Author Archives: Christopher DiGrazia

What we agreed upon that was most important was how the use of “And” or “Or” narrows down your searches. Another one is how to develop and construct a specific and good research question. We also agreed that knowing the author’s background and history can help us determine how viable a source is.

One thing that we agreed that we wished we spent more time on is the history of Google and how it was developed.

1. What three things that you learned this semester about doing research have been the most useful to you (or are likely to be the most useful to you)? Please explain why for each of those things.
   How to more efficiently use google. Like google history, better ways to search either using quotes and “and” and “or” and stuff like that. Thirdly, I thought that learning how to use databases was really important.
2. What is one thing that you wish we had spent more time covering in class or that we failed to get to in class? Why do you wish we had gotten to that?
   I wish we could have gone over peer-reviewed, because I didn’t really get it and I did pretty horribly on the homework relating to it.

The two databases that I will be analyzing are:
1. C – Computing Reviews
2. D – Dismal Scientist

1. Computing Review is a database that includes reviews of computer science literature, which includes: books, articles, conference proceedings, theses, technical reports, and Web-based. Computing Review does use controlled vocabulary to help narrow searches. They have the option to categorize searches with subjects like: General Literature, Hardware, Computer System Organization, Software, etc. One thing that I found interesting, but not surprising, is that this database updates daily. With technology advancing at its current rate, a database that caters to the topic must keep up.
2. Dismal Scientist is a database that provides economic information and analysis including over 100 economic indicators, stock market valuation, profiles by region, articles, industry information, forecasts, demographic information, and thousands of economic statistics. This database also has the option to categorize, but unlike Computing Review, Dismal Scientist categories are in alphabetical order: Agriculture, Antitrust, Banking, Central Bank, etc. Something that is interesting about this database is that it only has access to the data of the United States and Canada.

You can find information on a book, DVDs, CDs, magazines, journals, newspapers like: titles, call numbers, cover art, edition, publisher, a description, notes, a summary, and subjects it could be found in. But what this doesn’t give you is reviews of the book or websites relating to the keyword you’re searching with.

Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Author: Haddon, Mark
Call Number: PR 6058 .A254 C87 2004
Location: Stacks (Brooklyn College)
Status: Regular Loan
Due Date: 09/22/11 11:00 PM