Week 3

I used the Seattle Community College catalog and visited that library as well. In searching the library catalog for books, I used both the basic subject search and the advanced search. The basic search resulted in a list of topic categories – a menu of items that included the keyword I had used in the search. The results illustrated that what I had originally been searching for word definitions. So the topic concept became more clear. Initially I didn’t know that WiFi is a type of Broadband, and that they are both subsets of the greater category of electromagnetic fields. So the topic “Do electromagnetic fields pose a health risk?” is a better restatement of my original question.

Using the term “EMF” and “wifi” gave no results. A librarian suggested I use a hyphen in “Wi-Fi” and that proved successful. Writing out “electromagnetic fields” was also successful. Stretching my brain to think of alternative keywords was initially a challenge. I would not have considered inserting a hyphen into WiFi, because everywhere I see it in print, there is no hyphen. "Wireless" also gave the most, with 83 results. "Cable" gave 24 results, but most of them were completely irrelevant.

In reviewing the MLA Style Citation guide, I see I made an error in my posting on Library Books. The Library doesn’t capitalize the words of the book title, which surprised me. I thought the standards had changed, if even library catalogs aren't capitalizing book titles. So even though I had the MLA Guide right there, I failed to notice this detail and followed the Library’s lead.

To reiterate by confusion, just earlier in the day I was chastised for how I had addressed a letter. In the past, if the letter was to go to the attention of a worker at a company, that was the very last line. Now it is to be the very first line, with zip code on the same line as City and State.)

Searching the databases was both fun and a bit daunting. Because the subject search returned categories that include the keyword, that was helpful in gaining direction about the search, and learning about other relevant searches, or branches, to look into to potentially round out pursuit of the overall topic. Learning about Boolean search terms was great. In the past, I’ve been so put off by the word “Boolean.” Well, I still wish they'd chosen a different word.

I really like that ProQuest has full articles. In searches pre-LIB 180, over and over I've encountered results that say "to read this article, subscribe to..." Sometimes the abstract is free to read, and that provides enough information for my needs.

The libray field trip really paid off twice, because Lynn helped me with the crucial issue of topic clarification, and I got to meet with Meryl in person!

This class is enjoyable, my time management is getting better, my stress is still high, but I'm feeling better about myself, and have a better idea of how to manage around the technical difficulties I've had.

I expect to be using these search skills over and over in the future. The helpful tips on Google were great. One of my friends has written many computer "how-to" books. I brought up this class, and my topic. He suggested Wikipedia as a resource – then went on to say “ you don’t know who’s posted in Wikipedia… I’ve posted in Wikipedia – on pantyhose!” Here's the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantyhose