(no subject)

[nny]

I'm finding out as I do my masters that I am seriously not information literate. My current issues are based around a) finding the 'most relevant' papers/blogs/whatever (I mean, going by Google Scholar citation stats takes you a certain distance but it ain't the be-all end-all...) and b) working out who to follow on twitter.

I don't understand when I was supposed to learn this stuff, and I don't know crucially how to find out. I can't just ask individuals because it isn't anyone else's responsibility to help me out on this (although crowdsourcing is legit, so if any of you have advice it would be so appreciated).

There is just so much. I seriously cannot brain it.

Comments

[skygiants]

How are you defining most relevant? Like ... most cited? Most read in the field? (I don't know how much help I will be, because 9/10 of the papers I've ever written are about things that are completely obscure with ZERO relevancy, but I'm curious where you're coming from.)

[nny]

I am learning these things by osmosis, see. My lecturers define that I must find 'the most relevant' papers for a certain group of stakeholders or whatever, but I am missing vital information - such as status of various journals, opinions of blogs, knowledge of the big names in the field - that would help me work that out. I mean, I'm doing what I can, but every individual source of information on this stuff then has to be assessed for reliability and I don't have the starting knowledge cloud on which to base that.

She said, helpfully. XD

[skygiants]

Hm! That's a hard question to answer -- and I don't know how I'd go about finding it for a broader field I wasn't as familiar with, either -- but I would think some of it would also be the intended audience or mission of the journal in which it was published, which might be easier to find? Like, for me, I would think of that at least 50% in terms of 'who is this article written and intended for?' as well as 'who was it eventually received by?' But perhaps I'm thinking about it wrong.

[nny]

Yeah, no, that makes sense. I'm mostly just having a huff because I keep feeling like I'm trailing because I don't have enough knowledge of the field. Which is expected, because I am a student. Duh.

I think my main problem is unrealistic expectations of myself and the fact that I'm used to being the font of knowledge, yo. :D

Thanks for the advice!

[skygiants]

If it makes you feel better, I just had a long, gossipy meetup with my grad school classmates last night in which we talked about a.) all the things we still don't know, as graduates and presumably-respected members of our field and b.) all the things we thought wise and respected people in our field would know that it turns out they actually don't. Knowledge is hard to come by!

[pennyplainknits]

You can look at citation metrics or journal impact factors, although those have their drawbacks too- eg, if it's a less fashionable field, it may well have a lower impact factor even if it's useful FOR YOU. Also a high impact factor is not in and of itself guaruntee that the paper will be usful.

I'd recommend talking to your librarian- there will probably be one that has responsibility for your discipline and they will also be able to help

[nny]

*leans* I feel like an idiot now, dude. This is all stuff I've learned, and I hate that I couldn't apply it to myself - but appreciate so much the reminder, thank you.

Talking to people is apparently a thing I have forgotten how to do.

[wildestranger]

I would suggest talking to your subject librarian - you need to find out what search engines to use for your specific field, and what are the best journals in the discipline. Your lecturers should have told you this, but there should also be similar generic information about library studies in departmental websites - if not at your university, then somewhere else. Try looking up the top 10 universities for your field, then check their dept websites - they might have student handbooks available that will give you some information.

[florahart]

This. It IS in fact a librarian's job to help you learn this, and they keep up with stuff like what databases are useful for whom. And there are 833576222592786837497 or so databases, so it would not even be reasonable for you TO know.

My library has a page that is just a list of subject areas which open up to show what databases are most likely to be useful for the subject, as well as a list of subject librarians, as well as a list of research guides by subject focus which duplicates some of that information and also talks about things like specific non-database indices or works that are important. I dunno that the information from mine would be super useful for you because I don't know for sure what kind of access policies or distinctions there might be internationally because licensing and branding blah blah, and what subscriptions your library has is relevant to what databases are most valuable, but if yours has nothing, seriously, crowdsource in the direction of librarians.

[nny]

This comment was hugely helpful, thank you. I feel like a complete numpty because knowing about this stuff is actually what I am learning to do right now, since I'm doing a Digital Library Management MSc - although honestly that might be what's holding me back a little from asking people. Everyone else on the course seems to have library experience and information studies degrees and I feel like an idiot much of the time anyway. :D

[blnchflr]

We all always feel like everyone else know so much more than we do, but while some people do know way more, most people don't know as much as we think/worry they do.

Try to think of every "dumb" (it's not!) question you dare to ask as yanking YOU one step up the ladder of knowledge - instant levelling up, what's not to love? Still harder to do in practice than in theory :D

Awesome MSc!

[nny]

Dude, it is! Most of the time I am absolutely loving it, and I'm so much happier than when I was teaching it's untrue (although that makes me sad in itself, because I love teaching I just couldn't deal with the governance).

But yeah, I like that. Need to shoot for unlocking the 'asking people for help' achievement. :D

[dira]

I want to second/third this--the person you can ask to teach you this is definitely an academic/subject librarian! When I worked at a college I was constantly going into classes, teaching the most basic bare-bones information literacy and telling students over and over that the most important thing they needed to remember from my talk was that librarians are there to help with this stuff. I mean, literally, helping you with this is what makes a librarian's job more valuable than google, so you will absolutely make a librarian's day by going and asking for help with information literacy like this!

[nny]

The worst thing about this is that I am doing a librarianship MSc. XD

I'm doing digital library management, so learning about how to teach all this stuff is part of my job, but apparently applying that to my appalling study habits is too much for me. I have got entirely too used to doing everything independently, and because I feel I ought to have learned this already it didn't actually occur to me to ask a librarian.

Thanks so much for the advice, and I'm going to go headdesk some now... :D

[blnchflr]

Here via Network to fourth the suggestion of contacting your institution's library - they likely have information search courses or even one-on-one sessions. The more specific you can be about your needs (e.g. your reply to the first comment) the more likely you can get the best help.

Since I just got back from a conference on metrics, a comment on citation metrics and journal impact factors mentioned above: for finding individual papers (e.g. "most relevant in field"), citation metrics can definitely help you, IF your field is well covered in the citation database you are using. Journal metrics are not intended for use on individual papers. But hopefully a librarian can help you with all this - also accessing the relevant citation databases, as you need a log-in for some of them.

Best of luck :)

[nny]

Thanks so much for the advice!

I'm really feeling like an idiot now, because I am learning all this stuff as part of my course but the application of that to my own study habits is apparently entirely beyond me. :D I've got so used to doing everything on my own that asking someone genuinely hadn't even occurred to me.

[nny]

Thank you. This is seriously helpful advice, and I'm embarrassed that it didn't occur to me considering I am doing a library based MSc. >.< Too much theory and not enough application, obviously. I hadn't even thought of looking at other unis' websites.

I'm going to have to write a list of steps up in sharpie somewhere so I don't get flustered and forget all the stuff I've already been told. :D

Thank you.