Transcript Slide 1

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Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
This section of UPLift! is aimed at all students. It builds on the core skills section helping
you to make more effective use of the University of Portsmouth’s specialist databases.
For example, it will help you to devise search strategies for complex projects and use
advanced search features effectively.
Perhaps you know how to do some of these things already? Take the short
quiz to find out.
Perhaps you need to develop a particular skill? Take the link to find out more.
If you would like some more help click on the Help! button, otherwise
move to the next page using the arrow icon.
First of all, select
Slide Show, then
From the Beginning.
Click on Q&A to link to a
short quiz to see if you can
do the basics of this skill.
Tick the box when
you have completed
the quiz.
Click on the ? icon to find
links to information,
guides, video clips etc. to
help you develop this skill.
Move between slides by
following the navigation
buttons at the bottom
of the screen.
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Skill
Can I do this?
Devise effective search strategies for more complex
needs, e.g. dissertations


Conduct an advanced search on relevant databases


Limit searches using ‘fields’


Identify when to use Google Scholar and when to use
a database


Conduct a basic search in a relevant database or
Google Scholar


Identify how to access the full text of the article either
in the Library or online, where possible


Find out more
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Skill
Locate audio-visual resources that are of good quality
and have been copyright cleared for educational
purposes
Can I do this?


Select and use a wider range of databases without
guidance


Suggest when databases may not be an appropriate
place to search


Find out more
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Devise effective search strategies for more complex needs, e.g. dissertations
Rob wants to use his time effectively. He needs
to start researching his dissertation over the
holidays, but he also wants to spend time
surfing. He’s trying to remember the advice the
librarian gave him about planning his search
before going online to do it!
Rob’s got a long train journey ahead, what
might he begin to consider about searching for
information for his dissertation?
Try to think about it before turning over
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Devise effective search strategies for more complex needs, e.g. dissertations
On Rob’s long train journey he might consider the following:
Analyse research topic
Geography
Concepts
People
Dates
Alternative spellings – colour/color
Turn those into keywords or phrases
Alternative endings – Marx/Marxism
Synonyms – female/woman Meaningful concepts – computers don’t understand
Decide what terms to search together How should you combine them?
AND/OR/ NOT/ Phrase
Consider which words might give you too many results?
Maybe think of narrower terms
What if you get too few? Think of broader terms, instead of teaching
spaces, try university buildings
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Devise effective search strategies for more complex needs, e.g. dissertations
Top tips on searching effectively
Use keywords not sentences &
consider alternative spellings
Search for phrases, use “”
Combine words with
“Boolean Logic”
Or use advanced search
options
theatre (theater)
photo* (searches photo, photography,
photographer, photographic etc.)
“female gaze”
“John Wayne”
AND articles containing information about
both cats and dogs
OR articles containing information about
either cats or dogs
NOT articles containing information about
cats but not dogs
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Conduct an advanced search on relevant databases
c) Yes, you can specify publication dates,
Hmmm,
advanced search.
whether you want to find
peer reviewed
I wonder
if that’s
(scholarly) articles. Sometimes
you
can more
difficult
to use
specify articles that contain
charts
or than the
search?
images, or even the languagebasic
and broad
subject of your results
What do you think? Click on an answer
a) That’s for PhD students and librarians
b) Its not necessary to go beyond the basic search
c) Its useful to help you get more relevant search results
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Conduct an advanced search on relevant databases
An advanced search allows you to search more effectively. On some databases
you will find an advanced search option. For an example, click here.
Other databases offer you the opportunity to refine your results after you have
tried an initial search. For an example, click here.
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Conduct an advanced search on relevant databases
Look out for search help features – some features vary between databases
You are prompted to combine keywords or phrases
Decide what kind of information you want
Within a particular date (publication date) range
In a particular language
Within a particular subject area. Be aware that some
disciplines may overlap, for instance, art and cultural studies
You can even specify a particular publication
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
A search for ‘wikipedia’
on the database Business
Source Complete, found
831 results.
You can see that along
side the search results, is
a panel which will enable
you to find more relevant
articles.
Your tutor might ask you
to find recent scholarly
articles relating to
Wikipedia as a social
media resource.
Click here to discover
what you can do to
improve your results.
Refining options
Search results
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
 Check the Scholarly Journals box
Slide the date ruler along until
2011 appears as the start date
 Click the Subject menu, is there
a relevant term listed, e.g. social
media?
Click this box to reveal how that
has reduced the number of search
results. Now you need only read
the relevant articles!
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Limit searches using fields
Link out to the EJS e-journals database to answer the following question
From the advanced search page:
Pull down this arrow to discover what is meant by the following abbreviations
TI
AU
SO
TX
Article title
Author
Reveal the answer
Journal name (Source)
All text
(This means that the keywords you enter in the search box
will only be searched for within those specific ‘fields’)
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Limit searches using fields
Many databases allow you to specify which fields you would like the database to search.
E.g.: The database
will only look in the
articles’ keyword
lists.
This is a useful way
of focussing your
search. Sometimes
searching for words
in the full text of an
article can be
overwhelming.
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Core Skills
Identify when to use Google Scholar and when to use a database
I use this resource when I want a
quick overview of academic
research on a particular topic
?
I use this resource when I want to
search trade and professional journals
and magazines as well as academic
sources
?
Database
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Core Skills
Identify when to use Google Scholar and when to use a database
Google Scholar is a variant of Google, which searches specifically for academic material,
including articles, books, conference papers, and preprints (early versions of journal articles)
and other scholarly works. Some of the journals and databases, provided by the University
Library, are linked to results in Google Scholar so it is useful as a “quick and dirty” search for
immediately available online articles.
If you come across a cluster of results from a particular library database, always repeat the
search within the database itself. Databases improve the precision of your results, and you
may find items that Google Scholar has missed.
Google Scholar has limited access to some library databases, and cannot search some of our
databases at all.
Link to the guide, Using Google Scholar, to find further details on how to make the most of
this alternative search tool.
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Core Skills
Conduct a basic search in a relevant database or Google Scholar
II wonder how I can
get more relevant
hits on Google
Scholar?
What would you suggest Alexis try to do?
Reveal answer
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Core Skills
Conduct a basic search in a relevant database or Google Scholar
He could go to Settings and set
Library Links to link to full text of
articles where University of
Portsmouth has a subscription
Try out the
Advanced Search
which will guide him
through some
options which will
help to define his
search thoroughly
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Core Skills
Conduct a basic search in a relevant database or Google Scholar
Most databases contain help pages which are worth looking at if you want to make
your searching as efficient and effective as possible.
Google Scholar is useful for finding academic or scholarly information on the web.
On-campus you will often see links to access the Full Text @ Portsmouth. If you want
to know how to set this up off-campus, watch this short animation Scholar Settings:
Library Links.
To find out to search Google Scholar effectively have a look at the guide, Using
Google Scholar.
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Core Skills
This is a result from Google Scholar. Identify how to access the full text of the article
either in the Library or online. There are two possible answers. Click on them.
This option usually links you straight
in to the article, however, from off
campus you will have to login before
you can view the full text.



This option will enable you to see
which library resources you can link to
and what years are available on line.
There is also a link to the library
catalogue so you can see if a printed
edition is available – this might be
useful if the online full text does not
include images, for example.
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Core Skills
Identify how to access the full text of the article either in the
Library or online, where possible
If the article is not available as a full text link from the database itself, you need to
see if you can access the article from the Library either in printed format or
through an alternative electronic link.
The following short animations will show you how to do this.
Use these when you want to search via the journal name:
Finding Journal Articles Using the Library Catalogue
Finding Journal Articles Using the E-Journal’s Search
Use this when you want to search via the article title:
Finding Journal Articles Using the Discovery Service
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Core Skills
Here is a section of the Library homepage. Click on the link that
will enable you to locate audio-visual resources that are of good
quality and have been copyright cleared for educational purposes
Try again
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Core Skills
Locate audio-visual resources that are of good quality and have
been copyright cleared for educational purposes
The Guide to Audio-Visual Resources will introduce you to some key resources for
finding good quality audio-visual resources which have been copyright cleared for
non-profit educational purposes. You should always refer to the copyright
information given on each resource for specific details of how you may use the
content.
The interactive Mediascape leads you to a-v resources in the library and on the
Internet. Once again, always check copyright information on each site.
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Select and use a wider range of databases without guidance
Patty and Elise are working in
the library late in the evening.
They need to locate good quality
information sources in their
subject area from the library
website.
Where would you advise them to
start?
Click here for some options
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Select and use a wider range of databases without guidance
Which of the options below would you choose to
start your search for good quality information
sources in a particular subject area?
Click on the option to find out it you are correct
Try again
Try again
Yes, Information Resources or
My Subject are the best options
These options are taken from the library homepage.
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Select and use a wider range of databases without guidance
Click on the shapes below to watch 2 short videos demonstrating
the difference between finding good quality resources via the
Information Resources link and the My Subject link
Information
http://screencast.com/t/wHVkUbA4
Resources
My Subject
http://screencast.com/t/X7lVn14dYhgW
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Understand when databases may not be an appropriate place to search
This is a tricky question as there are many different types of databases,
for example some index scholarly publications, others audio-visual
resources. However, there are some circumstances where a database
isn’t the best source with which to begin your research.
Refer to the definition of library databases, then identify from the options
below which sources are unlikely to be found on a library database?

Breaking news story


Journal articles
Images

General web pages

How to... technical manual

Historical newspaper article
What are library databases?
A library database is a searchable, electronic index which usually
contains information about published items.
All databases provide sufficient information for you to locate the full text
which may be in the University library, online or available from another
library.
Some library databases also include abstracts or summaries of the
information.
Others also include the full text of the article or source.
Types of material found using library databases are:
Articles from Journals and Magazines
Electronic Books
Newspapers
Images
Reference Sources
Click on this shape
to link to University
of Portsmouth’s
Databases
Searching for
information
using specialist
databases
Developing Skills
Understand when databases may not be an appropriate place to search
Same day
TV, Internet
Radio
Next day
News
worthy
event
Newspapers
Next week
Months later
Years later
Books
Weekly
Magazines
Scholarly
articles