Introduction to the
Resource Discovery Network
for Further and Higher
Education Users
A workbook for students
August 2003
Contents of this workbook
The Resource Discovery Network (RDN) provides access to high-quality Internet resources that have been selected and described by subject specialists. This workbook contains practical tasks and exercises to help you explore the RDN and many of its services. It can be used to support a hands-on workshop or can be used by individuals for self-paced learning. It contains quizzes, tips and hints, as well as scenarios designed to suggest ways in which the RDN can be used practically to support learning and teaching.
- Introducing the Resource Discovery Networkp. 2 - 3
Background information about the RDN and introduction to the RDN Web site
- Searching the Resource Discovery Networkp. 4 - 9
Hints on developing a search strategy to improve Internet searching with hands-on exercises showing how to use these strategies when searching the RDN.
- Browsing the RDN and Searching Individual Hubsp. 10 - 12
An introduction to browsing the RDN, with practical exercises helping you to get the most out of the RDN subject hubs.
- Exploring “Behind the Headlines”p. 13
Background information on this service that relates RDN resources to topical news stories.
- Using the RDN Virtual Training Suitep. 14 - 16
Guidance on using the RDN Virtual Training Suite.
- Glossaryp.17
List of commonly used terms with definitions.
- Answers to Quizzes 1, 2 and 3p. 18
Guide to icons used in the workbook:
TASKS allow you to explore the RDN via hands-on exercises
TIPS give handy hints and tips
QUIZZES test what you have learnt in each section. Answers are given at the end of the workbook.
Copyright: Resource Discovery Network Partners. Material in this workbook may be copied for educational purposes within UK higher and further education institutions.
1. Introducing the Resource Discovery Network
The Resource Discovery Network (RDN) is a free Internet service dedicated to providing effective access to high quality Internet resources for the learning, teaching and research communities. The service is primarily aimed at Internet users in further and higher education, although others will find the service to be of value for personal and professional development.
The RDN provides access to a series of Internet resource catalogues containing descriptions of high quality Internet sites, selected and described by specialists from within UK universities, colleges, libraries and museums.
These subject specialists are currently based around eight service providers called "hubs" which catalogue resources for the RDN in a range of subjects. These hubs and the subjects they are responsible for are:
ALTISHospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism
ArtifactArts and Creative Industries (from Nov 2003)
BIOMEHealth and Life Sciences
EEVL/Engineering, Mathematics and Computing
GEsourceGeography and Environment
HumbulHumanities
PSIgatePhysical Sciences
SOSIGSocial Sciences, Business and Law
The RDN offers the following services:
- Searching using ResourceFinder
From the RDN home page () you can use ResourceFinder to cross-search data at all the RDN subject hubs.
- Browsing the RDN
If you are interested in one particular subject, you can browse the contents of subject hubs by selecting the relevant subject heading on the RDN home page. Alternatively, you can access each hub individually at the URLs above.
- Behind the Headlines
Provides background information to current news stories.
- RDN Virtual Training Suite
A suite of online subject-based tutorials providing teaching in Internet information skills.
Task 1: Exploring the Resource Discovery Network
The Resource Discovery Network home page
2. Searching the Resource Discovery Network
Developing a search strategy
Before starting to search using the RDN, or any other search tool, it is worth spending some time thinking about your information needs. Although search engines have become the first port of call for most people seeking to locate information on the Internet, few realise that developing a "search strategy" will significantly improve their chances of finding relevant information.
You will need to think about:
- Possible keywords you might use to find information on the Internet
- How you are going to link these keywords together to form a "search phrase" to use on the Resource Discovery Network
- Monitoring and revising your search strategy until you find the information you want
Thinking about your topic in advance should help clarify:
- What information you expect to find
- Where you should start looking for the information
By thinking around your subject, you will be able to limit searches that return too many results, and broaden searches that return too few.
Ask yourself:
- What keywords describe my topic?
- Are there any similar words that describe my subject?
- Are there any alternative spellings for my keywords? (e.g. American spelling)
- Do I want to find particular types of resources?
Scenario: thinking about your information needs
Susanna, a health and social care student at Hereshire College, has to carry out a short project dealing with an aspect of "drug abuse". Feeling unsure where to begin, Susanna turns to the Internet hoping for some inspiration. Unfortunately typing "drug abuse" into a search engine returns a bewildering 1,200,000 Web sites, and even the first ten resources listed seem irrelevant to her subject area. When she enters the same keywords into the ResourceFinder search box on the RDN home page, she comes up with a more focused set of results, but she is still unsure where her project is going or how to get started in finding information for it.
Susanna decides to spend a little more time thinking what aspect of drug abuse she is going to concentrate on in her project. She considers looking at the health effects or social implications of taking drugs, but finally decides to focus her project upon the treatment of drug abuse. She then spends a few moments reviewing the sort of information she is expecting to find. She realises that her earlier search on "drug abuse" retrieved lots of Web sites with detailed research data, when she is really looking for patient-orientated information.
To ensure her searching is more effective, Susanna decides to think of a few more keywords that describe her topic. Making use of a thesaurus she finds on the Internet, she notes down "substance-related disorder", "narcotics", "drug dependency" and "addiction" as alternative keywords for drug abuse. For treatment, she writes down "rehabilitation", "therapy", and "recovery". She also thinks of other words that might help make her search more specific. For example, if her keywords still yield too many results, she might try searching for certain drugs (such as cocaine or tobacco) or certain types of treatment (such as counselling).
By thinking more about her topic and the information she is hoping to find, Susanna has created a list of keywords which will assist her in carry out more targeted searches. She is well on the way to successful searching!
Task 2: Coming up with keywords for a search
Now it's your turn to start developing your own search strategy…
Keep a note of your answers as you will need them for Task 3 , where you will get a chance to try them out on ResourceFinder at the RDN
Search tools
There are three main types of search tools available on the Internet and all offer a slightly different service. Once you have thought more about keywords and your information needs, you will need to decide which tool best suits your purposes:
1. Search engines (e.g. Google )
Search engines are built automatically by robots and usually provide access to millions (if not billions) of Web sites. They provide resources on every subject imaginable and can be useful if you need to find a particular piece of information.
2. Web directories (e.g. )
Directories are built by human editors, usually in commercial companies, and provide access to fewer Web sites than search engines (thousands of sites, rather than millions). Users can browse the contents of the directory via a number of subject headings. A directory can be a useful tool if you want to find resources on both 'serious' and 'popular' subjects.
3. Gateways (e.g. )
Gateways, like the RDN, are generally built by experts from universities and colleges and provide access to thousands of Web sites. They usually organise sites under subject headings and the resources offered are suitable for users in education and research. They are a good choice if you are looking for reliable information to support your college or university work.
For further information about the different search tools available on the Internet, see the "Discover" section of Internet Instructor (), one of the tutorials from the RDN Virtual Training Suite.
About Searching the RDN
Let's now take a look at searching the RDN. You can begin searching for Web sites via the RDN by entering one or more keywords into ResourceFinder:
ResourceFinder on RDN home page
ResourceFinder provides an interdisciplinary search across all subject areas. It searches the resource title, description and keyword/subject fields provided by the subject hubs. It is simple to use - just type some keywords in the box and select "GO". To help find the information you want, you may also link keywords together using the following terms (sometimes known as "Boolean operators"):
OR - You can use the OR operator to retrieve results that include a selection of words. For example "witchcraft OR magic" will return results that include either the term "witchcraft" or "magic". The OR operator must always be entered in capitals.
NOT - You can specify words to omit from a search by prefixing with "-" (minus sign). For example if you enter "holocaust -Hitler", you will find all the results relating to the Holocaust that do not mention Hitler.
Some search tools allow you to use another operator: AND. By using AND, you will get results that contain all of the words you enter (for example, a search for "leukaemia" AND "treatment" will retrieve results containing both words). ResourceFinder (and a number of other search tools, including Google) automatically "ands" search terms together. In other words, if you enter "leukaemia treatment" in the ResourceFinder, it automatically adds the AND so that you retrieve results containing both keywords. Consult the online help pages to find out what operators different search tools and RDN hubs support.
Search results for "anorexia" on the Resource Discovery Network
Look at the search results above, which were retrieved after entering "anorexia" into ResourceFinder. Notice that for each resource returned, you see the name of the resource, a short description, and the URL (Web address) of the Web site. Click on either the title or URL of the resource to hyperlink to the Web site. By selecting one of the links next to the URL, you can access the full hub record and more information about the resource, including archived pages from the Internet Archive () if available.
If you would like to carry out more detailed searches for resources in the RDN, you should access individual hub Web sites. Hubs provide full descriptions of sites and offer a range of advanced searching facilities.
Task 3: Searching the RDN using ResourceFinder
Now it's your turn to use ResourceFinder to search the RDN using some of the answers you gave in Task 2:
Now check your answers by trying out these search phrases in ResourceFinder on the RDN (available at ). If there isn't much available on the RDN relating to your subject, you might also like to try out a search engine like Google ().
Scenario : using search operators and keywords effectively
Some students at Beal College of Agriculture have been set an assignment to look into the ways that foot-and-mouth disease can be being controlled in the UK. Mark, one of the students in the group, enters "foot and mouth disease" in ResourceFinder and selects GO. This returns over six pages of results. As Mark needs to report back to the class on what he has found in 30 minutes, he doesn't think that he will have time to go through all these Web sites. While the first few listed look quite relevant, he quickly views the last page of results. He sees that there are lots of resources here referring to foot-and-mouth disease in the USA, and some relating to Japan and Argentina. Lots of the results appear to have a scientific focus, giving detailed veterinary information about the disease.
To try to find a more relevant set of results he experiments over the next five minutes with the following searches:
- foot and mouth disease UK
- foot and mouth disease -USA
- foot and mouth disease control
- foot and mouth disease -science
Mark notes that the first two phrases return search results more specific to the geographical area in which he is interested. The last two phrases make his search far more focused on his topic. By combining keywords with operators in this way he is able to quickly locate a couple of authoritative Web sites that clearly outline the government's policy on agricultural disease control.
Do you know how to search the Resource Discovery Network?
1. Name the two operators you can use in search phrases on RDN's ResourceFinder
………………………
………………………
2. When you enter a keyword into ResourceFinder where does it search for matches? (hint: look at the online help pages)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
3. Entering "anorexia OR bulimia" into ResourceFinder will return resources that contain both these keywords. TRUE/FALSE
4. How can you access archived pages of Web resources in the RDN?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. Browsing the RDN and Searching Individual Hubs
The second way of finding material via the RDN is to browse the subject headings on the home page. As we've seen, searching for material via the RDN can be useful when you have a particular query in mind. However if you only have only a rough idea of the information you need, you might prefer to browse to see what is available in your subject area.
To browse the RDN, select any of the subject headings on the home page. By selecting one of these headings you will be taken directly to one of the RDN "hubs". Note that the subject headings given in grey on the home page are currently under development and are unavailable at present.
ALTISHospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism
ArtifactArts and Creative Industries (from Nov 2003)
BIOMEHealth and Life Sciences
EEVL/Engineering, Mathematics and Computing
GEsourceGeography and Environment
HumbulHumanities
PSIgatePhysical Sciences
SOSIGSocial Sciences, Business and Law
Each of the RDN hubs looks slightly different, but all have similar features. All hub offer excellent advanced searching facilities and a range of other services to support their subject community. Work through the tasks below to discover more about RDN hubs.
Task 4: Advanced searching on RDN hubs
Now try out the advanced search facilities of some of the other RDN hubs:
EEVL:
PSIGATE:
SOSIG:
Task 5: Browsing RDN hubs
Now try browsing through other RDN hub collections:
BIOME:
EEVL:
SOSIG:
Task 6: Exploring hub services
This exercise introduces you to some of the services hubs offer their particular subject communities.
Have a look at some of the other services hubs offer for their subject communities:
HUMBUL: Humbul's personalisation service
EEVL: Current awareness service for engineering
BIOME: Internet resources on public engagement with science and technology.
These are just some of the additional services hubs offer. For more information, go to individual hub home pages.
Scenario: finding resources on EEVL
Sushil is a student at Walworth College studying for his BTEC National Diploma in Construction. He needs to find out some information about building surveying for a project, but does not have a particular query or essay question in mind. He decides to have a look on the RDN home page to see what is on offer and comes across the link to Engineering. He selects this link and is taken to EEVL, the RDN hub for engineering, maths and computing.
Sushil decides to browse through EEVL's engineering collection to see what is available, so selects "Civil Engineering" from the list of subject headings on the home page. Drilling down further, he then selects "Construction and Building Engineering" and then "Surveying". Working from the detailed descriptions provided here, Sushil decides which sites to visit. As a result of this, he finds out about some construction projects being undertaken in the London area. After contacting a number of companies involved with the construction work, he manages to procure an interview with one surveyor. He successfully incorporates some of the findings of his interview into his project.