Candyce Pruitt-Goddard
ILS 504.S71
Exercise #2
Part 2:
The reference questions that will be used in this exercise are as follows:
Topic 1 (General Reference Question) - What is the exchange rate between U.S. dollars and the
Euro?
Topic 2 (Academic Subject-Related Question) - I need to do a research paper on the symbolism
in Great Expectations. Where can I find this information?
Topic 3 (Historical or Current Event Topic) - How many soldiers died from illness during the
Civil War?
Part 3:
The following are precise narratives of reference interview used to obtain the precise questions
being asked:
Topic 1 (General Reference Question):
Librarian: Hi, how can I help you?
Patron: I need information about the Euro.
Librarian: What sort of information about the Euro?
Patron: I need to know how much the Euro is currently worth.
Librarian: Would you like to compare the value of the Euro to the U.S. dollar or to a different
currency?
Patron: Preferably the exchange rate between the Euro and the U.S. dollar.
Librarian: Let’s see what we can find.
Topic 2 (Academic Subject-Related Question):
Librarian: Hello. What can I help you with?
Patron: I need to find information on Great Expectations for a research paper.
Librarian: Do you need any particular kind of information on it?
Patron: Yes, I need to find information on the symbolism found in Great Expectations.
Librarian: We should have plenty of information on that subject. Let’s see what we can find.
Topic 3 (Historical Topic):
Librarian: Hello. How can I help you?
Patron: Where can I find books on the Civil War?
Librarian: Do you need any information in particular on the Civil War?
Patron: I need death statistics from the Civil War.
Librarian: Are you after a certain statistic in particular?
Patron: I’m actually looking to find out how many soldiers died from illness during the
Civil War.
Librarian: Great, let’s look it up.
Part 4:
The following are the search terms and keywords that will be used to find the answers to each of
the three topic questions.
Topic 1: Search Terms: Euro, EUR, dollar, USD, exchange rate, convert, current
POTENTIAL Term: “Almanacs, American”
Boolean Search Terms: (Euro OR EUR) AND (dollar OR USD) AND (exchange rate OR
convert) AND current
Topic 2: Search Terms: Great Expectations, Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870, symbolism,
symbolism in literature, symbols, Pip, Miss Havisham
Boolean Search Terms: “Great Expectations” AND Charles Dickens AND (symbolism OR
“symbolism in literature” OR symbols) AND Pip AND Miss Havisham
Topic 3: Search Terms: Civil War, illness, disease, sickness, soldiers, death, Death--America-History, diphtheria, typhoid fever, dysentery, pneumonia, United States -- History -- Civil War,
1861-1865 -- Social aspects
Boolean Search Terms: Civil War AND (illness OR disease OR sickness) AND soldiers AND
(death OR “Death--America--History”) AND (diphtheria OR typhoid fever OR dysentery OR
pneumonia)
Part 5:
A) Results from the University of Connecticut OPAC:
Topic 1: The HOMER catalog of the University of Connecticut Library was searched to find a
resource that includes the exchange rates between the Euro and the U.S. dollar. Because this
catalog does not handle Boolean search terms very well, regular search terms were used. There
was not a single resource listed that included Exchange Rates as a subject heading, so instead the
search term “almanacs, American” was used in order to find an almanac that would likely
contain information regarding the exchange rate between the Euro and the U.S. Dollar. Thus, the
best result from this OPAC was found to be the following resource:
The World almanac and book of facts. (2009). New York: New York World.
Topic 2: Since the HOMER catalog is unable to search multiple subject headings at a time, the
subject term symbolism in literature was searched, and those results were reviewed in order to
find the best resource for the symbolism in Great Expectations. While there were a couple of
good sources for interpreting symbolism in literature, the best resource found is the following
book, which covers the symbolism in Charles Dickens’s novels:
Barnard, Robert. (1974). Imagery and theme in the novels of Dickens. New York: Humanities
Press.
Topic 3: Once again, since the HOMER catalog is incapable of searching multiple subject
headings or keywords at once, it was difficult to locate a resource for this third topic. The
University of Connecticut does not have any resources with the subject heading Death-America—History, so instead the subject heading United States -- History -- Civil War, 18611865 -- Social aspects was used to search for a resource. By searching this heading and
reviewing the results, the following resource was found to be the best publication in this OPAC
for this topic, and even includes an entire chapter on death statistics from the Civil War:
Faust, Drew Gilpin. (2008). This republic of suffering: Death and the American Civil War. New
York: Alfred A. Knopf.
B) To analyze the resources available through a union catalog, Worldcat was used to search the
resources available through the Boston Library Consortium, which includes the University of
Connecticut as well as many other academic libraries throughout New England.
Topic 1:
While this catalog does contain a number of good resources that discuss exchange rates, and
even contains an excellent resource that analyzes the dynamics surrounding the Euro-dollar
exchange rates, the best resource in this OPAC for looking up the current exchange rate between
the Euro and the dollar is still the almanac:
The World almanac and book of facts. (2009). New York: New York World.
Topic 2:
Through searching the subject headings of “Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870” and “symbolism in
literature,” a number of helpful resources were found. The resource found from searching the
University of Connecticut catalog for this topic is certainly the best resource available from this
union catalog for answering this question, but to avoid redundancy, another title will be listed
which provides information on the symbolism of the settings in Dickens’s novels:
Smith, Karl Ashley. (2008). Dickens and the unreal city: Searching for spiritual significance in
nineteenth-century London. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Topic 3:
This catalog contains approximately 25,000 titles with the subject heading “Civil War”. While
this assortment of resources on the Civil War provides a plethora of information on the Civil
War, the best resource for answering the topic question is the same resource found at the
University of Connecticut library catalog, as it appears to be the only title that discusses death
statistics from the Civil War. Many other resources provide individual accounts of sick soldiers
that would be beneficial to one writing a research paper on this topic, but the best resource for
answering the topic question is as follows:
Faust, Drew Gilpin. (2008). This republic of suffering: Death and the American Civil War. New
York: Alfred A. Knopf.
C) To analyze the ability of online databases to answer these three different types of reference
questions, different online databases made available through the Buley Library were used.
Different databases were used for each of the reference questions, as many of the databases are
subject-specific. The best two results found by these databases for each of the reference
questions are found below.
Topic 1:
To find a resource that answers this general reference question, the iConn database was
used, as more scholarly academic databases are not likely to contain resources that can answer
this general reference question, especially since the exchange rate between the Euro and the U.S.
dollar fluctuates on a regular basis. Because of this fact, using online databases severely limits
the ability to find current information on this particular general reference question. This being
said, however, a good resource was found through the iConn database by using the basic search
terms previously mentioned. The resource found discusses the exchange rate between the Euro
and the U.S. dollar over the first year that the Euro was created. The article then discusses why
the exchange rates between the two forms of currency fluctuated as such. The citation for this
resource is as follows:
A mighty rival: The Euro and the U.S. dollar. (1999). The Banker 149.880, 20.
To find a second resource the database ABI/Global Proquest database was used. A search
was then conducted using the basic search terms for this topic, and a recent source was found
that stated the exchange rate between the Euro and the dollar as of last week, Saturday, February
27, 2010. According to this source, as of last Saturday, the exchange rate of the Euro was $1.362.
A more recent article could not be found stating the exchange rate between the two currencies.
As a result, the use of online databases for this particular general reference question proved
mostly ineffective. The citation for this source, however, is as follows:
Dollar slips early on Saturday while Euro gains slightly. (2010, Feb 27). Interfax : Russia & CIS
Business and Financial Newswire. Retrieved March 5, 2010 from http://0proquest.umi.com.www.consuls.org/pqdweb?index=2&did=1972382901&SrchMode=2
&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=126789
9703&clientId=23650.
Topic 2:
To find a resource that answers this academic reference question, the JSTOR online
database was used. Within JSTOR, a search was conducted using the Boolean search terms, and
results were limited to those in the “Language and Literature” subject field, to help narrow the
search. After conducting this one search, an excellent result was found that discusses both the
imagery and symbolism in Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations. The citation for this
excellent resource is as follows:
Hynes, Joseph A. (1963). Image and symbol in Great Expectations. ELH 30(3), 258-292.
To find a second resource that answers this academic reference question, the same search
results were used as those found from conducting the first search. This second great source for
this topic discusses the symbolism, imagery, and meanings behind the novel Great Expectations.
Although this article does not do as good of a job answering this reference question as the first
source found, it does do a good job, and is the second best source of all of the sources found on
the subject. This citation for this resource is as follows:
Dobie, Ann B. (1971). Early stream-of-consciousness writing: Great Expectations. NineteenthCentury Fiction 25(4), 405-416.
Topic 3:
To find an answer to the historical reference question, the database American: History
and Live (Ebsco) was used, and a search was conducted using the appropriate search terms. This
search yielded a number of relevant results, but the most useful resource was one that compared
the mortality rates of African Americans and Caucasians during the Civil War, and their
respective causes of mortality. This database only provided an abstract for this article, but using
a like at the bottom of the page, a copy of the full-text article was made available through
JSTOR. This source answered the reference question by indicating that over 300,000 Union
soldiers were killed during the Civil War. Of those, 171,806 of those were white troops that died
from disease, and 29,963 were black troops that died from disease. Overall, 201,769 Union
troops died from disease during the Civil War, which accounts for approximately two-thirds of
the deaths of Union troops during the war. While the more specific statistics mentioned apply to
the Union army, the article also mentions that approximately two-thirds of the 660,000 deaths of
soldiers in the Civil War were caused by illness. The citation for this excellent source is as
follows:
Black, Andrew K. (1994). In the service of the United States: Comparative mortality among
African-American and white troops in the Union army. The Journal of Negro History
79(4), 317-333.
The second excellent source for this topic was found by searching JSTOR using the
Boolean search terms for this topic. This article discusses the different diseases that impacted the
soldiers during the Civil War, and mentions that approximately two-thirds of the 660,000 deaths
of soldiers during the Civil War were a result of illness. This article furthermore provides a
breakdown of these statistics among the two different armies, and provides statistics on specific
diseases that killed soldiers. The citation for this excellent source is as follows:
Sartin, Jeffrey S. (1993). Infectious diseases during the Civil War: The triumph of the "Third
Army". Clinical Infectious Diseases 16(4), 580-584.
D) To investigate the usefulness of subject guides in answering these three types of reference
questions, the subject guides made available by the Buley Library and the Internet Public Library
were used.
Topic 1:
To find resources useful for answering this general reference question, the subject guides
made available by the Internet Public Library were used. The best result was found by using the
Economics digital library subject guide. Within this digital library, the link to “Economics
Statistics Database” was used to arrive at a website database. A search was then conducted with
the appropriate search terms, and a link was provided to an excellent Internet resource that
provides the daily exchange rates of different currencies. From this website, the exchange rate
was found to be 1.362 U.S. dollar = 1 Euro. From this website, a number of other exchange rates
are readily available on the site’s homepage. The URL for this online resource is as follows:
http://www.urwealthy.com/
Finding the answer to this general reference question through the use of subject guides
was relatively time consuming, but the correct answer to the reference question was obtained
through their use. To find a second good source for this reference question, the economics digital
library was again used. From this digital library, the “Economy Watch” link was selected. From
there, a link to “Exchange Rates” on the side menu was selected, and by following a series of
links, an excellent resource was found which allows users to compare any two forms of currency
by selecting the two currencies which they would like to compare. From doing this, 1.3622 U.S.
dollars was found to equal 1 Euro. The URL for this Internet resource is as follows:
http://www.advfn.com/forex
Once the first source for this topic was found, it was easy to find a second good source, and the
correct answer to this general reference question was able to be obtained from the use of subject
guides.
Topic 2:
To find resources to answer this academic reference question, the subject guides through
Buley Library were first perused to find relevant links; however, no relevant links were found.
The subject guides at the Internet Public Library were then used to find information on this
reference question. The link to the “English Literature Digital Library - Directory of Online
Publications” was first selected, and then the “Literary History” link was selected. This link led
to a website, and the link “19th Century Literature” was selected. From here, the link to Charles
Dickens was selected, and among the options listed, a useful source was found. This source
discusses some of the symbolism found in the novel Great Expectations. The citation for this
source is found below:
Franco, Anthony F. (n.d.). Familial relationships in Great Expectations: The search for identity.
Retrieved March 6, 2010 from http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/
1986/1/86.01.03.x.html#b.
Although using subject guides for this reference topic was time consuming, once an
appropriate link was found, a second resource was easily found. Through the same sequence of
links listed above, after selecting the “Charles Dickens” link, a link was found to an article which
discusses the religious symbolism in Great Expectations. While this resource is not as useful as
the first found through this manner, it is still a useful source that could be used to write a
research paper on the symbolism found in Great Expectations. The citation for this source is as
follows:
Gribble, Jennifer. (2008). The bible in Great Expectations. Dickens Quarterly. Retrieved March
6, 2010 from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6743/is_4_25/ai_n31007051/?tag=
content;coll.
Overall, using subject guides to answer this reference topic was very time consuming;
however, the correct answers to this question were eventually obtained. Therefore, while it is a
useful tool, it is certainly not the fastest that can be used to answer academic questions, as the
different links need to be assessed in order to find a useful one.
Topic 3:
To find resources to answer this historical reference question, the subject guides made
available by the Buley Library were first used to follow links to information on the Civil War.
The list of links found this way, however, did not lead to answering the reference question, so the
subject guides available at the Internet Public Library were used instead. Through these, a link
was found to the American Civil War digital library, which provided a link to the U.S. Civil War
Center, which provided a catalog of book titles pertaining to the Civil War. A good source was
found this way, which discusses the deaths associated with the Civil War, and also gets into the
notions that society had about death during that time period. The citation for this resource is as
follows:
Schantz, Mark S. (2008). Awaiting the heavenly country: The Civil War and America's culture
of death. New York: Cornell University Press.
It was once again time consuming trying to find an answer to this historical reference
question through the use of subject guides, and it was very difficult to find answers to this
question. To find a second source for this reference question, the link to “PBS—The Civil War”
was selected from the already found American Civil War digital library. This link arrived at a
website, which had general information on the Civil War. By clicking on the “Fact Sheet” page,
the necessary information to answer this question was found. The website states that 620,000
soldiers died during the Civil War, and two-thirds of these deaths were attributed to illness or
disease. The link to this useful resource is as follows:
http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/facts.html.
Overall, the use of subject guides proved to be time consuming, but the correct answers
to each of the three reference questions were able to be obtained through their use.
E) To analyze the usefulness of search engines in answering different types of reference
questions, for each of the three topics, the Google and Yahoo search engines were used. The best
result found from each of the searches was then recorded below.
Topic 1:
The first search conducted for this general reference question used the Google search
engine. Because Google.com is capable of handing Boolean search terms, the Boolean search
terms that have already been planned out were used. (Once again, this search term is as follows:
(Euro OR EUR) AND (dollar OR USD) AND (exchange rate OR convert) AND current.
From conducting this search, many relevant resources were found which allow users to
compare the exchange rates of many different currencies. Eight of the first ten results of this
search were Internet resources that allow users to obtain information on the current exchange
rates of various currencies. The other two results were Internet resources that provided
information on exchange rate forecasts. Overall, this Google search was successful; however, the
first hit that was found provided an exchange rate of 1.358 U.S. dollar = 1 Euro, which is
different than all of the exchange rate information previous found from doing this exercise. This
provides an excellent demonstration of how resources found from doing search engine searches
does not always yield reliable information. The second hit from this search was found to be a
good, reliable resource, allowing users to convert any currency in the world into a different
currency. The URL for this excellent Internet resource is as follows:
http://www.xe.com/
To further analyze the ability of search engines to answer general reference questions, the
same Boolean search was conducted using the Yahoo search engine. The results found from this
search were very similar to those obtained from the Google search, with only two of the first ten
results being different. Even so, eight of the first ten results allow users to obtain information on
current exchange rates, while the other two results provide predictions on future exchange rates.
This search yielded the same unreliable result that the Google search had, and had many of the
same excellent resources brought up. An excellent Internet resource that was not found in the
first ten Google hits was found, that provides information on exchange rates, and allows users to
click on the flags of different countries to compare their exchange rates. The URL of this Internet
resource is as follows:
http://coinmill.com/EUR_USD.html#EUR=1
Overall, for this general reference question, the Internet searches were definitely a fast way to
obtain the answer to this general reference question, but caution had to be used in order to ensure
that the results obtained were accurate, as Internet resources may very well be unreliable. The
correct answer to this reference question was able to be obtained from the use of Google and
Yahoo search engines.
Topic 2:
A similar search was then conducted for this academic reference question, to determine
the ability of the Google search engine to provide resources pertaining to this reference topic. To
do so, a search was conducted using the Boolean search terms previously determined:
“Great Expectations” AND Charles Dickens AND (symbolism OR “symbolism in literature” OR
symbols) AND Pip AND Miss Havisham.
This search yielded a number of useful Internet resources for this academic reference topic, but
none of them were entirely reliable. The URL to the most useful and reliable Internet resource
found by conducting this search is as follows:
http://www.shmoop.com/great-expectations/symbolism-imagery.html.
This Internet resource provides an in-depth analysis of the symbolism found in Dickens’s
Great Expectations, but the information found in this website should be used with caution, as it
is found on a commercial website, and may not be entirely accurate. Of the first ten results found
by conducting this Google search, only six were relevant resources, and none of them were
entirely reliable. With this being said, using search engines to answer academic reference
questions is probably not the best idea to obtain accurate information, but could provide users
with a good place to start, especially because of the speed with which a search can be conducted
using Google.com.
This academic reference question was then explored using the Yahoo search engine. To
do so, the same Boolean search terms were use. The first ten results found from conducting this
search were even less useful than those found by using the Google search engine. Two hits led to
the Spark Notes on Great Expectations, while two hits were links to the Amazon website, four
were links to summaries of the novel, one provide a link to the audio version of the book, and
only one of the first ten hits actually discussed the symbolism found in Great Expectations. This
somewhat useful Internet resource discussed the different characters found in the Dickens novel,
and the symbolism associated with each of them. The URL for this Internet resource is as
follows:
http://www.literature-study-online.com/essays/dickens.html.
Even this resource, however, is not entirely reliable as it is written by a student and found on a
commercial website. Overall, through conducting this search, it can be determined that search
engines are not a great resource for finding answers to academic reference questions. Going off
of these results, it can also be determined that Google provides more relevant results (at least in
this case), and can be a good starting point for a research paper as it provides a fast way to search
for an answer to an academic reference question.
Topic 3:
A similar search was then conducted for the historical reference question using the
Google search engine. To do so, the previously determined Boolean search terms were used:
Civil War AND (illness OR disease OR sickness) AND soldiers AND (death OR “Death-America--History”) AND (diphtheria OR typhoid fever OR dysentery OR pneumonia).
The results of this Google search were mostly irrelevant, but one excellent source was found
within the first ten results of the search. This result was an article Google found from JSTOR,
which provides a breakdown analysis of the deaths associated with the Civil War, and the
statistics associated with these deaths. Through this resource, it was determined that
approximately 610,000 men died as a result of the Civil War, and roughly two-thirds of these
deaths were associated with disease (approximately 380,000). The citation for this excellent
resource is as follows:
Gilchrist, Michael R. (1998). Disease and infection in the American Civil War. The American
Biology Teacher 60(4). Retrieved March 6, 2010 from http://www.jstor.org/pss/4450468.
Even though Google came up with this useful and reliable source, it could have also been
more easily found through searching JSTOR. (And the full-text article would also have been
available this way.) The rest of the first ten results found from doing this search, however, were
largely irrelevant to this particular reference topic, indicating that search engines may not be the
best way to obtain information regarding historical reference questions.
A Yahoo search was then conducted using the same Boolean search terms that were
previously determined. This search resulted in zero useful and relevant hits. The only slightly
relevant hit found from this search was a discussion thread which discussed the different types of
diseases that soldiers during the Civil War died from, but this information does not answer the
question being asked, and is certainly not reliable. Overall, search engines do not appear to be a
good tool for answering historical reference questions, as only one result relevant to this
reference topic was found after using two search engines.
F) To determine the usefulness of metasearch engines, the MetaCrawler search engine was used
to attempt to answer each of the three reference questions. The results for each of these searches
are listed below.
Topic 1:
Because MetaCrawler only allows a certain number of characters to be used in the search,
only the search terms “Euro to dollar conversion” were used. Of the first ten results of this
search, eight were Internet resources that allowed users to compare the exchange rates of
different world currencies. Only two of the first ten results were irrelevant to the reference
question being asked. Many of the results found from this search were also found from the
Google and Yahoo searches. The URL to a unique online resource found by MetaCrawler that
answers this general reference question is as follows:
http://www.aquariussoft.com/link-currency-converter/
According to this Internet resource which provides users with up-to-date exchange rates, 1 Euro
is currently equal to 1.362 U.S. dollars. For this general reference question, the use of the
metasearch engine was just as effective as that of the Google and Yahoo search engines.
Topic 2:
Because of the limited number of characters that MetaCrawler allows users to type into
the search bar, the limited search phrase “Great Expectations” symbolism was used to find
resources to answer the academic reference question. Of the first ten results found from this
search, seven were relevant results. The URL of the most useful and reliable of these hits is as
follows:
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/ge/imageov.html.
The reliability of these results is greatly limited, however, which limits the value of the
metasearch engine as a tool for answering academic reference questions. The metasearch engine,
however, is a more useful tool than the Google and Yahoo search engines, as it was able to come
up with more relevant results than either Google.com or Yahoo.com.
Topic 3:
A similar search was then conducted using MetaCrawler to find resources pertaining to
the historical reference question. Because of the limited number of characters allowed in the
search bar, however, the limited search phrase “Civil War deaths from disease” was used. Of the
first ten results of this search, five were relevant and useful. The most useful of these resources
indicated that approximately 618,000 soldiers died during the Civil War, 414,000 of which (or
approximately two-thirds) died from disease. The URL of this useful Internet resource is as
follows:
http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm.
Overall, the use of the metasearch engine was more effective than that of the regular search
engines in regard to answering this historical reference question, as the results found were
overall more helpful and relevant. While this may not be the most reliable way to answer a
historical reference question, it is certainly a quick way to provide relevant resources to answer a
historical reference question.
Part 6:
The three best results for topic 1 were as follows:
1) Dollar slips early on Saturday while Euro gains slightly. (2010, Feb 27). Interfax : Russia &
CIS Business and Financial Newswire. Retrieved March 5, 2010 from http://0proquest.umi.com.www.consuls.org/pqdweb?index=2&did=1972382901&SrchMode=2
&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=126789
9703&clientId=23650.
This result was obtained from the ABI/Global Proquest database.
2) http://www.advfn.com/forex
This result was obtained from the subject guides available through the Internet Public Library.
3) http://www.aquariussoft.com/link-currency-converter/
This result was obtained from the use of the metasearch engine MetaCrawler.com.
The three best results for topic 2 were as follows:
1) Barnard, Robert. (1974). Imagery and theme in the novels of Dickens. New York: Humanities
Press.
This result was obtained from the University of Connecticut OPAC.
2) Hynes, Joseph A. (1963). Image and symbol in Great Expectations. ELH 30(3), 258-292.
This result was obtained from the JSTOR online database.
3) Franco, Anthony F. (n.d.). Familial relationships in Great Expectations: The search for
identity. Retrieved March 6, 2010 from http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/
1986/1/86.01.03.x.html#b.
This result was obtained from the subject guides available through the Internet Public Library.
The three best results for topic 3 were as follows:
1) Faust, Drew Gilpin. (2008). This republic of suffering: Death and the American Civil War.
New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
This result was obtained from both the University of Connecticut OPAC and the Boston Library
Consortium OPAC.
2) Sartin, Jeffrey S. (1993). Infectious diseases during the Civil War: The triumph of the "Third
Army". Clinical Infectious Diseases 16(4), 580-584.
This result was obtained from the JSTOR online database.
3) http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm.
This result was obtained from the MetaCrawler search engine.
Overall, the three best answers for the general reference question were obtained from the
use of an online database, the use of subject guides, and the use of a metasearch engine. Because
the use of the subject guides is relatively time consuming, online databases and metasearch
engines may prove to be of the more useful tools available for answering general reference
questions. Search engines provide a quick way to obtain an answer to a general reference
question, but caution must be used to ensure that the results found this way are accurate and
reliable. Depending on the general reference question, online databases can also be a great way
to answer general reference questions, as they are easy to search, and provide accurate and
reliable information.
In regard to the academic reference question, the three best answers were obtained from
the local library’s OPAC, the JSTOR online database, and the subject guides through the Internet
Public Library. Because of the nature and unreliability of search engines, search engines are not
a good tool for answering academic reference questions, especially more in-depth academic
reference questions. Using an OPAC to find a book available through the library, on the other
hand, is a great way to obtain information on an academic reference question, especially those
that are more in-depth. Online databases area also a great way to find information on academic
reference questions, as they provide reliable information, and are very easy to search. Using the
subject guides to answer academic reference questions also proved useful, but time consuming.
If the librarian has a fair amount of time to answer the question, subject guides might definitely
be worth considering, especially if other resources prove to be of little use.
When considering the historical reference question, the three best results were obtained
from the local OPAC, the JSTOR online database, and the MetaCrawler search engine. The use
of an OPAC to locate a library book on the relevant historical topic can prove to be an excellent
reference tool, especially when the reference question is more involved. Online databases are
also excellent, reliable resources for answering historical reference questions, as they are easy to
search through. A metasearch engine can also be an excellent reference tool for answering
historical reference questions, as long as the reference question is not too in-depth. Metasearch
engines provide a great alternative to regular search engines, as they provide results that appear
to be more relevant than those found by regular search engines. Metasearch engines also provide
a speedy way to find an answer to a reference question, as metasearches are not too involved.
A) The reference sources that provided answers to topic 1 were as follows:
 The World almanac and book of facts. (2009). New York: New York World.
 Dollar slips early on Saturday while Euro gains slightly. (2010, Feb 27). Interfax : Russia
& CIS Business and Financial Newswire. Retrieved March 5, 2010 from http://0-
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proquest.umi.com.www.consuls.org/pqdweb?index=2&did=1972382901&SrchMode=2
&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=126789
9703&clientId=23650.
http://www.urwealthy.com/
http://www.advfn.com/forex
http://www.xe.com/
http://coinmill.com/EUR_USD.html#EUR=1
http://www.aquariussoft.com/link-currency-converter/
The reference sources that provided answers to topic 2 are as follows:
 Barnard, Robert. (1974). Imagery and theme in the novels of Dickens. New York:
Humanities Press.
 Smith, Karl Ashley. (2008). Dickens and the unreal city: Searching for spiritual
significance in nineteenth-century London. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
 Hynes, Joseph A. (1963). Image and symbol in Great Expectations. ELH 30(3), 258-292
 Dobie, Ann B. (1971). Early stream-of-consciousness writing: Great Expectations.
Nineteenth-Century Fiction 25(4), 405-416.
 Franco, Anthony F. (n.d.). Familial relationships in Great Expectations: The search for
identity. Retrieved March 6, 2010 from http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/
1986/1/86.01.03.x.html#b.
 Gribble, Jennifer. (2008). The bible in Great Expectations. Dickens Quarterly. Retrieved
March 6, 2010 from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6743/is_4_25/ai_n31007051/?tag= content;coll.
 http://www.shmoop.com/great-expectations/symbolism-imagery.html.
 http://www.literature-study-online.com/essays/dickens.html.
 http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/ge/imageov.html.
The reference sources that provided answers to topic 3 are as follows:
 Faust, Drew Gilpin. (2008). This republic of suffering: Death and the American Civil
War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
 Black, Andrew K. (1994). In the service of the United States: Comparative mortality
among African-American and white troops in the Union army. The Journal of Negro
History 79(4), 317-333.
 Sartin, Jeffrey S. (1993). Infectious diseases during the Civil War: The triumph of the
"Third Army". Clinical Infectious Diseases 16(4), 580-584.
 http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/facts.html.
 Gilchrist, Michael R. (1998). Disease and infection in the American Civil War. The
American Biology Teacher 60(4). Retrieved March 6, 2010 from
http://www.jstor.org/pss/4450468.
 http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm.
B)
1) The correct answer to reference question 1 is as follows:
The exchange rate between the Euro and the U.S. dollar is 1 Euro = 1.362 U.S. dollars.
2) Rerference question 2 has a number of possible answers, so a few of the prominent symbols in
Great Expectations are discussed below:
Satis House:
In Satis House, Dickens creates a magnificent Gothic setting whose various elements symbolize
Pip’s romantic perception of the upper class and many other themes of the book. On her
decaying body, Miss Havisham’s wedding dress becomes an ironic symbol of death and
degeneration. The wedding dress and the wedding feast symbolize Miss Havisham’s past, and
the stopped clocks throughout the house symbolize her determined attempt to freeze time by
refusing to change anything from the way it was when she was jilted on her wedding day. The
brewery next to the house symbolizes the connection between commerce and wealth: Miss
Havisham’s fortune is not the product of an aristocratic birth but of a recent success in industrial
capitalism. Finally, the crumbling, dilapidated stones of the house, as well as the darkness and
dust that pervade it, symbolize the general decadence of the lives of its inhabitants and of the
upper class as a whole.
The Mists on the Marshes:
The setting almost always symbolizes a theme in Great Expectations and always sets a tone that
is perfectly matched to the novel’s dramatic action. The misty marshes near Pip’s childhood
home in Kent, one of the most evocative of the book’s settings, are used several times to
symbolize danger and uncertainty. As a child, Pip brings Magwitch a file and food in these mists;
later, he is kidnapped by Orlick and nearly murdered in them. Whenever Pip goes into the mists,
something dangerous is likely to happen. Significantly, Pip must go through the mists when he
travels to London shortly after receiving his fortune, alerting the reader that this apparently
positive development in his life may have dangerous consequences.
Bentley Drummle:
Although he is a minor character in the novel, Bentley Drummle provides an important contrast
with Pip and represents the arbitrary nature of class distinctions. In his mind, Pip has connected
the ideas of moral, social, and educational advancement so that each depends on the others. The
coarse and cruel Drummle, a member of the upper class, provides Pip with proof that social
advancement has no inherent connection to intelligence or moral worth. Drummle is a lout who
has inherited immense wealth, while Pip’s friend and brother-in-law Joe is a good man who
works hard for the little he earns. Drummle’s negative example helps Pip to see the inner worth
of characters such as Magwitch and Joe, and eventually to discard his immature fantasies about
wealth and class in favor of a new understanding that is both more compassionate and more
realistic.
3) The answer to reference question 3 is as follows:
Of the roughly 618,000 soldiers that died during the Civil War, 414,000, or roughly two-thirds,
died from disease.
D) Overall, the best source for this general reference topic was the metasearch engine, as it
provided users with speedy and reliable information on the exchange rates. Because of the nature
of the Internet, the Internet also allows users to get the most current information. Caution must
be taken, however, in ensuring that websites are accurate and reliable. This, however, is not
necessarily true of all general reference questions, as there are many general reference questions
for which using an OPAC to find a reference or circulating library book would be better than
conducting a metasearch. Because of the nature of this particular general reference question,
however, the metasearch engine was the best resource for topic 1.
The best source for this particular academic reference question (topic 2) was the online
database JSTOR, as it provided a comprehensive answer to this in-depth academic reference
question. Conducting Internet searches does not seem to be an effective source for academic
reference questions. Depending on the nature of the academic reference question, however, the
use of an OPAC to locate a library book on the academic subject might provide patrons with a
more comprehensive answer. For this academic reference question in particular, however, online
databases proved to be the best source for answering this reference question.
The best source for answering this particular historical reference question was the online
database JSTOR. By using JSTOR to answer this reference question, a reliable and in-depth
answer was found relatively quickly. Even though Internet resources can be helpful for
answering some historical reference questions, due to the unreliability of the Internet, Internet
searches should probably be avoided for this type of reference question. Depending on the nature
of the historical reference question, either the use of subject guides or the use of an OPAC to find
a book on the historical topic could prove to be the best source of information. For this particular
historical reference question, however, the use of online databases was the best resource for
finding information on the historical topic.