CPUT Logo
Information Sources:

Internet
   
 

Main Contents Page

About Information Literacy

STEP 1: STARTING out

STEP 2: FINDING

Information finding tools:

- Catalogue

- DDC (Dewey) system

- The Internet

- Databases (incl CD Rom)

Searching techniques:

- Boolean Logic

- Truncation/wildcards

- Phrase searching

Information sources:

- Dictionaries

- Encyclopaedias

- Atlases

- Books

- Periodicals/Journals

- Newspapers

- Audio-visual

- Internet

What is it?

Screen icons

Resources

Search engines

Meta search engines

Subject directories

Subject gateways, portals

Web address

More information

Glossary

- Broadcast media

- Grey literature

- Conference proceedings

- Maps

- Government publications

- Standards

- Museums

- Archives

- Theses and dissertations

- Quiz

STEP 3: EVALUATE

STEP 4: Legal & ethical USE

STEP 5: COMMUNICATE


Arrow

Subject Gateways & Portals

What is a subject gateway or portal?

Subject gateways or portals refine the work of subject directories by presenting subject specific information channels governed by strict quality criteria, usually compiled by human experts.

Resources included in gateways cover a wide spectrum, from electronic journals and books to academic and government reports, as well as referring users to relevant web sites.

Gateways are usually constructed at academic institutions, and follow the principle of open access.

The following are some examples:
http://www.eevl.ac.uk (engineering)
http://www.omni.ac.uk (medical)
http://www.bubl.ac.uk/link/ (resources in a number of subject areas) http://www.scicentral.com/index.html (sciences) http://www.hw.ac.uk/libWWW/irn/pinakes/ (listing of various subject gateways)
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/index.html
(the " Internet Scout " project, similar to PINAKES [ see above ] but in an expanded form)