Google - tips and pitfalls

Using Google to search

A large number of us use Google as the search engine of choice, but is it really the best way to search for information for your academic work?

Google searches for information using algorithms - a set of automated rules which are applied as it trawls for keywords you've put in the search box. Google does not index everything and there is a lot of good information in the hidden web (not to be confused with the dark web!) which will never find it's way in to Google results. The hidden web includes contents of specific databases and collections held by organisations which haven't made these searchable by Google.

The problem is that Google does not exist first and foremost to bring back the information you require. It exists to make money in advertising revenue and so your top links are likely to be sponsored links (whether they are relevant or not). It will often put the most popular results first and you may not want the most popular - you want the most relevant.

Google tracks your use - either by your login or IP address and remembers what you searched for and this will influence what results are brought back in future. Google will assume you want information  from the country in which you are searching  and in the language in which you typed. It tries to mould it's results to you and so two people can get totally different results from the same search.

That said, its academic arm Google Scholar is a useful tool for students for finding articles and papers, but again does not give access to everything. Also, full text access will still often only be available with your University login.

For more information, see the relevant chapter in Phil Bradley's book Expert Internet Searching. available in the LRC.

Image CC0 https://pixabay.com/en/magnifying-glass-google-76520/

Tips for using Google effectively

• If you want to keep your searches private so your searches can't be tracked, you can apply relevant settings or delete search history.
• Use Advanced search to be more specific about your search. You will find this hidden in the Settings menu.
• Use Google Scholar if you want to search academic resources. You can set it just to search just for sources provided by ARU, for example, but you will need to log in to the ARU Digital library first to read the resources. You may want to try turning off the settings too to see everything else that is indexed.
• Use the image search for photographs and images.
• Put words in speech marks to keep them as a phrase "University of Peterborough", "health and safety"  "prime minister". Google tends to look for words next to each other first anyway, but using speech marks is standard for phrase searching in most databases.
• Save typing by using an asterisk (*) to indicate missing letters. Paint* will search for paint, paints, painting, paintings, painter, painters.
• Type the most important search word first in the search box.
• If you just want to search for sites from a particular country type site:.uk (before your keywords), for example, for UK sites. If you just want results from UK government sites, for example, use site:.gov.uk before your search term(s).

Further resources

Massachusetts Institute of Technology have a useful guide to searching Google (but setting Google Scholar up for MIT is not relevant unless you study there!).
The University of Bedfordshire have some useful Google Scholar tips on their library site.
Google itself has provided some video "power searching" courses which you can work through.

Help with applying to University and careers information

Help with applying to University

Peterborough Regional College is fortunate to have en experienced careers adviser to help all of you looking to apply to study in Higher Education next year. Level 3 and Access students should all have had a visit from Matt about writing your personal statement and using OSCAR to do this.

For this half term, the LRC is supplementing the help given by your tutor and the careers department by offering appointments to those of you who want some initial help with getting on to OSCAR and finding your way around it. We will not be offering careers advice or checking the content of your personal statement but hopefully we can help you make sure that you have everything ready for when you have your appointment with a Careers Adviser. You should ask your tutor if you need subject-related information.

Booking an appointment

The LRC will offer 20 minute OSCAR appointments at these times only:

Tuesdays at 15:00, 15:20, 15:40

Wednesdays at 15:00, 15:20, 15:40

Thursdays at 10:40, 11:00, 11:20

Please book in advance (these are not drop-in sessions) by phoning or emailing the LRC or by coming in and booking with a member of staff. 

You will need to have filled in your OSCAR privacy statement form first, handed it in to the careers office and been given your OSCAR login. 

A few resources about going to University and writing Personal Statements (other than OSCAR).

Which? has a site dedicated to all things Uni. See https://university.which.co.uk/

Radio 5 Live has a short podcast about writing your personal statement.

UCAS has a YouTube channel with numerous videos about applying to University.

Many Universities have also produced their own guides to writing a Personal Statement so check out their websites too.

Online careers information - eCLIPS

Whether you are going to University or not, you have access to an online resource full of information about different careers and jobs which you may be interested in. This is available from Careers pages on Moodle or from the Electronic Resources page found under the LRC menu tab. You will find the login information here too.

National Libraries Week

National Libraries Week

During the week 8th - 12th October we marked National Libraries Week with some activities which focused on Well being (the theme had been chosen nationally due to World Mental Health Day being in the same week).

Libraries Week Wellbeing display
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

At the beginning of the week, beauty students offered hand massages to students studying in the LRC. In the middle of the week, we hosted a cake and green ribbon badge sale with the proceeds going to the Mental Health Foundation. We also promoted our mental health resource leaflet. Thank you to everyone who supported the event - including the Student Union and College Counsellor who had stands at the event.

Libraries Week event cake stand
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Some interesting facts about libraries

To finish, Reader's Digest (American) put together 10 fascinating facts about libraries which you might find interesting.

National Poetry Day

National Poetry Day

Andrew McDonnell

Today is National Poetry Day and so the LRC marked the occasion with a poetry reading from one of the University Centre Peterborough lecturers - Andrew McDonnell. Andrew is an English lecturer at UCP and has a book of poetry coming out next year.

Andrew McDonnell reads his poetry
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

National Poetry Day display

We also asked staff and students to send us some poetic song lyrics which we added to our National Poetry Day display (on the butterfly).

National Poetry Day display
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

A common poetic device used in songs is personification. This is where a writer describes something which isn't alive with human characteristics. In Sting's Fields of Gold, "the sun in his jealous sky" describes the sun as if it has a male gender and ascribes the emotion of jealousy to the sky. Of course the sky isn't jealous of the sun (as far as we know!), but describing it this way creates more of an atmosphere and sounds more interesting. This idea can be used in descriptive written work as well as poetry. Can you think of other music lyrics which use personification?

Reading and Wellbeing

Reading and Wellbeing

The Literacy Trust has released the findings of their annual literacy survey which explores the link between children's reading and their wellbeing. There seems to be evidence that children and young people with a positive attitude to reading have a higher sense of well being.

You can read the report here.

LRC Loyalty Card

In order to promote reading and literacy, the LRC is running it's annual Loyalty card scheme again this year. Students who read 6 books are entered in to a draw for prizes worth £50. Students wishing to take part can register in the LRC at the main desk. Every time you return a fiction book, your loyalty card will be stamped. A presentation event will be held in the spring next year.

The LRC are also partnering with the English department who are running their Get Lit campaign promoting reading in the classroom. Books read for this can count towards your loyalty card tally too.

Top tips for new UCP students

Welcome to new degree students at UCP

This week we started delivering some inductions and tours to new degree students at UCP. Next week we will have a stand at UCP Freshers.

Once you go to University, the emphasis changes to you doing far more of your own research rather than just being given information. You need to learn how to search for information in a range of different resources.

Some pointers to help you start using Library Services 

• Degree students are allowed to take out 14 books from the Learning Resource Centre at Peterborough Regional College. We are your main print library.
• UCP students have their own PC area (please book at the desk) but can use any computers in the LRC if they wish.
• The LRC is open until 7 Monday to Thursday and in vacations and it's much quieter then if you want to get some work done.
• UCP students have access to books at Anglia Ruskin University but must collect and return them to Guild House. (You can request them online).
• Black and white printing in the LRC is free, but you need to use your PRC login to get on to the computers in the first place.
• The LRC librarians deliver some of the Study Excellence Sessions at UCP on Mondays and Thursdays 1-2 pm. Do come and see us. Topics include Beyond Google, Using images, Evaluating information, E-books and Box of Broadcasts.

UCP student PC area in the Learning Resource Centre

Anglia Ruskin Digital Library

• You have access to a wealth of resources through this online library.
• When you are outside the UCP building, you need to login first to see the text of the resources.
• We strongly advise you look at the subject guide for your course as it will show you key databases and resources relevant to your subject.
• Familiarise yourselves with searching the catalogue and the databases now while you don't have any assignments so that when you come to do some research you can spend time actually researching rather than learning how everything works.
• Follow the instructions on the screen for accessing different resources to ensure you have full access.
• Staff in the LRC can help you if you are unsure or have trouble finding what you need.

Top tips for starting university

To finish I found this article from the BBC featuring their Top 10 tips for starting university

Freshers' Fair 2018

Welcome back!

Welcome to the LRC blog for those who are new to the College and welcome back to everyone returning for another year.

This week, LRC staff have been busy giving tours of the LRC and also manning a stand at Freshers' Fair.

For those of you who have had a tour, we won't have had time to tell you about everything so please ask the LRC staff if you are unsure of anything. For those of you who haven't had a tour, why not have a look at our annotated induction video and then try our quiz. For more detailed questions and answers, you can look at our Frequently Asked Questions document. Both this and the induction video and quiz are found on our LRC 24/7 Moodle page along with lots of other resources to help you with using the LRC and our resources.

Freshers' Fair

This week, we attended the FE Freshers Fair on Tuesday and Wednesday and gave out free books, signed many of you up to our fiction Loyalty scheme. Lots of you took part in our Hook-A Duck game/ competition. We asked you to hook ducks from a bowl of water and those with the highest scores over the 2 days won a prize. Thank you to everyone who took part and we enjoyed meeting everyone who came to the stand. We hope that you come and see us in the LRC too over the year.