Syllabus Fall 2007

syllabusfall2007-0904071.doc

Reading for Bias Checklist

When you read, ask yourself what is the information trying to say?

Is it trying to teach you something?

Is it entertainment?

Is it parody or satire?

Is it promoting a specific viewpoint?

Is it marketing in disguise?

Find out who produced the information.

Is the author an objective reporter or an expert on the issue?

Is the publisher credible?

Does the information present facts, opinions, or both?

Does it present different points of view or is it one-sided?

Is it one-sided information?

Is it logical?

Does it pretend to present facts but actually offers only opinions?

Does it present only highly selected facts?

Does it try to support only one opinion?

When you read this type of writing, how well does the author presents his or her argument?

Is it supported by widely accepted facts?

Does it answer all of your questions about the issue?

Does it refute counterarguments?

Do you agree with the author’s conclusions?  

Teaching children information literacy.  Courier-journal.com.  3/7/2007 http://www.courierjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071217/NEWS01/712170413/1008/NEWS01. Accessed on 26 Dec.2007

Database Searching Techniques

Databases allow you to consult and to answer queries.¹ The records retrieved can be used to make decisions or support your research.  Examples of electronic databases include library catalogs that provide information about library holdings. Other databases index the contents of scholarly journals within specialized subject areas such as medicine. Some others are databases of subject and general encyclopedia articles.   These databases are available online.  Although, sometimes free, these databases are generally proprietary and you need a password to access them.  Search techniques for these databases can vary widely. However, learning skills that are common to most will lead to efficient retrieval of information.  

Basic Principles 

You will need to choose keywords: use Boolean operators to structure the keywords; use truncation or wildcards and using the subject headings of the database.   

Choosing a list of keywords 

First, be clear about the topic area.  Figure out the concepts within the topic.  Create a thesis statement or question or sentence as you topic.  This is a good way to organize your paper and your thoughts.  Then consider all possible words or phrases.   A “key” word is what indexers refer to as a word within the first three thousand meaningful words of a given text.  “Key” words also include synonyms, related subject headings as well as title and author.  Keyword searching includes related terms; variations in word endings (truncation); synonyms; variant terminology and alternative spelling forms (US & UK) in subject, title and abstract fields.  

Examples of keywords

 patient satisfaction or consumer satisfaction

clinical effectiveness or treatment outcome

health education or health promotion or patient education.

Precision searching 

 Precision means you know how to achieve the most relevant hits.  For starters don’t use long descriptive phrases.  Try not to use sentences either.   This method would only find articles with that exact phrase in the title or abstract. Search as widely as possible, that means combine words instead, to achieve the greatest number of possibly relevant results. 

Using Boolean (BOO-LAY-AN) Operators  

AND  

‘communication AND palliative care’   Use “AND” to combine more than one keyword.  This reduces the number of references and increases the specificity of the search. means that both terms must be present in your reference. 

OR  

terminal care OR palliative care OR  hospice care 

either one term or another is present, used for synonyms, variant terminology, alternative topics or alternative spellings (increases the number of references within a search)    

NOT  

Terminal care NOT  hospice 

to specify that a term is not present.  NOT reduces the number of references and increases the specificity of the search) e.g. This should be used with caution. Eliminating one term also eliminates articles which mention both terms. 

Truncation

Keywords may have variant endings, which may be relevant to your subject. If you enter a keyword in the singular form, you will only retrieve records which have the word in that form. In order not to miss any references most databases use the technique of truncation also known as wildcards. In addition to endings of search terms, this technique may be used within search terms  Type in the word stem plus the truncation symbol ($ or * depending on which database you are using) to retrieve all the variant forms of the word. Some examples: 

child*               palliate*                        terap*              communicat*

Childhood        palliative                       therapy             communicate   

Children           palliate                          therapies           communication

Childbirth         palliation                       therapeutic        communicative

                                                            therapeutics

 Use with care. Truncating inappropriately will retrieve irrelevant information (known as false hits) e.g.  Child* would find childbirth as well as child, children, childhood and Julia Childe. 

TO SUMMARIZE

Think about the topic; Choose your Keywords; Apply truncation/wildcards where appropriate; Combine the keywords or subject terms for the different concepts using the appropriate Boolean operators.

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1.   What is a Database?. The University of Queensland, Australia.