Science & Technology Resources on the Internet

Instructor: Ann Hammond

Science & Technology Resources on the Internet

Science and Technology resources are everywhere on the Internet. They range from sites meant for the lay person who wants to understand why water boils at a different rate at high altitude to those aimed at professional researchers and inventors who need hard data such as the density of jello. The trick is finding authoritative answers quickly.

• How do you convert Fahrenheit to Celsius?
• What is the relationship between Mad Cow Disease and Creutzfeld-Jacob syndrome?
• Is a nuclear winter effect possible?
• Can I connect narrow SCSI devices to a wide SCSI bus?
• Why is it so hard to get ketchup to come out of the bottle, then it all comes out at once?

If just reading these questions makes your palms sweat, come to this workshop and learn to handle your patrons' science and technology questions with confidence.

Workshop Description: This all-day workshop will explore how to approach science and technology questions in a public or undergraduate academic library setting. Using discussion, group and individual exercises, we will learn a variety of tools and techniques for finding science and technology information on the Internet, as well as practical, useful tips that can be applied immediately.

Topics To Be Covered:

• The Science Reference Interview
  • Understanding the question
  • Breaking down the question
  • Choosing your search tool
• Subject Directories
  • Recommended subject directories for sci/tech research
  • Strategies for using subject directories for sci/tech research
• Search Engines
  • Recommended search engines for sci/tech research
  • Creating a search - Boolean what?
  • Strategies for using search engines for sci/tech research
• The Invisible Web
  • What is the invisible web and how do you find it?
  • Recommended invisible web sites for sci/tech research
• Evaluating Science and Technology Web sites

Who Should Attend: Anyone in a California library who is interested in learning about science and technology resources on the Internet.

Prerequisites: A basic familiarity with computers and the Internet.

Check-in: 8:30 to 9 AM Instruction: 9 AM to 4:30 PM