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Maths Postgraduates Effective Searching For Information: Library Information Course Michael Whitton October 2012 University Library
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2 Today’s session will cover Finding key research material Identify relevant Electronic Resources Search effectively and record the records Keeping up to date Track down the full text
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3 (Other) Library Training On Gradbook Bibliometrics eTheses – Including copyright issues Endnote / Reference Manager Keeping up to date Copyright
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The Library Home Page (1)
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Link to Opening Hours information A guide for new students Or direct URL: www.soton.ac.uk/library
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Lists of useful e-journals, databases & websites, guidance on finding information for Maths Also contact details of your Librarian
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1 st Break Look at the library website and answer the resources quiz on the handout
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Resources (2)
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10 Internet Searching Google, etc. – Useful for finding free content – No quality controls, need to evaluate – Scientific versions (Google Scholar) more focused on research material – Search MathSciNet, etc, as well to avoid missing out on important articles
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Gateways Web Gateways – Specialist search engines – Real people choose websites and write summaries – E.g. Mathematics WWW Virtual Library – See subject pages (under Websites)
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12 Databases & Indexes e.g. MathSciNet & Web of Science Mostly articles from quality journals (some books, conferences) – Well indexed enabling you to search in detail – Abstracts (summary of the article) – References (Many try to link to the full text) We won’t have every journal they index – Our Inter-Library-Loans service can probably get a copy
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13 Other sources for journal articles Publishers Collections (Sciencedirect, American Mathematical Society, etc.) – Same quality of material – Limited to 1 publisher – Search facilities can be limited Eprints (eprints-soton, ArXiv, OAIster) – Articles, etc. made freely available – also to increase impact / visibility – Varying quality: ‘pre-prints’, departmental publications
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14 Also remember other sources Books – including research monographs – Search Webcat for our holdings – Also other catalogues e.g. COPAC Theses – Search Webcat for our PhD theses – Index to Theses for UK/Ireland Data (Statistical, Financial etc.)
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Basic Demo
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16 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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Finding the full text http://www.flickr.com/photos/thefirebottle/122895549/ (3)
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18 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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19 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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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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23 Exceptions Items not on Webcat & TDNet – Organisations eprint servers Items not in UoS Libraries – Inter Library Loan (ILL)
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2 nd Break Start searching MathSciNet using the search planner. Use the example given or one of your own
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25 Access to Resources (4)
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26 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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27 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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30 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.soton.ac.uk/isolutions/services/vpn_service/index.php www.soton.ac.uk/isolutions/services/vpn_service/index.php
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31 Setup instructions
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Search Strategy (5)
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33 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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34 Boolean Logic Finds articles with both terms anywhere in the title, abstract, etc. E.g. Traffic And congestion Often the default except MathSciNet a b a And b
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35 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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36 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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37 Example searches – using and/or gravitational waves caused by small black holes – 0 results gravitational and wave and small and black hole – 72 results gravitational and black hole and (wave or radiation) and (small or micro) – 110 results [done in MathSciNet 1940-2012]
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38 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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39 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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40 Example searches – Truncation/wildcards gravitational and black hole and (wave or radiation) and (small or micro) – 110 results gravitat* and black hole* and (wave* or radiat*) and (small or micro*) – 206 results [done in MathSciNet 1940-2012]
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Example searches – WebCat ocean wave model – 38 results ocean$ wave? model$ – 225 results (Remember - truncation is $ not *)
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42 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 ( ’ ‘ ) This is the default in MathSciNet
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3 rd Break Try using Boolean and truncation in your search Try links to full text if haven’t done so already
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44 Advanced features (6)
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45 WOK: Citation search Citation links are useful – to track further related research – also for articles found in MathSciNet etc. Citation searching is also possible – Find out what an Author has written and who has cited each paper
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46 Click here to see all citing articles Web of Science has a useful citation linking feature
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47 These articles both cite the ‘parent’ article
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48 MSC – Mathematics Subject Classification Each article has one or more MSC classifications to indicate its subject These are useful: – Making search results more relevant and specific – Suggest alternative terms to search – To see what major areas of research exist
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49 Classification numbers are marked (83C57, etc.) By clicking on the terms you can see what they mean …
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50 The Primary MSC is the main subject of the article Click on this icon to run a search on that term …
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51 … Does a search on that code Often too broad to be helpful.
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52 The MSC can also be accessed via ‘free tools’
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53 Search for a key word or phrase …
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54 Codes have changed over time – the code for black holes (82C57) was added in 1991 MathSciNet will show you relevant term(s) So if we use it we won’t find any pre 1991 articles about black holes
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55 You can also use the code in your search 83C57 searches for black holes very well
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56 We now have less results – but hopefully more relevant ones
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57 Saved Searches (Web of Knowledge, etc.) Search history Saving searches Alerts NB You will need to register for these services
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58 Search history, to save / set up alerts click
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59 WOK and other databases allow you to set up a profile
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60 You can save your history or set up an email alert …
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Help (7)
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62 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) Britton, Ian (2004). Spiders Web. http://www.freefoto.com/preview/01-17-9/Spiders-Web (7) Leonard, Nick. (2006) Library. www.flickr.com/photos/jungle_boy/223447312/ (2) Sky, David (2006). Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. www.seemsartless.com/index.php?pic=859 (6) Britton, Ian (2004). Advanced Passenger Train. www.freefoto.com/preview/23-01-3/APT-Advanced-Passenger-Train- (3) the Firebottle (2006). Journals. http://www.flickr.com/photos/thefirebottle/122895549/ (4) Gold key. www.public-domain-image.com/objects-public-domain- images-pictures/gold-key.jpg.html (5) Vincente, Danard (2007). Search-Engine-Marketing www.flickr.com/photos/danardvincente/251214877
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