Chapter 3: Resources to Conduct Research

Mayet Gizachew

Department of Computer Science

College of Informatics
University of Gondar

March 2024
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Outline

1 Digital Libraries

2 Documentation Tools

3 Datasets

4 Experimental or Visualization Tools

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Outline

1 Digital Libraries

2 Documentation Tools

3 Datasets

4 Experimental or Visualization Tools

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Outline

1 Digital Libraries

2 Documentation Tools

3 Datasets

4 Experimental or Visualization Tools

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Outline

1 Digital Libraries

2 Documentation Tools

3 Datasets

4 Experimental or Visualization Tools

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Outline

1 Digital Libraries

2 Documentation Tools

3 Datasets

4 Experimental or Visualization Tools

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What are research resources?

Research resources are usually thought of as primary sources and
secondary sources.
• Primary sources can be firsthand accounts of actual events
written by an eyewitness or original works.
− They may be letters, official records, interviews, survey results,
or analyzed statistical data.
• Secondary sources, on the other hand, are usually discussions,
evaluations, syntheses, and analyses of primary and secondary
source information.
The resources you need to complete your work will be
determined by your research question and the type of
research you conduct.
• More information is available to students than ever before
• Finding, organizing, analyzing, and communicating information
are skills needed to be a successful researcher.
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Common Places to Find Research Resources

• Research resources are found in various places, both within and
outside the traditional library
• Research resources can come from printed media such as
books, journals, magazines and newspapers; and electronic
sources found on the Internet.
Digital Library
• A digital library is a collection of digital objects, such as books,
magazines, audio recordings, video recordings and other
documents that are accessible electronically.
• Digital libraries provide users with online access to a wide range
of resources.
• Digital libraries can provide users with access to rare and
out-of-print materials that might be difficult or impossible to
locate in physical libraries.
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Digital Libraries for Research- Gateways

• Libraries are a primary resource for conducting academic research
• Learning how to use them and their resources effectively is
important to understanding the research process.
Exploring Digital Libraries
• IEEE: https://innovate.ieee.org/xplore-search/
• ACM Digital Library- https://dl.acm.org/about
• ScienceDirect https://www.sciencedirect.com/
• Springer- https://link.springer.com/

Resources available to you at UoG

https://library.uog.edu.et/
http://10.139.8.147/
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Outline

1 Digital Libraries

2 Documentation Tools

3 Datasets

4 Experimental or Visualization Tools

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LATEX
What is LATEX? LaTeX is pronounced as ’lah-tech’ or
’lay-tech.’
• LATEX is a document preparation system
• The LATEX is a high-quality typesetting system, used for the
documentation of scientific and technical documents.
• It is widely used in academia for the communication and the
publication of scientific papers popularly in various fields such as
computer science, economics, mathematics, chemistry, physics,
engineering, etc.
• It also handles the formatting layout of different structures.
• It is the markup language used for the typesetting of technical
documents

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Installation of Latex

• You need to download MiKTeX and Texmaker | TexStudio

• MiKTeX is a Latex distribution, a vast collection of files, and is
essential for Latex
• Texmaker | TexStudio is called a specialized editor and helps in
the Latex workflow.
− Installing the editor is optional but it makes the Latex easier
• Follow the steps
https://www.javatpoint.com/installation-of-latex to
complete the installation

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Getting Started
A minimal LATEX document

• All LaTeX documents are divided into two basic sections:

preamble and body
• Commands start with a backslash \
• Every document starts with a \documentclass command
• The argument in curly braces { } tells LATEX what kind of
document we are creating:article
• The document’s visible content written between two lines of
code which specify the beginning and end of the document’s
body
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Adding a title page

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Sections and subsections

• LaTeX uses the commands \section, \subsection and
\subsubsection to define sections in your document
• The sections will have successive numbers and appear in the
table of contents
• The following picture shows the hierarchy of sectioning elements

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LATEX packages
• LATEX offers a lot of functions by default, but in some situations
it can become in handy to use so called packages
• To import a package in LaTeX, you simply add the \usepackage
directive to the preamble of your document

• Packages add new functions to LaTeX

• All packages must be included in the preamble
• Packages add features such as support for pictures, links and
bibliography
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LaTeX math and equations

There are two major modes of typesetting math in LaTeX:
• embedding the math directly into your text by encapsulating
your formula in dollar signs
• using a predefined math environment
Using inline math – embed formulas in your text
To make use of the inline math feature, simply write your text and if
you need to typeset a single math symbol or formula, surround it
with dollar signs: This formula $f(x) = x2̂$ is an example.

The equation and align environment

The most useful math environments are the equation environment for
typesetting single equations and the align environment for multiple
equations and automatic alignment:
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LaTeX math and equations

Fractions and more

LaTeX is capable of displaying any mathematical notation. It’s
possible to typeset integrals, fractions and more

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Summary

• LaTeX is a powerful tool to typeset math Embed formulas in

your text by surrounding them with dollar signs $
• The equation environment is used to typeset one formula
• The align environment will align formulas at the ampersand &
symbol
• Single formulas must be separated with two backslashes \\
• Scale parentheses with \left( \right) automatically
• All mathematical expressions have a unique command with
unique syntax
• Characters for the Greek alphabet and other mathematical
symbols such as \lambda

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Insert an image in LaTeX

• Use the graphicx package and figure environment to embed

pictures
• Pictures will be numbered automatically
• Change the width of your image by using
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{}
• Refer to pictures in your document by setting a \label and using
the \ref tag
• Set the position of your image by adding a float option such as
[h!]
• If you want to show multiple figures next to each other, use the
sub-caption package and the sub-figure environment

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Example

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Assignment

Read more about

• Tables
• Lists
• Biblography in LaTeX

Proposal Writing
Using the Latex documentation tool, prepare a proposal on the topic
of your choice. Use the same software to prepare presentations.

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Outline

1 Digital Libraries

2 Documentation Tools

3 Datasets

4 Experimental or Visualization Tools

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What are Datasets?

• Datasets are collections of raw data gathered during the research
process usually in the form of numerical data.
• Many organizations, e.g. government agencies, universities or
research institutions make the data they have collected freely
available on the web for other researchers to use.

Where to get datasets?

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Publicly Available Datasets

• Google: https://datasetsearch.research.google.com/
− Use this tool to view datasets across a wide array of topics such
as global temperatures, housing market information, or anything
else that peaks your interest and also images like plant.
• Microsoft Research Open Data: https://msropendata.com/
• Amazon Datasets: https://registry.opendata.aws/
− Amazon Web Services (AWS) has grown to be one of the
largest on-demand cloud computing platforms in the world.
With so much data being stored on Amazon’s servers, a
plethora of datasets have been made available to the public
through AWS resources.
• UCI machine learning repository:
https://archive.ics.uci.edu/ml/index.php
• Government datasets: https://data.gov/
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Outline

1 Digital Libraries

2 Documentation Tools

3 Datasets

4 Experimental or Visualization Tools

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Experimental or Visualization Tools

• To conduct computer science research, various statistical tools
and programming languages are required.
• Experimental or visualization tools are software applications that
process and render information in a visual format such as a
graph, chart, or heat map for data analysis purposes.
− Such tools make it easier to understand and work with massive
amounts of data.

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Tools

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