SHASTA COLLEGE LIBRARY
11555 Old Oregon Trail  *  PO Box 496006  *   Redding, CA 96049-6006
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Learning Integrated with the Future Environment (LIFE) Learning Community

Library Contact: Carolyn Salus Singh

Envr 1 Career Planning for Environmental Resources
Spch 54 Small Group Communication
Instructors: Turner/Gorden/Nolte
Evaluating Information: Website vs. Printed
Books are the resource of choice when you're after comprehensive coverage of an issue.  A quick glance at a book's title page and jacket will afford you a title, place and date of publication, author bio and credentials, and even some reviews.  Examine the preface, table of contents, index, and bibliography and you begin to gauge the volume's strengths, shortcomings, and bias.  But many important topics, especially those of a local nature, don't have the large readership that economically justifies publication of an entire book.  Other stories are too current  to be well represented by the mainstream press (there's a lag of at least nine months between a book's completion and its publication). For these stories, the Web, where publishing is inexpensive, instantaneous, and simple, is heaven sent.  But when anyone can publish anything, finding the right site among the billions and evaluating the information contained in that site requires a healthy measure of skepticism.  Clicking to a webpage from a search engine is like hopping off a plane in a foreign land without a tour guide or maps.  How do you orient yourself when the documentation is sketchy?   The helpful publication information taken for granted in print books and magazines is often hidden or missing from webpages in this territory where the author also serves as editor and publisher.  Determining bias and reliability requires some detective work and much critical thinking. Below are a few tutorials and guides to website selection and evaluation. Locating Information: Books/Videos/Online eBooks/Maps
Registration for a netLibrary Online eBook account must be completed from an on-campus computer 
but the eBooks may be used from any where at any time. To create an account, visit the Library 
and choose Online eBooks from our home page.  Ask for help at Reference!

Locating Information: Articles

The Library subscribes to over 50 Articles & Databases to help you locate magazine and newspaper articles.  The following list features the databases most likely to contain current, full text articles on environmental science and policy issues.

A Library Card is required to access most databases from off campus. For information about acquiring 
a Library Card see "How do I get a Library Card?" on the Library's Frequently Asked Questions web page.

Locating Information: Internet Resources

Remember to be careful when choosing Internet resources for your research as some web sites contain unreliable
information (see Evaluating Information, above). One way to search with confidence is to use a classified list, that is, a list of sites that have been evaluated, selected, and indexed by subject area.  Librarians' Internet Index is an annotated directory to over 10,000 Internet Web sites.  These sites have been selected and reviewed by librarians (if you can't trust a librarian, who can you trust?).  LII is indexed by subject and searchable by both subject and keyword.  Because it's a small collection, remember to search broadly.  A search on the word sustainable yields 44 websites on sustainable agriculture, architecture, development, and industry.

Some excellent online sources for Learning Integrated with the Future Environment (LIFE)  include:

INFOMINE-- http://infomine.ucr.edu/
A Virtual Library created by librarians at the University of California campuses.
For class project research:
Select the area “Biological, Agricultural & Medical Sciences” then search the alphabetic listings for “Agriculture” and “Environment” for many useful links. U.C. Davis

Information Center for the Environment (ICE)--http://ice.ucdavis.edu
Links to current environmental projects such as “California Rivers Assessment”
“A cooperative effort of environmental scientists at U.C. Davis and …over 30 other organizations interested in environmental protection.”

Agricultural Issues Center--http://aic.ucdavis.edu/
Links to an overview of the Center’s activities, publications, and more.

U.C. Davis Related Links--http://aic.ucdavis.edu/links/default.html
Links to government agencies and research programs in environmental resources and agriculture.

Additional Useful Web Links Shasta College Library Information
FOR FURTHER ASSISTANCE: Phone the Reference Desk at 242-7865 or Ask a Librarian

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URL: http://library.shastacollege.edu/life2002.html
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      Updated: 05/08/08