Population Index (PI)
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An interesting, albeit dated, global snapshot
“…was the primary reference tool to the world's population literature.”
http://popindex.princeton.edu/
Section 1: Background & Coverage
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Formation
PublisherOffice of Population Research, Princeton University
Support National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
U.S. Agency for International Development
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HistoryOriginally
An annotated bibliography of global population information
• Published: In print 1937 to 1999
• Principal reference resource for global population literature
TodayA searchable index database of citations and abstracts of demographic
literature
• Published: Online 1986-2000
• 1937-2000 accessible through Journal Storage (JSTOR) Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb*
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a note of interest
PI ceased in 2000, the following are options for similar data:
• American FactFinder: factfinder2.census.gov
• Demographic and Health Surveys: dhsprogram.com
• INDEPTH Network: indepth-network.org
• Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, International: ipums.org
• Popline: popline.org
• World Fact Book: cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook
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Section 2: Search Tools
Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb*
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Stand-alone
• Population Index: A stand-alone database
• Produced by the Office of Population Research at Princeton University
• JSTOR complements the site
• Reference citations in Population Index
• Full-text versions are in JSTOR
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*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb
ContentSubject
Global Demographic Literature
Types of records 46,035 citations and abstracts published 1986-2000
• biological, geographical, economic, and sociological
Material found externallyFull-text published 1937-2000 available on JSTOR
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Controlled Vocabulary
• Subject Headings serve as controlled vocabulary• Alphabetical list of Thesaurus Terms is used to code subjects in the Index• Users can search these terms in the “Subject” search field
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Controlled Vocabulary: Subject Headings
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Controlled Vocabulary: Thesaurus Terms
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*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb
Search Fields
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Note: No unique/unusual fields found
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4 available search fields
Search Fields: Author[2 options]
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specify surname and include first name
search names of corporate authors
Search Fields: Subject
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Subject Headings Thesaurus
Subject Headings and Thesaurus terms searchable in the Subject Field
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Search Fields: Region
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Searchable by state, country, or region
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Search Fields: Free Text
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Terms found within citations and abstracts can be searched
Results omit Free from Free Text
Format Option
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short = citations long = abstracts
Limits: 2
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Default
Limits: Year
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Limit results by year or range of years between 1986-2000
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Limits: Max Hits
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Database states “Limit number of citations retrieved” Actually, limits number of entries displayed on 1st page of results
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More entries found by clicking link at bottom of results page
Unusual Search Tools
• Unusual is a subjective term – defined here as atypical
• “Free Text” is atypical i.e., allows users to locate one or multiple words anywhere in a record
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*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb
Search Methods
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There are 2:
Browse & Search
Browse
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Field Options
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1 basic interface, no options for advanced search mode
Search
Default Search Settings
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Find search terms with root word
Display citations not abstracts
Display 25 results on the 1st results page
Boolean Searching
• Does not provide for Boolean searching
• Ignores common words such as "and," and "or"
• e.g., authors are indexed by individual names
• articles by Lars Smith and Nicholas Jones, type in “Smith Jones”
• words are joined by an implicit “and”
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Truncation: Match
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Complete• Searches exact word (i.e., South)
Beginning• Searches terms with root word
(i.e., South, Southern, and Southeast)
None found
Wildcard
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Phrase Searching
• Available, but limited to specific subject and thesaurus terms,
• however, you can come close to a phrase listed in the thesaurus:
• for example, subject search for “family planning evaluation”;
• gets you close to the thesaurus term “family planning program evaluation.”
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Proximity Searching
No proximity searching functions found
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Case-sensitive Searching
No case-sensitive searching functions found
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Stop Words
The database is written to ignore the following specific common words:
andorofthe
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Section 3: Search Examples
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Search Example: Fertility in the UKSearch performed by Aaron Robb
Search Strategy UsedPearl Growing
• Began with a simple search
• Narrowed search with database tools
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Initial Search: Strategy
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Searched Subject Headings and Geographic Terms pages
Chose long format
Entered search terms
Initial Search: Outcome
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275 AbstractsDefaults required clicking links to view all abstracts
2nd Search: StrategyNarrowed search with additional criteria
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Added terms found in initial search abstracts
Changed format to display 1st 100 entries
Limited time frame
2nd Search: Outcome
4 AbstractsResults related to population differences between the 4 countries within the UK
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3rd Search: StrategyRepeated previous search with region change
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Replaced UK with individual UK country
3rd Search: OutcomeWithout Boolean search options, finding additional abstracts took longer
• Repeat searches would be unnecessary with the option to enter the phrase:
• United Kingdom OR England OR Northern Ireland OR Scotland OR Wales
Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb*
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Search Example: General DemographicsSearch performed by Matt Bird-Meyer
Search Strategy UsedBrowse and Pearl Growing
• Began by browsing a back issue of Population Index
• Chose Vol. 53, No. 1 from spring 1987
• Searched for interesting headings
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*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb
Initial Search: Strategy
• From subject headings within the journal, chose “Characteristics” and then “General Demographic Characteristics.”
• Selected study by Slobodan Bosnic titled “The age and sex composition of the population.”
• Decided to search the database for more articles by same author.
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*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb
Initial Search: Strategy
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*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb
Initial Search: Strategy
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*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb
Database Search
• Input author’s name in the Author field.
• Resulted in one article – same as found in the journal.
• Used this as inspiration for broader search within same subject heading.
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Refined Search
• Refined goal to find studies from a variety of nations
• Input General Demographic Characteristics subject heading
• Result: 1,877 hits with studies from all over the world
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*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb
Refined Search
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*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb
Narrowing Results• Chose to focus on Tatarstan Republic
• Refined subject search to “General Demographic Characteristics,” with “Tatarstan Republic” in the region field but got no hits
• Placed this complete search phrase in Free Text field and found one result.
• I wanted more results from this region.
• Placing “General Demographic Characteristics” in the search field and “Russia” in the region field netted me 10 results.
• Placing this complete search phrase in Free Text netted me three results.
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Narrowing Results
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Narrowing Results
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Section 4: Summary
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Overall Impression Pros• Search interface• Easy to understand/use
• Prior searches are “remembered”
• Browse function • Helpful in searching back-issues
• Good for point-in-time research
• Help pages • Descriptive, easy to find
• Easily identifies scope and options
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*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb*
Cons• Search interface• Outdated
• No proximity searching
• No Boolean searching
• No sorting options
• Time limited • 1986-2000
• No full-text
Who Would Benefit by Using It?Researchers & Students • Studying national & international sociology/demography
Medical Researchers• Analyzing population growth/decline
Reporters
• Seeking historic population data
Librarians • Seeking obscure population data/studies
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Who Would Not Benefit?
Anyone who is:
• accustomed to using contemporary search tools
• reluctant to review help pages
• looking for rapid results
• seeking current data
• seeking easily accessible economic data
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Using It At Work
• Cross-referencing data with American Community Survey for class projects
• As part of a library’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats analysis
• Analyzing past demographic patterns of the library’s community
• Comparing historic population characteristics with current data with:
• factfinder2.census.gov
• geolib.org
*Matthew Bird-Meyer & Aaron Robb*
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Desired Changes to the DatabaseImproved FunctionalityEasy access from each citation and abstract to full-text
Boolean search capabilities
An export function citation/abstract to e-mail
Listing related Subject Headings with search results
An ability to:
sort records by fields
add limiter for peer reviewed/scholarly journals
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