Transcript Sample GeoBase Record

Linda Zellmer
Leslie F. Malpass Library, 415
[email protected]
Introduction
 Sources of geography information – journal articles,
books, government publications, statistics, World
Wide Web.
 How to find Geography-related information.
 Google?
 Books & Government Publications at WIU – WestCat.
 Books in other Illinois Academic Libraries - I-Share.
 Indexes & Databases for finding Articles & Government
Publications.
 Search Strategy.
 Live Demonstration of searching Indexes & Databases.
Geographic Information Sources - Commercial Publishers
Geographic Information Sources
Government & Intergovernmental Agencies
Geographic Information Sources - Statistics
Searching for Information
I can find all of
the information
I need using
Google.
Why not just search Google?
• Google search – enter
words to retrieve
information.
• Wikipedia articles.
• Guides to information.
• Government web sites.
• News results.
• Other information
(pro-business) –
consider the source.
Searching Google
 Some government publications & web sites can be found with
Google.
 Scholarly articles (fee through Google, free in Libraries).
 Other information - evaluate the source (credentials).
WestCat
 WIU Libraries Online Catalog.
 Can be used to find books, government publications
and titles of journals and magazines available in the
WIU Libraries (not articles).
 Combined online catalog of 71 Illinois academic &
research libraries.
 Can be used to find library materials available in
participating libraries (not articles).
Finding Articles & Other Information
 Articles can be found using indexes (databases).
 Information provided varies - journal articles, articles
in books, books and government reports.
Geography Indexes
•
•
•
•
•
•
GeoBase – books, journal articles & government
publications.
ESRI GIS Bibliography - A bibliography to significant
literature on Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Contains over 65,000 references.
Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS)
– Indexes >400,000 items related to transportation
published in books, journal articles, technical reports and
the media.
GeoRef - Index to US and World literature in the
geosciences published since 1669. Indexes journals related
to Physical Geography.
Academic Search Premier – index to popular & scholarly
articles.
JSTOR – archival access to older geography journals.
Finding Government Publications
 Government Publications can be found using indexes
(databases) .
 Indexes to Government Publications related to
Geography:
 Catalog of U.S. Government Publications –
publications of all U.S. government agencies.
 LexisNexis Congressional – Publications of U.S.
Congress (hearings, debates, reports, bills & laws).
 Agency Online Catalogs & Web Sites - NOAA, USGS
& other agencies.
Searching Indexes &
Databases
Database Records
Article Title
Journal Title
Abstract
Sample GeoBase Record
Searching Databases
 To find information in a database, construct a search using
subject terms and connectors (Boolean operators).
 Subject terms – describe the topic of interest.
What are the impacts of burning coal on global warming?
How has land use changed in Northwestern Illinois?
 Connectors (Operators) – tell the computer how to search
for the subject terms.
And
Or
Not
N + any number
( ) Parentheses
* ? ! Truncation Symbols
Subject Terms
 To identify subject terms, write a one sentence
description or question describing the topic.
What are the impacts of burning coal on global warming?
How has land use changed in Northwestern Illinois?
 Identify the key terms in that sentence or question.
What are the impacts of coal on global warming?
How has land use changed in Northwestern Illinois?
 Are there other words that can describe the same concept?
Global Warming: Climate Change
Northwestern Illinois: county or region names
Searching Databases
 Connectors (Operators) – tell the computer how to
search for the subject terms.
And
Or
Not
N + any number
( ) Parentheses
* ? ! Truncation Symbols
AND - looks for the terms searched
anywhere in the record.
Impact and coal and global warming
land use and change and Northwestern Illinois
Database Records
Article Title
Journal Title
Abstract
Sample GeoBase Record
OR – searches for two or more terms
in a record.
(Impact or effect) and coal and (global warming or climate
change)
(land use or land cover) and change and (Northwestern Illinois
or Midwest)
Database Records
Article Title
Journal Title
Abstract
Sample GeoBase Record
NOT - Eliminates records that may not
meet certain criteria (language, not
related to topic of interest, other aspects).
(Impact or effect) and coal and (global warming or climate
change)
(land use or land cover) and change and (Midwest NOT
(Michigan or Minnesota or Indiana or Missouri))
Other Operators
 N [<near>; same] – proximity operators. Used
to find words that are near each other, usually in
the title, abstract or subject descriptors. Can be
used to replace AND to narrow search results
(Academic Search).
(Impact or effect) N10 coal N10 (global warming or
climate change)
(land use or land cover) N10 change N10 (Northwestern
Illinois or Midwest)
Other Operators
 ( ) Parentheses – Separates parts of a search
and identifies the order in which terms should
be searched. Terms in parentheses are searched
first.
(Impact or effect) and coal and (global warming or climate
change)
(land use or land cover) and change and (Midwest NOT
(Michigan or Minnesota or Indiana or Missouri))
Other Operators
 * ? ! – Truncation Symbols – used to look for
various forms of a term (impact, impacts; effect,
effects; change, changes).
(Impact* or effect*) and coal and (global warming or climate
change*)
(land use or land cover) and change* and (Midwest NOT
(Michigan or Minnesota or Indiana or Missouri))
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