Finding Information

Effective searching & keeping

up to date

James Bisset james.bisset@durham.ac.uk

Academic Liaison Librarian (Research Support)

Session outline- Basic ‘Finding it’ overview:

Library Catalogue and Discover

- Effective searching (Basic Skills)Synonyms, Wildcards, Truncation tools, Proximity connectors

- Citation searchingMaking your search results work for you

- Brick WallsConnexions, access rights, document supply, Sconul Access,

- Keeping up to dateAlerts, ToCs, Twitter and JISCMail

Part 1Basic intro

to Durham

University

Library

Library Discover New

Exercise 1• Example searches of Library Catalogue / Discover

or

• Search for items yourself

Via Flickr Creative Commons, by © Stuti Sakhalkar. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/theblackcanvas/2945878325/

Part 2Effective searching (Basic Skills)

Effective Searching

- Define your information need

- Broaden your search

- Narrow your search

- Evaluate your results

- Make your results work for you

Research

Broaden your search

(1) Alternative terms

Broaden your search

Synonyms:

zebra OR Equus quagga

Broaden your search

zebraEquus

quagga

zebra OR Equus quagga

Broaden your search

Changes in terminology :

Mental retardation OR

Intellectual disability OR

Cognitive disability

Broaden your search

(2) Alternative spelling

Broaden your search

Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Pink Sherbert Photography. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/70873497@N02/6935006104/

Donut

Doughnut

- 49,812 results in Discover (as at 23rd Oct 2014)

- 51,307 results in Discover (as at 23rd Oct 2014)

- Either / Or = 52,604 results in Discover

Broaden your SearchThink about Americanised and

Francophone word spellings:

• colour or color

• centre or center

• licence or license

• organised or organized

Broaden your search

Style guides:

Guardian : al-Qaida

Sunday Times : al-Qaeda

Broaden your search• Broadening your search

– Alternative spellings (wildcard searching)

– organi?ation will find: organisation and

alternative letters organization

– labo?r will find: labor and

missing letters labour

– d?nut will find: donut and

multiple missing letters doughnut

Broaden your search

(3) Word stems

Broaden your search• Broadening your search

– Word stems (truncation searching)

– negligen* will find:

“PwC were accused of negligence”

“PwC were accused of acting negligently”

“PwC were accused of being negligent”

Broaden your search• Broadening your search - Summary

– Alternative terms butterfly OR lepidoptera

– Alternative spellings organi?ation

labo?r

– Word stems negligen*

Terminology and symbols vary, depending on which

database or catalogue you are using

Narrow your search

(1) Focussing your search

Narrow your search

“copyright” photograph

Focussing: copyright AND photograph

AND

Narrow your search

(2) Proximity Connectors

Narrow your search

Via Flickr Creative Commons, by the waving cat. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/138657496/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Adding context…

truth

within #

reconciliation

Narrow your search• Narrowing your search

– Proximity Truth within 3 reconciliation

Narrow your search

(3) Phrase searching

Narrow your search• Narrowing your search

– Phrase searching “Truth and Reconciliation

Commission”

Narrow your search

(4) Excluding terms

Narrow your search• Narrowing your search

– Excluding irrelevant results NOT South Africa

Narrow your search• Narrowing your search - Summary

– Focussing copyright AND photographs

– Proximity searching negligen* w/5 PwC

– Phrase searching “duty of care”

– Excluding terms property NOT intellectual

Terminology and symbols vary, depending on which

database or catalogue you are using

No standard language

Truth within 5

words reconciliationTruth w/5

reconciliationTruth /5

reconciliationTruth N5

reconciliationTruth adj5

reconciliation

Example

Examining the impact

of crime enacted by

teenagers in the

inner city

teen*

youth

juvenile

adolescen*

crim*

shoplift*

“Anti-social behavio?r”

theft

“inner city”

urban

cities

London

Example

(teen* OR youth OR juvenile OR adolescen*)

AND

(crim* OR shoplift* OR “anti-social behavio?r” OR

theft)

AND

(“inner city” OR urban OR cities OR London)

(teen* OR youth OR juvenile OR

adolescen*)

(“inner city”ORurban ORcities ORLondon)

(crim* ORshoplift* OR“anti-social

behavio?r” ORtheft)

Exercise 2• Think about a search strategy around your topic(s) of interest and

explore how using different search terms and connectors affects

your search

Via Flickr Creative Commons, by © Stuti Sakhalkar. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/theblackcanvas/2945878325/

Getting the most out of Google

Getting the most from Google

How to search effectively:

Tsunami defences

assumed ‘AND’ returns results with both terms

Property –intellectual

excludes all results that include ‘intellectual’

Butterfly OR lepidoptera

searches for either of your search terms

Getting the most from GoogleHow to search effectively:

“early warning system”

returns results with exact phrase

intitle:endochronology

returns results with term in document title

site:.gov.uk

only returns results from specific site/domain

~ghosts

returns related terms, eg paranormal, haunted

Part 3 Citation

Searching

Making your results

work for you

Citation searching &

References• Connection in academic debate both backwards

(references) and forwards (citations) in time

• May be a positive or negative connection to other

literature

• Give you a quality controlled list of material to

consult if you establish the context in which it

has been cited

20112009 20102008 2012 2013 2014

Paper

AArticle

B

Article

C

Book1

Article

D

Book 2Article

G

Article

E

Book4

Article

F

Book 3

Demo

Web of Science- citation searching

Demo

Google Scholar- citation searching

Exercise 3• Compare the number of citing articles for the paper below on

both Web of Science and Google Scholar (or any other database

you are familiar with):

Zong, Y. and Tooley, M. J. (2003) 'A historical record of coastal

floods in Britain : frequencies and associated storm tracks.',

Natural hazards, 29 (1). pp. 13-36.

• Or, explore citing articles for a paper you

have already discovered / read.

Via Flickr Creative Commons, by © StutiSakhalkar. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/theblackcanvas/2945878325/

Part 4 Finding

Information:

Brick Walls

Finding the right tool for the job

• Overview of what available: Google Scholar

• Manageable number of results: subject specific

database such as IBSS, Westlaw UK, Econlit,

PsycINFO, Embase

• Full text journal articles: Jstor

• Multi-disciplinary, up-to-date: Science Direct

• Primary material: EEBO

• Popular and Trade commentary: Nexis UK

• Conference Proceedings: WoS Proceedings,

Proceedings first

Durham University Library: Subject Support

Accessing Electronic Resources

• Connexions links works to where

you might find electronic or print

full-text copies.

If we don’t have a copy…

…. make use of Document Delivery Service or

SCONUL Access if we don’t have what you need.

Accessing Resources

• Borrow 40 books for up to 6 months

• Renewals and recalls

• Copy service and postal loans for p-t students

• For resources not in stock

– Ask if the library can purchase it

– Use Document Delivery Service and check to see if

your department covers costs

– SCONUL Access allows you to visit and borrow

from other institutions

Additional Image Credits[Slide 6] Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Stefan. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/49462908@N00/3951143570

[Slide 14] Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Pink Sherbert Photography. Available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/70873497@N02/6935006104/

[Slide 15] Via Flickr Creative Commons, by Didi. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/11356857@N08/4500234472

[Slide 24] Via Flickr Creative Commons, by the waving cat. Available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewavingcat/138657496/in/photostream/

739[Slide 40] Via Flickr Creative Commons by JulyYu. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/53953811@N00/311846814

[Slide 47] Via Flickr Creative Commons, by viZZZual.com. Original available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/22394551@N03/2226095398

[Slides 107-109] Vitae®, © 2010 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited‘ Available at www.vitae.ac.uk/rdf

Measuring

Researcher

Development

Measuring

Researcher

Development

Measuring

Researcher

Development