Searching the Literatureplanning a search

using information resources effectively

Psychology (Applied)

Heather RobbAcademic Liaison Librarian

October 2014

Outline

• planning a search• where to look• finding answers

• presentation• practical• workbook

Gathering information

• 1 – definitions• 2 – search strategy• 3 – choose resources• 4 – begin searches• 5 – refine searches• 6 – note the sources of

information used

What am I looking for?

Planning is the key:• look carefully at your topic • break it down into concepts or themes e.g.

“how can we assess the perception of another person’s gaze”?

assess perception gaze

How to put concepts together

AND

perception AND gaze

OR

looking OR gaze

Boolean operators

Boolean operators

• use the Boolean operators to help you express your search logically e.g.

assess perception gaze

AND AND

Synonyms and spellings

• think about other terms which mean the same i.e. synonyms, or related terms

• remember alternative spellings e.g. US vs British

assess perception gaze

test awareness looking

AND

OROR

AND

Widening a search

Other options with keyword searching:

• use truncation to pick up plurals or other word endings – e.g. assess* = assessment, assessing

• use wildcards to pick up spelling variants– e.g. behavio?r = behavior, behaviour

• use adjaceny for words appearing in the same sentence– e.g. nature NEAR/4 nuture = nature nurture, nature

versus nurture, nurture as opposed to nature,...

Widening a search

AND

OROR

ANDassess* perception gaze

test* aware* looking

experiment* conscious* stare

Limiting a search

• Can you make your search more specific?• For example:

– English language– type of publication (review articles?)– type of population (human? animal?) – date of publication (last 5 years?)

Have a go...• in pairs plan this search using the simple grid

structure• break the question down into key

terms/concepts• think of synonyms, alternative spelling and

plurals• decide which Boolean operators are required

• What part do genes play in human intelligence?

human intellig* genes

OR OR ORhomo sapiens intellect* gene

OR ORIQ genetic*

ORgenom*

AND AND

Selecting your resource(s)• what kind of information do you want?• which “finding aids” cover this type of

information? e.g.–Library Catalogue for books or

Discover for books, journal articles, theses, images, and more

–databases e.g. PsycInfo/ PsycArticles or Web of Science for journal articles

–Nexis UK or Factiva for newspaper articles

Psychology Subject Page

Tips• Access via the Library website not via DUO• Use Title field to focus a keyword search• Use limit options to refine your search • Use ConneXions to check for full-text online

– also check Library catalogue link – for print options and alternative links

• Google an article title in quotes (“”) if not found via ConneXions to check for free full-text

• Use Library’s DDS not “pay-per-view” options

Practical

• open Library homepage• choose:

Subject information | Psychology | Information skills | Psychology (Applied) - Literature Searching

• plan your own search and try it out on PsycINFO or Web of Science

Questions?

• Do you think what you’ve learned in the session today will be useful to you in the future?