CHAPTER 8:

INTERNET PERIODICAL INDEXES,  EVALUATING RESOURCES, AND BOOLEAN LOGIC.

This chapter discusses the Internet, Internet periodical indexes, and the quality of information offered on
Internet web sites. It also includes a brief description of Boolean logic and its use in searching computerized indexes.

 

The Internet and the World Wide Web

The Internet is a decentralized, global electronic network connecting hundreds of millions of computers. Every computer in this network is independent, which means that users can choose which Internet services they will use and which local services they will offer other Internet users.  The World Wide Web (www) is a sub-network of the Internet that supports electronic documents formatted in a computer language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language). This language enables computer users to connect directly to other Internet documents and files. Simply by clicking on hot links, you can “jump” from one document to another. Not all Internet servers are linked to the World Wide Web.

The home page of the Albertsons Library’s website is the gateway to the Library’s online services. In the Library, you can reach this page simply by clicking on the Web Browser symbol. But you don’t have to be in the Library to display this page. On the Internet, every web site (which now are in the billions) has a unique address called a Uniform Resource Locator, or URL.  The Library’s URL is: http://library.boisestate.edu.

Think of the Albertsons Library website as a computerized index. From it you can access web pages and indexes that Library staff members have prepared. Using hot links, you also can display pages in other electronic sites throughout the world. 

Problems with Internet Searching

Internet searching gets more difficult when you leave the highly structured and controlled periodical index. When the Internet first appeared it seemed to be the answer to every researcher’s prayer--no more dreary trips to the library, no more tedious printed indexes, no more frustrating efforts to locate printed or microfilm copies of newspapers, magazines, journals. “It’s all on the Net.” Now we know that finding reliable information on the Internet is not that easy.

The main reason for the difficulty is that most Internet information is not screened by reliable experts before it appears on your screen. Anyone with a working knowledge of HTML and an Internet server rigged to maintain a website can put literally anything on the Internet. As a result, though much Internet “information” is authoritative and reliable, much also is lying trash, and much more falls somewhere in between.  How can you dissect the good information from the worthless? A good beginning is to analyze your findings according to the following criteria, which will serve you well when evaluating the quality of print or electronic sources:

1. Authority: is the author of an article an experienced professional in their field, a scientist or scholar? Does the person write knowledgeably about his/her subject? What are his/her credentials? Are they accredited or qualified to write about the subject? Is the person affiliated with a special interest group or company? Anyone who writes a balanced and in-depth treatment of a subject must have knowledge and experience about that subject. For example, if choosing between a newspaper reporter who writes about cell research and a cell biologist who publishes an article in Experimental Cell Research, the cell biologist has the authority and credentials to write expertly about that subject.
    

2. Objectivity: is the article, book or website objective? Is the writing meant to persuade or inform? Is the article more biased to one way of thinking over another? Does the writing appeal to your emotions or your intellect? Articles, books, and websites provide numerous data and assertions, though the difference between a well written article and an inflammatory or antagonistic one is the ability to inform without prejudice.
    

3. Scope: is the information too broad or general or does it treat its subject in-depth? Is the information well covered or does it exclude relevant research? Does the article or website provide a bibliography or cited sources? A well-written article, book, or website will cover all possible facets of an issue or topic, including its positive and negatives sides, and should list references that support or enhance its thesis.
    

4. Accuracy: Is the information correct? Are there glaring omissions or doubtful assertions? Does the article or website make credible claims? Does the subject conform to a standard or accepted belief? Are the facts supported by evidence? Does the article cite statistics or verifiable findings? Writing that makes dubious claims, false assumptions, or inaccurate arguments are a waste of time and will do nothing to inform or clarify an issue.
    

5. Currency: is the information current? Does it have a date of publication or revision? When was the website updated? Is the article too old to be obsolete in light of new research? Is date important to the subject at hand?  Avoid undated articles, as they may contain inaccurate or invalid information. The more current an article or website the greater chance it takes into account current topical awareness and issues.

Online Periodical Indexes        

The Library home page also links you to periodical indexes on the Internet. For years such indexes existed only in print but the format of these indexes has changed drastically in recent years. For decades, scholarly journal indexes were available only in print. Between 1994 and 1998, many also appeared on CD-ROM. Then in 1999, they began the great migration to the Internet. Most of these indexes are only available to subscribers and the subscriptions are usually expensive.

By the end of 2005, Albertsons Library subscribed to over 140 Internet indexes and databases, and most of these are indexes to scholarly publications.  Now that most indexing services have moved their main operations to the Internet, searching them for information is both easier and faster. To display these indexes, go to http://library.boisestate.edu and select the Find Articles path or the Articles link in the blue column on the left side of the screen:

Internet indexes have many advantages over printed indexes, including keyword and multiple-year searching, and the option of downloading citations to a disk or sending them to an e-mail address.  Since Internet indexes usually are online, they are updated continuously. Best of all, Internet indexes can be accessed from any computer anywhere in the world [linked to the Internet].

In recent years, in addition to providing abstracts and citations, many Internet indexes also provide the entire article (or full text) online. This means that for a growing number of magazine, journal, and newspaper articles, you don’t have to go to a library to read a journal article. Literally, the journal article comes to you. 

The major disadvantage of most Internet indexes is that they only are available to paying subscribers. This means that off-campus access to most of the indexes linked to the Library home page is restricted to BSU students, faculty, and staff.  You can access these databases off-campus by providing your BroncoWeb Login when asked for a password.  

Boolean Operators

The search commands of Internet indexes have not been entirely standardized, but many such indexes do share a common feature: they use as Boolean operators the words AND, NOT, and OR to combine the words and phrases used to search for periodical articles on particular topics. These words are called Boolean operators to honor the memory of the great 19^th century English logician George Boole, who developed the technique of using AND, NOT, and OR to logically combine and separate concepts.

An example will clarify the use of Boolean operators. Suppose your research question is: Why are so many college students stressed out all the time?

The main component (or key) concepts in this question are stress and college students. To search an Internet index for a list of articles that include both concepts, you would type the command stress AND college students. To find articles about stress that deal with everyone but college students, you would type stress NOT college students. To find articles about college students and synonyms for stress, you would type college students AND (stress OR anxiety OR pressure).

A feature that Internet indexes share with printed indexes is that most of them are subject-specific. This means that if you select an index that does not focus on at least some aspect of your subject, you can do everything right and still come up empty. You can spend all day searching the Nursing index, for example, and not find any articles on the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Before you use a computerized index, be certain it actually deals with your subject.

To help you in this task we have a Subject Lists for the Article Indexes and Databases link that takes you to a list of academic subject areas, each of which in turn links you to a list of the indexes that are most helpful for the subject area you selected.  You can find this Subject List link above the main alphabetical list of the indexes and databases.

The final shortcoming of Internet indexes is that most of them only cover recent years. This situation is changing, but to find periodical articles more than 10 or 15 years old you will need to use older print indexes.

Click on link to go to the Assignments page and print Assignment EIGHT

http://library.boisestate.edu/skills/locate/assignments.htm