Information Literacy YAS Welcome to Scientific Wageningen: Developing Academic Skills and Attitude Annemie Kersten September, 2008

Wageningen UR Library / Forum

Morning group – uur: Introduction lecture – uur: Break – uur: Introduction lecture: search strategy – uur: Modules (BlackBoard)

Afternoon group – uur: Introduction lecture – uur: Break – uur: Introduction lecture: search strategy – uur: Modules (BlackBoard)

Information Literacy "To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information" (ALA, 1989) Why should you be information literate? –Later as a professional –Now during your studies

Information Explosion - Electronic

Information overload

The Library and the Web

Information Literacy Reliability of sources Encyclopedia Britannica online Wikipedia Google Scholar Scopus

What will you learn? How to search for scientific information How to use the Wageningen UR Digital Library How to use bibliographic databases on different platforms How to set up a search strategy How to evaluate search results

Wageningen UR Digital Library

Wageningen Digital Library - Introduction Portals: a guide to information resources by subject area and general reference Search: frequently used information resources User info and services: information and support Log in: My Library a.o. off-campus access (staff and students WUR) URL after off-campus log in

Where do I find ? books and journals in the library → Library Catalogue Wageningen UR publications → Wageningen Yield (WaY) the last issue of a journal → Electronic journals journal articles → bibliographies citations of articles → Web of Science / Scopus electronic reference sources → Virtual Reference Desk

How can I ? find important resources in my field → Subject Portals find a list of all main resources → Databases A-Z or Databases by type CrossSearch databases → MetaLib find information on services → User info and services use my personal Digital Library a.o. off-campus access→ Log in (My Library) URL after off- campus log in

Library Catalogue To search titles of books, journals, reports in the library → Library Catalogue NOT TO SEARCH ARTICLES Default: phrase searching All fields= words in author(s), title, publisher, keyword(s), abstract etc. Search specific fields: title, author(s), keyword(s), category Wildcards: use an * to replace a string of characters or a ? to replace a single character Keywords: use the Keyword lookup (thesaurus)

Bibliographic databases To search journal articles, book chapters → bibliographies General/multidisciplinary Web of Science (since 1945) Scopus (since 1960) Subject specific Health: PubMed, Medline (incl. Veterinary Science) Agriculture: CAB Abstracts, Agris, Agricola Biology: Biological Abstracts Zoology: ZooRecod Aquaculture and Fisheries: ASFA Chemistry: SciFinder Scholar

MetaLib MetaLib: Search multiple databases (bibliographies, catalogues, gateways) in one search QuickSearch (10 databases) MetaSearch (select databases by subject) or

Search strategy in 5 steps  Analysis of the question  Formulation of search terms per concept  Combination of search terms  Too many hits : refine the search question  Not enough hits : broaden the search question

1. Analysis of the question (step 1) Breeding programs in dairy farming in the Netherlands: First identify key concepts Concept 1: Dairy farming Concept 2: Breeding programs Concept 3: Netherlands

1. Analysis of the question (step 1) Which databases? CAB Abstracts, Agris, Agricola via ERL WebSpirs Scopus or Web of Science Wageningen catalogue (for books, reports, theses, etc.) Tip: Use the Portals on the library website

2. Formulation of terms per concept (step 2) Concept 1: dairy farming dairy farms dairy cattle dairy cows dairy herds Concept 3: the Netherlands Gelderland Groningen Noord Brabant Drenthe Friesland …….. Concept 2: Breeding programs Breeding programmes Breeding practices Breeding strategies Breeding structure Breeding schemes Breeding value Selective breeding Selection strategies Sire selection …….

2. Formulation of terms per concept (step 2) How do you find several terms per concept? Use a Thesaurus (if available) look at narrower, broader and related terms scan relevant references on words in title, abstract and keywords fields Read the introduction of an article: e.g. “The aim of the present study was…”

3. Combination of search terms (step 3) Boolean operators: OR to combine search terms per main concept AND to combine main concepts NOT to exclude concepts (be careful!) Truncation/masking: For plural/singular words, variations in spelling e.g. behavio?r, feed*

3. Combination of search terms (step 3)  dairy farm* OR dairy cattle OR dairy cow? OR dairy herd*  Breeding program* OR breeding practice? OR breeding strateg* OR breeding structure? OR selection scheme? OR breeding value? OR selective breeding OR selection strateg* OR sire selection  Netherlands (use thesaurus if available or choose specific field to search)  Grass breeding program* (1 AND #2 AND #3) NOT #4

3. Combination of search terms (step 3) ((dairy farm* OR dairy cattle OR dairy cow? OR dairy herd*) AND (breeding program* OR breeding practice? OR breeding strateg* OR breeding structure? OR selection scheme? OR breeding value? OR selective breeding OR selection strateg* OR sire selection) AND (Netherlands)) NOT (Grass breeding program*) Go to ERL WebSpirs or select CAB- Abstracts from the resources list

4/5 Results Too many: refine your search! More concepts, limits, etc Too few: broaden your search Less concepts, no limits, more or other databases

Other strategy: following a thread Related articles (“more like this”) In Web of Science based on the amount of references in common In PubMed based on MeSH terms and words from title and abstract In Scopus: choose references, keywords or authors in common. Reference lists (cited references) Citations (cited by)

BlackBoard course IL After this introduction lecture, you start: Blackboard course ECS52901_2008_1: A selection of modules / learning units Assisted practicals and self study

How to login to the BlackBoard course IL? WUR account and enrolled in BB: Login using your WUR account Go to Click on User Login button Enter Username and Password and click on Login button Select ECS52901_2008_1

How to login to the BlackBoard Course IL? WUR account, not enrolled in BB: Login using a guest account Go to Click on User Login button Enter Username user01 and password user01 Select ECS52901_2008_1 Guest accounts user01 through user16

BlackBoard: Course Information Select Course information and open “ YAS Welcome to Scientific Wageningen: Developing Academic Skills and Attitude” to see which modules and learning units you have to study and other information.

Where to get help? User info and services: a.o. Courses and self instruction Open ?-button or “search tips” available on several pages Ask for help in the Library

Where to get help? or (4) or (4) or (4)83654