Earth Sciences 4490:Library Research Tools

for your Literature ReviewDan Sich

Earth Sciences Librarian

Oct 7th, 2009

I want you to be able to…

• find articles using GeoRef and SciFinder

• find references & highly-cited articles using Web of Science

• get article full text using “Get it @ Western,” the library catalogue and Interlibrary Loan

• create a bibliography using RefWorks

schedule

• RefWorks• GeoRef• Web of Science• SciFinder• Get it @ Western• Interlibrary Loan

Earth Sci 4490 page

RefWorks

• Set up an account

• Use it with databases

• Why bother?

Library Catalogue

• everything we own• books, journals (not articles), etc.• books: introductions, basic info, data, etc.• search by keyword, title, author, etc.• try: United States Geological Society, Geological

Society of America• try: glacial drift• location, call number, status, request, subject

headings

Scholarly / peer-reviewjournal articles?

Scholarly vs. Popular Publications

• availability• audience• aesthetics• authors• topics• length• language• advertizing• sources,

credits

Peer-review process

1. author writes paper, sends to publisher

2. publisher sends to referees (experts)

3. referees send feedback to publisher

4. publisher sends feedback to author

5. author decides whether or not to revise article and send back to publisher

6. publisher decides whether or not to publish

Finding journal articles?

Article databases

• Find peer-reviewed (scholarly) journal articles, conference articles, and review articles using journal article databases

• GeoRef (geology)

• Web of Science (references)

• SciFinder (chemistry)

Off-Campus Access

• article databases

• eBooks, eJournals

GeoRef

• GeoSciences, 1785-present

• Try meteor* AND compos* AND canad*

• “Peer-Reviewed Journals” tab

• Descriptors

• Get it @ Western

• “Palaeolimnological evidence…” eJournal

• “The Earth’s lower mantle…” ILL

• RefWorks download

Search tips

• identify concepts, keywords, synonyms

• use AND, OR, NOT, * (truncation)

• review & revise searches

• use Search History

• limit date range, document type(s), etc.

• skim abstracts

Your turn

• 10 minutes

Web of Science

• Science Citation Index

• meteor* AND compos* AND canad*

• Refine Results: Subject Areas

• Citations?

• Times cited? Create citation report

• Select records, save to Plain Text, Import into RefWorks

Your turn

• 10 minutes

SciFinder

• Chemical Abstracts Service• Account set-up• Search by Research Topic• mineralogy of martial soils• Analyse (by Journal), Refine (add “life”)• Get Cited, Get Citing• Get Full Text, tricks in catalogue• RefWorks…?

Your turn

• 10 minutes

Notes on SciFinder

• Sign Out when finished

• We only have 8 ‘seats’

• Today you’re using training seats

No fulltext?

• Search the catalogue by Journal Title, or Keyword

• Check the web (it may be free)

• Order it through Interlibrary Loan (RACER)

Interlibrary Loan (RACER)

• Journal issue not in library catalogue?

• Free photocopies of articles, loan of books

• Averages 4-10 business days

• Need to create a RACER account

• Three ways to create request:– Link from Get it @ Western (quickest)– Search RACER by “journal title”– Use Blank Request Form (slowest)

RefWorks

• web app for citation management

• automatically formats notes (?), bibliographies

• Citation style? E.g., AGU, Earth and Planetary Science Letters

• use the Write-N-Cite plugin for Word (demo only)

Feedback

• On a piece of paper, briefly describe the one thing that you’re still confused by

• It doesn’t have to be something I covered in the session

contact info

Dan Sich, Earth Sciences Librarian

phone: 80962

email: dsich2@uwo.ca

Subject: Earth Sciences 4490