I. Concept of Information
Information is recognized as a vital sources and the basic need, for the progress of humanity and the development of a nation, as a whole. It means that every piece of information should be extracted from wherever it is available and provided to the users at the right time, in the right proportion, without delay of time. Only then, can that piece of information be put to its maximum use.
Today, with technology advances and more and more awareness for the need of progress and development, the government is taking a lot of interest in promoting research work and projects. All these activities revolve around information.”
Information is everywhere. We have to categories it organize it and at the same time let the users know about which source contains what information. Only, when the research scholars know about the contents and whereabouts of information can they use it ease, without having someone to assist them. Now-a-days, subjects are multi-disciplinary in nature because of which, they have become complex. Simultaneously, with the growth in literature there are a number of sources that let us know of the earlier as well as latest developments in a subject. As a result of this growth, the problems of literature explosion have been felt. This tremendous expansion of literature is difficult to be handled or consulted. To make this process easier, attempts have been made to categories to documents, containing information (Khan & Khan, 2016).
II. The UP Cebu University Library Sources and Services
The information plays vital role in this digital environment. This has become because of the technological advancements and changing information needs of the users. Technology has dominated all spheres of human activity and the libraries are not and exception one. The new storage media have appeared after the invention of storage devices like microforms, magnetic tapes, compact discs etc. have found their places in modern libraries and are playing vital role in storage and dissemination of information. Since the mid-eighties, development in computer technology has established a new platform for the use of information technologies for libraries and information centers. These developments includes spreading of high performance and cost effective computers, local area networks, high bandwidth of internet of internet, digitization of printed information, and high-density storage and distribution media such as CD-ROM’s/DVDs. Due to development in technological advancements, sources like electronic journals, e-books, electronic databases, pre-prints, numerical and graphical data, library catalogue, educational materials, patents, standards, and so on are available on the Web. Apart from providing lot of information, the web also provides lots of information services like table of content page, electronic document delivery reference service over the web, database access, indexing and abstracting, referral service, bibliographic search and so on. The availability of information in the electronic media has created an opportunity for global access to information (Khan and Khan, 2016).
The University Library, being the center of information in UP Cebu supports the academic and information needs of all students, faculty, REPS, and staff for study and research. Manned by professional librarians and support staff to accommodate the information needs of the community and to provide, search, locate, and retrieve library resources not only printed and non-printed materials but also application of technology such as online subscriptions and other e-resources. The library primarily offers to all students, faculty, REPS, and administrative personnel at the highest level of quality reference service to the U.P. Cebu community as a whole.
Various library services are made to put in place in order to fully support students, faculty, REPS, administrative staff and non-UP researchers with academic and information they need. Services are as follows:
1. INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
New Acquisition
A list of new acquisition is distributed to the different academic programs. Emails are also sent to individual faculty for wider dissemination.
New Books Display
To update users of the latest acquisitions, newly processed books are displayed for two (2) weeks at the “New Acquisition Area”.
2. DIGITAL DOCUMENT DELIVERY
The library expands access of information through Digital Document Delivery Service, it is an electronic delivery method for articles through email sent.
3. USER EDUCATION
Library Orientation
This program is given to all first year students and transferees every start of the academic year. The primary objective of this program is to familiarize students with the library facilities, resources, and services.
Reference Assistance
Reference Librarian will assist you with research assignments, answer reference questions, and teach you how to effectively locate, evaluate and select library materials.
4. VIRTUAL REFERENCE ASSISTANCE
Web 2.0 allows the library to serve its users via internet and social networks. Thus, library website and the use of social media platforms are the key features for the attainment of this virtual referencing.
III. Search Strategies and Techniques
Follow Search RULES
When using our available online electronic databases within our website, follow these tips to improve the quality of hits in the library’s databases:
Choose appropriate database that is perfect to the subject of your search. Not all databases offer multidisciplinary content. Most of them focus on a specific subject or field of interest.
Use concrete and neutral words.
Go to the Advanced Search page to separate keywords into multiple boxes.
If you do not find what you need, try to change or add keywords.
Use Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) and truncation (*) to expand and narrow results.
Use filters/limiters available to refine your search results.
Ask for help.
Use Keywords and Truncation
A “keyword” is simply a concrete word or phrase that describes the main concepts in a research question or topic. If you have used an Internet search engine, you are probably familiar with keyword searching.
A keyword search:
Finds the word wherever it appears in the database
Is the most flexible and broadest type of search that is best for initial exploration of a research topic or question
May yield too many results that are not relevant to the research topic or question
Is useful for when the keyword is form of jargon or a term that is new or otherwise distinctive, such as personal names or brands
Use Advanced Search for more search boxes to add keywords.
To expand search results, drop the ending of keywords and place an asterisk (*) next to the root of term to find all variations such as the plural and adjectival forms:
“Digital literacy” OR transliteracy AND pedagog* OR curriculum
Connect Keywords with Boolean Operators Boolean operators allow you to connect search terms together to get more focused results. The most common are AND, OR and NOT
