Using CAB Abstracts to Search for Articles

Objectives

• Learn what CAB Abstracts is

• Know the main features of CAB Abstracts

• Learn how to conduct searches

• Learn how to retrieve full-text articles through CAB

• Review techniques of good searching

What Is CAB Abstracts?• Internationally recognized database of

information for applied agriculture and life sciences

• Covers research and development literature from thousands of international serials

• Provides abstracts (brief article descriptions)• Also now provides access to some full-text

articles

What Is CAB Abstracts?• Bibliographic scholarly database-includes

references to published material from a variety of publishers

• Used to: – search for information for a specific project or

essay– provide an overview of research activity in a

given area – keep up-to-date with a specific subject area

through regular searching

CAB Abstracts and AGORA

• CAB generously offers a subset of CAB Abstracts to AGORA users

• Covers about 80% of journals in AGORA

• You must log in to AGORA to gain access to full-text articles and must also log in to search CAB.

Using CAB Abstracts: Getting Started

From the AGORA Home pageClick on Login

Using CAB Abstracts: Getting Started

Login using your institutionalUsername and password

Ensure that you have Java on the machine that

you are using or a pop up message

will ask you to download

User Authentication Page

Click on AGORA Journal Search if search page does not launch

automatically. DO NOT close this window until you want to log out.

Using CAB Abstracts: Getting Started

This will take you to the Journals page. type in your search query using Keywords

-the more specific and narrowed down,- the better the results.

- For example type “Beans” and click search

This will give you a list ofThe results with mainly the citations and a brief abstract of the contents

One can navigate thesePages to see more results

Of matching abstracts

Using CAB Abstracts: Getting Started

One can access the abstract only or the full-textTo view the abstract click

On “Abstract”.

The abstract will then open in a new window with a link to the

Journal’s home page or full-text

Using CAB Abstracts

To go directly to the Publisher’s website and

Get the full-text article click here

The publisher website will then open in a new window with details of the journal

To view the list of journals and articles

Click here

To view the full-textClick the PDF link

Ensure that you have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your machine to

enable the reading of articles in PDF

Using CAB AbstractsTo save

click here

Choose the locationwhere you want to

save the articleand click save

To printclick here

Choose the printer you want to use and select the number of

copies you want to print

Using the Search Wizard

Having done the keywordsearch you can furtherrefine your search by

using the Search Wizard

Click on the Search Wizard link

The search wizardtemplate opens.

Click on the Search Wizard link

Alternatively you can use the Search Wizardin the Journals page

The search wizardtemplate opens.

Use the first drop down arrow to refine your search using these Various disciplines

For example one can use “English Item Title”

which is simply the titleof the article

Also refine your search byusing these Boolean

operators- Optional is OR,Required is AND and Prohibited

is NOT

Choosing required in thisCase means the article nameOught to have “bean” in it.

To use more fields to combineand further refine your search

click on any

Put more keywords and further refine usingThe drop down menus

In this case we wantboth bean and cultivation toappear in the article name

Click on search to get your results

Search box shows the Combination of our search

List of articles and abstracts with “bean” and “cultivation”

in the titles. Scroll down to See full list of articles and abstracts

To view full abstract Click on abstract

Full abstract opens in new Window. For the full text

Click on Journal home page

OR click directly on the Journal home page linkon the articles list page

Journal Home Page opens in new window

Scroll down to view Full list of articles and

Choose the one you want

1.) To download full text inPlain HTML text click here

2.) To download full text inPDF text click here

Full text article in HTML

Scroll down to read

To download full text inPDF text you can

also click here

Full text in HTML with links to references

Full text in PDF formatTo print or save

click here

More Tips for Effective Searching

Keywords and Selection

• Understand the question

• Select all the important concepts

• Add synonyms, singulars and plurals

After the Search

• Display the records

• Check the relevance

• Look for additional search terms

• Modify the search if required

Summary

• CAB Direct is scholarly bibliographic database that will find citations and links to full-text articles

• Is be able to link to full text through through AGORA

• Good searching technique saves time, effort and money

Thank you.

Any Questions?

The source of most of this lecture is the CAB Direct Introduction training PowerPoint module found at http://www.cabdirect.org/userguides.asp

All CAB training materials, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are copyright CAB International.