The primary focus of this week was to continue on with the congressional hearings. This week went significantly more smoothly for two reasons; a useful shortcut I found and a nifty new database that I've been using.
I realized that using ProQuest Congressional would be much easier if I looked up a secondary source which discusses the legislative history of the federal government's role in funding higher education and simply enter the bills the source refers to into the ProQuest search engine. Though this seemed to be a good idea because nearly every time congress meets they do so to discuss a bill or amendment. But the database did not cooperate with every bill or amendment I entered into the search bar. However, I was able to refer to the date that the secondary sources noted for each bill/amendment and was able to find some manually by scrolling through the 2,500 hits that "higher education" lead me to after narrowing the search down to hearings. This is a rather inefficient way of searching though (not quite as inefficient as our current congress- but close).
My older brother is a law student and he suggested that I use the database that he uses (as well as other law students across the country). The database is called "WestLaw" and is superb. Not only is the search engine much more cooperative that either Lexus Nexis or ProQuest Congressional, WestLaw was also able to find the bills and amendments that ProQuest seemed to have difficulty with. The only drawback to this is that my brother lives in the suburbs and I live in Chicago. That being said- I was only able to use it once when he happened to be over at my apartment. Despite this inconvenience- both he and I will be back visiting with family over Easter weekend and I'll just have to get the most out of WestLaw as I can over the weekend (which should be a rather significant amount of work).
Overall I would say this week has been a success. I was not only able to adapt to the issues that the databases that Loyola offers- I was able to utilize a highly useful one that Loyola does not offer. I was also satisfied with my ability to think outside the box and use secondary sources to point me in the right direction with hearings. That may sound rather obvious but it as nice to see that it lead to a large amount of solid sources.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Frustration Mixed with a Small Amount of Reward
So the two main objectives for this past week have been to gather more books and congressional hearings which pertain to the development of the research universities in focus and as a whole. The result was a mixed bag of frustration, reward, and undeniable progress (as slight as it may be).
This week started on a solid note- I was at home at my parents house in the suburbs due to a family obligation and decided to check out my local public library to see if they had any books that would fit the bill for my internship. Luckily enough I found four or five (I come from a rather small suburb- hence the word "luckily"). These books were a good foot in the door. I found much more success as Loyola's Lewis Library. I found several books there and I can simply return to that particular section of the library to find a ton of other sources. So far- all of the books I've gathered pertain to higher education as a whole and lack any specific relevance to the five research universities that BizEd will cover. I sense that I'll need a bit more direction in this regard, and plan to bring the issue to the table during my next meeting with Dr. Shermer.
Despite the fact that the books pertain to higher education (and research universities as a whole)- I've examined the footnotes of these books looking for any reference to government documents. This was my starting point for researching congressional hearings and was mildly successful. I was able to find some hearings immediately on ProQuest Congressional or Lexus Nexus and will need some further assistance in locating a few other handy sources I've found.
The frustrating part of this week 100% pertains to finding congressional hearings on my own by the use of the two previously mentioned databases. Not only does it bring back highly frustrating memories from last semester's research pertaining to my Freedom of Information Act term paper- it frustrates me in there here and now as well. The only success I've achieved through using these two databases came from entering a general term into the search bar ("university", "higher education", "postsecondary school"). The search engines for these databases are brutally inefficient and fail to make sense to me on a very basic level. For example, after typing in "Higher Education" and "Aid" in an advanced search, hearings about the AIDS virus came up (which obviously have no use to me because I was hoping to find articles pertaining to federal financial aid). Another good example would be when I typed "higher education" (nice and general) into the search bar and tried to narrow down the search results (which were overwhelming) to the years between 1945 and 1970. ProQuest responded by stating that zero results fit this specification. This is ridiculous because prior to be narrowing down the search in such a way I could clearly see that hearings were found between the years 1945 and 1970. Either I'm being incredibly dense (a possibility I wouldn't necessarily rule out because as well all know research is much harder when one is frustrated) or I'm misusing these databases somehow. I'm voting on the second possibility, and have scheduled another appointment with Jamie (the government documents librarian at the IC) to see if we can get to the bottom of this issue.
Other than the hearings grinding my gears this week has been rather smooth. I have a feeling that things will go much smoother once I find out why I'm having such trouble with these databases.
This week started on a solid note- I was at home at my parents house in the suburbs due to a family obligation and decided to check out my local public library to see if they had any books that would fit the bill for my internship. Luckily enough I found four or five (I come from a rather small suburb- hence the word "luckily"). These books were a good foot in the door. I found much more success as Loyola's Lewis Library. I found several books there and I can simply return to that particular section of the library to find a ton of other sources. So far- all of the books I've gathered pertain to higher education as a whole and lack any specific relevance to the five research universities that BizEd will cover. I sense that I'll need a bit more direction in this regard, and plan to bring the issue to the table during my next meeting with Dr. Shermer.
Despite the fact that the books pertain to higher education (and research universities as a whole)- I've examined the footnotes of these books looking for any reference to government documents. This was my starting point for researching congressional hearings and was mildly successful. I was able to find some hearings immediately on ProQuest Congressional or Lexus Nexus and will need some further assistance in locating a few other handy sources I've found.
The frustrating part of this week 100% pertains to finding congressional hearings on my own by the use of the two previously mentioned databases. Not only does it bring back highly frustrating memories from last semester's research pertaining to my Freedom of Information Act term paper- it frustrates me in there here and now as well. The only success I've achieved through using these two databases came from entering a general term into the search bar ("university", "higher education", "postsecondary school"). The search engines for these databases are brutally inefficient and fail to make sense to me on a very basic level. For example, after typing in "Higher Education" and "Aid" in an advanced search, hearings about the AIDS virus came up (which obviously have no use to me because I was hoping to find articles pertaining to federal financial aid). Another good example would be when I typed "higher education" (nice and general) into the search bar and tried to narrow down the search results (which were overwhelming) to the years between 1945 and 1970. ProQuest responded by stating that zero results fit this specification. This is ridiculous because prior to be narrowing down the search in such a way I could clearly see that hearings were found between the years 1945 and 1970. Either I'm being incredibly dense (a possibility I wouldn't necessarily rule out because as well all know research is much harder when one is frustrated) or I'm misusing these databases somehow. I'm voting on the second possibility, and have scheduled another appointment with Jamie (the government documents librarian at the IC) to see if we can get to the bottom of this issue.
Other than the hearings grinding my gears this week has been rather smooth. I have a feeling that things will go much smoother once I find out why I'm having such trouble with these databases.
Friday, March 15, 2013
3/9 - 3/15
This past week went rather smoothly. I continued to find more useful journal articles and dissertations pertaining to the development of research universities in the United States. Early in the week I felt a significant degree of frustration in regard to finding useful books. However, an important clarification was made after Dr. Shermer and I met on Tuesday afternoon. I had apparently been too specific in my pursuit of books, and my search results in Loyola's Pegasus and Worldcat databases evinced that. Last Tuesday I was advised to acquire books on the development of research universities in the United States rather than simply the development of the five particular universities that Dr. Shermer's book will focus on. This clearly made things significantly easier in regard to finding books.
I was also given a several "buzzwords" to use in order to locate relevant books more efficiently. Key historical figures, terms, authors, and the titles of books themselves were given as a starting point. Subsequently, I was advised to look at the footnotes in various books which I find to lead me to even more sources. By doing this, a seemingly infinite chain of sources will emerge and the amount of sources in the Zotero program will increase drastically. I have already gotten my hands on a few useful books and have begun this process- which I am rather excited about.
My several secondary sources of emphasize the G.I. Bill of Rights (formally known as the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944) with respect to the growth of practically all American colleges and universities. The bill significantly increased the access opportunities of veterans by means of federal grants. These grants only somewhat assisted research universities due to the fact that those who received said grants could simply attend any college of their choice. In this respect, research universities were indirectly helped to a moderate degree.
I also began taking a deeper look into congressional hearings pertaining to the role of government (both on the federal and state level) in the development of research universities in the U.S. I particularly find the response to Sputnik fascinating due to the fact that it ignited federal aid to universities out of the concern that the USSR had superior educational institutions (particularly pertaining to math and science). In this respect- research universities were given special attention and expanded dramatically.
It appears that each week of this internship has become subsequently easier. I do not mean to use the term "easy" in a manner which implies that the research I am responsible for doing is free of frustrations or difficulties. By "easier" I meant clearer objectives, a more definite direction, and overall a greater familiarity with the programs and databases at my disposal. Though frustrations and roadblocks do seem to inevitably emerge- they are always triumphed.
I was also given a several "buzzwords" to use in order to locate relevant books more efficiently. Key historical figures, terms, authors, and the titles of books themselves were given as a starting point. Subsequently, I was advised to look at the footnotes in various books which I find to lead me to even more sources. By doing this, a seemingly infinite chain of sources will emerge and the amount of sources in the Zotero program will increase drastically. I have already gotten my hands on a few useful books and have begun this process- which I am rather excited about.
My several secondary sources of emphasize the G.I. Bill of Rights (formally known as the Serviceman's Readjustment Act of 1944) with respect to the growth of practically all American colleges and universities. The bill significantly increased the access opportunities of veterans by means of federal grants. These grants only somewhat assisted research universities due to the fact that those who received said grants could simply attend any college of their choice. In this respect, research universities were indirectly helped to a moderate degree.
I also began taking a deeper look into congressional hearings pertaining to the role of government (both on the federal and state level) in the development of research universities in the U.S. I particularly find the response to Sputnik fascinating due to the fact that it ignited federal aid to universities out of the concern that the USSR had superior educational institutions (particularly pertaining to math and science). In this respect- research universities were given special attention and expanded dramatically.
It appears that each week of this internship has become subsequently easier. I do not mean to use the term "easy" in a manner which implies that the research I am responsible for doing is free of frustrations or difficulties. By "easier" I meant clearer objectives, a more definite direction, and overall a greater familiarity with the programs and databases at my disposal. Though frustrations and roadblocks do seem to inevitably emerge- they are always triumphed.
Friday, March 8, 2013
3/4 to 3/8
This week was both exciting and frustrating. As with the previous weeks, the objective of this past week was to find more useful sources to categorize and enter into the Zotero program. I managed to find many more useful dissertations- which was actually quite joyful. I've gained a pretty solid familiarity with the Proquest database and I seem to always walk away from Proquest with (at least) a handful of new sources to put into Zotero. The only qualms that I have regarding the dissertations I've acquired is that some of them seem to be either too specific to one particular subject or (to the opposite) rather general. Regardless- I've entered anything that I felt "iffy" about into the program in the event that it does provide some benefit.
This week I also started searching for relevant journal articles. This experience had its ups and downs. Initially- I was having a blast. I was finding a handful of things pertaining to each of the five universities that BizEd focuses on. However, this joy was rather short-lived once I experienced some confusing moments with the America: History and Life database. For example- in the search bar I entered "Arizona State University" (in an advanced search) and entered "funding" into the subsequent search bar so that both terms would be searched simultaneously. This particular combination yielded zero results. This dumbfounded me because I find it hard to believe that zero articles exist pertaining to funding of Arizona State University. Despite these rather odd (and perplexing) roadblocks I encountered, I was eventually able to work with the database in such a way that lead me to some solid sources.
I also found some pretty useful books- which necessitated a trip to Loyola's Lewis Library. There is one book in particular that seems to be absolutely perfect for my field of research. I can't wait to get my hands on it once it comes in via inter-library loan.
When all is said and done- I would consider this week to be a success. It felt great to look up sources other than dissertations and I firmly believe that (like with the Proquest database) I will in time become more efficient with America: History and Life.
This week I also started searching for relevant journal articles. This experience had its ups and downs. Initially- I was having a blast. I was finding a handful of things pertaining to each of the five universities that BizEd focuses on. However, this joy was rather short-lived once I experienced some confusing moments with the America: History and Life database. For example- in the search bar I entered "Arizona State University" (in an advanced search) and entered "funding" into the subsequent search bar so that both terms would be searched simultaneously. This particular combination yielded zero results. This dumbfounded me because I find it hard to believe that zero articles exist pertaining to funding of Arizona State University. Despite these rather odd (and perplexing) roadblocks I encountered, I was eventually able to work with the database in such a way that lead me to some solid sources.
I also found some pretty useful books- which necessitated a trip to Loyola's Lewis Library. There is one book in particular that seems to be absolutely perfect for my field of research. I can't wait to get my hands on it once it comes in via inter-library loan.
When all is said and done- I would consider this week to be a success. It felt great to look up sources other than dissertations and I firmly believe that (like with the Proquest database) I will in time become more efficient with America: History and Life.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
2/25/13-3/3/13 More Dissertations
Once again, the focus of this week was to keep finding, bookmarking, and plugging relevant dissertations into the Zotero program that Dr. Shermer and myself share the password to. As I said last week, this process keeps getting easier and easier with one exception. There is one university that I continuously have trouble finding solid dissertations about; Michigan State University. I feel like that university in particular requires the most time and attention. There are significantly more articles from the University of Michigan that have subject matters which are more relevant to the purposes of this internship- which is sort of frustrating.
Another thing that arose (which isn't necessarily a problem) is that certain universities seem to have dissertations about one particular topic more than any other topic. For example, I have discovered more dissertations about racial desegregation/ racial integration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill than any other institution. To name another example- dissertations about infrastructure and administration are abundant with respect to The State University of New York. However, I should note that I have found dissertations under other categories (rather than one category simply dominating the dissertations from one particular university). I'm not sure if this is a "problem" because I think it's only natural that racism is the topic of a university that institutionalized racism for decades prior to the civil rights act (North Carolina at Chapel Hill) or if infrastructure/administration dissertations seem to be prominent about the first university to set up a network such as S.U.N.Y. However it would be nice to have a more well-rounded library and list of categories for each institution.
Another issue that came up during Dr. Shermer and I's meeting during this week was one of time management. She stole the words out of my mouth when expressed her disliking to the majority of my work being completed the day that we are scheduled to meet. I agreed with her on the spot and promised to fix that habit. I have made it a point to get some amount of work done on a daily basis- rather than "binging" with the work (despite the fact that I certainly am getting my hours in) on that particular due date. A part of me also contends that- though I do agree with what Dr. Shermer said for the most part- her statement may be a bit misleading. She grounded that statement on the records from our Zotero program which documents the time and day that each entry is submitted or altered. Just because Zotero shows that I plugged all of the information in to the program on the day that she and I were to meet does not mean that I found the articles and did the research on the day we met. Most of the time I'll look for articles, bookmark them, and then plug them in all at once so that I can sort of stay on a roll while finding things in the Proquest database.
Regardless- I do tend to save the majority of the work for a time that is indeed to close to the day we meet. In this respect she and I have indeed reached a concurrence and I absolutely will change that.
Another thing that was a bit irritating was that my Zotero account had been acting up at the end of last week. I plugged some sources into it and for some reason it wasn't syncing with the internet to upload them. Furthermore- they seemed to either not sync or sync erratically. I spoke to a friend who is a software engineer and he had heard of Zotero- he recommended that I uninstall the program and then reinstall it. This seemed to fix the problem.
Other than the few things that I had mentioned- things are going great! Its becoming clear that dissertations are becoming harder and harder to find- so for the time being I think I'm going to start hunting for books and journal articles (which should be fun).
Another thing that arose (which isn't necessarily a problem) is that certain universities seem to have dissertations about one particular topic more than any other topic. For example, I have discovered more dissertations about racial desegregation/ racial integration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill than any other institution. To name another example- dissertations about infrastructure and administration are abundant with respect to The State University of New York. However, I should note that I have found dissertations under other categories (rather than one category simply dominating the dissertations from one particular university). I'm not sure if this is a "problem" because I think it's only natural that racism is the topic of a university that institutionalized racism for decades prior to the civil rights act (North Carolina at Chapel Hill) or if infrastructure/administration dissertations seem to be prominent about the first university to set up a network such as S.U.N.Y. However it would be nice to have a more well-rounded library and list of categories for each institution.
Another issue that came up during Dr. Shermer and I's meeting during this week was one of time management. She stole the words out of my mouth when expressed her disliking to the majority of my work being completed the day that we are scheduled to meet. I agreed with her on the spot and promised to fix that habit. I have made it a point to get some amount of work done on a daily basis- rather than "binging" with the work (despite the fact that I certainly am getting my hours in) on that particular due date. A part of me also contends that- though I do agree with what Dr. Shermer said for the most part- her statement may be a bit misleading. She grounded that statement on the records from our Zotero program which documents the time and day that each entry is submitted or altered. Just because Zotero shows that I plugged all of the information in to the program on the day that she and I were to meet does not mean that I found the articles and did the research on the day we met. Most of the time I'll look for articles, bookmark them, and then plug them in all at once so that I can sort of stay on a roll while finding things in the Proquest database.
Regardless- I do tend to save the majority of the work for a time that is indeed to close to the day we meet. In this respect she and I have indeed reached a concurrence and I absolutely will change that.
Another thing that was a bit irritating was that my Zotero account had been acting up at the end of last week. I plugged some sources into it and for some reason it wasn't syncing with the internet to upload them. Furthermore- they seemed to either not sync or sync erratically. I spoke to a friend who is a software engineer and he had heard of Zotero- he recommended that I uninstall the program and then reinstall it. This seemed to fix the problem.
Other than the few things that I had mentioned- things are going great! Its becoming clear that dissertations are becoming harder and harder to find- so for the time being I think I'm going to start hunting for books and journal articles (which should be fun).
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