Advanced Engineering Research

Engineering and Computer Science LibraryWinter 2011

Session objectives

Focus, systematize your searches

Select best search tools

Gain context, comprehensiveness

Keep up to date

Organize search results

Assumptions

Catalogue searching Books, encyclopedias

Research 101

General Encyclopedias

Textbooks

Books

Review Articles

Primary Articles, Specific Standards, Technical Papers, etc.

Specific

Controlled language (thesauri) overcomes keyword limitations

Good sorting functions

Identify general or literature review articles easily

Limit searches to specific treatments of topics: e.g., experimental, theoretical, applications, economic

Advanced citation search features – identify significant papers, authors; track development of research through time

Article Databases

Building A Search Strategy

Before you begin searching in a database, you will have:

1. Defined the focus of your question

2. Identified the key conceptse.g. remediation of groundwater after mercury contamination

Search Strategy

Now you need to find alternate terms for your key concepts:

broader, narrower, related terms acronyms plural/singular, spelling variations -

use the truncation symbol, usually *

broadening your search

Concept #1 groundwater ground water subsurface water

Concept #2 remediation bioremediation amelioration

Concept #3 mercury heavy metals

Use wildcard * to broaden search further

Keywords

searches titles, abstracts, subject headings

problems Typos in the database False drops You pick the wrong keywords

you pick program evaluation, they use benchmarking, TQM, outcome assessment…

Thesaurus Searching

uses a built-in list of subject terms terms are assigned no matter what

keywords the author uses enables consistency Powerful way to search

Finding engineering article databases

Start at:

engineering.library.utoronto.ca

Full-text Access

Practice time

Finding articles While discussing your research with your advisor, she

mentions a useful article from 2005 by Gothelf & LaBean. She doesn’t remember the title exactly, just that it was about DNA and nanostructures. You’d like to find the article to read more.

Use the General Search in Web of Science to find it.

Quiz

How many times has it been cited? Do we have this available online? Does Compendex have this entry?

How many times has it been cited?

Pink 4023 Blue 22 Orange 123 Green 0

Do we have this available online? Pink – Yes Blue - No

Does Compendex have this entry? Pink – No Blue - Yes

Gaining context, comprehensiveness: some strategies

Use citation databases identify significant authors, significant papers by

times cited

Use databases that isolate review articles experts identify significant literature, authors reveal gaps in existing body of research identify controversies quickly

Use thesis/dissertation databases who has been doing what? get a fairly complete picture quickly

Using citation information

Web of ScienceScopusGoogle ScholarSciFinder Scholar…and others

Identify key documents using citation data Form your own opinions Use citation data

Pitfalls Famous papers widely accepted, therefore no

longer cited Important papers not written in English not

cited in English literature High cites may not measure QUALITY of a

study, but may measure INFLUENCE author bias magnified

Citation Data

Best databases for isolating review articles:

Compendex via EI Village platform

Web of Science via ISI platform

Practice time – Web of Science on ISI platform)

1 . Do a search for cytochrome* and electrochem*

2. Sort the result list by Times Cited. How many times has the top article been cited?

3. Now use the Analyze button to analyze by author. Who has the most papers?

Sort the result list by Times Cited. How many times has the top article been cited?

Pink:493 Blue:1208 Green:448 Orange:1998

Now use the Analyze button to analyze by author. Who has the most papers?

Pink: Dong, SJ Blue: Sola, M Green: Bianco, P Orange: Borsari, M

Theses/dissertations databases(best: Dissertations & Theses Fulltext)

Getting more information on (any) type of journal:

Ulrich’s Periodical Directory

Check whether journal is refereed

ISI Journal Citation Reports

Journal evaluation tool

Use it to determine significant journals in your field

Alerting Services

Great way to keep up with your area of research

Email alerts are sent after every database update

Sent if the update contains any new records that match your saved query

May be daily, weekly or monthly

Web of Science also has a citation alert.

So, which ones to use?A strategy:

Select 2 or 3 or even 4 likely databases, e.g., Compendex, Web of Science, Scopus

Construct a search Use appropriate syntax, limits Use citation management software

such as Endnote or RefWorks to manage citations, eliminate duplicates

Organizing (& presenting) research results : Citation

management software

Select Annotate Organize Output approved-style reference lists Format bibliographies, in-text citations

in documents

RefWorks refworks.scholarsportal.info

Free for U of T students, staff, faculty

No software installation necessary: browser-based

Organize & cite almost anything: Journal articles Book chapters Library sources Internet sources

RefWorks instruction session February 16, 12:10- 1:00

Other citation management programs:

EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager

comparisons, trial versions:

http://thomsonreuters.com/

available at the U of T Computer Bookstore:

Discounts for students

http://refworks.scholarsportal.info

create approved-style bibliographies from specific folders of citations

example bibliography:IEEE-style

Other Sources of Information

Standards Codes Technical Reports Conference Proceedings Laws/regulations

Quiz

Which database(s) can you use to find

review articles? Pink : Scopus Blue: Web of Science Green: Compendex Orange: Scholars Portal Search

Which database(s) can you use to get

citation information? Pink: Compendex Blue: Web of Science Green: Scopus Orange: Scholars Portal Search

What kinds of materials can you usually

find in a database such as Compendex? Pink: Peer-reviewed articles Blue: Magazine articles Green: Patents Orange: Codes

Getting Help email – engineering.library@utoronto.ca phone: 416-978-6578 10 King’s College Road, Room 2402

Questions?

One Last Quiz…

1) Which library’s web page is the best place to start at when accessing engineering resources that U of T has paid for?

2) When is the RefWorks workshop?

Thank you!

Michelle BarattaEngineering & Computer Science Librarymichelle.baratta@utoronto.ca416-946-0389