Databases + Wikipedia

[Benton Library Media Center]

Hello, Principles of Biology!

This is Mrs. Corey posting as Benton Library. I really enjoyed speaking with you yesterday and I definitely hope you'll visit the library anytime you need research help. :)

Here's the presentation from yesterday . . .

Principles of Biology

View more documents from Benton Library Media Center.

I just wanted to post some links to articles and other resources I quoted yesterday but didn't have at hand. First, I wanted to post this YouTube video explaining some of the differences between "scholarly" resources (read: journal articles) and "popular" resources (read: magazine and newspaper articles).


Also, I realized later I kept quoting the fact that a print subscription to a journal can cost thousands of dollars each year. I wanted to provide you with Library Journal's annual Periodical Price Survey. If you scroll down to the first table, you'll see that scientific journals average in the thousands, and this price keeps increase by an average of 6-10% each year (according to Blackwell, Bowker, and Elsevier - all publishing industry giants). At that rate, our library could possibly afford 10 annual subscriptions to journals in scientific fields.

Luckily, we do have the great fortune to have access to Gale Cengage databases through an organization called MOREnet which provides free access to these resources for every single library in the state. Remember that our Benton Media Center Ning serves as the hub for all of our databases, and if you need help accessing these databases from home, you can read up on our most recent blog post.

I know I spent some time talking about Wikipedia, mainly because I think it's a great resource to find OTHER great resources. Take, for example, the Wikipedia article about the peer review process - there are no less than 28 references listed (most of which are articles from peer-reviewed journals) along with a listing of specific journal articles (again, some peer-reviewed). So why not use Wikipedia as a gateway to other information?

As well, there may be a chance that Wikipedia is someday more accepted in the academic world. For one, if Wikipedia had a more formalized peer review process and allowed authors to post credentials to articles, it would definitely improve the accuracy and authority of most Wikipedia articles. One blog post from K-State libraries addresses the Wikipedia peer review debate with a great analogy about pogo sticks.

There are a number of articles addressing Wikipedia's accuracy. I mentioned one great article, Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?, to show that Wikipedia's editing process is more protected than we may realize. As well, a great study in Nature compared errors in Wikipedia entries versus articles in Encyclopedia Britannica. In both articles, the conclusion was that, on the whole, Wikipedia isn't as error-laden as we may think. I'm posting the files for each:

Read, Brock. "Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?." The Chronicle of...

Giles, Jim. "Internet encyclopaedias go head to head." Nature 438.7...

Also, here's the prototype of the Wiki-Scanner, which was invented by Daniel Erenrich and Virgil Griffith at CalTech a few years ago. You can try a sample search for any organization to see what edits have been made to which Wikipedia pages and when. Try Wal-Mart. It's enlightening. :)

Images:

"Questions Answered" by Travelin' Librarian via Flickr, available under a Creative Commons license.

"Research Cat" via I Can Has Cheezburger?.

[Amanda Dixon]

thank you thank you thank you Mrs. Corey!! I am so happy I know how to access those data bases now i know i have a reliable source! It's nice to know we have a librarian who really cares and loves what she does. Your making research so much easier for all of us. And major props for loving wiki!!

[Laci Shoemaker]

Thanks so much for helping us the other day, it means a lot. :-) I'm so glad that you like wikipedia, because I do as well. You really taught me a lot, and now I know not to trust my 'reliable' resources as much. :-P So once again, thanks!!! :-D

[Shelby Hawkins]

Thank you so much for everything you taught us the other day! I think it will be wayy valuable in college. I also felt kind of jealous of the freshman this year because by the time they graduate they will have had four years of your expertise! And the school will get to be so much more technologically oriented. I just wanted to say good work!

[Blayr Bolton]

Mrs. Corey! First of all, you might just be my favorite person ever because you like Wikipedia. It's the simplest, yet most informational website ever! So, major props to you. Woo. Besides that, I gotta throw out a HUGE thanks for adding everything on our ning, making the library media center so accessible, and offering to help at anytime! I definitely agree Hannah when saying I'm glad we have a librarian that truly cares or wants to help us out. I did an ISP (Independent Studies Project) in my TAG class last year and got the majority of my facts and background information from the database we used at MWSU. So, I am ecstatic to know I have databases to use for essays and research projects. :) I'm sure I will see you around sometime when I need help! YAY LMS. :)

[Taylor Woodruff]

Thanks Mrs. Corey! I really did learn a lot from you! :) I'm so glad that you gave us those easy data bases to use when we want to research something... it's so much easier to find the things that we need and know that they are more reliable than the ones that we'd find just by typing something in on google! So, thanks again, I'm sure I'll be coming to you for help a lot this year!!! :p

[Hunter Ewart]

Finally somebody else likes wikipedia too im not the only one! Hannahs right it's gomg to help us so much that you are so in the loop with the technology stuff because thats going to come in handy when he have a problem, and i gaurentee we will have our fair share of them. I thought you gave a good presentation on the new databases and technology that is at our disposible now. Thanks again!!!!

[Benton Library Media Center]

Awww, thanks so much, Hannah! I really do care about learning, information, technology, etc. and getting it to you guys as much as possible! Your comment makes me feel about as tingly as when I get to talk about Wikipedia!

Mrs. Corey, AKA The Weird One

[Hannah Rush]

Mrs. Corey-
It's awesome to finally have a librarian that at least acts like she cares about our learning. Thank you sooooooooo much for coming and sharing all this information with us. It is going to help us in more than one class, which you mentioned. You are awesome!