TIMESAVING TIPS FOR INFORMATION GATHERING

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TIMESAVING TIPS FOR INFORMATION GATHERING

• LYNN FLANAGAN
• KARIN HALLETT
• RHONDA ARMSTRONG

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PURPOSE

• Demonstrate a variety of techniques for effective
  and efficient use of some popular bibliographic
  databases and tools.

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Academic libraries spend increasing portions of
their budgets on electronic information sources
and the associated technologies for access.
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The explosion of the number of available
electronic information sources and the frequent
changes in search interfaces and technology make
it difficult for users to stay current in
innovative ways to use these resources.
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TIPS FOR USE OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASES

• Lynn Flanagan
• User Services Librarian - Electronic Resources,
  University Library, Middle Tennessee State
  University, Murfreesboro, TN 37132
• e-mail - lflanaga_at_ulibnet.mtsu.edu
• This presentation page - http//frank.mtsu.edu/lf
  lanaga/MidSouth2000.ppt

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TIP 1 - READ THE HELP SCREENS FOR THE SPECIFIC
DATABASE YOU ARE USING

• Often database vendors provide access to several
  different databases using the same type of search
  interface. The general help screens will cover
  the basics of searching all the databases, but
  the help screens for the specific database will
  cover the special fields available only in that
  database.

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TIP 2 - MAKE USE OF THE DIFFERENT ACCESS POINTS
AND THE LIMIT FEATURES FOR THE SPECIFIC DATABASE
YOU ARE USING IN ORDER TO FOCUS YOUR RESULTS

• Use the Advanced Search mode.
• Use the Limit fields.
• Use the Index and Thesaurus when available.

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TIP 3 - LEARN WHICH DATABASES INDEX YOUR FAVORITE
JOURNAL TITLES

• Enter the journal title in the appropriate field
  on the search screen.
• View a list of all journal titles included in the
  database.

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TIP 4 - DETERMINE HOW TO OBTAIN A COPY OF AN ITEM

• Watch for an indication of full text availability
  in the database itself.
• Watch for an icon, message, or tag to indicate
  your library owns an item.
• Watch for a link to the librarys online catalog
  to determine if your library owns an item.
• Watch for a link to an Interlibrary Loan request
  form.
• Watch for a link to a Document Delivery service.

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TIP 5 - REPEAT A SEARCH EXACTLY

• Use SilverPlatters Save History and Load
  History buttons.
• Use Gale Groups InfoMarks .

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TIP 6 - USE THE UPDATE CODES TO RETRIEVE ONLY
CITATIONS ADDED SINCE THE LAST UPDATE

• Most databases have a field to indicate the date
  of the update when each citation was added.
• Make use of this field to retrieve only those
  entries which were added since the last time you
  ran your search.

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TIP 7 - VIEW THE TABLE OF CONTENTS OF A
PARTICULAR JOURNAL ISSUE

• Some databases have links from an article
  citation to other articles in the same issue of a
  journal, but you must first find at least one
  article in the issue.
• In the advanced search mode of most databases you
  can enter the journal title field and the date of
  publication of the issue in the date field
  combined with the AND operator.

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TIP 8 - USE PERSISTENT LINKS TO PROVIDE OTHERS
ACCESS TO AN ARTICLE(S), BIBLIOGRAPHIES, ETC.

• InfoTracs InfoMarks - My examples.
• Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe link maker from
  Muns LinkMaker.

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TIP 9 - KEEP ABREAST OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES AS THEY
BECOME AVAILABLE.

• SilverLinker from SilverPlatter - now available
  in the locally mounted ERL databases and in Beta
  testing for the web versions of databases.
• SilverLinker example - Biological Abstracts

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LINKS FOR DEMONSTRATION

• InfoTrac - Expanded Academic Index
• SilverPlatter - Biological Abstracts
• FirstSearch - GeoRef
• WilsonWeb - Art Abstracts
• EBSCO Medline
• InfoTrac - General Business File ASAP
• Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
• SilverLinker example - Biological Abstracts
• InfoMarks examples
• Muns - URL Maker for Lexis-Nexis