Maths Postgraduates

Effective Searching For Information: Library Information CourseMichael WhittonOctober 2012

University Library

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

3

(Other) Library Training On Gradbook

Bibliometrics

eTheses– Including copyright issues

Endnote / Reference Manager

Keeping up to date

Copyright

The Library Home Page

(1)

Link to Opening Hours informationA guide for new students

Or direct URL: www.soton.ac.uk/library

Lists of useful e-journals, databases & websites, guidance on finding information for Maths

Also contact details of your Librarian

7

1st Break

Look at the library website and answer the resources quiz on the handout

Resources(2)

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

Gateways

Web Gateways– Specialist search engines– Real people choose websites and

write summaries– E.g. Mathematics WWW Virtual

Library– See subject pages (under Websites)

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

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

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.)

Basic Demo

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

Finding the full text

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thefirebottle/122895549/

(3)

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 …

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

TDNet link

Following full text link through TDNet

If there is no (online) full text follow the Catalog link if present (only appears for print

titles on TDNet)

23

Exceptions

Items not on Webcat & TDNet– Organisations eprint servers

Items not in UoS Libraries– Inter Library Loan (ILL)

2nd Break

Start searching MathSciNet using the search planner. Use the example given or one of your own

25

Access to Resources(4)

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

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

Look for ‘Institutional Login’, ‘UK Federation’ or ‘Shibboleth’ links

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)

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

31

Setup instructions

Search Strategy

(5)

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

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

35

Boolean Logic

Finds articles with either term anywhere.

Use to allow for alternatives

E.g. airplane Or aeroplane

a

b

a Or b

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

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]

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

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

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]

Example searches – WebCat

ocean wave model– 38 results

ocean$ wave? model$– 225 results

(Remember - truncation is $ not *)

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

3rd Break

Try using Boolean and truncation in your searchTry links to full text if haven’t done so already

44

Advanced features(6)

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

46

Click here to see all citing

articles

Web of Science has a useful citation linking

feature

47

These articles both cite the ‘parent’

article

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

49

Classification numbers are

marked (83C57, etc.)

By clicking on the terms you can see what they

mean …

50

The Primary MSC is the main

subject of the article

Click on this icon to run a search on

that term …

51

… Does a search on that code

Often too broad to be

helpful.

52

The MSC can also be

accessed via ‘free tools’

53

Search for a key word or phrase

…

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

55

You can also use the code in your

search

83C57 searches for black holes very

well

56

We now have less results – but hopefully more relevant

ones

57

Saved Searches (Web of Knowledge, etc.)

Search history

Saving searches

Alerts

NB You will need to register for these services

58

Search history, to save / set up alerts

click

59

WOK and other databases allow you to set up a

profile

60

You can save your history or set up an email alert …

Help(7)

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

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