Information Discovery in Computer Science

Richard Pears and Laura Jeffrey

Liaison Librarians

Search strategies

• What information do you need?

• How much information do you want?

• How much time have you got to collect it?

• Where are you going to access this information from?

• Literature review working from the general to the specific

Finding Information

Types of resources

Resources

• Books/ e-books

• Journals/ e-journals

• E-prints

• Statistics/data tables

• Theses

• Newspapers

• Internet pages

• Conference proceedings

• Patents

• Academics & librarians

Library web pages

• www.durham.ac.uk/library

• Catalogue

• Online information resources

• Subject information pages– Key resources– Pre-evaluated webpages– Databases

Effective searching

• Definitions and synonyms e.g. information, data, facts, statistics

• Adjacency or refine using “ ” e.g. Computer Science

• Boolean operators: AND, OR & AND NOT

Effective searching

• Truncation e.g. comput* to locate computer, computers, computation etc.

• Wildcards e.g. program* also returns programme

• Proximity e.g. systems within 3 software

• Advanced search option/ help

JournalsBordewich, M., Freedman, M., Lovász, L. & Welsh, D. (2005) Approximate counting and quantum computation. Combinatorics, Probability and Computing 14(5-6) pp. 737-754

Burd, E.L., 'The Single Ultimate Source', Quality Journal, Vol 7, June, 2001, pp 1-100

Databases

• Access from Subject Information Pages

• Search multiple journals at one time

• Use of keyword search

• Find related records/ citation search

• Broad scope: Web of Knowledge

Specific scope: Computer Abstracts

Material not in Durham

• COPAC

• Document Delivery Service

• Visits– Plan ahead– UK Libraries Plus Reference

Websites

• Who is the author?• Is the material biased?• Who is hosting this web page?• When was it posted or last updated?• Is there a bibliography or further

references?• Always use Gateways first • Online tutorials available

References and bibliographies

• ALWAYS keep a full and accurate record of your information sources

• Use the Library Catalogue to e-mail references for saving

• Make sure you refer correctly to other authors within your work

• Avoid plagiarism

Where to go for help

• Enquiries Desk on Level 2, Main Library

• Enquiry service: http://www.dur.ac.uk/library/using/enquiries

• Academic Support Team:

Richard Pears and Laura Jeffrey

Suggested topics

• Human Animation Motion Retrieval • Feed Scraper• Algorithms for graph colouring • Speech Synthesis for Poetry Reading

• SAT Solving• Intelligent Internet Agents• Compiler Optimization• Web Service for Component-Based Software

Engineering• Tools to Support Education