[nabs-l] research techniques and databases

[V Nork]

Hi Ashley and all,  Thanks for a terrific topic..  As a new, returning
college student unused to doing rresearch without vision, I can really
relate to your  sometime frustration.  Recently I took a one unit class
called Library Science 101 at my college and found it  tremendously helpful,
although I am still learning of course.   I am far, far, from an expert.
Below are some of my thoughts in response to your questions, hope it helps..
In your e mail, you asked about on line library databases.Before  I enrolled
in my library science class, I had never used  on line library databases,
and frankly, was clueless what This kind of on line resource could offer.
So below is a bit of info about one  fairly typical database I use, I hope
not too much detail, in case there are listers who might  be as I was,
needing the basics..Now I am an enthusiastic user of the library on line
database called ProQuest.  It is usually available through a college library
or a public library.  Typically in order to log in,   a student types in his
or her ID number and password, or in the case of a public library
offeringProQuest, the library card number.   You can then access the
articles in the database, from any computer with an internet connection, so
you are not restricted to school.ProQuest can vary in the  scope  of
publications it has available to search depending on what the campus or
public library  decides to pay for, since it is a subscription service.
Once you log in, you can search for, read on line  using standard reading
commands like the arrow keys and so on,  and  then E mail yourself articles
to save Or you can copy and paste bits of text you want to go in another
place..  The range of publications on ProQuest is  pretty wide.  For
example, most academic disciplines are represented by  articles from
scholarly journals, from anthropology to medicine to psychology.  In
addition to scholarly articles, such popular magazines as People or
cosmopolitan are available. I use the screen reader Window Eyes, and another
blind user of ProQuest  currently on campus uses Jaws.  I find it very
intuitive and accessible to use this database. In order to scan an article,
I read the abstract, or use the Window Eyes keyboard command  called mouse
find to look for key terms in an on line document.  I think Jaws has a
similar go to function for html or online documents.  Just for a off the top
of my head example, say I  have an article on Hilary Clinton on my screen,
and I want to see if there is relevant info about her role as a mom.  In
Window Eyes, I would hold down the control key and shift key and tap the
letter f and then type in a word like parent or chelsea, and press enter.  I
should then be at   the point in the text where the word first occurs. 
But to start a search on any topic with either screen reader, , you enter 
search terms in an edit box, click on
search, and a list of articles are displayed. Then, You can then click on a
link to choose abstract, citation, or full text article.  Most of the time,
the article is in full text, I believe html, and the few articles that are
in PdF I simply avoid at this point. I think it is fairly easy to use Open
Book or a similar scanning set up, for example, to make an article in PDF
format easier to read with a screen reader.  I would suggest calling
customer support at Freedom Scientific, in the case of Open Book, for
specific  keyboard steps to  do this.Google is something I also use, but one
advantage of a database  over Google is that you do not have to navigate
through ads while reading an article.  I am not familiar with Google scholar
, but would like to know more.    To get started with on line data bases, of
course you would ask for the log in information from your librarian, and
once logged in, you may be able to figure out through trial and error how to
use the database.  Or you could ask for help if there is tech support at
your school computer lab.     Usually if you select your search terms
carefully to enter into the database search  box, you can avoid irrelevant
articles. I have not yet had access to readers, so it was interesting  to
hear your experience with them.  It is my plan now to see how far I can get
on my own with research, and then see how much sighted help I will need.
ProQuest is also not only for school, but also for any personal searches you
want to do.  Watch out for the sheer fun factor it can be addictive and 
trigger major bouts of goofing off. A friend of mine told me she  once spent
hours researching such frivolous stuff as fashion, make up and movie reviews
as relief from the serious side of student life.Remember  also if what you
want is just a fact, like the states bordering California, , or statistics
on a country, a library on line database is probably not the place to look.
Here is where you can use on line encyclopedias, again, available in both
college libraries or from public libraries.  I am still figuring out how to
use this resource.Sometimes if I want a  quick fact, I will  sometimes call
the reference librarian at school or in the public library, they are
surprisingly willing to look up answers to  both serious and frivolous of
questions.  Time permitting, answering brief questions seems a part of their
job description.Say you just  absolutely had to know the name of  the
actress who played Zelda in the ancient TV show "The adventures of Dobie
Gillis" you could call the reference librarian like I did once.)    You
never know when this could come up.  (smile)  Finally, if you want, I can
look for a few articles on a topic you are searching for, it would be good
practice for me, this summer I have a bit of time.  I can e mail you article
or two, write me off list if you like.  Best, ginnie----- Original
Message -----
From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 7:33 PM
Subject: [nabs-l] research techniques and databases


> Hi all,
>
> This is sort of a school question but also one for life.  We have to
> research on the job so it won't go away.
> Since there's new people on the list, maybe some new ideas will come
> about.
>
> I graduated with a BA in liberal studies, studying social science and
> communication.  I'm getting an internship  and research has come up.  I
> will help them research crime prevention and bullying and maybe other
> things; I'm working for the National crime prevention Council.
>
>
> Although I survived research and writing papers, it was something I
> disliked; it was time consuming and frustrating.  My school had online
> databases but I still used hard copy sources in addition to online.  Some
> info just wasn't electronic.  Due to problems like the inability to skim
> with jaws for key things, image PDFs and paper sources, I used readers
> mainly.  I directed them to skim for certain key points.  We read
> abstracts in journals or table of contents if a book to see if it was
> relevant.  Then we picked out the actual sections and read them.
> I researched on my own through the internet as well.
> I wonder what I can do if anything to do research better.  I need to be
> more independent with it since I do not have a reader on the job.  That's
> too bad because they can skim well where as with jaws you can only go by
> paragraph to get a sense of the document.
> My questions are:
> 1. Which databases did you find accessible?  Is PSYCH Info accessible?
> 2. How do you use those PDF files?  What can you do in Openbook to access
> them?
> Many full text articles were PDF rendering them inaccessible without using
> a scanner.
> 3. In databases with PDFs, do you find an option for a HTML link wich is a
> text link?  When searching google.com they have PDF files as HTML as well.
> 4. What do you do to determine if an article is relevant?  So far I
> thought of reading the abstract and/or intro.  Sometimes I read entire
> articles only to find them not as useful as I thought they would be based
> on the intro.
> 5. Is googlescholar.com accessible?
>
> Thanks.
> Ashley
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