How to Find Sources Using
UMUC Library's OneSearch
The
UMUC
Library provides a helpful research tool: OneSearch.
It allows you to find scholarly articles, books,
and other research resources via a single search engine. You can
simultaneously search most of the databases to which the UMUC Library
subscribes, either directly or as additional resources. Here are three
excellent library tutorials that will show you how to use this
invaluable tool.
It Ain't Google
Although
UMUC Library
OneSearch is a search engine, it does not search for information
in the same way that Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc., do. In
popular
search engines, it is typical, though not necessary, to ask a
question.
Example:
What country won the most gold medals at Rio 2016?
Academic
search engines
work differently by using
key terms separated by Boolean
Operators: "AND," "OR," and "NOT."
How Do I Use Boolean
Operators?
To
make the research
process easier, the UMUC Library has created a video to explain how to
use each of the operators:
The
videos show how, if you wanted to learn about the
number of gold medals won at the Rio
2016 Olympic Games, you could search
using any of the following word combinations to target the
exact results you want:
- Rio 2016 AND gold
medals
- Rio AND 2016 AND medals AND gold
If interested
in all the medals, I could expand my search in the
following ways:
- Rio 2016 AND medals
- Rio 2016 AND gold
medals OR
silver medals OR
bronze medals
Also, I could customize my search to include or not to
include certain
countries:
- Rio
2016 AND
medals AND United
States AND Brazil
- Rio 2016 AND
medals NOT United
States
Why Are the Library's Peer-Reviewed
Journals Often Required?
Authorship
Articles
in academic journals are written by credentialed professionals in that
field who are often at the forefront of knowledge and research in their
disciplines. In contrast, articles in magazines are written by staff
journalists who usually do not possess specialized training or degrees
in the many topics they may report on.
Advertising
Academic
journals rarely take any form of paid-for advertising. Instead, these
journals are supported by academic institutions, research institutes,
library subscriptions and forms of non-commercial revenue. By avoiding
commercial advertising, these publications also have a better chance of
avoiding conflicts of interest and have more freedom when it comes to
the topics covered and how those topics are treated. On the other hand,
advertising-supported magazines can experience varying degrees of
control over their editiorial process by advertisers and other
commerical interests.
Peer Review
Finally,
in most academic journals, before an article is published it first must
undergo a rigorous process of peer review. During this process, the
article is sent out (with the author's name and affiliations deleted)
to a review board of experts in the specific discipline area that the
article is written in. This board of peer experts (who remain anonymous
to the original author) provide criticism, corrections and suggestions
to the article that must be made before it is published. This review
board can also deny an article's publication. This process helps to
ensure that only the most credible and important information sees
publication. In contrast, magazine articles are usually reviewed only
during a fact-checking process.
The following video explains the important differences between
encyclopedias, magazines, and journals: http://polaris.umuc.edu/ewc/mvids/lib_sources/lib_sources.html.
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