Transcript BSC 2011L - George A. Smathers Libraries

BSC 2011L
Library Exercise
Objectives
At the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
 Build an effective search strategy
 Find books in the library catalog and identify their
location
 Choose a journal article database appropriate for their
topic
 Find journal articles in a science database
 Determine if a journal article is available online, in print
at the libraries, or not available
 Identify the parts of an article citation and a book
citation
Building a Search Strategy
Before searching, identify appropriate
keywords for your topic
Sample Topic:
“Predatory Behavior in Ants”
Building a Search Strategy
“Predatory Behavior in Ants”
 Synonyms/alternate forms – predators,
predation
 Alternate spellings - behavior, behaviour
 Broader terms – insects, invertebrates
 Narrower terms – big headed ants
 Taxonomic names - Pheidole
Building a Search Strategy
Using AND, OR and NOT correctly
 AND – decreases search results
 OR – increases search results
 NOT – decreases search results by exclusion
Play the Boolean Brain Buster
http://www.hscl.ufl.edu/web/george/Boolean/
Building a Search Strategy
Does it make a difference? Here are different
search results from Web of Science searches
Search Strategy
Results
predatory behavior in ants
117
predat* and (behavior or
behaviour) and ants
predat* and (behavior or
behaviour) and (ants or
pheidole)
424
426
Searching the Library Catalog



Use the catalog to search for books,
dissertations, government documents and
audio/visual material
DO NOT use the catalog to search for journal
articles
Use broad terms to search the catalog – save the
more specific terms for the journal article
databases
A Basic Search
Click on title
for full record
Note which library
an item is in
Note the call
number
Book Citation
You need the
information in these 3
fields to write a book
citation
An Advanced Search
Searching the Library Catalog
Go Live
http://uf.catalog.fcla.edu/uf.jsp
Searching for Journal Articles
Picking a Database to Search
 Web of Science – all sciences
 BIOSIS Previews – biological sciences
 Agricola – agricultural sciences
 CAB – biological and agricultural sciences
with more international perspective
 Zoological Record – zoological sciences
Searching for Journal Articles
Use the special search functions for more
precise searching
 Truncation – predat* searches predator,
predators, predation, predatory
 Phrase searching – use quotation marks for
exact phrases – “social behavior”
 Nest terms – use parenthesis when using
more than one operator – ants and
(behavior or behaviour)
Searching for Journal Articles
Search functions (“tricks”) by database
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/msl/libcheat.html
Searching for Journal Articles
Go Live to one of the databases
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/msl/search/databases.html
Searching for Journal Articles
Can I get that online?
 Look for the “Find it @ UF” button in the
databases

Searching for Journal Articles
Takes you to
article online
Look for print
volumes in the
library
Journal Article Citation
Authors
Title of article
Date
Title of journal
Issue
Volume
Page
numbers
Need More Help?
Biological/Life Sciences Librarian
Tara Cataldo
Marston Science Library, L209C
273-2868
[email protected]
Or Ask any librarian
http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/ask/