Research Guides: Physics & Astronomy (PHYS): Find Web Resources

useful Documents on Evaluating Websotes

Reliability vs Timeliness
This is a graph that shows the relationship between resources and their reliability over time. For example it shows that the more current a resource (like a blog) the less reliable the information is when compared to an encyclopedia.
Evaluating Web Sources

Web Resources

Dataset

Google Dataset Search
UCI Machine Learning Repository
"The UCI Machine Learning Repository is a collection of databases, domain theories, and data generators that are used by the machine learning community for the empirical analysis of machine learning algorithms."
UCLA’s IDRE's Data Analysis Examples
his is a collection of examples using R, SAS, SPSS, and Stata, illustrating the application of different statistical analysis techniques.
RDataSets
"This page provides a very helpful table of datasets available through R packages. You can see the number of rows, the number of columns, and also how many columns are binary or character (and therefore get a sense of what you might be able to do with them). "
DASL: Dataset and Story Library
Filter by statistical method and number of cases.
Network Repository
"The first interactive data and network data repository with real-time visual analytics. Network repository is not only the first interactive repository, but also the largest network repository with thousands of donations in 30+ domains (from biological to social network data). "
Awesome Public Datasets
Nice listing of publicly available datasets
Kaggle: GIS Data
Explore, analyze, and share quality data. Learn more about data types, creating, and collaborating.

Digital Archives

The Alabama Digital Preservation Network (ADPN)
The Alabama Digital Preservation Network (ADPNet) is a distributed digital preservation network for locally created digital content. It represents a low-cost digital preservation solution for academic institutions, state agencies, and cultural heritage organizations in Alabama.
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Any Alabama institution with digital collections that are freely available to the public is invited to join ADPNet and use the network for archival preservation. ADPNet is a Private LOCKSS Network (PLN). This means that the archived content is accessible only to the members and only if it is needed to restore content lost as the result of a mishap or natural disaster.

ADPNet is a program of the Network of Alabama Academic Libraries. A steering committee with representatives from each ADPNet member institution sets policy and manages the network.
ArchiveGrid
ArchiveGrid includes over 5 million records describing archival materials, bringing together information about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and more. With over 1,000 different archival institutions represented,
Archive Finder
Archive Finder is a current directory which describes over 220,000 collections of primary source material housed in thousands of repositories across the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
COPPUL: Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries
Western Canada's university libraries. Collaboration, research, leadership. Browse resources-Electronic information resources licensed by COPPUL. Titles, expiry dates, license terms, and subscribing libraries.
DPLA: Digital Public Library of America
Discover 33,658,432 images, texts, videos, and sounds from across the United States
Edina
EDINA is a world-class centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh.
Working with partners to innovate, deliver and inspire, we transform new ideas into robust solutions.
Internet Archive
Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.
LOCKSS
Stanford Libraries launched the LOCKSS Program. For nearly two decades, the LOCKSS Program has empowered institutions and communities to robustly preserve for themselves the digital materials that matter to them. The LOCKSS Program keeps digital stuff safe.
Meta Archive Innitiatives
MetaArchive Cooperative is a digital preservation network created and hosted by and for memory organizations.
PKP: Public Knowledge Project
PKP is a multi-university initiative developing (free) open source software and conducting research to improve the quality and reach of scholarly publishing

Grey Literature

Document Types in Grey Literature
GrayNet International: Dedicated to Research, Publication, Open Access, Education,
and Public Awareness to Grey Literature
OpenDOAR: The Directory of Open Access Repositories
OpenDOAR is an an authoritative directory of academic open access repositories and lets you search for repositories or search repository contents.
OpenGrey: Grey Literature in Europe
provides open access to 700.000 bibliographical references of grey literature (paper) produced in Europe and allows you to export records and locate the documents.
OSTI.org: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
global access to DOE research results and brings the world’s research to DOE.
Scientific Grey Literature in a Digital Age [PDF]
By Gregory R.G. Hutton, School of Information Management, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Grey Literature Report
(New York Academy of Medicine)

Government Resources

Multi-Media

AGI: nteractive map of mineral resources and mines across the United States
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Resources Data System catalogs information about mineral resources around the United States and the world. Using the map tool, users can zoom in to obtain reports and data on past and present mines, mine prospects, and processing plants.
Astronomy: The Jodcast
A podcast about astronomy including the latest news, what you can see in the night sky, interviews with astronomers and more. It is created by astronomers from The University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank for anyone interested in things out of this world.
BIOL: HHMI's BioInteractive
"funded and maintained by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is a nonprofit medical research organization, it provides information on advancing biomedical research and science education"
CHEM: Periodic Table of Videos
CHEM: RSC's Interactive Teaching Units
"provides series of Green Chemistry teaching exercises known as Interactive Teaching Units (ITUs) have been developed at the University of Glasgow"
ENVS: Forces of Change
Printed reference: Botkin, Daniel... [et al.]. Forces of Change: A New View of Nature. National Geographic Society, 2000.
MARS: NOVA Science NOW
"provides multi-media resources on planet earth an education"
NSF Science Now: Science 360 Video
Hosted by the NSF’s Dena Headlee, NSF Science Now is a weekly newscast covering some of the latest in NSF-funded innovation and advances across all areas and disciplines, from astronomy to zoology. This fast paced, news round-up reports many of the week's top stories.
Distance E-learning l Smithsonian
"in order to see this short video presentation you must have a modern web browser and the QuickTime plug-in from Apple Computer"
Science In The Classroom
A collection of annotated research papers and accompanying teaching materials.

Open Databases

arXiv.org
"an e-print service in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance and statistics"
CEEDER: Collaboration for Environmental Evidence
This database allows users to search for evidence reviews and evidence overviews
(including literature reviews, meta-analyses, critical reviews, systematic reviews, and rapid reviews)
of relevance to their evidence needs.
Edina
EDINA is a world-class centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh.
Working with partners to innovate, deliver and inspire, we transform new ideas into robust solutions.
NIST Virtual Library
"the public home page of the NIST Virtual Library (NVL), the portal to the services of the NIST Information Services Office (ISO)" including links that "provide access to publications and information services available to the public"
NSDL: The National Science Digital Library
"provides high quality online educational resources for teaching and learning, with current emphasis on the sciences"
Open Access Resources Research Guide
American Public Library System: Richard G. Trefry Library
OSF (Open Science Framework)
OSF is a free, open platform to support your research and enable collaboration.
Discover projects, data, materials, and collaborators on OSF that might be helpful to your own research.
ResearchGate
Founded in 2008 by physicians Dr. Ijad Madisch and Dr. Sören Hofmayer, and computer scientist Horst Fickenscher, ResearchGate today has more than 14+ million members. We strive to help them make progress happen faster.
Science.gov
"a gateway to government science information and research results"
WorldWideScience.org
"a global science gateway comprised of national and international scientific databases and portals"

Patents

Evaluating for Source Type

Different assignments and research interests all require different types of sources. Sources can be categorized as primary, secondary, or tertiary sources.

Primary Sources

Primary sources are first-hand accounts of an event or topic, created by people directly connected to it.

Examples of primary sources include:

Original research
Datasets
Diaries, speeches, and correspondence
Photographs, video, and audio
Interviews
Autobiographies
Original documents, like texts of laws

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources interpret, evaluate, or analyze primary sources.

Examples of secondary sources include:

Books and articles that interpret and/or review research works
Documentaries (though they often contain primary sources)
Textbooks
Histories and biographies
Literary criticism and interpretation
Political analyses and commentaries

Tertiary Sources

Tertiary sources index, abstract, organize, and otherwise compile other sources.

Examples of tertiary sources include:

Bibliographies
Indexes
Abstracts
Encyclopedias
Other reference sources

Choosing & Evaluating Sources

As you find and collect sources, you will also need to critically evaluate them. This will help you determine whether they are credible and appropriate for your research project.

You can use a checklist approach, the CRAAP Test, to take a look at specific parts of the source you want to evaluate. CRAAP stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.