiary sources. They cataloged, regulate and provide guidelines for working with the secondary (and sometimes with the primary) information. They are necessary because there are now thousands of reference and source (documentary) databases. Tertiary source will help you determine whether there is somewhere a database, which is the thesis the last conference on your topic.

When searching for information on the Internet, most often you will definitely be using databases, so linger on some important points.

Database - a collection of records consisting of several fields. This is an ideal structure for a directory of unstructured information sources. If you decide to use a specific reference database, you need to know the organization. By the way, WWW as a whole can not be considered a database on the number of attributes, such as its record (Web-strapitsy) but different structure, and Web-sites - on the quality and age of information.

The important characteristics of the reference databases include:

- Covers the area (topics, types, and completeness of the sources, the time period covered);

- The structure and content of the record, the ability to access individual fields (of which fields is recording how they are organized, which ones can be searched):

- Size (number of records in the database, the average size of one record);

- Modernity and update information (how much time passes between the publication of the article and the relevant record in the database, how often are new entries added to the database);

- Quality (who is responsible for the database and what control the quality provided);

- How to find (search by any text or ordered by the indexing system of controlled vocabulary);

-Recommendations on how to search, documentation, online help (usually provided in printed or electronic form by the manufacturer or supplier);

- The cost (depending on the conditions of access).

Database mogug also differ in character information in them: content: whether they are "pointers" to other information (background information) or actual information itself (raw data). There is, for example, the difference between the MEDLINE database and the full text of articles listed in MEDLINE, which is under development.

In this case, the database may contain both types of information at different stages of the cycle of publication. For example, the data is placed in ERRIC researchers themselves, making this database of primary source. Content is another database - Current Contents formed by the Institute of Scientific Information (Institute for Scientific Information, USA), which extract it from magazines, Current Contents, and therefore is a secondary source.

Reference databases - an ordered set of "pointers". Usually reference database is only the first step in the search. For example, often found in close (bibliographic database of engineering and applied sciences, including rocket science, automation, computer science, electrical engineering, energy, telecommunications, optics) abstracts relevant articles, you know what to look for and read the articles themselves, but sometimes is enough and abstracts.

Source databases - an ordered collection of the data or information sources. Coffee library fund can be seen as the source database in printed form, and its electronic analogue would be a database of full text articles.

The user can specify in what form should be submitted to the result: a bibliographic reference, abstracts, full text, full text with graphics, scanned images, pages and articles, etc.

Articulateness

Define your question and selecting resources to find, you have to formulate a query, ie, to express the question in a language that the car.

To do this:

- Split on the question of concepts that will be searched separately and then combine them to the logical operators (AND, OR. NOT), if the system provides Boolean search operations:

- Decide how widely to search for: to make a focus on complete response, ie find on the subject, often while receiving a lot of unnecessary information, or accuracy, ie quickly find a very limited specific information on the subject, losing some of its related important information (note that this will be completely different needs):

- Consider all the spellings and synonyms, if you are looking for with any text;

- Select the appropriate subject heading, if you are using a controlled vocabulary (it is effective keywords);

- Decide you would limit the search to specific database fields or performed clarifying and other special features.

Now the search engines offer help in solving these problems. For example, in MEDLINE «mapping" introduced the concept helps to choose relevant thematic category.

Performing a search

When you search for most often used the first of the following methods because of its simplicity. In addition, not all databases implement a controlled vocabulary. And even if you have one, users need some time to make sure it is the undoubted benefits and apply along with the customary keywords.

Free Text Search

With this approach, you're looking for words that have been employed, for example, titles of articles and abstracts, going through all the spellings and synonyms Obviously, you will hardly believe that you have found all the best, as the author was able to use a rare and specific term. In some systems, the search algorithm allows you to enter a set of words and allows for some form of the word, such as plurals.

Search using a controlled vocabulary

Suppose made standard hierarchical list of terms representing all the basic concepts of a branch of science and related disciplines. Then, before you add a reference to a journal article in the reference database, this list should be selected terms characterizing the contents of the article and enter into the record.

When do you use to search for some fairly broad term, the articles indexed to the narrower term, can not be selected and if we apply the "expansion", the results will not only articles related to the headings. located on one hierarchical level below. At the same time, you can search for the information but a narrower concept and find exactly what you need.

Two of the reception, ie free text search and search using a controlled vocabulary, are not mutually exclusive. In contrast, the most effective strategies are obtained with their combination.

Evaluation of search results

This is a necessary critical stage search, which is often neglected. Here are some guidelines for determining the adequacy of the search:

1. Look at the results of his search to understand why these elements are selected and how much are needed, ie, whether the search was "impact."

2. Do not forget that mistakes can be admitted at any stage of the search, such as:

a) too broad or narrow language query in the beginning;

b) the choice is not the best database to search:

a) incorrect articulateness (select the wrong column, a misconception of the selected column, choose multiple keywords or decrease);

d) typing errors or incorrect use of operators entering the search strategy.

3. Assessment of availability depends on the purposes for which will be used by the search results. The volume of references, you need to write a review article will be redundant if you only need a few good articles reflecting your problem: the first attempts to find generally less accurate than the next, when the strategy is refined and narrowed the search area.

4. If you already know some of the references found, but the search results are negative, we must assume there is an error in strategy. If you have found too little or too much, then consider this the first sign of the ineffectiveness search.

Note. Do not make hasty conclusions, if nothing (or almost nothing) found. Often this is not evidence of lack of information. Usually prove a negative (ie, lack of literature on this topic) is not easy. Before coming to this conclusion, it is necessary to try several different approaches.

Usually much easier to go from wide to narrow strategy than, conversely, to build a very narrow strategy and extend it, if found too little. If simultaneously using multiple search criteria, try to "weaken" or remove some.

Overly broad search result - a phenomenon quite common, because of an erroneous determination of the problem or query formulation. But what if there was a 400 is really good references on the topic of your research, and you only have 25? Then try:

- Restrict search by additional criteria provided by the system (this may be a language or year of publication, article type, object of study, etc.);

- Read the titles and abstracts and choose the most suitable self-reference (although this is a very superficial approach, which does not include the full content of the article.)