Week 5, a few weeks late ...

Dear Reader:
  Okay!  Back at this blog after a hiatus.  Abdominal surgery isn't fun.  I wouldn't recommend it.
  The assignment for this unit has to do with finding credible sources.  To begin to understand what I would be learning I read through all the IRIS Modules and lessons, as well as one video on YouTube.
  The video was interesting because the narrator's accent helped the material stick in my head.
  One thing I learned from the IRIS modules is that there is a difference between 'natural language', and 'controlled vocabulary'.  Natural language is used in the keyword search. It is term or phrase and results in a broader search.  Controlled vocabulary is a term or phrase used in the subject field and is more specific.  All controlled language comes from the Library of Congress Subjects Headings.  It can be used to narrow the topic being searched for.
  I am to be looking through databases for books or other resources with an eye to finding sources that would be applicable to my research.
  I opened up the Clark College Library website.  As far as I understand it, the 'search option' searches in the database of the library in order to help me find a book or other resource that will have information on the topic I am interested in.
  In the search box I typed in, "military AND regulations AND female AND enlisted AND personnel".  In the first drop down box after "Limit by: " I chose 'periodicals'.   The second drop down box I left reading 'All Material Types'.
  The results stated, "No Entries Found".
  Hm.
  I tried again, but this time I chose Circulating Items instead of periodicals.  Still "No Entries Found".
  Um-hm.  Okay, this time I tried All Locations instead of Circulating Items.  Still "No Entries Found".
  That's odd.
  I checked the spelling in the search box.  No, that's not the problem.
  Then I tried the advanced search option.  This time I tried different keywords.  I typed in "Women's AND Uniforms AND US Navy".  I left the other options wide open so I could search through the whole database.
  Yet again, "No Entries Found".
  Alrighty then, perhaps the AND qualifier isn't needed.  I'll try not using it.
  I type in "military uniform regulations" in the advanced search options search box.
  "No Entries Found".  Every time that phrase is displayed there is a box accompanying it that suggests I try my search in SUMMIT.
  I will try yet another keyword search, and then I'll try SUMMIT.
  This time I type 'military regulations' in the search box.
  Pay dirt!  10 Entries!
  Here is the citation information on the one book that I thought looked promising.
  Maddow, R. (2012). Drift: The unmooring of American military power. New York: Crown.
  It's subject headings are as follows:

1. National Security -- United States
2. United States -- Military Policy
3. United States -- Armed Forces -- Appropriations and expenditures
4. Militarism -- United States
5. Political Culture -- United States
6. United States -- Foreign Relations -- 1989-
7. United States -- Politics and Government -- 1989-

  It's a circulation book with a loan period of 21 days, same as the Public Library.  It is presently available at the main library.  It's call number is UA23 .M17 2012.
  It contains bibliographical references and it is indexed, which would make it easier to fact check.  It was published this year, so it's recent.  I googled the author (is googled supposed to be capitalized, or not? ... not sure) and found that MSNBC claims her as a host for a top rated prime time show, "The Rachel Maddow Show".  She has other credible credentials as well.  Crown Publishing is a division of Random House Publishers, which is a well known publisher.  Some of the authors that contract with Crown are President and Michelle Obama, Martha Stewart, Deepak Chopra, M.D., and other non-fiction writers of good reputation.  Thus it is my hope that this would be a good reference for my work.
  Thus far, lesson learned: keep the search options rather loose.  Tighten only after you have a list to search through.
  Now, let's see what SUMMIT has to offer.
  In the search box I type in "military AND regulations AND female AND enlisted AND personnel", as I did for the previous catalog search.
  The search took .32 seconds and resulted in 24 items, but none of them would suit my needs at all.  I think I shall try the advanced search option which will allow me to specify the age of the material.
  In the Advanced Search keyword box I type in "uniform AND regulations AND female AND enlisted AND Navy".  I figure the word 'personnel' is adequately implied, and the word 'Navy' would be more useful.  Under 'Narrow your search', in the 'Library' drop down box I chose Summit.  In the 'Year' fields I entered '1978 to 1987'.  In the 'Format' drop down box I chose 'Book', and for language I chose 'English'.
  "No results match your search ..."  Hm.  Okay, we try a different tack.
  I went back to the generic search field and typed in "women's AND uniforms AND US Navy", then I hit the search button again.
  This time I was treated to 79 items in .70 seconds.  Most of the titles presented only had a mere reference to my keywords, but there were some potentially good sources listed.
  The book I chose was as follows:
Bradford, J.C. (2006). International encyclopedia of military history. New York: Routledge.

  Subject heading, or in this case Related Subject, is: Military History -- Encyclopedias.
  It can be found in 9 different libraries, the closest of which is Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.  It is a reference work, so if I want to take a peek I would have to go to this library.  However, the call numbers are: D25.A2 I58 2006  v.1 and D25.A2 I58 2006  v.2.  Apparently this is an extensive work.
  James C. Bradford is a writer of some renown.  He has 79 works in 152 publications in 3 languages, all to his credit.  He is an Editor, Compiler, and an Author of introduction.
  Routledge, the publisher, is a global publisher of quality academic books, journals & online reference, and it says so right on the website which can be found here .  They are well known as a publisher of textbooks for universities and colleges.
  All these would lead me to think this would be another good reference work.
  The next stop in this assignment is the IT Pro Collection of E-books.  As instructed I entered "Home PC" as keywords in the search box.  It brought up 2083 hits, the first of which really caught my eye.  It is, "Computing for the Older and Wiser: Get Up and Running On Your Home PC!"  As I approach the 'older and wiser' era of my life I'm thinking it might be wise for me to concentrate on this area of computer support.  A lot of people senior to myself might feel more comfortable accepting advise from someone who is closer to their age group.
  I began to explore the rest of this website, and found it very friendly to this user.  The advanced search fields were very similar to the types of search fields mentioned in the Australian YouTube video.  There were Additional Fields where one could make full use of Boolean logic words in order to narrow the search parameters.
  "And last but not least we have ..." Google Books.  Good old Google, who wants so bad to be everyone's favorite search engine.  They do pretty darn good, too.
  In the Google Books search field I typed in "US Naval Uniforms, female", and got quite a few interesting hits.  The first one that caught my eye was as follows:
Collins, W. Q., Captain, US Navy. (1997) More Than a Uniform: A Navy Woman in a Navy Man's World. Denton: University of North Texas Press.
  Google Books lists the publication page, which tells me that the author and co-author were recommended by none other than Arleigh Burke, a full Admiral in the US Navy, who wrote the forward for this book.  He has a whole class of ship named after him.  The Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers.
  Admiral Burke's recommendation alone tells me that this book is worth my time.
  The book is also indexed.  It includes photos of the author before and during her career.  This is a book I would dearly love to read, so you can bet it's on my 'to do' list.
  The four search interfaces that I have explored today have informed me and surprised me, which was a fun ride!  Cannell Library is probably not the best source for information on my topic, but that's not its fault.  Summit is a better source, with Google following close on it's heels.  IT Pro is only a little better than Cannell, though.  All in all, I'd say this journal entry has re-energized my desire to finish writing about my time in the Navy.