Speech and Hearing SHS 6143

Course guide for SHS 6143 for Fall 2022

Non-library services of interest

Dennis Learning Center Resources for Graduate Students - Time management, study skills, work/life balance

Career coaching - get career and job application assistance

Counseling and Consultation Service - mental health support

Professional attire - Career closet pop-ups

Student Wellness Center - holistic wellness and student success

Writing Center - all things writing

Specific Questions

Does OSU participate in an inter-library loan program. Yes, our inter-library loan program can borrow books that we don’t already own (or if the ones we own are checked out) and we have an Article Express service that gets access to articles if we don’t already have it. Anytime you see a ‘Find it at OSU’ or ‘Request this item’ button, it will take you to our book and article borrowing services. Or you can go here and fill in the information manually: https://library.osu.edu/ill/borrowing 

How can I more easily access professional articles? Searching using your subject guide or known journals in your field does make things easier, but overall the professional publishing world is complex. For more information, see the ‘Efficient searching – tips and tricks’ page.

How to access textbooks through the library. If we own the eBook version of a textbook, you can find it by searching the ‘Books and more’ tab of the library homepage (library.osu.edu). If we do not own it, you can request that we purchase it. Please be aware that some publishers do not allow us to purchase their textbooks. 

Easier way to navigate through research articles and organize the information. There are a number of databases that you can search for articles, and there will be duplication between them. I recommend setting up a citation manager (I prefer Zotero) so you can create your own personal libraries of articles. Also, I do NOT recommend reading a science article start-to-finish. Instead, I read in the following order and screen out articles at each step: title, abstract, results, discussion/conclusion, introduction, methods. You may prefer to read them differently and there is good advice on this topic under the ‘Evaluating resources’ tab.

I'm interested in learning about the best ways to evaluate and comprehend the information being read, especially in longer readings. Great question! Please see the advice on ‘Reading a scientific article’ on the ‘Evaluating resources’ tab.

What factors help determine the credibility of a source? Credibility of a source can differ depending on your needs, but most academics consider peer-reviewed research articles to be credible. Similarly, books written by peers, and editor-reviewed are also considered credible. However, recentness, the authors qualifications, and any apparent bias may also influence credibility. It helps to consider whether the source is evidence-based, and what that evidence is (i.e. a large double-blind study may be more credible or influential than a case study of one patient, even though both may be peer-reviewed). There is more on this under the 'Evaluating Resources' tab, but you can also reach out to mentors, professors, and librarians if you have questions. 

What is the best tool to use when doing research? There really is no one best tool, but there are numerous tools to chose from when developing your own process. My process involves: 1) exploring existing literature on an idea using at least three databases, and tracking my searches using a spreadsheet 2) collecting articles in Zotero, 3) sorting, organizing, reading literature 4) revisiting my research question as I learn more, 5) doing more literature searching, 6) consulting peers and even more reading, 7) revisiting my research question again, and 8) designing a study and collecting data. Your process may follow some of my steps, or may differ based on your goals and objectives.

Are any library spaces on West Campus that are open and available to grad students to use, that would be nice to know, too!  Always good to know where all the little study corners are. There are several small branch libraries that are under-used and great study spaces, but unfortunately none of them are on west campus. The closest one to Pressey Hall is the Food, Agriculture and Environmental Studies Library at 2120 Fyffe Road. 

Where in the library (and what libraries) are best for accessing materials specific to Speech & Hearing/Audiology? Because most of our print materials are not in publicly assessible libraries, searching via the library catalog and having items sent to you is really the best method of accessing them. Similarly, searching for materials using databases highlighted on the subject guides pages is the best method of getting articles. 

I'm curious about how the different library branches in the OSU system fit together, and if they have any relevance to what we do here in the AuD program. The different branches of OSU libraries each have a unique history about their development and current services, but because academic libraries became mostly electronic beginning in the 1990's, the physical locations rarely have significance to the size or access to materials. So on-line searching and access is still the best way to get information for all programs, including the AuD program.

 

Bonus questions from prior classes:

How to select best search terms? Search terms are very specific to the concept or topic for research. In general, if you are getting too many results, add words. Getting too few results, and you may wish to find different words or make your search term simpler. You may find MeSH terms very useful for creating a robust search term - these are classification terms assigned by the National Library of Medicine in a hierarchical fashion. 

Can I get books delivered to my office or dorm? Yes! It may take a day or two more, but you can have items delivered to your on-campus office, dorm or the OSU library of your choice. Just select 'Request this item' button, then the 'My Columbus Campus Office/Dorm' or the library location under the 'Pickup location' drop-down menu. 

I'm curious about finding the most recently published literature. You will want to work those date filters in the databases, and maybe set an alert in PubMed for the topics of interest. As well, many publishers now send out updates on social media sites, like Twitter, where there are often current conversations in the field. 

Is it possible to save search results or search terms to look at again in the future? While you can make accounts in some of the databases and save searches there, the databases change their content regularly, making searches hard to replicate. I recommend keeping a tracking record and using a information manager like Zotero. Then you can tag articles, de-duplicate them, and take them with you when you graduate!

What is the most used resource by graduate students typically? Definitely, graduate students use their subject librarians the most, with citation managers coming a close second. Have a question? Email the librarian! If we don't know the answer, we'll find someone who does. 

What do I or don't I have access to? You have access to almost anything through the libraries - please DO NOT PAY for any information! If we do not already own the item, our InterLibrary Loan can get articles very quickly (usually within 48 hours) and our other group library agreements (like OHIOLink and the BIG10) can get you almost any print item. 

How to know if a resource is peer-reviewed? Many databases have a 'peer-reviewed' filter, but you can also simply check the description of the journal. They will say if they are peer-reviewed and what type of peer-review. If you are uncertain, or if you suspect the journal is not legitimate, please do ask a librarian! There are many predatory journals that are scams and they can be quite professional-looking. This is why I recommend caution when using Google Scholar - they do not screen out articles from predatory journals, and up to 50% of Google Scholar results are from fake journals in the field of medicine.

What journals are best for audiology? It is hard to say which are 'best', but the following should be pertinent: American Journal of Audiology, Audiology & Neurotology, Audiology - Communication Research, Audiology Research, International Journal of Audiology. Most of them can be found in the PubMed or CINAHL databases. 

What is the most effective route to take on OSU's library site to find relevant research articles/journals? In the Research Databases List, which subject would lead to Audiology related research? In the Research Databases list, most audiology related research will be found in the category 'Health and Medicine'. However, this is a really broad category, so starting with a guide (either this one or the main Speech and Hearing Guide) may be easier than starting with the OSU Library homepage. The exception is if you are looking for books - then search under the 'Books and more' tab on the OSU Library Homepage

How to check out normal, casual-read books? Did you know you can get a Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) card with your BuckID at Thompson Library and get their books sent there too? After getting your CML card, you can download their app, called CML Mobile, browse their catalog, request items and select "CML OSU Thompson" for delivery. For eBooks, audiobooks and magazines, you can download the app Libby, enter your CML credentials, and get eBooks and audiobooks. For video, you can download Kanopy, enter in your CML credentials and what streaming video. (OSU libraries also has a number of streaming databases due to our film studies degrees, so you may wish to check those out in our catalog!)