My search involved the following terms (Boolean terms capitalized for effect): individuals OR people OR patrons AND disabilit* AND accessibility. I included several terms that I thought might be used interchangeably within the texts to represent human beings (individuals, patrons, people). I also used a wildcard on the term disabilit* so that my search would cast a wider net and include both "disability" and "disabilities."
Notice that within my search, I chose to only include content that I was able to access from within the database. I limited my materials to books and articles and chose to only search for items published within the last three years. What was not reflected in the above screenshot is that I also chose to limit my subject area to "Library Science" journals only.
The search itself yielded 4 hits. This was not exactly the wealth of information I was hoping for, but the few that did result were relevant to my search topic. Below are the four articles that resulted from my search.
What did I learn this week?
Content:
Content-wise, I learned that many individuals with disabilities are not turning to their local libraries for services and are instead seeking help from state agencies to meet their needs (in my home state this agency is known as the Utah State Library for the Blind and Disabled: http://blindlibrary.utah.gov/). Those who do not qualify for state services often fall through the cracks. According to Lewis (2013), most patrons with disabilities are simply unaware that their public library system has a variety of accessible technologies available for use. I found it shocking that so many patrons did not even possess library cards. To me, this seems to indicate that librarians (myself included) need to focus more on outreach campaigns to ensure that the public is aware of the types of services that their local library provides. Additionally, Lewis mentioned that staff training may be an issue. She described instances where staff members were instructed to forward all patrons with visual impairments to state agencies without first finding out what their needs were and if they could be met within the library. These are definitely areas that I need to be aware of when I begin my career to ensure that people with disabilities feel comfortable in the library and feel that their needs can be adequately met. Otherwise, my library might be missing out on an entire segment of the population that wants and deserves equitable access to information!
Searching:
As far as JSTOR is concerned, I learned that I could limit content to specific subject areas. I love this feature and I really wish that more database vendors would implement it. This feature was such a time saver for finding relevant information (accessibility, for example, can also show up in the subject area of Architecture, but that was not necessarily what I was looking for in this search).
Reflections:
Would I use JSTOR again?
Possibly, but it likely would not be my first choice for researching Library Science topics. There are only 24 books and journals listed that are related to Library Science. This seems to one of the smallest collections among all of the other subject areas. Simply put, there are other databases I prefer to use that focus specifically on Library Science topics and include many of the same journals.
Overall, I found JSTOR to be very easy to use. I have a slight advantage in that this is my second course in information retrieval (Thanks Dr. Akin. I learned so much last semester!) and I already have somewhat of a foundational knowledge in how to navigate databases and narrow searches. I did not find using JSTOR to be an unfamiliar or overwhelming experience. In fact, the interface seemed similar to many of the other databases I have spent time with, albeit with a few nice extras like the subject area limiter.
One thing I did not like was that some of the content seemed hidden behind a "pay wall" of sorts. Fortunately, you can set your search to only include items you have access to so you will never have to see those dreaded "X" icons only to find that you have selected an article that is not available in full text. However, it still seems odd that some of the content is limited.
I also wish that JSTOR had some sort of tagging system for their articles. If I had the ability to see a list of common terms/phrases used in one of the relevant articles, perhaps I could have developed a follow-up strategy that provided more results.
Ideas for future searches
I think finding and trying other terms/synonyms may lead more fruitful searches. For example, perhaps I could use the words "universal design" instead or in addition to "accessibility"? I need to do some research and better familiarize myself with trends or common terms used within this subject area.
Hope you enjoyed my first search post! I would love to hear your questions, comments, or any technique suggestions you have for future searches!
- Crystal
Reference:
Lewis, Jill. 2013. "Information Equality for Individuals with Disabilities: Does it Exist?" The Library Quarterly 83:229-35 . Accessed Sept. 15, 2014. doi:10.1086/670697.
No comments:
Post a Comment