Connecting you with information, support and your community Tunnelling and Underground Space MSc Welcome to Warwick!

connecting you with information, support and your community

Tunnelling and Underground Space MSc

Welcome to Warwick!


A Guide to Basic Literature Searching - Getting Started

University of Warwick Library

4 October 2013

Helen Ireland, Academic Support Librarian

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


What Types of Information Are Available?

• Books• Journal articles• Conference papers, theses & dissertations• Standards/codes of practice / Patents• Company and marketing information• Government publications• Statistics /reports/ Grey literature

Always make a note of references used!


Most of an iceberg is below the water…so the Library has more than what you see on the shelves






Books

• Reading lists or supplementary reading• Use the Library catalogue• Increasingly, books are now available electronically

(E-books)• Buy books which you are going to need to refer to

regularly – be guided by your tutors.• Look for books in other libraries.


Books

• QA (Maths, Statistics, Computing), QC (Physics and Engineering Science)

• T-TS (Engineering and Manufacturing)• Floor 2 Extension• Reference and Oversize books (Mobile shelving)

• H-HY (Social Sciences, Business and Management), Floor 5

• Electronic books (E-books)



Encore

• Simple Search, Scholarly Results• Searches content of e-books, e-journals and

databases • “Quick & Dirty” search• Doesn’t cover all the Library’s e-resources• For a systematic and thorough search, use the

advanced search option on individual databases


Print Journals

• 2000 onwards volumes in mobile shelving in Floor 2 Extension

• A-Z by title of journal or publisher• Pre-2000 volumes in Store – fetched on request• Online request form






Basic Database SearchingWhy do you need to search?

• Books can quickly become out-of-date.

• The only information available might be in journal articles, conference papers or patents.

• You will need to use one of the subject specialised databases.


Choosing a Database

• Does it cover my subject?

• Does it cover the years I need to search?

• What kind of material is it searching?

• Is the database full-text or abstract only?


Full-Text Databases

– Advantages• Quick route to information.• Easily available off-campus.

– Disadvantages• Limited material type.• Limited title/subject coverage. • Limited time scale.

– Often not subject specific.


Indexing/Abstracting Databases

– Advantages• Good time span• Subject specific• Best material coverage in terms of range

and type

– Disadvantages• Item may not be in the library• Extra stages might be needed to obtain the

full-text article


Key Resources

• Web of Knowledge• Scopus• Engineering Village (Compendex and Inspec)• ScienceDirect• Construction Information Service• OHSIS• E-book packages such as ICE and Springer• Fame (Company Information)• ABI Inform• Business Source Premier

• Explore our web pages to find others!


Starting to Search

• Think about the different ideas / concepts covered by your topic• Identify keywords or phrases • Think about any synonyms or alternative spellings• Use truncation symbols or wildcards for different word endings

and spellings• Phrases can often be placed in “speech marks”


Combining Your Search TermsBoolean operators

• OR Will find articles containing either search term. OR broadens a search

• AND Will find articles containing both search terms. AND narrows your search.

• NOT Will exclude a term from your search. Use NOT with caution! You might exclude something useful!


Limits

• Year– Most recent? All years?

• Language– English only?

• Publication Type– Journal articles, conference papers, standards,

case studies, company reports


Citation / Cited Reference Searching

• Search for articles which have cited / quoted a previously published work.

• Through a cited reference search, you can discover how a known idea has been confirmed, applied, developed, improved, extended, criticised or corrected

• Web of Science is the key resource for citation searching, although other database providers are beginning to offer it

• Search by name of author and date of publication


Search Results

• Link to full text if available• Mark useful references• Email, download or print references• Export to EndNote Web or other reference

manager


Reviewing the Search

• Review results and identify possible additional keywords which could be used

• Consider alternative spellings, word endings or broader or narrower terms

• Edit and re-run the search • Re-run the search in alternative databases / resources


No Link to Full-Text?

• Check the Library Catalogue for a paper or electronic copy – search for the journal title

• Check the A-Z list of titles on the Electronic Journals webpage for an electronic copy.

• Not in the Library?– Ask for the article through Article Reach or

Document Supply – Visit another local library.


Document Supply

• For students working on dissertations

• Forms are available from the Library.

• No charge.

• Your supervisor needs to countersign the form.

• You need to sign the copyright declaration.



Evaluating Internet Resources

• Who has written it? Bias and authority.

• When was it written?

• Are there contact details on the site?

• Is there any way of validating the information?

• Use a subject gateway

• Work through an online tutorial such as the Internet Detective http://www.vtstutorials.ac.uk/detective/

http://www.vtstutorials.ac.uk/detective/


Google Scholar

• Better quality research information than Google• Scholar preferences

Click on Library Links and enter “Warwick” to get access to all our full text journal subscriptions

Click on Settings and then on Bibliography Manager to import references into EndNote or other reference management packages

• Scholar Advanced Search


Referencing

• Departmental guidelines

• Library online tutorial on referencing http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/main/help/guidespublications/bib_cit/

• PLATO (Plagiarism Teaching Online) http://www.warwick.ac.uk/services/elearning/plato/

• Reference Manager software such as EndNote Web

http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/main/help/guidespublications/bib_cit/

http://www.warwick.ac.uk/services/elearning/plato/



Further help




Questions?

[email protected]

Good Luck with Your Studies!

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Connecting you with information, support and your community Tunnelling and Underground Space MSc Welcome to Warwick!