This exercise asks you to take a virtual trip to the Rutgers library. Increasingly libraries provide access not only to the books and journals on their shelves, but to online databases for bibliographic searching and, often, to the full-texts of the articles and other resources you find. These articles are often more reliable than information at websites found through search engines, since they have had to do through some sort of process of professional review in order to be published. Libraries remain essential, but increasingly we can access their resources online. This exercise is designed both to familiarize you with several of these databases and to help you get started on the literature survey for your Internet and Social Change research paper. |
First, open a word processing document. Type your name, then on the next line, "Exercise 3." Then, a few lines apart, type Vale, Proquest, Uncover, Dow-Jones, and Ovid; you will be cutting and pasting citations under each of these headings. Don't forget to save your file as you go along.
Now switch to your browser and start at the Rutgers Libraries homepage. Click on Indexes. You will now see a list of the current databases Rutgers subscribes to (these change periodically), as well as links to subject listings. These databases mainly cover magazine and journal articles, although some other resources are also included. Some are "full text," which means that the articles listed can be accessed and printed out directly.
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Start with VALE by clicking on the icon on the left side of the indexes page and then "Databases," then "Multiple Databases." Then enter some keywords related to your research topic, linked by AND. You may have to experiment with your keywords, but you should find some articles of at least some relevance. Most references are full text, so you can check out most articles to see if they seem useful for your purposes. Choose at least three that appear to have some relevance and cut and paste the citation into your word-processing document. (You may also want to print them out if they look particularly useful, as with others you find as you do this exercise.) This database is particularly useful for popular and business-oriented magazines. Return to the Rutgers Libraries Indexes |
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Now scroll down and click on Proquest Direct Research Library, then on "Web Version Only." Once you are logged in, click on Continue. Then search for relevant keywords, as before. This database overlaps with Vale, but includes more academic journals. Find at least three articles that appear relevant to your research topic and cut and paste the citations into your word-processing file as before. Return to the Rutgers Libraries Indexes |
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Now scroll down and click on Uncover, then "Web Version." Then click on Search Uncover, then Search Uncover Now (you do not need to file out a profile). Search as before and cut and paste three relevant citations. While Uncover does not include free full-text retrieval, its database includes a much large proportion of academic journals, and hence is an important place to search. (However, you will need to use IRIS to see if the relevant journal is in the Camden library, and if not, order it online, to be delivered to the Paul Robeson circulation desk.) Return to the Rutgers Libraries Indexes |
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Scroll to Dow Jones Interactive, a great full-text database of newspapers and other publications around the world (with a particular emphasis on the business press). Click on "Web Version," then "Publications Library." Change the default to "all publications" and search for your keywords as before. Cut and paste the citations of at least three articles into your word processing file. Return to the Rutgers Libraries Indexes |
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Finally, take a look at a set of linked databases in Ovid. Scroll down and click on Sociofile. Do a search as before. Then click on "Change Database" and do the same search for one or more other Ovid databases. Cut and paste the citations of at least three more articles into your word processing file. Close this window to return to Exercise 3. |
Before printing out your citation list, clean it up by deleting unwanted spaces and making sure that the citations are correctly placed under the relevant database. You may submit your exercise either as a hard copy or as an attachment emailed to me. I should receive it no later than Tuesday, February 29.
Which of these--or any of the other indexes--you find most useful will depend on your subject. You should plan to explore these and others further on your own as you proceed to work on your research paper.
Return to Sociology and the Internet course home page
Robert E. Wood
Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice
Rutgers University, Camden
wood@crab.rutgers.edu
http://www.camden.rutgers.edu/~wood/
