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Learning Skills For Uni Studies U1
Learning Skills For Uni Studies U1
Unit 1
WUC 131/03
Learning Skills for
University Studies
WOU’s Website
and Basic Search
ii WAWASAN OPEN UNIVERSITY
WUC 131/03 Learning Skills for University Studies
COURSE TEAM
Course Team Coordinator: Ms. Jasmine Selvarani Emmanuel
Content Writers: Dr. Tan Soon Yin, Mr. Fan Kok Keong and Ms. Jasmine Selvarani Emmanuel
Instructional Designer: Dr. Ng Wai Kong
Academic Member: Professor Cheah Kooi Guan
COURSE COORDINATOR
Ms. Jasmine Selvarani Emmanuel
PRODUCTION
Editor: Mr. William Desmond De Zeeuw
In-house Editors: Mr. Khoo Chiew Keen, Ms. Koh Kah Ling, Ms. Michelle Loh Woon Har and
Ms. Ch’ng Lay Kee
Graphic Designers: Ms. Audrey Yeong and Ms. Leong Yin Ling
Wawasan Open University is Malaysia’s first private not-for-profit tertiary institution dedicated to
adult learners. It is funded by the Wawasan Education Foundation, a tax-exempt entity established
by the Malaysian People’s Movement Party (Gerakan) and supported by the Yeap Chor Ee Charitable
and Endowment Trusts, other charities, corporations, members of the public and occasional grants
from the Government of Malaysia.
The course material development of the university is funded by Yeap Chor Ee Charitable and
Endowment Trusts.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without prior written permission from WOU.
Contents
Unit 1 WOU’s Website and Basic Search
Course overview 1
Unit overview 3
Unit objectives 3
Objectives 5
Introduction 5
Objectives 13
Introduction 13
Objectives 21
Introduction 21
Objectives 31
Introduction 31
Objectives 39
Introduction 39
Summary of Unit 1 67
Appendix 71
UNIT 1 1
WOU’s website and basic search
Course Overview
T he main aim of this course is to develop and enhance a set of attitudes that
will lead to successful and independent lifelong learning in an open learning
environment. The course contents include how to learn effectively, manage stress
and time, prepare for tutorial sessions, write assignments, make short oral
presentations, prepare for various types of assessments, manage WawasanLearn in
WOU, use the electronic library, search for information via various sources, resources
and use evaluation criteria to select the most accurate, relevant and credible data.
3. Apply effective learning and stress management styles to manage their studies
and personal lives.
4. Demonstrate skills and strategies they can use to handle various types of
exam questions and test anxiety.
Unit Overview
W elcome to Unit 1 of WUC 131/03 WOU’s Website and Basic Search. When you
needed additional information or reference material during your schooldays,
the place to go was either your school library or the public library. Here at WOU,
you can still continue doing that. But we also have an additional place for you to
go to now the WOU website. This is a resource centre that is open 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week and it never closes. This unit will introduce you to the WOU
website and show you new ways of searching for resources here.
You will realise as you journey along with us that you will have to make changes
to certain aspects of your life. You may notice changes in your routine or schedule,
your mind set, your attitudes and more importantly, your way of learning. In this
unit we would like to introduce you to the various ‘in-house’ learning resources
that can help you handle some of these changes and make better progress in your
learning. We are going to begin with the WOU website a site that will provide you
access to various resources that you can use to help you become a more competent
and capable learner.
Unit Objectives
By the end of this unit, you should be able to:
1. Describe the main features of WOU’s website and list the resources available.
4. Describe the WOU digital library and the strategies for using the library.
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UNIT 1 5
WOU’s website and basic search
Introduction
You can access the WOU website through the Internet. The Internet is a network
of networks, linking computers to computers. The Internet is, in other words,
the transport vehicle for the information stored in files or documents on another
computer. Among the services used by the computers on the Internet is the
World Wide Web (WWW) or Web for short. The Web was created in 1989 by the
European Particle Physics Laboratory based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is basically
an information delivery system. One can use the Web to seek many different kinds
of information as well as access many different types of services posted in the web.
To access a website, you need to use a client program, which is also known as a
Browser. Some of the commonly used browsers are Mozilla, Internet Explorer and
Netscape, among others. The main purpose of the Web is to organise and make
available widely scattered resources within easy reach of the computer user.
Information on the Web is organised into web pages. Web pages may contain
different kinds of information. Some of the web pages may contain only text
(characters), while others may contain graphics (text and pictures or illustrations).
The more sophisticated web pages may be multimedia based and have animation,
sounds and video images. The website, on the other hand, is a collection of related
web pages, just like a book that has many pages. Many organisations and individuals
have their own websites. For example, the Wawasan Open University has its own
website as do all the universities in Malaysia. The various government ministries
and departments also have their own websites.
The most outstanding element of the Web is that they have links to other resources.
When you access the pages of a website you may find links to other websites and
these links are called hyperlinks. These hyperlinks are usually highlighted or marked
differently in a document. Thus when a reader of a webpage clicks a hyperlinked
word or phrase, the browser will almost instantaneously jump from one web page
to another web page or document in a completely different website. In short, you
can think of the Web as a library and the millions of websites are like the books in a
library. Sometimes, a site may contain only a page while others may have hundreds
of pages, and they may be linked to other websites. However, you can only visit
one website at a time.
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start
Then locate the All Programs. Search for the Mozilla Firefox icon. Click on the
icon. A webpage will appear like the one shown below. On the address bar, type
http://www.wou.edu.my. This will take you to the WOU Web Portal.
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Mozilla Firefox
All Programs
address bar
UNIT 1 9
WOU’s website and basic search
Another way to access the WOU Web Portal is by using the Internet Explorer icon
in your computer. This icon is also located on the desktop or the taskbar of your
computer. If it is not there, click on the start icon. Then locate the All Programs.
Search for the Internet Explorer icon. Click on the icon. In the web page address
bar, type http://www.wou.edu.my.
What is a portal? The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 3rd Edition (2001)
defines a portal as “a tall and impressive gate or entrance to a building.” This portal
is more than just an ordinary entrance. It opens the door to a website that will
provide you with a variety of services in the form of an online library, web search
facilities, email, chat rooms, news updates, and links to other websites. It is actually
the door to a new world of lifelong learning.
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Activity 1.1
_________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Web Reference
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/
InvisibleWeb.html (Accessed 5 April 2016)
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Summary
In this section, you learnt how to access the WOU website. Websites
provide access to various services and resources and they are
available round-the-clock. Similarly, the WOU website, as described
in this section, is equipped with various resources and services to
enable you to become a more efficient and successful learner.
Feedback
Activity 1.1
b. FAQ Examination
Introduction
This section will introduce you to WOU’s online learning environment. We assume
that you own a personal computer and know the basics of using it as well as the
strategies for surfing the Internet. If you don’t, ask your friends to teach you or
sign up for a course. It is important that you take the initiative because as an open
distance learner, you need the support of various resources to help you progress in
your learning. One such resource is the Learning Management System or LMS.
The LMS is a software package that allows the management and delivery of
content and resources to students. The LMS technology has now become an
integral part of teaching and learning in ODL because it is extremely flexible in
its customisation and its ability to support multiple learning environments. Most
LMS systems are web-based and enable learners to access the learning content
and administration “anytime” and “anywhere”. They also allow learners self-
service such as facilitating registration for courses and providing access to course
materials. In most LMSs, you may even find virtual live classes and resources such
as books and instructors. Thus, through the LMS, learners are able to read course
materials, complete assessments, quizzes and tests from the convenience of their
personal computers, while contributing to live discussion forums and chat sessions.
In ODL, the LMS provides a place:
• For content interaction among learners and/or tutor and Course Coordinator.
Now let us look at the features in WawasanLearn that will help enrich and
accelerate your learning experience at WOU. We mentioned above that as an open
distance learner you need to constantly interact with tutors, Course Coordinators
and course mates. To enable you to do this efficiently and effectively, the
WawasanLearn has made available the forum. This is one of the most important and
useful learning tools for an open distance learner. This is where you get to ‘meet’ your
tutors, Course Coordinators and your course mates (not only from your centre but
from other centres as well). This is where you will have the opportunity to discuss,
collaborate and brainstorm with all of them. In addition, it also provides you with
information and resources to help you complete and/or submit assignments and
quizzes. Shown below is the website for Learning Skills for University Studies. Go
through each part of it so that you will have an idea of how it works.
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WOU’s website and basic search
There is also a section where you can go and get information about your tutor and
his/her telephone tutoring hours.
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Forum guide
Now that you are familiar with the course website and your tutor details, we shall
look at how the forum can help you in your learning process. Basically, there are two
main types of forum that you can participate in through the WOU portal: Learning
Forum and General Forum.
3. Tutor Contact Details This forum will be updated by each tutor assigned
to the course. Each tutor must post his/her contact number and available
time for tutoring here.
4. Public Forum This forum can be posted by anyone enrolled in the course
for discussion on general issues. Please do not use this forum to ask specific
details about your TMA or course content. That needs to be posted on
your class tutorial forum.
5. Tutorial Forum This is a dedicated forum that students and tutor(s) can
use to post/communicate with each other to discuss tutorial specific issues
within the same tutorial class such as queries on TMA. It also provides an
avenue for seeking answers or clarification to issues, doubts or any questions
that you might have related to the course content as well.
Activity 1.2
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
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WOU’s website and basic search
Activity 1.3
There may be questions or issues that you may want to get more
information on or discuss with your course mates from the other
Regional Office. Write down one question or topic that you would
like feedback on.
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
WawasanLearn also hosts the course websites. This is where you will find all the
information and announcements related to the various courses you take. As you
would probably know, you are required to complete two tutor-marked assignments
(TMAs). WawasanLearn is one avenue for you to submit these assignments. You must
submit the assignments online. Feedback on your performance (grades or comments)
will be given at a later date. If you have any questions or comments on the TMAs,
you can always post them on the class tutorial forum. There is always the inevitable
deadline for submitting your TMAs. This will be stated in the course website.
Apart from that, you may also have quizzes to answer. They may be multiple-choice,
short-answer, filling-in-the-blanks or true-false type of questions. Although these
quizzes do not contribute any marks towards your assessments, they have been
included to help you assess your own progress, just like the self-tests in your course
materials. You can answer the online quizzes directly on the course website. You
can attempt the quizzes either once or more than once. If you are allowed to take
a quiz more than once, the number of attempts will be shown on the top left-hand
corner. So one of your main responsibilities is to read all the instructions carefully
before you begin an online quiz.
Resources
WawasanLearn also provides you support in terms of the resources you need to easily
view the course materials. For example, you may need Acrobat Reader to read a
handout given by your Course Coordinator in PDF format. Another resource that
WawasanLearn has made available for you are the links to external web references.
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Summary
Self-test 1.1
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
2. Describe three ways the LMS can help you as an open distance
learner.
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
UNIT 1 19
WOU’s website and basic search
Feedback
Activity 1.2
Activity 1.3
Introduction
Online assignment submission (OAS) is a system that caters for all the University’s
needs in terms of receiving assignments from students, making them available to
tutors to mark, returning grades, comments and marked work to students and
keeping the Registry and course administrators informed at all stages of the process.
It enables you to deposit your assignments with immediate acknowledgment, and this
is available for all courses via https://assignment.wou.edu.my. Through this system,
you need only to log in and click on the relevant course to submit an assignment.
The system also allows administrators to have a centralised and accurate record of
submissions. As the assignments are automatically deposited into the system, they
are instantly recorded. An electronic system reduces the amount of paper handling
required. The Registry staff do not need to photocopy assignments nor spend time
and money putting them into envelopes and posting them out to tutors. Archiving
electronic versions of documents reduces the physical storage space required for
paper versions. Tutors too, can retrieve the students’ assignments from any place
with Internet access, and proceed to provide the necessary attention and feedback.
Our OAS includes email notifications to relevant personnel of key events: submissions,
extension requests, uploading of grades and marked work. Everyone involved in the
process can access the system at any time to check whether assignments have been
received or marked and the status of extension requests. Communication between
all those involved is easy, lessening delays in the whole process. The logging of every
action is integrated into the system so it is easy to track who submitted what and
when, and all documents uploaded to the system are stored for easy reference and
retrieval.
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You must submit assignments for a course in accordance with the dates set by the
University. However, a TMA may be submitted after the final submission date for the
assignment and be accepted for marking if there are good reasons and provided that
permission has been obtained in advance for the extension of the final submission
date, as given below.
2. if the assignment is to be submitted later than seven (7) days, but within
14 days after the final submission date for that assignment: approval from
the course coordinator of the course is required;
In all cases of late submission of TMAs without prior approvals, there is a 30% penalty
imposed in the marks awarded for the said TMAs (new students are given a one
semester grace period and shall be exempted from the 30% penalty ruling). However,
the Course Coordinator will still have the right to reject the assignment, in which
case a zero score shall be given for that assignment. You are therefore reminded to
seek prior approvals should you need an extension of the TMA submission deadline.
Note: No extension will be granted for the submission of the last TMA due to the
insufficient amount of time between feedback from tutors and commencement of the
examination period.
Now we will show you the procedure to submit your TMAs online. There are nine
steps that you need to follow to perform various actions on the OAS.
UNIT 1 23
WOU’s website and basic search
• Select the course and class for which you wish to submit your assignment
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• Locate and select the file that you wish to submit on your computer and click
the “Open” button
• Confirm the file that you are about to submit and click the “Submit” button
UNIT 1 25
WOU’s website and basic search
• Read the message box to confirm the file that you are about to submit is
correct and click the “OK” button
• A date and time indicating that your submission is successful will appear
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Summary
Introduction
Traditional libraries comprise buildings constructed to house collections of
books, journals and other printed resource materials. You need to physically move
from shelf to shelf in search of the books you need. The pictures below show what
a traditional library normally looks like from the outside and inside.
But the libraries you will be spending most of your time with in future can be
accessed from your computer. Thus, the ODL learning approach requires that you
learn to apply new skills to search for resources you need by using not only the
traditional libraries but also the libraries ‘in’ the computer. They are called digital
libraries.
• You can access it wherever you are: You need not go to the library
physically. You can visit the library at home, at the Regional Office or at
work, as long as you have an Internet connection.
• Everyone has access to the digital libraries: The digital books are
available to everyone. However, most libraries require paid subscriptions.
But if you are a registered student in an institution of higher learning
(college or university), you will have automatic access to the libraries that
the institution subscribes to.
• The resources are available at all times: The digital books are always
available every single minute and second of the day. You can access them
anytime you wish.
• The books are always well-preserved: Regardless of how many times you
or other users view the book; they will always be in good condition not
torn, dirty or missing. Digital books cannot be defaced or damaged.
• You can create your own virtual bookshelf: You can create a virtual
bookshelf for yourself. Then you can put a book you want to refer to in
future on the bookshelf, or stack it up with hundreds of books. You can
create your very own digital library and you need not buy shelves or put
up with restricted storage space. When your room or house has no space for
extension, you can solve it by digitisation.
UNIT 1 33
WOU’s website and basic search
• You can network. What do you do if you cannot find a particular book
from one library? Digital libraries can provide a link to the resources of
other digital libraries very easily.
Now that you have seen what digital libraries can do for you, let us introduce you
to the WOU Digital Library and the strategies for using it.
2. Virtual reference resources that help you access freely available Internet
information sources.
8. Patron record section of the Library catalogue that will enable registered
WOU students and staff to check their borrowing and fines records.
In order to make the e-resources work for you, you need to know the best way to
use them. But of course, don’t just rely solely on electronic resources if you want to
produce a really good piece of work. You should explore other Internet resources
and the traditional collections at the WOU Library to supplement your search.
E-book database
Databases Subject coverage
1. Books24X7 Business, finance, technology
2. eBrary Wide range of academic disciplines (business,
technology, social sciences, language, history,
education, law)
3. Cambridge Book Online Wide range of academic disciplines (business,
technology, social sciences, language, history,
education)
4. Ebscohost eBook Collection Wide range of academic disciplines (business,
technology, social sciences, language, history,
education, law)
5. Oxford Reference Online Language and subject reference works
E-journal database
Databases Subject coverage
1. EBSCOhost Business Source Business journals
Complete
2. EBSCOhost Regional Business Regional business publications covering all
News metropolitan and rural areas within the United
States
3. Emerald Management Business, finance, knowledge management,
accounting, legal and library science
4. Computers & Applied Computing and applied sciences disciplines.
Sciences Complete
5. JSTOR Art & Sciences Arts and sciences
Collections
Other E-resources
Databases Subject coverage
1. ProQuest Theses & Theses and dissertations on humanities and
Dissertations social science subjects
2. CCH Malaysia Master Tax Malaysian and Singapore tax and legislation
Some articles may also be available in ‘Portable Document Format’ or PDF format.
To read articles in this format, you need the Acrobat Reader software which is
available free of charge. But we do need to remind you that the use of all online
library resources is subject to copyright restrictions which apply to both printing and
downloading. If you fail to observe the rules, you may be held liable. For example,
if publishers find out that you have printed or downloaded their materials without
permission, they have the right to take you to court.
Activity 1.4
Now that you are an open distance learner, describe how you plan
to use the digital library for:
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
UNIT 1 37
WOU’s website and basic search
Summary
Feedback
Activity 1.4
Introduction
If you want the current best-selling novel, you will know where to buy it. Or if
you want to watch the latest blockbuster movie, you will know where to go. In case
you can’t find the book you are looking for or where the movie is being shown,
you may ask family members, friends or colleagues. When you ask others for
information to find what you need, you are actually employing a very simple form
of search strategy. However, you would need to equip yourself with more
comprehensive, effective and relevant search strategies to help you gather information
as a university student.
2. Digital library
3. Internet
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Searching for information from these three different sources therefore requires
three different search strategies:
To know the exact location of library materials, you will need to know the following:
Remember that finding the right materials will be easy once you know how.
Now, let us see how we can use the MyCatalogue to locate library materials. Below
is a sample of a WOU library book record after a search:
Go through all the information on the sample library record. Note that all the
basic information is put into separate fields, i.e., the names of the author, title,
subject, call number, ISBN number, etc. are recorded separately.
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This search strategy by default is a keyword search where you search library resource
records for terms that might appear in the author, title and subject. It is also be used
in searching other academic library catalogues.
If there are too many records to review or if you use a specific set of terms, the search
may not reflect results to meet your need. In this case, you can refine your search
result using the Limiters.
• Limiters let you narrow the focus of your search so that the information
retrieved from the databases is limited according to the values you have
selected. You can use more than one limiter if more than one limiter is available.
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• Click on the article title. The link takes you to the citation information and/
or the full text.
UNIT 1 45
WOU’s website and basic search
Search for printed books, project reports, staff papers, news clips and magazines
• The ‘Search Results’ screen will appear as shown below. Details on the
bibliographic records such as the author, title, publication will looks as below.
UNIT 1 47
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Activity 1.5
1. Study skills
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
2. Word Processing
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
Here you will learn how to conduct Keyword search using Boolean logic or connectors.
The connectors are commands that are used to combine keywords to broaden or
narrow the results of a search. Combining terms using operators is sometimes called
Boolean searching. A Boolean logic broadens a search by incorporating synonyms
or alternate terms. For example, doctors or hospitals would retrieve everything that
mentions doctors in addition to everything that mentions hospitals. They either let
you broaden (increase) or narrow (decrease) your searches.
Boolean logic are the words AND, OR, NOT, which are used to connect search terms.
The table below shows samples of Boolean searching with the three search terms.
Now, let us see an example of keyword search using the operator ‘AND’. The topic
you wish to look up is ‘distance education AND quality’.
The following are some of the results that you may find for “distance education
OR online learning”. There are 96 titles found in the library collection.
The following are some of the results that you may obtain for ‘distance education
NOT educational technology’.
The following is one sample of the titles you may find. To read the content, click
on View full-text here.
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Here are some additional tips to help you with your advanced keyword search. Use
the wildcard and truncation symbols to create searches where there are unknown
characters, multiple spellings or various endings. You can use the first part of a word
to find any word in a database that starts with those letters.
Wildcards
Use a question mark (?) to designate a single character. Use two question marks to
designate two characters, and so forth:
Truncation
For example: comput? This will give you computer, computing, computational,
computers, etc.
This is a fast way to search for plurals or related words. The following are some
examples of how you can use question marks and asterisks to help you in your search.
Asterisks: Use an asterisk (*) to designate one or more characters.
• If you type Mar with an asterisk like this Mar* you will retrieve market,
marketing, marketplace, margin, marathon, etc.
Activity 1.6
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
a. Co?t
_______________________________________________
b. Psy*
_______________________________________________
c. G?ion
_______________________________________________
When viewing individual records in the library catalogue you will find a BARCODE/
CALL NUMBER/LOCATION/ITEM CLASS/STATUS box as shown below:
3. Locate the book on the shelf. The call number is generally taped to the
bottom of the spine of each book or in the case of “thin” book, at the
bottom left hand corner of the book.
The Library uses the Library of Congress Classification Scheme to assign call numbers
to all books and other library materials, except for WOU course materials and vertical
file collection. This system divides all knowledge into twenty-one basic classes,
each identified by a single letter of the alphabet. Most of these alphabetical classes
are further divided into more specific subclasses, identified by two-letter, or
occasionally three-letter, combinations. For example, class N, Art, has subclasses
NA, Architecture; NB, Sculpture, ND, Painting; as well as several other subclasses.
A call number is a sequence of letters and numbers used to identify the subject matter
of a particular item. It is used to determine the location of an item on the shelves.
QA The first line consists of letters that represent the general subject
of the item.
184.2
The second line is always a whole number from 1– 9,999 and these
numbers represent the specific topic of the item. The numbers
184.2 represent algebra, linear.
P821
The third line represents the cutter number assigned to the
author of the book.
2006
The fourth line may be a year of publication or volume number.
In this case 2006 represent the year the book was published.
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WOU’s website and basic search
• Books are shelved alphabetically according to the letter on the first line.
• When books have more than one letter, the single lettered books are first on
the shelf (to the left), followed by those with double letters. Example: in the
H section, the order would be: H, HB, HF, HV, etc.
• If the letters on the first line of the call number are the same, the book with
the smaller number on the second line is shelved to the left of the book with
the larger number. Example:
HB Shelved before HB
30.28 171.5
• The books are then arranged according to the third line. Example:
HB Shelved before HB
238 238
.M321 .M351
HB HB HB HB
30.28 30.28 238 238
F321 F321 .M321 .M35
Vol. 1 Vol. 2 2004 B67
MyDigitalLibrary contain huge online databases and you can definitely need search
strategies in order to locate them. Once you have located the contents you want,
you can read them immediately.
How to find out which electronic resources contain the information you need?
You must learn the correct way of searching the electronic resources to improve
the efficiency of your searches. This will definitely help you save time and find
what you are looking for more easily.
Now go to WawasanLearn and refer to our course home page. Under resources for
Tutorial 1, you will see a guide on finding electronic resources. You can also find it
at http://lib.colostate.edu/tutorials/boolean.html (Accessed 6 April 2016)
Computer searches work best when you have very specific topics. If you are looking
for a broad topic, you must decide if you want everything in that subject area or
you want articles that give you a general overview. This will determine the question
you ask and the vocabulary you use in your search.
• search topic.
You also need to know that the computer only searches for words and character
strings, not “meanings”. Therefore you should be able to break your question
into parts that can be easily searched. For example, you need to write a paper on
‘Reading Problems Faced by Part-time Adult Learners’. You can break this topic into
‘Reading Problems’, ‘Part-time Adult Learners’ and/or ‘Adult Learners’.
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A computer search does not find everything you need from your very first entry
you will need to build on your searches. The references you need may also not
be available locally, so do the search through Interlibrary Loans. Modify your search
as you go along to retrieve more information or to weed out unwanted citations.
As you surf the Internet, you would probably realise by now that the information
here is not organised or indexed in any standard manner. This makes searching
for information a very difficult task. Without any search strategies, looking for
information would be like looking for a needle in a haystack! For example, when
you type the word ‘haze’ in the Google search engine, you may come up with more
than 20,00,000 results! It would obviously not be practical for me to go through
every single one of the results just to locate one single file. With the right strategy,
you should be able to find what you want in minutes.
Internet search strategies differ from OPAC search strategies and digital library
search techniques. OPAC and digital library search strategies are more structured
since we are searching for specific titles.
There are two important steps in a successful search strategy:
1. Know your topic: First, you must be clear what your topic is. Identify the
main words to be used in your search. What are the main concepts in your
topic? Next, determine the terms, key words, synonyms, alternate spellings
for the concepts.
2. Know your Internet Search Tools: Second, you need to know which of
the various search tools you intend to use. There are search engines, meta
search engines and subject directories.
Here is an activity to help you in your search for information. Begin by writing
your topic in the box:
My Topic:
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What are the words, phrases, synonyms, names, abbreviations, acronyms that are
uniquely associated with the topic? If you have phrases or even sentences, put them
within quotes so your search will turn up the information exactly in that order.
Write the words in the box.
What organisations, societies or groups may have the information you are looking
for? Their websites or homepages may carry the information you are searching for
or they may have links to other pages and sites.
You can make use of the Boolean Search Strategy here. Are there any words you do
not want to appear in your search? Are there any other words you want to include
in your search? Make use of the terms and, not and or.
There are numerous search tools on the Internet. Making use of the topics, words
and phrases you have identified with different search tools can provide you with
very different results. You need to know what search tools are available and what
their special functions are. Here is a list of the various tools and what they can do:
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• URL address
If you know the web address of the information source, you can go directly
there. Just type the URL address, press Enter, and you are directly linked to
the site.
Browse through the various pages of the website. Select the links, click on
them, and you are taken to other pages and topics. You may click on the links
to other websites.
Some of the more popular search engines are Google (www.google.com), Yahoo
(www.yahoo.com), Exalead (www.exalead.com/search), etc. You can conduct searches
using any of these search engines. Type the keywords, phrases or even sentences
in the search box. Decide which of the results that turn up would contain the
information you need.
In a meta-search engine, you submit keywords in its search box, and it transmits
your search simultaneously to several individual search engines and their databases
of web pages. Within a few seconds, you get back results from all the search engines
queried. Examples of meta search engines are kartoo (www.kartoo.com) and Dogpile
(www.dogpile.com). Shown below are the web pages of the two meta search engines.
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Subject directories
Subject directories websites are organised into categories with each category
containing links to various other sub-categories.
Digital libraries
You have already learnt about the digital library and how to use it. This is an
invaluable strategy in open distance learning to source for information.
Databases
A database is a collection of data arranged for ease and speed of search and
retrieval. Some databases require you to subscribe and be a paid member. However,
there are lots of free databases of reference material on specialised topics.
Newsgroups
Ask a question
Some search engines provide a service called ‘Ask a Question’. Yahoo, for instance,
has the ‘Ask Yahoo’ service. All you need to do is type your question on the form
provided and submit it. The authors of the site will then try to answer your questions.
Blogs
The Oxford Dictionary of English, 2nd edn., (revised) 2005 defines a blog as a personal
website on which an individual records opinions, links to other sites, etc. Blogs
offer alternative viewpoints on news and other subjects.
Activity 1.7
Now go back to the topic you chose earlier. Choose any three tools
(meta search engines, digital libraries or blogs) discussed above
and locate information on the topic ‘Open Distance Education’.
Write down the tools you used in the left-hand column and the
information in the right-hand column. Once you have completed
your search, compare the results you obtained with your course
mates who used the same tools.
Tools Information
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1. Mendeley
2. Qiqqa
Web Reference
For further information on the topic you have just read, you may
refer to the following websites:
1. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/?TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/
MetaSearch.html (Accessed 6 April 2016)
2. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/?TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/
SubjDirectories.html (Accessed 6 April 2016)
Summary
Self-test 1.2
Item Results
Author
Call number
Subject
Self-test 1.3
a. ______________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________
a. ______________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________
a. ______________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________
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a. ______________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________
d. ______________________________________________
e. ______________________________________________
Feedback
Activity 1.5
Activity 1.6
Activity 1.7
Tools Information
search engine Hotbot International Council for
Open and Distance Education
www.icde.org
Meta-search engine dogpile UNESCO | Education Open
Distance Learning
SPECIAL FOCUS. Regions/
Countries. Open Distance
Learning ... International
Council for Open and Distance
Education (ICDE), the
International Centre for Distance
... South African Institute ...
portal.unesco.org/education/en/
ev.php-URL_ID=34162...
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UNIT 1 67
WOU’s website and basic search
Summary of Unit 1
Summary
In this unit of Learning Skills, you learnt all about the WOU website;
where important resources to assist you in this distance learning
programme are housed. These include WawasanLearn, OAS and
MyDigitalLibrary. Apart from knowing what resources there are,
you also learnt appropriate strategies such as OPAC and internet
search that will enable you to retrieve information or materials
more easily for your learning. As an open distance learner, it is
important that you learn how to carry out the different types of
search discussed in this unit. They will be very useful especially
when you need to read up for tutorials, complete assignments or
do your revision.
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UNIT 1 69
WOU’s website and basic search
Feedback
Self-test 1.1
b. Submit assignments.
Self-test 1.2
Item Results
Author Masters, L. Ann
Call number HF5381 M394 2011
Subject Personal development for life and work
Self-test 1.3
1. a. Basic search
b. Expert search
c. Advanced search
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2. a. ebrary
b. NSTP e-media
c. Books24x7
4. a. Blogs
b. Subject directories
c. Databases
d. Newsgroups
e. Search engines
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Appendix
A General Works
AC Collected Works
AE Encyclopaedias
AG Dictionaries and other general reference works
AI Indexes
AM Museums
AP Periodicals
AS Academics and Learned Societies
AY Yearbooks, Almanacs, Directories
AZ History of Scholarship and Learning
G Geography, Anthropology
G Geography (General)
GA Mathematical Geography, Cartography
GB Physical Geography
GC Oceanography
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G Geography, Anthropology
GE Environmental Sciences
GF Human Ecology
GN Anthropology, Ethnology, Ethnography
GR Folklore
GT Manners and Customs
GV Sports and Recreation
H Social Sciences
H Social Sciences (General)
HA Statistics
HB Economic Theory
HC Economic History and Conditions
HD Land, Agriculture, Industry
HE Transportation and Communication
HF Commerce
HG Finance
HJ Public Finance
HM Sociology
HN Social History
HQ Social Groups
HS Societies and Clubs
HT Communities, Classes, Races
HV Social Pathology, Criminology, Welfare
HX Communism, Socialism, Anarchism
J Political Science
J Official Documents
JA Collections and General Works
JC Political Theory
JK Constitutional History and Administration
JS Local Government
JV Colonisation, Emigration and Immigration
JK International Law, International Relations
K Law
K Law (General)
KF United States Law
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L Education
LC Special Aspects
LD U.S. Educational Institutions
LH College and School Publications
LJ Student Fraternities and Societies
LT Textbooks (General)
M Music
M Music Scores
ML Literature of Music
MT Music Instruction and Study
N Fine Arts
N Visual Arts (General)
NA Architecture
NB Sculpture
NC Graphic Arts (Drawing, Design, Illustration)
ND Painting
NE Print Media
NK Decorative and Applied Arts
NX Arts in general
Q Science
Q Science (General)
QA Mathematics
QB Astronomy
QC Physics
QD Chemistry
QE Geology
QH Natural History, Biology
QK Botany
QL Zoology
QM Human Anatomy
QP Physiology
QR Microbiology
R Medicine
R Medicine (General)
RA Public Aspects of Medicine
RB Pathology
RC Internal Medicine
RD Surgery
RE Ophthalmology
RG Gynaecology and Obstetrics
RJ Paediatrics
RK Dentistry
RL Dermatology
RM Therapeutics, Pharmacology
RS Pharmacy and Materia Medica
RT Nursing
RV Botanic, Thomsonian and Eclectic Medicine
RX Homeopathy
RZ Other Systems of Medicine
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S Agriculture
S Agriculture (General)
SB Plant Culture
SD Forestry
SF Animal Culture
SH Aquaculture, Fisheries, Fishing
SK Hunting
U Military Science
V Naval Science
Z History of Books, Library Science, Bibliography