Transcript Introduction to Research Skills

Introduction to Research Skills:
Autumn 2011
Sue Bird
Bodleian Subject Librarian
This session
Introduction to Bibliographic Databases
Introduction to Current Awareness Services
Introduction to Reference Management Software
Introduction to Oxford Research Archive
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/science
GUIDE to RESOURCES
libguides/engineering
SCOPUS
Scopus -- abstract and citation database containing both peer-reviewed
research literature and quality web sources. With over 19,000 titles from
more than 5,000 international publishers, including 300 book series.
•45.5 million records:
24.5 million records with references back to
1996 (of which 78% include references).
21 million records pre-1996 which go back as
far as 1823.
4.6 million conference papers from proceedings
and journals.
350 million scientific web pages indexed via
Scirus
24.7 million patent records from five patent

Keeping up to date with
SCOPUS
Covers journals loaded onto ScienceDirect
(but not exclusively)
Includes Abstracts in the searches as well as journal
titles, keywords and citations
Can look at the results over the net
Journal and Citation alerts are emailed
Search (Keyword) alerts must be
viewed online
Research Skills
Three ways to keep up to date:
• E-mail alert – you can specify a search to be repeated and
the results emailed to you at chosen intervals or Zetoc will
tell you when the next issue of a journal is available.
• Saving and rerunning searches – you save a search and
run it again in the future.
• Citation Alert – you will receive an email every time a
particular article is cited in another WoK or Scopus
indexed article.
ZETOC
British Library: Electronic Table of
Contents
+++ Broad coverage.
Easy to set up.
Easy to modify & extend
---
Not so timely as some
(it depends on BL receipt
of hard copy)
RSS = Really Simple
Syndication
• RSS is a family of web feed formats
• A web feed is a data format used for serving
users frequently updated content.
• Content distributors syndicate a web feed
• thereby allowing users to subscribe to it.
E-Journals
I didn't check for the hard copy
- so used to getting online access!
Avoiding Plagiarism
"...You must always indicate to the examiners when you have
drawn on the work of others; other people's original ideas and
methods should be clearly distinguished from your own, and
other people's words, illustrations, diagrams etc. should be
clearly indicated regardless of whether they are copied exactly,
paraphrased, or adapted...
...The University reserves the right to use software applications to
screen any individual's submitted work for matches either to published
sources or to other submitted work. Any such matches respectively
might indicate either plagiarism or collusion...
...Although the use of electronic resources by students in their
academic work is encouraged, you should remember that the
regulations on plagiarism apply to on-line material and other
digital material just as much as to printed material..."
Section 9.5 Proctors' and Assessor's Memorandum
Good academic practice
So by following the citation principles and
practices in place in your subject area, you will
develop a rigorous approach to academic
referencing, and avoid inadvertent plagiarism.
Citing your references
An article in an online journal which also exists in print
should be cited in the same way as print
To cite something which only exists electronically, e.g.
a web site, follow special rules which include the date
viewed
A specific quote must include the page reference in the
citation.
Also any number of style manuals:The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism /Colin Neville.
2007 RSL LB 2369 NEV – also available on-line !
Cite them right : the essential referencing guide / Richard Pears and Graham
Shields. 2010 RSL LB 2369 PEA
Reference Management Systems
RefWorks
(web based – access your records anywhere - free to
members of university – even after you leave)
• ProCite, Reference Manager and EndNote (works without
web access – but software needs to be installed on own
machine – charge of c£80 from OUCS)
• EndNote on the Web
(free to members of university, but has limited feature set –
designed to be used alongside desktop version)
• Zotero is a free plug-in for Firefox browser (only) – limited but
growing capability
• Mendeley, etc.
Compatibility of different reference
management packages
• EndNote
• Operating Systems
Linux
Windows
Mac
No
Yes (XP, Vista, 7)
Yes (OS X (10.5, 10.6))
• Word Processors
•
Note 1: EndNote has a ‘format document’ feature which can process .rtf format files containing unformatted
citation place holders. These .rtf files can be generated by most Word Processors. The Cite While You Write
plugin will only work with the word processors listed here however.
•
Note 2: X5 is the latest EndNote version. X2 is currently the version installed on library computers. X4 is
currently the version being sold by the OUCS shop.
Windows Word Processors
Mac Word Processors
Microsoft Word (Win)
OpenOffice / Libre
Office Writer 3 (Win)
Microsoft Word
(Mac)
Pages ‘09
(Mac)
OpenOffice /
LibreOffice
Writer 3 (Mac)
2003, 2007
No
2004, 2008
Yes
No
2003, 2007, 2010
Yes
2004, 2008, 2011
Yes
No
Compatibility of different reference
management packages
• RefWorks
• Operating Systems
Linux
•
Windows
Mac
Partially* Yes (98, ME, XP, Vista, 7) Yes (OS X, 10.3 up)
*The web-based elements of RefWorks work fine on Linux but the Cite-n-Write plugin
is not available for Linux.
• Web Browsers
• *RefGrab-it plugins not available for these browsers – Google
Chrome/Chromium & Opera - but the rest of RefWorks functionality should
work.
• Word Processors
•
Note: RefWorks has a ‘format document’ feature which can process .rtf format files
containing unformatted citation place holders. These .rtf files can be generated by
most Word Processors. I strongly don’t recommend this route, I’ve found it unreliable
and error prone. The Write-n-Cite plugin will only work with the word processors
listed here however. Works principally with Microsoft Word
Compatibility of different reference
management packages
• Zotero
• Operating Systems
Linux
Windows
Mac
Yes
Yes
Yes
• Web Browsers
• Note: Zotero is fundamentally designed as a Firefox add-on and
only works with Firefox
• Word Processors
• Note: Zotero requires a plugin to be installed for allowing
addition of citations to word processed documents.
Compatibility of different reference
management packages
• Mobile Devices
• Some reference management software has mobile
versions offering generally more limited functionality
and adaptations to better suit small screens. Some
software also has dedicated app versions for iPads (or
shortly will have in the case of ColWiz).
–
–
–
–
RefWorks – mobile version.
EndNote Web – mobile version.
Mendeley – dedicated iPad app.
ColWiz – dedicated iPad app coming very soon.
Compatibility of different reference
management packages
• General Web Browser Compatibility
•
Not all web browsers are compatible with all operating systems. Firefox is by far the
best supported browser in terms of operating system platforms and the reference
management applications it will work with. Mac and Linux systems can run some
Windows software using hardware/software emulation or virtual machines. This gets
very complicated, so this table focuses on what will ‘just work’ with each system
Linux
Windows
Mac
Internet Explorer
No
Yes
No
Firefox
Yes
Yes
Yes
Safari
No
Yes
Yes
Google Chrome/Chromium
Yes
Yes
Yes
Opera
Yes
Yes
Yes
Research Skills
Search Tip : 1
– Important to remember that although each database
covers thousands of journal titles no single database
is ever comprehensive.
– If you are having difficulty finding material on a topic
use the keywords you find in any relevant reference
and search again.
Databases vs. Search engines
• Contents are indexed by subject
specialists
• Subject headings
• Limiting functions e.g.
publication types, language
Allow you to
• View Search history
• Combine searches
• Mark and sort results
• Print/save/email/export
• Save searches
• Set up alerts
• Searches done by
automated “web
crawlers”
• No thesaurus / subject
headings – just free
text searching
• No limiting functions
• Usually none of these!
Research Skills
Search Tip : 2
– Use Boolean Logical Operators AND, OR, NOT
also proximity operators Adj (literally adjacent);
Near(same sentence); With(same field)
– Field descriptors: AU(author); TI(title); AB
(abstract); SO(source or reference); DE (general
descriptor) etc are likely to be specific to each
database and won’t operate in ‘cross searches’
– Combining searches: #1 and #2
Research Skills
Search Tip : 3
• Consider subject synonyms & British and US spellings.
• Apply truncation, usually * to find plurals/alternative word
endings and ? to replace a single character.
• Expand search by following hypertext links esp subject
headings
• Use tagging facilities within database to mark articles for
printing, emailing, downloading or exporting.
• Authors names: Check the online help for formats. Use the
database index to find different forms of author’s name,
otherwise truncate first initial.
Web of Knowledge
Similar but not the same : a.k.a. Web of Science
WEB of Science: ISI citation indexes
Broad Coverage – all subject areas
Automatic export to EndNote
but now with export to RefWorks
(Journal Citation Reports – help choose the most effective
title in your area)
Bibliographic Databases
Search :- wind turbine* AND (energy OR power) AND
(home OR domestic OR residential) 2008-2011(2012)
Scopus = 157 articles
Web of Science = 80 articles
Inspec (via Web of Knowledge) = 90 articles
RefWorks (after de-duplication)
= 210
Oxford Research Archive
• Students registered on the D.Phil. programme
from 1st October 2007 are required to deposit
both a print copy (in the Bodleian Library) and
a digital copy (in ORA) of their thesis.
http://ora.ox.ac.uk/
OXFORD E-THESES
http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/ora/oxford_etheses
Conclusion
• Maintain a balanced diet!
• Five a day…
– Scopus, W.o.S., subject-specific database, SOLO,
Current Awareness Alerts…
Introduction to Research Skills
Your feedback is greatly appreciated
Please complete a short survey @
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/V833GBC