Tag Clouds: Interstellar Burst and LibraryThing

A tag cloud of this blog has been added on the right panel as well as a LibraryThing tag cloud below.
A few of the chosen resources tagged are:

Carl Sagan's Cosmos,
Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time,
George H. A. Cole's Wandering Stars: About Planets And Exo-planets, An Introductory Notebook. (and a few others)

These sources are on my LibraryThing account that I have tagged there. I chose these because they are very relevant and well known. They reflect the topic of this blog and are highly recommended with expert approval as well as customer approval. Carl Sagan's Cosmos illustrates the evolution of galaxies and also discusses the origins of matter, stars, and planets. Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time discusses time and the universe unlike anyone has ever and is commonly compared with Einstein. Cole's Wandering Stars: About Planets And Exo-planets, An Introductory Notebook gives great information about our planets and planets outside our solar system.

LibraryLiterature and Books In Print Database: Examining Each Search Engine's Results

This is the second attempt to find information using multiple resources. This time around the databases will be LibraryLiterature and BIP(Books In Print). To start with, we use the original patron's request: "I'm building a new collection for an academic library at a university for undergraduate students, where can I find materials on planets and exoplanets to create this collection?" From this we take three main points also known as the facets. These facets are bold above: "academic library", "materials", and "planets and exoplanets". Let's start with the first databaste: LibraryLiterature.
When finding subject headings for "planets and exoplanets" I had to think a little differently than the other search databases. I couldn't find much under "planets", "exoplanets" or "extrasolar planets". My results were from a breakdown from searching "physics". By searching under something more general you can breakdown to more specific fields. For finding subject headings for "materials" or "collection" I didn't find the right results. Under searching "book" I retrieved "book selection" and then "collection development". Searching under "reading" I got "astronauts/reading" and "books". Just like the others, searching with "academic library" didn't get me far. Nor did "university library". Under "undergraduate student" I gathered "College and university libraries/Services to undergraduate students". So far this database seems different from the others in terms of finding thesaurus terms and seems more difficult.

The next step is to plug these results into Boolean logic as so:
SS1: "subject"(Astrophysics OR science and technology OR astronomy OR physics OR space sciences) AND (Book OR book selection OR collection development OR reading OR astronauts/reading) AND (Undergraduate student OR college and university library OR services to undergraduate students).

And...Oh my stars! No results! I need to really rework this equation. Trying to imagine what information I can find, I need to focus on what it will look like. What words would I use as titles? I'm going to eliminate "science and technology", "astronauts/reading", and "services to undergraduate students". Then I will add "planets", "solar system", "information", "materials", and "library". Also, I want to separate "college and university library" into "college library" and "university library".

SS2: "subject"(Astrophysics OR astronomy OR physics OR space sciences OR planet OR solar system) AND (Book OR book selection OR collection development OR reading OR information OR materials) AND (Undergraduate student OR college library OR university library OR library). This search brings 11 results and they are not what I am looking for. As you can see from the results this are not on target. Although, #7 sounds interesting, Butkovich's Reshelving study of review literature in the physical sciences.

More basic terms need to be plugged in. SS3 will read: "subject"(Astrophysics OR astronomy OR physics OR science OR solar system) AND (Book OR collection development OR read OR information OR material) AND (Undergraduate student OR college library OR university library OR library). This search brought up 2,169 results. I used the "narrow your results" and then clicked "subject" and found a group for "college and university library/collection development". There were several sources to help different kinds of collections but none of them for astrophysics.

Using this new tool I will construct SS4.

SS4: "subject"(Astrophysics OR physics) AND (Book OR read OR information OR material) AND (college library OR university library OR university OR college). Not all databases will be able to contain very specific searches that you may be looking for. This could be an example of one. I only got 5 results but I found this article to help build a collection!

Ebersole, W. (1999). Using online catalogs to evaluate science collections for a group of institutions. Science & Technology Libraries, 18(1), 105-13. Retrieved February 17, 2010, from Library Lit & Inf Full Text database.

Here is a direct link to LibaryLiterature's record view. For the LibraryLiterature database I learned to think "big picture" and select larger ideas and then to use the "narrow your search" option. This technique worked better for this database while others you can be specific in the search field to find results. So, now moving on with BIP(Books In Print).

Looking at the original patron's request we can build our table again: "I'm building a new collection for an academic library at a university for undergraduate students, where can I find materials on planets and exoplanets to create this collection?"

From searching the QuickSearch under "extrasolar planets" I retrieved so many useful hits! Since my question is about building a new collection I could just look at all these resources. I also need to make a Boolean search so I start finding thesaurus terms and making a chart.

I found many of the same subject headings from "extrasolar planet" like "planet", "science", and "astronomy". From "materials" I got "book", "textbook", "nonfiction" as well as others listed. I found these be looking at the subject headings that relating works have. For "academic library" I couldn't use this technique the same way, so I decide to keep the headings from previous. So next is the Boolean logic equation to key in.


SS1: "subject"(Planets OR science OR astronomy OR solar system OR earth OR earth sciences) AND (Book OR textbook OR nonfiction OR teaching materials) AND (Academic library OR college library OR library OR college OR university). I retrieved 2,277 results but they are mainly about libraries and librarians, which is not what my target is. earlier I simply searched the QuickSearch under "extrasolar planet" and found exactly what I needed. That may have been to easiest way. From the equation, I'm taking out everything but "planets", "book", "textbook", and "academic library".



SS2: "subject"(Planets) AND (Book OR textbook) AND (Academic library). No results found!


For SS3 I'm going to use the QuickSearch again. SS3: "keyword"(Extrasolar planets and Academic library). This result yeilds 20 results. Nearly all of these can work for the patron(me!).

They fit the description for "extrasolar planets" and relate them to "planets". These results greatly benefit the patron is trying to find different materials to build a collection in an academic library. Some of the results have listed audiences as "adult", "young adult", and "scholarly".

One in particular is:

Mariotti, J. (1999). Planets Outside the Solar System: Theory and Observation. Retrieved February 17, 2010, from Books In Print database.

Here is the link to this archive. I found that BIP was a much easier databse to find materials. It may have been easier for me than ERIC or WorldCat. Although, LibraryLiterature did provide those neat "narrow your search" tools that I found interesting. I noticed other library science students prefer different databases since we are all doing different searches. So far for me, I prefer Books In Print. It is very direct and extensive. For other searchers I feel that ERIC is easy to use but maybe not as resourceful depending on your search.

Association of College and Research Libraries RSS Feed

The ARCL Insider(Association of College and Research Libraries) offers a great blog that can be linked from ALA Blogs. The RSS feed of this blog is now located on the right panel. The ARCL Insider provides information for readers interested in college or research libraries. They use the blog to address different events, opportunities, and learning tools.

The link to this blog is -> http://www.acrl.ala.org/acrlinsider/.

WorldCat and ERICFirstSearch Database: Examining Each Search Engine's Results

There are many databases that librarians use to find information. Two useful ones are ERICFirstSearch and WorldCat. When using these databases we are initially asked a question from a patron that we examine, breakdown, and start the search. One(Mine) appears like so:
"I'm building a new collection for an academic library at a university for undergraduate students, where can I find materials on planets and exoplanets to create this collection?"

I choose this question because it relates to the purpose of the blog as well as reflecting collection development, which is another course that I am taking. It's also a favorite subject of mine. The next step is to identify the facets(key terms) from the statement.
I'm building a new collection for an academic library at a university for undergraduate students, where can I find materials on planets and exoplanets to create this collection?

This is a breakdown using the facets to develop initial terms and using the database to find good searching terms. Using the database you can obtain terms to search better with. The next step is to create a formula from Boolean logic and it reads as so:

SS1= (Planets and Extrasolar Planets OR Space Sciences OR Physics OR Physical Science OR Astronomy OR Astrophysics) AND (Library Collection Development OR Printed Materials OR Reference Materials OR Research Tools OR Nonprint Media) AND (Academic Library OR Research Library OR College Library OR Undergraduate Students OR College).

This equation is searched under "subject" and appears on ERIC search as: SS1= (su: Planets and (su: Extrasolar and su: Planets) OR (su: Space and su: Sciences) OR su: Physics OR (su: Physical and su: Science) OR su: Astronomy OR su: Astrophysics) and ((su: Library and su: Collection and su: Development) OR (su: Printed and su: Materials) OR (su: Reference and su: Materials) OR (su: Research and su: Tools) OR (su: Nonprint and su: Media)) and ((su: Academic and su: Library) OR (su: Research and su: Library) OR (su: College and su: Library) OR (su: Undergraduate and su: Students) OR su: College)


The search results were not on point. They did not meet the needs of the patron. There was only 29 results:


The next step is to weed through the Boolean logic equation since the results were not completely successful. After mending the equation it will now read:




SS2= (Planets OR Extrasolar Planets OR Exoplanets OR Astrophysics) AND (Library Collection Development OR Printed Materials OR Nonprint Media OR Books) AND (Academic Library OR College Library OR Undergraduate Students).

No results for SS2! So, it's back to the drawing board:
SS3= (Planet OR Physics OR Astrophysics) AND (Collection Development OR Books OR Read OR Collection) AND (Academic Library OR College Library OR Library OR University).

For ERIC searching: SS3=(su: Planet OR su: Physics Or su: Astrophysics) and ((su: Collection and su: Development) OR su: Book OR su: Read OR su: Collection) and ((su: Academic and su: Library) OR (su: College and su: Library) OR su: Library OR su: University

The results were broad but useful. For this type of search maybe a different database would be more useful but there were still some good sources:

Sapp, Gregg. 1994. Science at the Ethical Frontier: Best Sci-Tech Books of 1993. Library Journal. 119 (4):52-56

Tabah, Albert N. 1995. Information Epidemics and Science Collections. Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting. 32:127-36.

Now for WorldCat database system. After plugging in SS1= (Planets and Extrasolar Planets OR Space Sciences OR Physics OR Physical Science OR Astronomy OR Astrophysics) AND (Library Collection Development OR Printed Materials OR Reference Materials OR Research Tools OR Nonprint Media) AND (Academic Library OR Research Library OR College Library OR Undergraduate Students OR College) the results with WorldCat were, once again, too broad like ERICFirstSearch is:


Unfortunatley, I'm not looking for Singapore history. Time to revise the equation so that our results will be better.

The next step is to plug in SS2= (Planets OR Extrasolar Planets OR Exoplanets OR Astrophysics) AND (Library Collection Development OR Printed Materials OR Nonprint Media OR Books) AND (Academic Library OR College Library OR Undergraduate Students).

No results!

Just the same with ERICFirstSearch!



Now for adding SS3= (Planet OR Physics OR Astrophysics) AND (Collection Development OR Books OR Read OR Collection) AND (Academic Library OR College Library OR Library OR University).


51 results!

The WorldCat equation reads as so: SS3=(su: Planet OR su: Physics OR su: Astrophysics) and ((su: Collection and su: Development) OR su: Books OR su: Read OR su: Collection) and ((su: Academic and su: Library) OR (su: College and su: Library) OR su: Library OR su: University) and ((dt= "bks") or (dt= "ser") or (dt= "mix") or (dt= "art") or (dt= "url"))


A few resources pop out with WorldCat that are useful for the patron:

Interlibrum (Firm), and Walter Alicke. 1980. Astronomy, aviation, astronautics, cosmology, pure and applied mathematics, mechanics, physics: a history of science miscellany from five centuries incl. early aerodynamics, electricity, engineering, hydraulics, photography, rocketry, space travel, television, etc., etc., etc. and a collection of important scientific periodical sets and some collected editions (nos. 319-370). Vaduz: Interlibrum.

Handbook of Space Astronomy and Astrophysics. Martin V. Zombeck. http://ads.harvard.edu/books/hsaa/.

University of Aberdeen. 1985. Guide to sources of information in physics. [Aberdeen]: Aberdeen University Library.

Success! Concluding this exercise, WorldCat provided a more in depth search that ERICFirstSearch even when using the equations SS1, SS2, and SS3. Depending on the search, the search engine hold the power to benefit your results. For this particular search Worldcat was better, in many others ERICFirstSearch is better.

Science Podcasts

Podcast.com offers a variety of different subjects to choose from. Although, not many were offered directly from an academic library viewpoint that relates to Astrophysics. I did, however, find many science podcasts for college and university students! The information that these podcasts show is something that academic libraries with a strong science focus point will need to be in tune to.

By searching through the education portal at Podcast.com you can block your search by looking through a "College and University" bracket. Michigan Tech University offers twenty-five lectures for college students about Astrophysics named "PH1600". This podcast offers information from UFO's and Pseudoscience to Galaxies and Black Holes. It diverges into the Milky Way Galaxy and offers lectures on Extrasolar Planets and Planets.

The link for this podcast is -> Lecture #15: Star Clusters

With this particular cast you can view neat clusters from the 16:20 mark all the way to the end of the cast. I chose this one to post because the professor explains different Star Clusters in a plain manner and gives many examples with awesome photos. The clusters mentioned in this video podcast are: The Pleiades, the "Jewel Box" M15, the Scorpius cluster M7, the Trapezium Cluster, the Rosette Nebula, the Eagle Nebula, Omega Centauri, and many others. Star clusters are constantly trying to orbit each other in these clusters!

This podcast talks about different APODs given from NASA. APODs are Astronomy Picture of the Day images that NASA issues each day at midnight. Here is today's image.

The link for the entire class of lectures is -> PH1600

NASA offers MANY different podcasts that are also appropriate. I found them through podcast.com under the "Science" category named "Solar System Podcast". This podcast offers resourcful information in astrophysics for many college students and can be found here -> NASACast Solar System Podcast

Related Blogger : Oxford University Library Trainee

My interests with working in an academic library, preferably a university library, coincides with another blogger entitled, "Library Trainee in Oxford". A beneficial factor about this blogger's website is that she listed "Library Day in the Life" posts with an hour by hour detailed lists of her experiences. One is as following:

"5.45 – Get up and get ready.
7.00 – Go for bus to get to work.
8.05 – Arrive at work, set up laptop, get Mocha coffee and check emails.
8.10 – Network and Internet not working. Brilliant. Try restarting laptop to see if that shakes anything up (ah, the old fashioned way of fixing computer errors!)
...
8.54 – Import into RefWorks has worked for me this morning, so have emailed ACF and told him to try again. This happened a few times to me in December, where I would either import or export references, and RefWorks would not download all the references (for some odd reason of its own!) As it is, it has worked for me this morning, so I have advised the ACF to delete the references from his “Systematic Reviews” folder, and re-import the file.
9.06 –OULS training starts up again today (trainee scheme run through the university library services), and we are visiting Oxford Brookes Library this afternoon. Print off programme for the visit, and directions on how to get there. For once, this is easier for me to get to. I work in the John Radcliffe Hospital, so it should only mean a 20-25 minute walk for me; whereas usually I have to get the bus into town, and then walk along to where our training sessions are held (about 15-20 minute walk).
...
10.00 – Going for a catch-up meeting with supervisor now.
10.55 – Back from meeting: very useful! We discussed various projects we are getting on with (AEUs, newsletter and so on). We also discussed my placement in Cairns Library for a while, which might work out as being five days over a few weeks, and shadowing another librarian in different areas (e.g. reader services, clinical librarian). The Cairns library train their librarians for a substantial amount of time before letting them run loose on their own due to their different obligations (general library, university and the NHS), and thus responsibilities; and it seemed more logical that I should shadow someone to get a feel for the ‘physical’ aspect of a library.
We also discussed my project which I have to do as part of my traineeship with Oxford University. Instead of focusing on one major assignment, I am going to complete and oversee a variety of smaller tasks with the aim of studying and helping ‘user engagement with the collection’. So far, this includes tweeting on twitter about the collection; creating a podcast for an ongoing department project on eclampsia and pre-eclampsia in low resource countries; and looking into producing a video about the collection to put on YouTube.
...
13.15 – Going to get ready to leave now to get to Brookes on time. Hopefully it doesn’t rain while I’m walking…
19.28 – This afternoon was great, really interesting. Oxford Brookes Library actually reminds me a wee bit of Lancaster University (where I was an undergraduate student) Library, so I really felt it had a lovely atmosphere. The library itself is bigger than I thought it would be, spanning over three floors (with the entrance on the first floor – in the middle!) We firstly had an introductory talk by one of the Subject Librarians, followed by a tour of the library. Some aspects I quite liked were the private study rooms for groups, with projectors and space to discuss work and practice presentations; the many different types of study areas, ranging from group work ‘lounging’ areas, to silent study; and the friendliness of the staff we came into contact with!
After the tour we had half hour talks on ‘the work of subject teams’ and ‘the work of Special Collections’ respectively. The special collections held by Oxford Brookes are quite interesting, and varied!
...
Obviously there is more to being a subject librarian, but it was nice to make some links between my library placement and that of a more ‘traditional’ library role; bridging the gap (for me) somewhat, and also pointing out how different the many forms of librarian and information management there can be."

I found this blog, "Library Trainee in Oxford", through BlogSearch by typing "academic+librarian+advice".
The link to this blog is : http://sarahehogg.wordpress.com/
I found it really helpful being a student!

Convergence of Categorization Approaches

The following is an assignment in which I took a passage from Heting Chu's Information Representation and Retrieval in the Digital Age; it is translated into Layman's terms.

"What differentiates one categorization approach from another lies mainly in the nature of the framework adopted for the purpose of information representation. Classification, having endured tests of various kinds, has established itself as a plausible method for representing information...as more substantive and quality information becomes available on the Internet, classification is beginning to be utilized to categorize network-based information (e.g., McKiernan, 2001)" (pg 29).

Categorization is the representation of information in a library. It is what helps you find what you are looking for. Different categorization methods for a library are tailored towards the information facility itself. As libraries are more developed so are the categorization materials. Think of the categories as a Table of Contents. When you have a research paper your Table of Contents represents all the information on your paper. Now imagine a textbook's Table of Contents. It would show a lot more detailed listings of the information following it. These can represent different levels of categorization.

The internet contains more and more information everyday. Try to imagine how libraries have different databases and cards as filing systems to help you find what you are looking for. Doing this they use abbreviations, words, numbers, etc. Now try to imagine structuring the World Wide Web into a database system.

"...text categorization using automatic means (e.g., Boley et al., 1998; Yang, 1999) has increasingly been explored with an orientation toward taxonomy rather than classification, as a growing amount of information is available digitally. While automatic classification once attracted a lot of attention from researchers, the brainpower needed for rigorous classification seems unattainable in purely machine-based algorithms" (pg. 29).

As more and more information that we seek is located on the Internet, as Information Professionals, we start to categorize these materials by taxonomies rather than classification. Taxonomy categories are used for online information as hyperlinks. When Chu discusses the "rigorous classification" they are saying that classifying the World Wide Web would be virtually impossible. Therefore, using hyperlinks help to locate these information sources. Imagine that you are trying to find a novel in the library and you use the the call number to find the book. This is using classification in a library setting. Now imagine that you are trying to search for the book online. Sometimes entire books can be typed out online. You can find them through taxonomies.