Skills Training for Postgraduate Research Students

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Skills Training for Postgraduate Research
Students

• Information Resources
• Searching Research Literature
• PHYSICAL SCIENCES
• Rowena Stewart
• JCM Library,
• Rowena.Stewart_at_ed.ac.uk,
• tel 50 5207

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Contents

• Why you need to use information resources
• Library catalogue and web pages
• How to get into electronic resources
• Databases (hands-on)
• including index terms, finding the full-text,
  tracking references using Science Citation Index,
  journal citation reports (or impact factors),
  alerts/saved searches, theses databases
• EndNote

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Searching Research LiteratureWhy do it?

• Whats been published in your field
• Whos published in your field
• Check references
• Useful new work, often to your mailbox.

• Databases
• Focus your search to published literature in a
  specific subject area
• Search through articles published in thousands of
  relevant publications
• Search for particular types of articles, eg
  review articles
• Who else has used a good reference

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Searching Research LiteratureLibrary Information
http//www.lib.ed.ac.uk
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Searching Research LiteratureLibrary Catalogue
Search for chemical communications as a journal
title
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Library Catalogue
Record for a title library has in print/hardcopy
Note the previous title name information may
help explain the earliest volume we have or why a
volume number and title dont match some
reference information.
Record for a title to which library has bought
electronic access
Note the holdings information, ie what
volume/years youll find in the library/available
online for this particular title. The print
journal record also gives the latest issue
received.
Click link to go to e-journals page for more
information
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E-Journal Web Pages
Search for a title, Browse alphabetically (but
breaks down by pages which are identified by the
first three letters of the titles top and bottom
of a page, eg Jou-Jou) or View the titles
assigned to subject areas
Drop down the menu for options
Links provided for access to the full-text for
each title change full-text provider package
(even for packages /deals bought from the same
supplier)
N.B. Statistics journals list found under Social
and Behavioural Sciences
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Getting To The Database You Want to Use
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Access Authentication

• Athens account
• via EASE or MyEd, alternative Athens route
  from the resource site, personal account for
  CrossFire platform.
• Resource specific username and password
• linked to from databases entry on the
  library web pages
• IP address controlled
• nothing needed if on-campus, off-campus route
  browser through proxy cache or use VPN
• From most library links to e-journal sites, all
  of the above are handled by ezproxy
• - therefore only EASE login is required, on or
  off-campus.

See here for off-campus access information
Click here to go to the site (if no mention made
of on-campus access requirements, resource is IP
address controlled)
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Athens Authentication - MyEd
Then go to appropriate area and use links from
there
https//www.myed.ed.ac.uk
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Athens Authentication Alternative
Eg http//www.sciencedirect.com
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Full-text where to get it from

• Databases have links out to full-text hosted on
  other sites and the relevant authentication
  requirement for the host site is still required.
• If a link doesnt work, even one that takes
  you to the library catalogue, as these too exist,
  note down enough information to locate the
  article and do a library catalogue search for the
  journal or conference proceedings in which the
  article was published.
• If the Library does not have what you need, place
  an inter-library loan request and library staff
  will have the book or copy of the article
  delivered to one of the Edinburgh library sites
  from another library.
• You can also make use of reciprocal borrowing
  schemes, eg Sconul Research Extra which provides
  you with borrowing rights to participating UK
  University Libraries ask EUL staff before you
  go somewhere.