EXERCISE 1: SEARCH FOR REFERENCE SOURCES AND COMPARE 1
Exercise 2: Search for Reference Sources and Compare the Search Results
Deborah Bluestein
Southern Connecticut State University
ILS 504-S70: Reference and Information Resources and Services
Josephine Sche, Ph.D.
Department of Information and Library Science
October 9, 2013
Exercise 2: Search for Reference Sources and Compare the Search Results
Answers to three questions were sought in this exercise, in order to gain experience in using a variety of library resources and to compare theirresponses. Efforts to answer the questions took place over a three week periodin the reference section of the C. H. Booth Library in Newtown, Connecticut. Research was limited to that public library’s available print materials, databases, online reference, and cooperative network resources from other libraries, in order to recreate situations that might be encountered by its reference librarians.
Question 1: Do you have anything about Mark Twain?
In this scenario, the question has beenposed by a Newtown high school student.
Reference Interview
Patron: Do you have anything about Mark Twain?
Librarian: What would you like to know about Mark Twain?
Patron: Something about how he grew up. I have to write a paper.
Librarian: What is the paper about?
Patron: How his childhood affected his writing in a book we read, Tom Sawyer.
Librarian: So, you want information on his early life so you can compare it to the book?
Patron: Yes.
Librarian: Let's look in the library catalog together and see what is available.
From this projection of the assignment, it appears the objective is forthe studentto performher own analysis using the information that is found.
Search Words and Strategies
Library of Congress (LOC, 2013) subject headings were used for vocabulary control, and widened or narrowed as needed to accommodate a particular type of resource:
-LOC headings: Twain, Mark, 1835-1910--Childhood and youth--Juvenile literature; Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. Autobiography of Mark Twain - Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. Autobiography; Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, 1835-1910--Homes & haunts--Missouri--Hannibal.
-Broader term – Mississippi River; narrower term – Tom Sawyer.
Resources
Source A. The library’s Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) is accessed through a larger online union catalog, Bibliomation. But since it seemed likely there would be a short deadline on a high school student assignment, books were sought within the Newtown library, rather than waiting to order, receive, and review texts from other libraries. Using keywords from the strategic LOC headings, the best print responses found in the library about the author’s early life in HannibalwereMark Twain, A Life, by Ronald Powers (2005, pp. 32-42); Mark Twain, by Geoffrey Ward and Dayton Duncan (2001, pp. 4-13); and portions of a chapter entitled, “Mark Twain and the Great Valley”, by Bernard De Voto, found in a book of literary criticism (1986, pp. 10-12). The searchalso revealed that in Twain’s own autobiography (2010), he wrote at great length about childhood summers at his uncle’s home in Florida, Missouri (pp. 210-218), which provided the student withinteresting contrast and insight into his portrayal of life in Hannibal.
Source B. For this topic, two databases in the iCONN website were used, OneSearch for Public Libraries to access periodicals, and Academic Search Premierto find journals and cited references. The search terms for both were:“Twain, Mark”, childhood, Sawyer, Hannibal, not museum, not audio, andnot travel. The search was further limited to full text from academic journals and magazines, which cut results to a fraction of the initial results.
They did not respond withexactly the same list of materials, but results from both databases focused heavily on literary criticism, andon articles that used Twain and the Sawyer character as a basis for various points unrelated to the patron's objective, which was to compare Twain's childhood to Sawyer. Therefore, no relevant materials were found here for the student.
Source C. A link on the Reference Department page of the library website ledto the pathfinder, "Guides to Topics of Interest at the CHB and Online" (C. H. Booth Library, 2011). There it listed topics with links to specific library web pagesindicating related reference books and suggestions for online resources. Thebest alternative for the Twain topic was a reference book under Authors,American Writers REF 810.9 AME (Unger, 1974), which gave a brief biographical sketch of Twain and his work. The best internetsuggestionwas iCONN, which was the website mentioned in Source B above. iCONN provides links to a group of electronic information databases (e.g., Academic Search Premier), and to a statewide library catalog.
Source D. The search engines selected for this topic were Googleand Yahoo. The Google search began by setting the browser at intermediate reading level and inserting some of the strategic keywords in quotation marks:"Mark Twain", childhood, "Tom Sawyer", and Hannibal. To these, Google automaticallyinserted the word experiences, which was retained. The “-“ operator was used withnarrowing terms such as –museum and –finn, but additional operators and keywordsbegan to remove relevant material and thus were dropped. Sources for most results, however, were mainly blogs, book retailers, and wikis, such as an old Yahoo Answers (2005) web page. There were no directly related full text articles, with one notable exception: A site called “Project Gutenberg Australia”carried an abridged 1924 version of the first volume of Twain's autobiography. This document contained all the materialsof the 2010 print version found via OPAC, but had thetime-saving advantage of being searchable by keywordsto identify relevant pages. The site further indicated that with registration, a full version could be downloaded at no charge.
Yahoosearch terms were also"Mark Twain", childhood, "Tom Sawyer", and Hannibal. But to obtain a manageable response volume, the “-“ operator had to be used ina long string of narrowing terms:-blog, -audio, -term, -grades, -trip,-video, -videos, -park, -wiki, -vacation,-shop, -visit, -museum, and -finn. Despite all of these parameters, the Yahoo search produced considerable repetition of the Google materials and lacked any recognizably scholarly material.
Question 2: Where do I find information on housing development in Connecticut?
The premise of this question is thatthe Newtown reference deskhas been asked to assist a college student.
Reference Interview
Patron: Where do I find information on housing development in Connecticut?
Librarian: What kind of information are you looking for?
Patron: I need the latest numbersto use in myurban growth research analysis.
Librarian: How much information are you looking for?
Patron: I want the local levelgrowth in major cities across the state.
Librarian: Have a seat at this computer and let's look at what data is available on the growth of housing in different areas of Connecticut.
This student’s research appears to require factual data from an academically acceptable source for use in the student’s analysis. It also appears that for future research the student might benefit from learning how toaccess similar types of information independently.
Search Words and Strategies
Because the information needed was primarily statistical in nature, vocabulary control probably benefited best from Roget's International Thesaurus (2010):
-Search terms: Connecticut, housing, development, statistics.
-Synonym – growth; narrower terms –current, 2010; broader term – census.
Resources
Source A. Results were searched on OPAC and Bibliomation through the library website. The search terms Connecticutand housingreturned an excessive response thatincluded large amounts of old census data, so the term2010 (for the last census) was added to curtailresults. Including another keyword, development, with any combination of the other keywords created mostly off-topic responses. The best result came from the Bibliomation system-wide portion of the search. This provided a table from a 2010 U. S. Census Bureau report held in the collection of the Silas Bronson Library in Waterbury, CT, but available electronically via a link provided through the Bibliomation system.
Source B. To find housing information,the OneSearch for Public Librariesdatabase inthe iCONN website was used. The search was limited to full text and reports, and the search terms were Connecticut, housing, development, 2010, not audio, and not video. The reports that resulted from this search were unrelated to the information needed by the patron, and so were not used.
Source C. The library’s pathfinder,"Guides to Topics of Interest at the CHB and Online", did not list any topics related to this question.
Source D. Google and Yahoo were again employed as the search engines. For Google the search began with strategy keywordsConnecticut, housing, development, statistics,and2010. One of the first results was a Connecticut State site (DECD, 2012)that carriedbasicspreadsheet informationsimilar to that found via the earlierBibliomation search. The full text version of the 2010 U. S. Census Bureau report was also found through the Google link to the Census Bureau. Attempts were made to limit and refine the responsesthrough additional keywords and operators: "Connecticut housing", census, -blog, -audio, -video, -videos,and -wiki. However the Census Bureau report remained the best Google finding.
The same keywords were used for Yahoo: "Connecticut housing", development, statistics, 2010, census, -blog, -audio, -video, -videos, and–wiki. Results were very similar to those found on Google, including the same Connecticut DECD and Census Bureau sites and documents. The refined Yahoo lists, however, retained many individual community results that narrowingtermshad removed from Google.
Question 3: I'm interested in finding out more about the Burr-Hamilton duel.
This final question is posed by an adult patron of Newtown, which is a community where many residents and the library have a highly visible interest in American and regional history.
Reference Interview
Patron: I'm interested in finding out more about the Burr-Hamilton duel.
Librarian: What aspect of the duel do you want to know more about?
Patron: I'd like information on what actually happened at the duel that day.
Librarian: Is there something particular about it you would like to know?
Patron: I'd like to learn if there is any information on the weapons that were used.
Librarian: So, if I understand you correctly, you would like to know more about the
weapons they used in the duel?
Patron: Yes.
This patron appears to already have some knowledge on the subject and is seeking more in-depth, detailed information.
Search Words and Strategies
Because of the historical context of the question, Library of Congress (LOC, 2013) subject headings were used for vocabulary control, and widened or narrowed as needed to accommodate a particular type of resource:
-LOC headings: Burr-Hamilton Duel, Weehawken, N.J., 1804; Dueling--Dueling New Jersey; Dueling--Dueling New Jersey; Dueling--United States--History--19th century.
-Broader terms – pistols; Burr, Aaron, 1756-1836; Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804.
Resources
Source A. Results were searched on the full Bibliomation site using keywords from the strategic LOC headings: Burr, Hamilton, and duel. Employing the alternate term,dueling,produced a negative impact on the perspective of the search results. Adding the term pistol removed many of the most relevant results, and so it was dropped. The best responsesto the question required requesting the resources from the Bethel Public Library: Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and the Future of America, by Thomas Fleming (2000, pp. 324-346); A Fatal Friendship: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, by Arnold Rogow (1998, pp. 246-253); and Interview in Weehawken: The Burr-Hamilton Duel (Syrett & Cooke, 1960, pp. 150-153).
Source B. MasterFILE Premierand History Reference Centerfrom the iCONN website were usedto search for information on the weapons used. Keywords for both searches were taken from the LOC headings: Burr, Aaron, Hamilton, Alexander, Burr-Hamilton, duel, and pistol. Adding the strategic termsdueling, 19th century, Weehawken, and New Jersey did not help to make the results more relevant. Both searches were also limited to full text from academic biographies, academic journals, and magazines. Immediately, the History Reference Center database responded with “no results” if more than two or three keywords were used. Entering the individuals’ names did produce primarily biographical results, but if they mentioned the weapons at all, it was only a few words. Adding the search term pistol ended in “no results”. The database appeared to be primarily focused on elementary and secondary teaching resources.
MasterFILE Premierproduced more results, including several periodicals about the duel and biographical books and materials on both men. Butas with the other database, none of these materials contained more than a brief mention of the pistols. Thus, neither database provided answers to the patron’s question.
Source C. Although the library’s pathfinder, "Guides to Topics of Interest at the CHB and Online", had many historical topics listed for the American Revolution, its history material then skipped to the Civil War and did not cover the intervening period. Therefore itdid not list any topics related to this question.
Source D. Google and Yahoo were used as search engines. The searches each began withthe strategic keywordsBurr,Hamilton, duel, andpistols, but excessive response prompted the addition of the keywords Weehawken and 1804, and later the nameChurch (the gun owner). There was much duplication between the Google and Yahoo results, although again it was harder to limit the Yahoo responses. On both sites, virtually all of the responses were either blogs or minor websites, but a Google Books listing (retail site) had an excerpt from The Papers of Alexander Hamilton (Hamilton Syrett, 1979). That referenced a Smithsonian Magazine article (Lindsay, 1976), but a search of their website indicated the article was no longer available. However, a new and narrower Google search turned upa photo print of the entire article on a minor website, and the Smithsonian article provided the best information found on the topic.
Excerpts from the Best Responses
The sources for the best answers were primarily based on the nature of question. Book length materials are well suited to print media, allow for more in-depth information, and provide a good opportunity to offer a comprehensive answer on complex biographical and historical questions. Charts, spreadsheets, and graphs are effective for data and statistics, which are easy to navigate electronically. The best answers reflect these characteristics. The following excerpts are just a brief glimpse into the larger trove of information from which they are drawn.
Question 1. Of the many resources found, the clearest and most elegant response to therequest for material that would facilitate comparisons between Twain’s childhood and his character, Tom Sawyer, came from the OPAC searchin a section of the biography, Mark Twain, A Life, by Ronald Powers (2005, p. 32), where the chapter begins:
As the dogwood blossomed on the forested hills around Hannibal in 1843, Sammy Clemens began to live the ten most imaginatively fertile years of his life. “The Hannibal Decade,” as it has been called, influenced most of his literature.
At age seven, he found a circle of boys his own age and became its animating force, appointing himself scriptwriter and director of all make-believe escapades.
Question 2. The best response to the request for data on local level Connecticut housing growthcame from the Bibliomation system-wide search on the library website, which rendered arelated table from the U. S. Census Bureau’s report “2010 Census of Population and Housing, Population and Housing Unit Counts, CPH-2-8, Connecticut.” (2012, pp. 28-30). The following is an excerpt from the beginning of that table:
Question 3. Selection of the Smithsonian Magazine resource as the best response for information on the weapons used in the Burr-Hamilton duel might be considered somewhat unconventional. Although the Lindsay article may have originally appeared in a reputable publication, during this exercise the article could not be directly accessedthrough subsequent searches of the magazine’s website, or through other periodical and journal databases, including iCONN resources. The article was only found on thewebsite of a private organization that might have an agendathat could raisequestions regarding historical objectivity.
However, offsetting these quality issues surrounding the hostwebsite was the fact that legible photographs of the entire magazine article were presented on the site as proof of source and content. The misfortune that theSmithsonian Magazine’s own website did not provide direct retrieval capabilities for such an old article was, in fact, a reminder of the ongoing concerns surrounding preservation and the continued availability of pre-internet print documents that should be accessible to provide context for future ongoing discussions on important social, political, and historical issues and events. Based on the merit of its content, the following excerpt demonstrates why this article was chosen as the topic’s best answer, and attests to the contribution that these types of print documents still have to offer: