Final Exam-LIBY 1210

For our final we were given the option to choose a topic from our cluster or a general topic. I grabbed “equations” for my cluster topic, and “rain forests” for the general topic. I am familiar with equations however rain forests sounded very intriguing so I went with that topic and researched into that field. Rain forest is a broad noun, so I focused my research into the concern of where the major rain forests are located. I also looked at how global warming is affecting the rain forests, as it is commonly known that the plants and trees in the forests not only are coined as “the lungs of the world.” Also these forests house thousands of different types of living organisms and life, and since global warming has become a major issue I wanted to research it for this final review.
The very first thing that I wanted to search was the location of the rain forest throughout the globe. I first tried using Academic Search Premier, as it is a very good database that has a lot of material to offer. Then I entered “rain forest” and “locations,” to see if I could find some material as to where the areas of tropical rain forests are. However I only got large articles that weren’t exactly relevant to what I was looking for. I got some articles on the different soil types in the different rain forests, and I also got some articles about the different moisture levels in some rain forests. So although this information is important and vital, it was quite helpful to my search of the location of rain forests throughout the world. I then realized that I could use the World Wide Web tool to find my answers, as I could enter longer phrases such as “location of rain forests in the world.” Using the Web was very helpful and precise in my research as I also came upon pictures of the rain forests in the different regions in the world. This is where I found one of my sources of www.trific.msu.edu. Here I found a website dedicated to rain forests, and the site even offered a map that had colored in the sections of the world where the major rain forests are located. The site even had the title heading, “Rain Forest Report Card.” I learned from this site that rain forests are located close to the equator due to the abundance of rain and hot, humid temperatures.
I then looked into the global warming effects on the rain forests, and I felt that Academic Search Premier would offer some material directly related to this subject as this database is very specific. So I searched “rain forests” and “global warming.” I used rain forests as the main entry in the majority of my searches on Academic Premier, because when I entered the words, “global warming” first, I got some articles that pertained mainly to global warming, and maybe mentioned the word ‘rain’ here or there. So I found it much more affective to enter ‘rain forests’ as the first set of words as the articles that I found all focused on the rain forests as the main theme, rather than an article about global warming that mentioned one of the other words in my search. Also, I tried changing the words I used in my search by entering “rain forests’’ and “effects of global warming.” By simply entering just the phrase, “effects of,” I found a plethora of different options that were relevant and helpful to my topic. So while conducting these searches on Academic Search Premier, I found an article from National Wildlife about the effects of global warming on the residents of the rain forests, the animals. This was a very good article as it came from a reputable source, and was quite relevant and recent as it was only a year old. I then moved on to search a Disciplinary database from the A-Z list of databases. As I was still interested in the subject of the global warming and its effects on the rain forests, I decided to use a scientific related database. At first, I made some mistakes and failures as I used databases that were of little help, such as GeoBase and GeoRef. They offered some quality articles, just not ones about global warming. I then tried Safari Books Online database, as I got caught up in the whole jungle theme, and the word ‘Safari’ lured me in. I quickly realized that although it has a relevant name, Safari Books wasn’t too helpful in my research. So I continued to look for a database that would be helpful and satisfy my research needs, so I found Science Direct. This database was very helpful and it gave me another source, an article titled, “Ecological impacts of different harvesting scenarios for temperate evergreen rain forest in southern Chile.” I learned a lot from this article, as it analyzed the rain forests as a mean of ecological impact such as strip-cutting, which is a way to harvest trees. Although I am a business major, I found this article interesting and very complex.
I then moved on to find the last source, a book from the school library. I did this last, as I feel that finding articles and other such information will help me to be more specific when searching for a book. So after conducting my several searches and finding the different articles and papers, I felt confident to find a helpful book from the catalog. I clicked on the catalog, and decided to search by subject. I then entered rain forests and global warming into the database, and I found a variety of books to choose from. I then decided that some of my results were too direct and I wanted to use a book with a wider range of information concerning rain forest. So I then altered my search to just the words, “rain forests,” and I found a book titled The Last Forest by Mark London and Brian Kelly. I then proceeded to find this book in the library, by using its call number, a procedure that I learned during the duration of being in the LIBY 1210 class. I felt that the book was a good one and had a lot of quality material, so I used it as my catalog source.
I selected sources that were relevant to my topic, and at the same time weren’t too complicated and covered the ideas that I was concerned about, such as the locations of rain forests, and the effects of global warming on the rain forests. I feel that I learned a lot about the rain forests, and although it may seem pretty basic, I didn’t realize that rain forest thrive near the equator, and this is why they are located in countries that are close to the equator. This is also why the green and tropical countries lie on the equator, there is a lot of rain, and a lot of sun thus plants grow in abundance. I found that researching a topic can take a while, and it can test your patient and work ethic, as it feels easier to give up on a database rather than alter your search. If I didn’t stick to my goals and if I gave up on a database, then I would never have found the quality material and information that I did find. I also found that just slightly changing your search can give you thousands of more results, and these results can most definitely be the result from finding something useful, to finding something that you may feel is useless.
I would continue my research by focusing on two questions, “How much (impact wise) of the world’s rain forests are affected by global warming,” and also, “How can we help to protect and preserve these rain forests.” I think these would be two questions that I would be interested in finding more information on, and would be relevant to the research that I did today. As far as additional databases is concerned, I would like to use Lexis-Nexis to find information as I feel that this is a good database, and I really like using it. Also I would like to find information on the database on the Britannica online website, as Britannica online is a well respected site, and one that I think would offer a lot of useful and helpful material.

Bibliography
1. www.trfic.msu.edu
“Rain Forest Report Card”

2. Academic Search Premier database
Tangley, Laura
National Wildlife article Aug/Sep 2006 Vol. 44 Issue 5

3. London, M. & Kelly, B.
The Last Forest 2007

4. Science Direct database
Ecological impacts of different harvesting scenarios for temperate evergreen rain forest in southern Chile
Nadja Rüger, Álvaro G. Gutiérrez, W. Daniel Kissling, Juan J. Armesto and Andreas Huth