WISER: Electronic Resources for Research An introduction to the networked databases available through the Oxford Libraries Information Platform (OxLIP) interface. Available databases include indexing services, electronic journals and other full text services, online reference tools, statistics and library catalogues. We will also discuss how to access online resources from outside the Oxford network. Judy Reading & Kate Williams

Electronic Resources We will show you How to find subject specific and general databases Some strategies for searching databases How to find out about particular kinds of material such as dissertations and conferences How to access resources remotely We hope to inspire you to explore for yourself. Don’t forget you can get help from your subject librarian see

OxLIP (Oxford Libraries Information Platform) is a gateway to hundreds of electronic resources catalogues abstracting & indexing services reference works full-text resources statistical resources official publications electronic journals quality web resources current awareness services citation indexes indexes to theses and conference papers OXLIP databases are arranged A-Z by title and also organised by subject

Indexing and abstracting services Huge database collections purchased from: CSA – Cambridge Scientific Abstracts OCLC Firstsearch Ovid WebSPIRS Proquest Web of Knowledge Find them by searching in the title index in Oxlip Specialist subject databases see under Subject in Oxlip

Search Strategies Ask a clear search question Break the question into search concepts Identify a range of search terms Consider the relationships between your search terms Try those terms in appropriate databases/resources Find more search terms from retrieved records while searching Keyword searching – Searches for terms anywhere in the field or record – Useful as a starting place but results can be less relevant Subject indexes – Where possible tap into the subject headings or thesauri provided by the databases

Boolean Logic: OR, AND, NOT, NEAR Television ObesityChildren ‘Or’ would include everything in both sets ‘and’ just in the overlap area, ‘not’ excludes a term and ‘near’ defines how close the terms should be in the database.

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Find all CSA databases through OXLIP under C in title index or search on individual databases directly by their names as below. They will be listed in relevant subject sections of OXLIP. Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts Aquatic Sciences ARTbibliographies ModernARTbibliographies Biological and Medical Sciences Biotechnology and Bioengineering Abstracts Community of Scholars - Social Science Computer Technology Design and Applied Arts Index Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management Index IslamicusIndex Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts LISA - Library and Information Science Abstracts Materials Research Database with METADEX Materials Science National Criminal Justice Reference Service Abstracts PAIS PILOTS - Published International Literature On Traumatic Stress TOXLINE Social Sciences Worldwide Political Science AbstractsSocial Sciences

Useful Features in CSACSA  Metasearch function across the databases in a broad subject area Advanced Search: Ideal to construct and execute more detailed, powerful searches Use Truncation or wildcards to improve keyword accuracy eg wom?n, educ* (look in the help screens)‏ Save, print, references or export them to bibliographic management products such as RefWorks Search history: Use this feature either via the results page or via the Search Tools Tab – allows you to combine searches or to rerun them or turn them into alerts. Thesaurus: Use this feature to search for controlled vocabulary terms since it provides a standard language or set of terms to describe a topic Don’t forget to select a subject area or a specific database prior to conducting a search!

What else? Abstract and Indexing Services databases and also: Catalogues (OLIS, COPAC, British Library, Worldcat)‏ Oxford University e-Journals E-book packages (e.g. Taylor and Francis, Oxford Scholarship Online)‏ Current awareness services (ZETOC)‏ Official papers and grey literature (e.g. UKOP) Statistical information (under specific subjects eg Sociology)‏ Reference sources (eg Blackwell Reference Online)‏ Theses (Dissertations Abstracts, Index to Theses)‏ Conference papers (Papers First / Proceedings First)‏ Web resources and mailing lists (Intute)‏

Full-text journals and books E-books and e-journals – listed in ‘all subjects’ section on OxLIPOxLIP Some examples: Oxford University E-journals: One-stop shop for all of Oxford's subscription full text journals Blackwell Reference Online: Humanities and Social Sciences. Almost 300 reference volumes. Blackwell Reference Online is the largest academic reference collection available online Taylor & Francis Online eBook Library The collection includes 200 of the world's leading books mainly in the Humanities and Education..

Current awareness services ZETOC listed on OxLIP in Title List The British Library's Electronic Table of Contents of around 20,000 current journals and around 16,000 conference proceedings published per year. Covers 1993 to date, and is updated on a daily basis. It includes an alerting service, to enable you to keep up-to-date with relevant new articles and papers. Note many databases allow you to: Save and re-run searches Set up alerts on searches ( or RSS feeds) Set up citation alerts where citation information is available (SCOPUS, Web of Knowledge/Citation Indexes)‏

Conference proceedings Key resources – both produced by the British Library: Papers First: Covers every published congress, symposium, conference, exposition, workshop and meeting received by The British Library Document Supply Centre. Papers First: Coverage 1993 to present, updated twice monthly. Over 6,500,000 records Proceedings First: Covers every published congress, symposium, conference, exposition, workshop and meeting received by The British Library Document Supply Centre. Contains in each record a list of the papers presented at each conference. Proceedings First:The British Library Document Supply Centre Coverage 1993 to present, updated twice a week. 192,000+ records Note many general databases include conference papers as well as journal articles and it may be possible to specify you want to find them.

Theses and dissertations Guide available in OxLIP- All subjectsOxLIP Key resources: ProquestProquest Dissertations and Theses (mostly North American): With more than 2 million entries, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses is the single, central, authoritative resource for information about doctoral dissertations and master's theses. Dissertations published from 1980 forward include 350- word abstracts written by the author. Master's theses published from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts. Titles available as native or image PDF formats include free twenty-four page previews. Index to Theses Index to Theses (UK and Northern Ireland)‏ A comprehensive listing of theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by universities in Great Britain and Ireland since ,900 theses in collection; last updated 20 November 2007

Access to OxLIP  Access from any Oxford University computer  To use OxLIP from outside Oxford use Athens / Single-Sign On username and password and the VPN (Virtual Private Network)‏  Oxford is in the process of migrating from Athens to the Oxford SSO username – look for the alternative login from the Athens option.  Most databases are available through Athens/SSO and VPN.  VPN will allow you access to everything which you can see on a library machine – for example many e-journals are IP-validated and not accessible through Athens  You will still need to use Athens/SSO for a very few databases (some Law and Business ones and e-book packages) even if you have the VPN or are using a university machine. For more information see Access to Online Resources from Outside the Oxford Network : Reader's Guide and Supplement about the replacement of Athens by the Oxford Single Sign-On or information on the OUCS website

Feedback and further help We hope you have found this session useful. Please reply to the feedback which you will receive after the session. If we can be of any further assistance please contact us: Contact your subject librarian for assistance see Further training sessions may be of interest to you – for details go to: Next week: WISER sessions on Managing your references, Web tools, Medline and Pubmed, Resources for research in Classics and Ancient History