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JAC Volume 9 |
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Editor: |
Advanced Composition and the Computerized LibraryChristine HultAs I walked into the reference section of our university library recently, I was struck by a stark contrast. The card catalog area was deserted, but nearby were computers, all twenty being used by video-wise students who apparently were more comfortable with the new technology than with the traditional card catalog. Technological advances are radically changing our libraries, and it’s not unusual to see computer terminals in all areas of the library—reference, circulation, documents, and special collections. It has become clear to me, however, that research instruction is not keeping pace with these technological advances. If our students are truly to become competitive, we have an obligation, it seems to me, to familiarize them with how to use computers in the library. Such expertise is particularly important to students at advanced levels, since such students are becoming oriented to their disciplines and must learn to use the tools of their fields in order to join the dialogue of their professional communities. Many libraries have converted to online public access catalogs which
provide admittance to library collections quickly through databases;
others are changing from print index searching to database searching.
But our students are seldom taught to use these tools. In this article,
I will discuss four kinds of computerized access tools that are increasingly
more important in libraries and examine how these technologies are changing
research. Then, I will suggest how research instruction in advanced
writing courses can be refocused to include the new technologies. The online catalog, one of the most visible computer tools, supplements or replaces the traditional card catalog. Most online catalogs allow students to search by author, title, and subject (as do card catalogs), but some may, in addition, include features such as key word, author/title, or Boolean searching. Boolean searching, the most interesting and powerful search capability of online catalogs, allows researchers to search the library’s collections by combining terms, as in a database search. For example, if a student is interested in recreational opportunities for the physically handicapped but wishes to limit the search to a specific state—say, Utah—the student can, with a Boolean search, combine the terms using the AND command. The computer then limits the search by looking for the intersection between all sources in the database about recreational opportunities for the physically handicapped AND all the sources about Utah. No card catalog can accomplish this kind of focused searching; and students, thus, have the potential to engage in more extensive and sophisticated research. There are, of course, some problems inherent in online catalog searching.
Unfortunately, there is no one standard online catalog, so there are
differences from one library to the next in operation and search potential.
Users must learn what the online catalog represents in terms of their
library’s collection as well as how to operate the equipment and
to correctly choose and enter their search terminology. The question
of terminology is especially important because when searching online
the browsing capabilities of the card catalog may be lost. For example,
if a student wishes to locate a specialized encyclopedia but doesn’t
know any specific titles, he or she could browse through the card catalog
drawer labeled “Encyclopedia of” until finding an appropriate
text. In contrast, with the computer, unless the right subject terms
or the exact titles (correctly spelled) are typed in at the keyboard,
a search may not turn up anything. We need to help our students become
aware of the limitations as well as the strengths of online catalogs. Using either microcomputers or mainframes, reference librarians are computerizing information to help them more quickly and easily locate reference information for their patrons. Many librarians are creating custom-designed database programs for easy access to their own particular collections. For example, the reference library at Virginia Tech has created a database of audiovisual materials located both in the library and across the campus to help patrons locate such materials (Kriz and Kok 199). Ready reference to facts and statistics is increasingly becoming available through computerized reference. Even encyclopedias such as Academic American are now available online, as is Dissertation Abstracts. Also, reference librarians generally have access to the Online Catalog
of the Library of Congress (OCLC), enabling them to locate materials
in other libraries across the country. If, for instance, a student can’t
find a particular book or journal in the library, the reference librarian
can use the OCLC to discover which nearby library does own the work.
The student can then use the interlibrary loan program to obtain the
work. We should be aware of these services and help our students take
advantage of them. To gain access to journal collections in the library, indexes such as the MLA Bibliography and the Resources in Education are key tools. In addition to using print indexes, many libraries offer the option of bibliographic searching through online databases. Most indexing services maintain both print and online versions of their indexes to provide patrons with the option of searching either or both ways. Traditionally, trained librarians have conducted these online database searches using a database service such as DIALOG. Patrons would schedule an appointment with the librarian, discuss their search needs and possible databases and terminology, and then allow the librarian to conduct the search at a later time. However, many librarians are recognizing the need to provide patrons
with the opportunity to search for themselves. As Susan Steffan points
Out in an article about a training workshop on database searching for
college faculty, Though many agree that faculty should be trained in online searching, there is considerable debate in library science journals about the desirability of teaching online searching to students. (See, for example, Hamilton, Dreifuss, Des Chene, Penhale and Taylor.) Peggy Champlin points out some of the drawbacks in “The Online Search: Some Perils and Pitfalls.” She observes that often students only ask research questions that the machines can answer rather than working to frame their own research question: “It is those patrons involved in open-ended or only partially defined searches who are in some danger of being underserved by the computer” (214). As with the online catalog, online databases do not allow for the kind of browsing capable with print indexes: “The search does not give the surrounding or overlapping fields that could have been surveyed in the printed index” (Charnplin 216). However, once a student poses a focused research question and identifies appropriate search terminology, the computer can search quickly and easily for relevant citations. Another problem with online searching has been the complexity of the systems themselves and the difficulty of learning complex “controlled” vocabularies and other formidable procedures. However, researchers are working to make the powerful searching capabilities of online databases more accessible to all end-users, especially students. According to Dorice Des Chene, vendors are devising “Gateway” or “Interface” systems to simplify use of online databases on microcomputers (89). For example, the ERIC database is now available to users on CD-ROM (compact disc), and DIALOG’s Knowledge Index makes numerous databases available to patrons who wish to use their own microcomputers and a modem. These new systems help simplify the complex protocols and controlled vocabularies that have frustrated users in the past. Compact disc technology is making computerized access tools more accessible to library patrons. As the technology improves, increasingly more information can be stored on compact discs. For example, one compact disc can now store information equivalent to that stored by 1,500 floppy discs or 275,000 pages of text (Bohn 66). Though there are still problems of system compatibility, CD-ROMS can be purchased by libraries and updated frequently, thus making large databases accessible to patrons using microcomputers. One example of a CD-ROM now available in many libraries is Compact Disclosure. This tool allows students and other researchers in the field of business to search recent corporate information quickly and easily, including quarterly updates of corporate filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and detailed financial summaries. And the ERIC database is now available on CD-ROMS. Those marketing ERIC On-Line have made the system user-friendly and thus reasonably easy for students to learn with a minimum of guidance and instruction. Another similar tool is the Infotrac database, which indexes 900 popular interest and business journals. Infotrac is not a CD-ROM, but a videodisc unit. Some experts suggest that eventually the CD-ROMS will be the better investment because the unit production costs are lower than for videodiscs, but both work on a similar principle (Bohn 84). Using Infotrac, a student can quickly search by subject for recent articles in the popular press. For example, a student of mine recently searched for article citations on sexual harassment in the business world and found numerous pertinent citations in current business periodicals. The student can walk away from Infotrac with a printed bibliography in hand. As with all of the computerized access tools, Infotrac and other databases like it have their drawbacks. They are only as good and as comprehensive as the sources they index. Each database tends to have a particular bias (for example, the emphasis on business sources in the Infotrac databases), and each may employ its own search terminology. We should caution students to use such databases as one of many access tools available to them. The future of research certainly includes database searching by end-users; and once the industry standardizes the hardware and software, more and more libraries are likely to take advantage of these research tools. There is currently a debate as to who should be responsible for teaching students about libraries in general and computerized access tools in particular. Some teachers maintain that it should be the librarians’ job, whereas many librarians think the task rests with classroom instructors. However, librarians increasingly are seeing their jobs in broad educational terms and are working to identify the instructional objectives for teaching students to use computerized access tools. (See, for example, Baker; Tierno and Lee.) Not surprisingly, much research in library science shows clearly that course-integrated library instruction is how students learn best to use the library (Tiemo and Lee 284). That is, library instruction divorced from actual class assignments is largely ineffectual. So, librarians are eager to form partnerships with other faculty to teach library skills. It seems to me that advanced English composition courses that focus on teaching academic writing, including both advanced expository and advanced technical and professional writing courses, are ideal for such a partnership. Librarians are quick to point out that students need to learn information-retrieval skills that are generalizable from one type of computerized tool to another. Four instructional objectives underlie much of the discussion in the library literature:
+ (Hamilton 195-96) In my own advanced writing classes, I begin by teaching students general search principles of cataloging and indexing, using a workbook designed cooperatively with librarians at my institution and a computer-assisted instructional program called Library Research Skills, developed at the University of Delaware. Once they have identified their own writing topics, students then plan and write a search strategy, including the identification of key terminology using the appropriate database thesaurus (for example, the ERIC Descriptors for the ERIC On-Line database). In my advanced writing course, Composition for Teachers, students discover from looking at the ERIC Descriptors that there may be many different terms used for a subject they wish to search. One student interested in holistic grading of student essays found by looking in the ERIC Descriptors that relevant search terms included “holistic approach” and “holistic evaluation.” The term “holistic grading” was not used as a descriptor. This student also determined by reading the scope notes for each descriptor that what she really wanted was a combination of’ "holistic evaluation,” “student evaluation,” and “writing evaluation,” since she was not interested either in evaluation of entire writing programs (“program evaluation”) or in holistic evaluation other than for writing. In this way, the student was able, through using Eric Descriptors, to focus the search on exactly those sources she needed. Once each student has outlined a search, with the help of the reference librarians, I guide my students through a hands-on tour of the computerized access tools. The tour begins with the online catalog, then the CD-ROMS and Infotrac databases, followed by the computerized reference tools, including OCLC, and ends with a sample online search using DIALOG or ERIC OnLine. For each computerized tool, the librarian explains the system, shows how to operate it, outlines a search strategy, runs a sample search, and suggests ways to interpret the results. As a follow-up assignment, students conduct their own database searches and bring the results to class for discussion. Because they see the immediate need for information related to their own writing assignments, students become excited about the ease and speed of computerized access tools. This paper suggests only some of the possibilities for teaching students about computerized access tools. But the most important thing to remember is that information searching using computers is here to stay. CD-ROMS are starting to appear in both colleges and high schools and soon will be available and affordable for the general public. As the price comes down, CD-ROM disc drives (similar to CD players) will be found in homes as commonly as VCRs are now. Encyclopedia publishers, anticipating this market, are making their encyclopedias available on CD-ROM; the entire text of a 20-volume encyclopedia fits on one compact disc (Leerburger 52). Some of our students will no doubt come to our classes more sophisticated than we are in using computers to find information. Nevertheless, we need first to educate ourselves and then to pass that knowledge on to all of our students in order to make the most of the exciting new technology. Utah State University Logan. Utah |
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