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Individual Projects Effective literature searching Aeronautics & Astronautics, Mechanical Engineering and Ship Science Michael Whitton June 2013
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What to get out of this session After this session you should know: 1.The best resources to use for your project 2.Some techniques for searching them effectively 3.How to trace references 4.What is required for the assignment
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Changes in the e-Library during the summer …. Changes in the Library Website – A lot of the same content but many links may break New Discovery Service (name TBA) – An effective ‘quick and easy’ search of our resources I will post key links and updates to Blackboard IP Modules 3
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Resources (1)
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The best sources aren’t free The key research is published in academic journals, conferences, etc. The university pays for a number of subscription-only databases which allow you to search for this material For the key ones relevant to you see your subject page
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Resources: Library Catalogues UoS library - Webcat – Books, conferences, UoS PhD theses – Journal/conference titles – but NOT details of individual articles – Some research books, not just student texts – Will find books on software packages (Matlab, Python, etc.)
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Resources: Library Catalogues (cont.) Other Catalogues – COPAC (major UK research libraries) – Catalogues of other universities, etc. Helpful if you need a book and we don’t have anything – Can find what books exist on a topic – Can request via Inter-Library-Loans
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Resources: Databases & Indexes Compendex, Inspec, Web of Science – Search very broadly for journal articles, conference papers, etc. – Quality information, up-to-date, specific – Reference citation not full text (often linking features) – Includes journals we don’t buy
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Resources: Full Text Sources Similar quality to Databases & Indexes – Always get the full article – but are limited to one publisher – IEEE Xplore (all IEEE and IET) – ACM Digital Library – Scirus (Elsevier/Science Direct and various free sources) – New Library Discovery service (by start of next term)
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Resources: the Web Google, etc. – Useful for finding free content – No quality controls, need to evaluate – Scientific versions (Google Scholar) more focused on research material – Search Compendex, etc., as well to avoid missing out on important articles
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Resources: the Web (cont.) Web Gateways – Specialist search engines – Real people choose websites and write summaries E.g. – AERADE, iCrank, Naval Technology – See subject pages
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Resources: Technical Information Patents Standards – British Standards Online (BS / some ISO, IEC, etc.) – IEEEXplore Engineering Sciences Data Unit (ESDU) – Engineering methods / data
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Institution of Mechanical Engineers Have a library and e-resources for members (free for students) – Good Historical Collection – Access to Compendex pre 1970 (email them your search, etc.) – Good collection of non-UK Standards (ASTM, etc.) in print Useful after graduation (if you have limited journals etc. available via employer etc.)
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14 Database searching (2)
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Mark, Export, Record Many databases have a ‘marked record’ facility or similar Useful articles get added to a marked/selected records area – Then you can print out or e-mail to yourself a list of these articles – Or you can export to Reference Managing software like Endnote
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Routes to full text Database full text links Sometimes links to journals we don’t buy TDNet links (from database or library web pages) – doesn’t have all print journals If the above do not exist or don’t work always …
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Routes to full text (cont.) Search WebCat – Journal articles by the journal title (use full title not abbreviations) – Conference papers by the conference title – Reports: try author and title (may need to search by organisation name) There may be an automatic link
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Exceptions Items not on Webcat & TDNet – Patents & standards – Free online: NASA Technical Reports; Organisations eprint servers Items not in UoS Libraries – Inter Library Loan (ILL)
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TDNet link
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Following full text link through TDNet
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If there is no (online) full text follow the Catalog link if present (only appears for print titles on TDNet)
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1 st Break Search a Engineering Village and other resources for your project topic
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Search Strategy (3)
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Searching – the basics Start simple – with a few keywords Look at the results – do you need: – More relevance (more specific search) – More results (broaden search) – More manageable numbers – restrict in some other way (e.g. by date) Aim for about 50-150 results
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Search Strategy Identify the concepts of your query – Fuel cell, electric, cars List alternative phrases and keywords – Fuel cells > batteries – Electric > hybrid – Cars > automobile
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Boolean Logic Finds articles with both terms anywhere in the title, abstract, etc. E.g. Traffic And congestion a b a And b
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Boolean Logic Finds articles with either term anywhere. Use to allow for alternatives E.g. airplane Or aeroplane a b a Or b
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Boolean Logic Finds articles with the first term that do not contain the second term. Use with caution to eliminate non-relevant material E.g. radiation Not solar a b a Not b
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Example searches – using and/or Types of fuel cells used in electric cars – 17 results “Fuel cells” and electric and cars – 81 results (“Fuel cells” or batteries) and (hybrid or electric) and (cars or automobile) – 675 results [done in Web of Science 1970-2013]
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Truncation Replaces any number of characters. – Sometimes works in the middle of a word. – Normally * symbol, $ in webcat Aero* will find: – Aeroplane – Aeroplanes – Aerospace
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Wildcards Replace a single character. – Often can also represent zero characters. – Normally ? Symbol, $ in Web of Knowledge Engine? will find both Engine and Engines but not engineering Colo?r will find both Colour and Color
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Example searches – Truncation/wildcards (“Fuel cells” or batteries) and (hybrid or electric) and (cars or automobile) – 675 results (“Fuel cell*” or batter*) and ( hybrid or electric) and (car$ or automobile*) – 849 results [done in Web of Science 1970-2012]
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Example searches – WebCat ocean wave model – 38 results ocean$ wave? model$ – 217 results (Remember - truncation is $ not *)
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34 Phrase Searching If you need an exact phrase use quotation marks (“ ”) – e.g. “Solar Cells” – This makes the search more specific (finds less articles) – Truncation and stemming don’t always work in quotes In WebCat – use single quotes ( ‘ ’ )
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35 Access to Resources (4)
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Access - on campus Generally no passwords are needed – A few need your Institutional (email) username & password – A handful have special usernames/passwords If you have problems – For journals check our access on TDNet – For other resources use links on the library website
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Access – off campus For many resources Institutional Login is an option VPN will give you the same access as on campus Some TDNet functions do not work off campus without VPN
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Look for ‘Institutional Login’, ‘UK Federation’ or ‘Shibboleth’ links
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You often need to select the UK (or UK Federation) Then find ‘University of Southampton’ (If you can’t find us look for Southampton University)
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VPN Virtual Private Network Link to University network When connected your computer appears to be ‘on campus’ Managed by iSolutions. Instructions on iSolutions web pages at: www.southampton.ac.uk/isolutions/computing/net/vpn/
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41 Setup instructions
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2 nd Break Use search techniques to improve your database results
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The Assignment (5)
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The Assignment Quiz in Blackboard – Available 3 rd June – 23 rd June – Answers & feedback on 24 th June – 13-14 Individual Project – SESA3011 / SESM3013 / SESS3015 The Quiz is compulsory!
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The Assignment Your literature search will be marked – As part of the preliminary report. – Discuss with your supervisor.
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Referencing For your project you will probably use Harvard (Author/Date) or IEEE (numbered) styles. Lots of guidance at: www.soton.ac.uk/library/infoskills/references Check with your supervisor which style, and any specific guidance. Be consistent! 46
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47 Advanced features (6)
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48 WOK: Citation search Citation links are useful – to track further related research – also for articles found in Compendex etc. Citation searching is also possible – Find out what an Author has written and who has cited each paper
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49 Click here to see all citing articles Web of Science has a useful citation linking feature
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50 These articles both cite the ‘parent’ article
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Controlled Terms Terms added to a record by Indexers Taken from a fixed list (thesaurus) Using these can help – Making search results more relevant and specific – Suggest alternative terms to search
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By clicking on a term you can run a search on it You can do a keyword search and then just pick out relevant controlled terms
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You can also use the term in your search
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You can refine by controlled terms using the sidebar
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Or you can use the ‘Thesaurus Search’. Enter your term …
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…and it will come back with suggested controlled terms
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You can select the relevant term(s) and run a search You can also get details of broader and narrower terms
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Using Search History we can combine thesaurus searches So we search on the controlled term “Fuel Cells” instead of using a keyword search
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Notice also options to save and set up e-mail alerts on your searches so any new articles are automatically sent to you We can combine our 2 controlled term searches.
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Searching the 2 controlled terms produces 196 results instead of 511 from the keyword search. These should be all very relevant to both topics
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61 Saved Searches (Web of Knowledge, etc.) Search history Saving searches Alerts NB You will need to register for these services
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62 Search history, to save / set up alerts click
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63 WOK and other databases allow you to set up a profile
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64 You can save your history or set up an email alert …
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Help (7)
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If you need help……. Subject Enquiry Desk, Level 3 – Open Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm Contact Me – M.Whitton@soton.ac.uk – 023 8059 2709
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Credits (1) Sky, David (2006). Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. www.seemsartless.com/index.php?pic=859 (2) Mandiberg, Michael (2009). DATABASE at Postmasters, March 2009. www.flickr.com/photos/theredproject/3332644561/ (3) Vincente, Danard (2007). Search-Engine-Marketing www.flickr.com/photos/danardvincente/251214877 (4) Gold key. www.public-domain-image.com/objects-public-domain- images-pictures/gold-key.jpg.html (5) Krawcowicz, Barbara (2009). Exam. www.flickr.com/photos/krawcowicz/3444474221/ (6) Britton, Ian (2004). Advanced Passenger Train. www.freefoto.com/preview/23-01-3/APT-Advanced-Passenger-Train- (7) Leonard, Nick. (2006) Library. www.flickr.com/photos/jungle_boy/223447312/
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