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Research Methods

Lecture 7:

Using Information Databases

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Principal source for this lecture

Susan Heale

Department of

Learning and Information Services

Faculty Information Consultant

(Engineering and Information Sciences)

s.heale@herts.ac.uk

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Using Information Databases

What are information databases?

Full text e-journal services

Bibliographic abstracting services (no full text)

Citation indexing services All will identify journal articles and papers

Choosing the right database

StudyNet > Learning Resources > Subject

Resources

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Which Database for Computing?

Full Text:

IEEE/IEE Electronic Library (IEL)

ACM Digital Library

ISI Web of Knowledge Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS)

Abstracts only (no full text)

INSPEC

Internet and Personal Computing Abstracts

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Which Database for Engineers?

Full Text:

IEEE/IEE Electronic Library (IEL)

Ingenta Select (incl. Proc IMechE)

Applied Science and Technology Full Text Science Direct

Abstracts only (no full text)

INSPEC for Computing, Electronics, CAE

Recent Advances in Manufacturing

Science Citation Index (Web of Science)

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Database Search Techniques

Choose the right database for purpose

Use the online documentation

Start with easy / basic searching

Search techniques to refine results:

Advanced / subject searching

Combine searches (Boolean Logic)

Use wildcards and truncation in search terms

Search histories and saved searches

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Free-text Searching

Most basic search

Single word or phrase

Searches a basic database index for a match

ie title, abstract, thesaurus terms

Use truncation for wide searching

eg comput? To search for

computing, computer, computers, etc

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Index Searching

Faster, more precise searching

Searches a specific field index

eg author, subject, ISBN, publication year

Eliminates mis-spellings / variant spellings Essential for author searches

Mark / select relevant index terms

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Thesaurus Searching

Most accurate, complete searching

Essential for non-standard terminology

Controlled / specialized vocabulary terms

Important for international databases

Subject access to every database record

Suggests other related search terms:

related / narrower / broader

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Refined Searching

Combine :

previous searches

free-text terms

index terms (database field specific)

thesaurus terms (special database vocabulary)

Use logical (Boolean) operators:

esp. AND, OR, NOT

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Citation searching

Citation searching is a technique that helps you totrack further developments of a piece of

published research

Services such as the ISI Web of Knowledge:

(http://wok.mimas.ac.uk/) allow you to find outwhere a particular paper or author has been cited

This is especially useful when

you have read a paper and you want to find out whatwork has been derived from it

you know the name of a key researcher in a particulararea and you want to find out who has made use ofhis/her work

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Acquiring Full text

1. If you search an electronic full text journal database

Then you have immediate access to article full text

2. If you search a bibliographic abstracting database

Then you need to search separately for the journal itself(may be in print or e-journal format)

Voyager journal title search

StudyNet > Learning Resources > UH Journals

3. If books and journals you need are not available to

you in UH Then use the Voyager Document Supply Service

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Document Supply Service

Back up service to information in the LRC

Limited to essential use please

LIS self-help guide available; you can

Borrow books

Request photocopied articles / papers

LIS Voyager front page link

Enter full bibliographic reference details

Check regularly to see if your request has arrived

Free to you - charged to LRC

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Getting Help

Study Skills Online

StudyNet > Learning Resources > Study Skills

LIS Help and Guides

StudyNet > Learning Resources > LIS Database Online Help

LIS Helpdesk

LIS Skills sessions advertised on StudyNet

LIS Consultant (Susan Heale) by appointment

Your tutors