The main subject of my question is the pinhole camera/camera obscura.
What subject guide or guides did you use to identify the relevant databases for your question?
I used “art” as my subject guide
Database 01
Which database did you choose for your search?
Academic Search Premiere
What terms did you enter to conduct your search? For this search I used the term “pinhole camera.” I also used specific search options. I used Boolean operators and I also refined my search to show only articles which had been written between 1990 and 2009.
How many results did you retrieve?
This returned 171 results.
If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
In order to narrow down my results, I then added that I only wanted results which had both the terms “pinhole camera” and “camera obscura” in them.I also chose to only return articles that were written between 2000 and 2009.
Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
Since there were only 7 results, I briefly skimmed each entry and chose the article which I felt would be more useful in answering both of the two questions I had created during our topic sizing exercise.
Which article did you choose?Give the bibliographic information for that article.
I chose an article titled "The Pinhole Point of View"
How did you determine these articles were meaningful?
I read the description of the article and it was directly related to my topic.Additionally, it was a more recent article (written in 2000).Furthermore, I know that the Smithsonian Institution is an educational & research institution.Assuming that the publisher (Smithsonian) is a publication of the Smithsonian Institution, I would say that this is a credible source.(Please correct me if I am wrong)
Database 02
Which database did you choose for your search?
Grove Dictionary of Art.
What terms did you enter to conduct your search?
Rather than using the term “pinhole camera” to start off my search, I chose to use the term “camera obscura” instead.
How many results did you retrieve?
This returned 46 results.
If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
Although there were only 46 results, I noticed that several of the results were biographies.So, I chose to further narrow my search by only displaying results that were subject entries. This returned 23 results.
Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
Again, I briefly skimmed each entry and chose the article which I felt was most informative & relevant to my topic.
Which article did you choose?Give the bibliographic information for that article.
How did you determine these articles were meaningful?
In order to determine whether or not the article was meaningful, I read it.After reading this article, I found that it was quite informative.The author also provided a bibliography in which she accredited each of the sources from which she had obtained her information – this provided reassurance that the information presented was both relevant & reliable.Furthermore, Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. Ultimately, it is a very prestigious press.Knowing this, one may assume that the article (which was published by OUP) is from a credible source.
Group 2: American Bar Association Journal – KB 1 A5
Group 3:Journal of Chemical Ecology – QD1 .J926
Name three articles, one from each of the three journals you chose.
Time – America’s Next Top Model By: Kate Betts (Page 42)
American Bar Association Journal – The Ninety-Fourth: A Congress in Transition By:Bruce R. Hopkins (Page 65)
Journal of Chemical Ecology – Semiochemicals via Epoxide Inversion By: J.E. Oliver,
R.M. Waters, and D.J. Harrison (Page 287)What are the major differences among these articles?
The article from the Time Magazine featured colored pictures.The article was focused on a single subject (the style of President Obama’s wife, Michelle Obama). It was a short article that featured quotes taken during interviews, facts and information regarding Michelle Obama’s previously sported fashions as well as a description and analysis of her style sense.
The article from the American Bar Association Journal was much longer & features several different subject headings under which the corresponding text described different Congressional achievements and failures throughout the years.
The article from the Journal of Ecology featured three different sections – an Introduction, Methods & Materials, and Result & Discussion.Unlike the other two articles, this entry seemed more like a scientific journal – a record of the steps taken, followed by the results & an analysis/explanation of these results as they relate to the scientific experiment/procedure.
What are the major differences among these periodicals?
Time & the ABA Journal are similar in many ways – they are each publications which include advertisements as well as articles. The articles found in the ABA Journal seem to have been about government & politics.Although Time did feature articles about governmental issues and/or politics (i.e. the inauguration), it did not seem to have been written in as serious of a tone.Instead, it seemed to be written in a more expansive tone.However, the Journal of Ecology was extremely different from both the Time & ABA Journal.Like I mentioned before, it seemed more like a scientific journal covering a wide range of topics all of which are related to ecology.These topics include: biogeochemistry, ecosystems ecology, microbial ecology, physiological plant ecology, climate change, molecular genetics, mycorrhizal ecology, and the interactions between plants and organisms such as animals or bacteria.Obviously, you would not expect to find any articles about legislature in this periodical.
Research Log Entry 02
Database 01 - Britannica Online
Which database did you choose for your first search?
I chose to use the Britannica Online to conduct my search.
What terms did you enter to conduct your search?
For this search, I used the search term “pinhole camera.”
How many results did you retrieve?
The search returned eight different results.
If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
Not Applicable.
Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
I chose to use the first result because it was the only result which specifically mentioned pinhole cameras.
Which article did you choose?Give the bibliographic information for that article.
I chose to use an excerpt about pinhole cameras from an article titled “Optics.”
How did you determine this article was meaningful?
The article describes how a difference in the size of the pinhole can affect the outcome of the picture. It also goes on to compare a pinhole to an actual camera lens.
Academic Search Premiere
What terms did you enter to conduct your search?
First, I used the term “pinhole camera.”This returned 243 results.I then tried using the term “camera obscura.” This returned 332 results.Finally, I decided to use a combination of the two terms “pinhole camera” and “camera obscura” to conduct my search.
How many results did you retrieve?
After searching a combination of the terms “pinhole camera” and “camera obscura” I was able to retrieve 8 relevant results.
If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
(Refer to Question 01)
What differences did you note in how you needed to manipulate your search terms in this different database?
(Refer to Question 01)
Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
Since there were a small number of results, I briefly looked through each result & chose the result which I felt was most relevant to my topic.
Which article did you choose?Give the bibliographic information for that article (I mustbe able to access this article).
I chose to use an article titled “Successful Pinhole Photography”
How did you determine if this article was meaningful?
In the description, it said that this article would discuss the construction of a pinhole camera/camera obscura, the design of a pinhole lens, the construction of pinholes as well as experimental set up. Having a clear understanding of each of these components would be beneficial in helping one to understanf how a pinhole camera works.
What EXACT terms did you enter into the keyword search screen?
First, I tried using the term “pinhole camera.” However, when that returned no results.My next instinct was to try using the term “camera.” Unfortunately, this did not yield any positive results.At this point, I thought that there were no reference materials relative to my subject. In fact, I even considered switching topics.However, after reading the suggestion that we should try making our searches even more narrow, I decided to try the term “photography” for my keyword search.
What subject heading did you choose to be sure your item was on target and the best option for your search?
I chose the subject heading “Photography Encyclopedias.”
What item did you eventually choose?Why?
Eventually, I chose an item titled “The Focal Encyclopedia of Photographic Technologies” because although it may be simple, a pinhole camera is still a technological device used in the photographic process.Consequently, it would make sense to use a reference regarding photographic technology when attemptingto research a type of photographic technology.
Although dictionary references were available, I chose to use an encyclopedia as my reference source.Unlike dictionaries, which only define words, an encyclopedia can be describes as a comprehensive reference work which contains several articles pertaining to the numerous aspects of a given field (in this case, photographic technologies).I hope that through this encyclopedia, I will not only know the definition of the term “pinhole camera,” but that I will also have a better understanding of it & how it works.
Give the bibliographic information for the item you chose.
Author – Spencer, Douglass-Arthur Title – The Focal Encyclopedia of Photographic Technologies
Edition – (not specified)
Place of Publication – London, New York
Publisher – Focal Press
Date of Publication – 1973
When you looked at the reference work, what quote did you choose?Why?
"Pinhole Camera - A camera without a lens which uses a very small sharp edged hole in its diaphragm to form an image where the scale is proportional to the distance between the diaphragm radius of the pinhole and the image plane" (Spencer 468).
I chose this quote because it gives a clear, detailed explanation of what a pinhole camera is & how it works.
What makes this a reference book as opposed to a regular book you might find in the book stacks?
What makes this book a reference book is that it is a brief overview of specific information rather than a regular book which may contain an abundance of information regarding one (or more) topics.
When using a reference book, which is usually based upon a specific topic, it should be much easier to find the desired information. Whereas, if you were to use a regular book, it might be more difficult to find the same, specific information amidst the plethora of material presented.
Reference books are a quick and easy way to find and obtain information on a given topic/subject.
In looking at the material in the book and the publication date in the bibliographic information, what year do you think the information really comes from?
After looking at the material in the book, I believe that the information presented in this reference was developed during, or in relation to, the time at which is was published (1973). For comparison, I also looked at another photographic reference book which was published in 1993. The difference was apparent - the quality of the images and/or diagrams presented in the older reference book were one-dimensional drawings which lacked the high resolution of the images and/or diagrams presented in the more recent reference. Additionally, the quality of the books themselves (the binding & the paper, etc) varied in terms of quality as well.
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