A+ Education was my next database to explore and by this stage I am now becoming a much more efficient and much less frustrated 'information seeker.' After locating this database through searching educational journals in the QUT Library Homepage, I began my searching in the same way as I did via pro Quest.
I started my advanced searching with the term 'Inquiry Based Learning,' however I set some limits from the beginning, by limiting my searching to Full Text Records Only and Date Range 1990 - 2010. After starting with this search, there were 175 results in comparison to 394 when I did the same search via Pro Quest. So, at this point I can see the benefits of setting limits from the beginning of the searching process in order to become a much speedier searcher.
To refine the searching, I once again added 'not science' and this narrowed the results to 91. I then once again added 'and researching' this narrowed the documents found to six, however none of them were relevant. At this point, I changed the 'and researching' to 'and information literacy' and this gave me 12 documents, three of which were relevant and useful.
After using both Pro Quest and A+ Education, I preferred the layout and navigation of Pro Quest, as well as the marking documents function. When marking documents in A+ Education, they were not as easy to locate, in comparison to having the My Research Folder in Pro Quest. However, A+ Education seemed to refine the documents more explicitly and efficiently and gave you options in how you wanted the documents found displayed. I selected the newest to oldest function, to ensure the data being read was the most up to date and relevant.
When seeking information in the future, both of these databases will become well-used tools in my researching kit!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
A little more 'Information Searching' via Pro Quest
After some much needed feedback from Mandy, it was time to extend my 'Information Searching' via the University Databases. To start this process, I began with Pro Quest - what an amazing collection of resources! A wide, wide world beyond Google and school-based search engines!
To begin this process, I located the Pro Quest Educational Journals and started my advanced searching. I really like the way this database is set up with the advanced search boxes and drop down menus featuring boolean terms to refine your searching.
I began the searching with the broad term 'Inquiry Based Learning' to see where it lead me and I ended up with 763 documents found. This was definately a much lower number than when searching the same term via Google, however there were still too many documents with a science focus and too many to scroll through. To refine this searching I used the 'and not' drop down button and added 'science.'
This quickly refined my results to 394 and after scrolling through the first few pages, I started to mark some documents, adding them to My Research Folder. I really love this function of the Pro Quest databases, as you are able to scan through a number of documents, add the relevant ones into your folder and continue searching, then you can return to your folder and read through the selected documents thoroughly at a later date. This function is similar to the Questia Bookshelf.
It was at this stage of my searching, I found a few of supportive journal articles for my topic, including an article written by Kuhlthau in January this year, which supports her other work, however extends the discussion relating to the importance of Teacher-Librarains. I also located an article by Spronken-Smith entitled 'Can inquiry-based learning strengthen the links between teaching and disciplinary research?' and an article by Savolainen which explores how time is a major factor in the context of information seeking and IBL. All of these articles become important references in my Final Report.
Finally, I added the term 'and' 'researching' to my advanced search and this narrowed my results down to six documents. It was in these six I found the article 'The Problem of Teaching for Transfer: Taking the Low Road or the High Road?' by Jeffrey Wilhelm, this article explores the teacher as a co-reseracher with the students and how to effectively incorporate reflective teaching and learning into the classroom. When I located this article it was like 'Jackpot!'
Pro Quest database definately expanded my understanding of the importance of using University databases and made my researching so much easier! At times throughout this unit I have felt like it was an uphill battle, however knowing where to and how to search and knowing how to refine this searching, can point you in the right direction, so much quicker! Ahhh - thank you Pro Quest!
To begin this process, I located the Pro Quest Educational Journals and started my advanced searching. I really like the way this database is set up with the advanced search boxes and drop down menus featuring boolean terms to refine your searching.
I began the searching with the broad term 'Inquiry Based Learning' to see where it lead me and I ended up with 763 documents found. This was definately a much lower number than when searching the same term via Google, however there were still too many documents with a science focus and too many to scroll through. To refine this searching I used the 'and not' drop down button and added 'science.'
This quickly refined my results to 394 and after scrolling through the first few pages, I started to mark some documents, adding them to My Research Folder. I really love this function of the Pro Quest databases, as you are able to scan through a number of documents, add the relevant ones into your folder and continue searching, then you can return to your folder and read through the selected documents thoroughly at a later date. This function is similar to the Questia Bookshelf.
It was at this stage of my searching, I found a few of supportive journal articles for my topic, including an article written by Kuhlthau in January this year, which supports her other work, however extends the discussion relating to the importance of Teacher-Librarains. I also located an article by Spronken-Smith entitled 'Can inquiry-based learning strengthen the links between teaching and disciplinary research?' and an article by Savolainen which explores how time is a major factor in the context of information seeking and IBL. All of these articles become important references in my Final Report.
Finally, I added the term 'and' 'researching' to my advanced search and this narrowed my results down to six documents. It was in these six I found the article 'The Problem of Teaching for Transfer: Taking the Low Road or the High Road?' by Jeffrey Wilhelm, this article explores the teacher as a co-reseracher with the students and how to effectively incorporate reflective teaching and learning into the classroom. When I located this article it was like 'Jackpot!'
Pro Quest database definately expanded my understanding of the importance of using University databases and made my researching so much easier! At times throughout this unit I have felt like it was an uphill battle, however knowing where to and how to search and knowing how to refine this searching, can point you in the right direction, so much quicker! Ahhh - thank you Pro Quest!
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