Individual Projects Effective literature searching

Aeronautics & Astronautics, Mechanical Engineering and Ship Science

Michael WhittonJune 2013

What to get out of this session

After this session you should know:

1. The best resources to use for your project

2. Some techniques for searching them effectively

3. How to trace references

4. What is required for the assignment

3

Changes in the e-Library during the summer ….

Changes in the Library Website– A lot of the same content but many

links may break

New Discovery Service (name TBA)– An effective ‘quick and easy’ search

of our resources

I will post key links and updates to Blackboard IP Modules

Resources(1)

The best sources aren’t free

The key research is published in academic journals, conferences, etc.

The university pays for a number of subscription-only databases which allow you to search for this material

For the key ones relevant to you see your subject page

Resources: Library Catalogues

UoS library - Webcat– Books, conferences, UoS PhD theses– Journal/conference titles – but NOT

details of individual articles– Some research books, not just

student texts– Will find books on software packages

(Matlab, Python, etc.)

Resources: Library Catalogues (cont.)

Other Catalogues– COPAC (major UK research libraries)– Catalogues of other universities, etc.

Helpful if you need a book and we don’t have anything– Can find what books exist on a topic– Can request via Inter-Library-Loans

Resources: Databases & Indexes

Compendex, Inspec, Web of Science– Search very broadly for journal

articles, conference papers, etc.– Quality information, up-to-date,

specific– Reference citation not full text (often

linking features)– Includes journals we don’t buy

Resources: Full Text Sources

Similar quality to Databases & Indexes– Always get the full article – but are

limited to one publisher– IEEE Xplore (all IEEE and IET)– ACM Digital Library– Scirus (Elsevier/Science Direct and

various free sources)– New Library Discovery service (by

start of next term)

Resources: the Web

Google, etc.– Useful for finding free content– No quality controls, need to evaluate– Scientific versions (Google Scholar)

more focused on research material– Search Compendex, etc., as well to

avoid missing out on important articles

Resources: the Web (cont.)

Web Gateways– Specialist search engines– Real people choose websites and

write summaries

E.g.– AERADE, iCrank, Naval Technology– See subject pages

Resources: Technical Information

Patents

Standards– British Standards Online (BS / some

ISO, IEC, etc.)– IEEEXplore

Engineering Sciences Data Unit (ESDU)– Engineering methods / data

Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Have a library and e-resources for members (free for students)– Good Historical Collection– Access to Compendex pre 1970

(email them your search, etc.)– Good collection of non-UK Standards

(ASTM, etc.) in print

Useful after graduation (if you have limited journals etc. available via employer etc.)

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Database searching(2)

Mark, Export, Record

Many databases have a ‘marked record’ facility or similar

Useful articles get added to a marked/selected records area– Then you can print out or e-mail to

yourself a list of these articles– Or you can export to Reference

Managing software like Endnote

Routes to full text

Database full text links

Sometimes links to journals we don’t buy

TDNet links (from database or library web pages)– doesn’t have all print journals

If the above do not exist or don’t work always …

Routes to full text (cont.)

Search WebCat– Journal articles by the journal title

(use full title not abbreviations)– Conference papers by the conference

title– Reports: try author and title (may

need to search by organisation name)

There may be an automatic link

Exceptions

Items not on Webcat & TDNet– Patents & standards– Free online: NASA Technical Reports;

Organisations eprint servers

Items not in UoS Libraries– Inter Library Loan (ILL)

TDNet link

Following full text link through TDNet

If there is no (online) full text follow the Catalog link if present (only appears for print

titles on TDNet)

1st Break

Search a Engineering Village and other resources for your project topic

Search Strategy

(3)

Searching – the basics

Start simple – with a few keywords

Look at the results – do you need:– More relevance (more specific

search)– More results (broaden search)– More manageable numbers – restrict

in some other way (e.g. by date)

Aim for about 50-150 results

Search Strategy

Identify the concepts of your query– Fuel cell, electric, cars

List alternative phrases and keywords– Fuel cells > batteries– Electric > hybrid– Cars > automobile

Boolean Logic

Finds articles with both terms anywhere in the title, abstract, etc.

E.g. Traffic And congestion

a

b

a And b

Boolean Logic

Finds articles with either term anywhere.

Use to allow for alternatives

E.g. airplane Or aeroplane

a

b

a Or b

Boolean Logic

Finds articles with the first term that do not contain the second term.

Use with caution to eliminate non-relevant material

E.g. radiation Not solar

a

b

a Not b

Example searches – using and/or

Types of fuel cells used in electric cars– 17 results

“Fuel cells” and electric and cars– 81 results

(“Fuel cells” or batteries) and (hybrid or electric) and (cars or automobile)– 675 results

[done in Web of Science 1970-2013]

Truncation

Replaces any number of characters.– Sometimes works in the middle of a

word.– Normally * symbol, $ in webcat

Aero* will find:– Aeroplane– Aeroplanes– Aerospace

Wildcards

Replace a single character.– Often can also represent zero

characters.– Normally ? Symbol, $ in Web of

Knowledge

Engine? will find both Engine and Engines but not engineering

Colo?r will find both Colour and Color

Example searches – Truncation/wildcards

(“Fuel cells” or batteries) and (hybrid or electric) and (cars or automobile)– 675 results

(“Fuel cell*” or batter*) and ( hybrid or electric) and (car$ or automobile*)– 849 results

[done in Web of Science 1970-2012]

Example searches – WebCat

ocean wave model– 38 results

ocean$ wave? model$– 217 results

(Remember - truncation is $ not *)

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Phrase Searching If you need an exact phrase use quotation

marks (“ ”)– e.g. “Solar Cells”– This makes the search more specific (finds

less articles)– Truncation and stemming don’t always

work in quotes

In WebCat – use single quotes (‘ ’)

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Access to Resources(4)

Access - on campus

Generally no passwords are needed– A few need your Institutional (email)

username & password– A handful have special

usernames/passwords

If you have problems– For journals check our access on

TDNet– For other resources use links on the

library website

Access – off campus

For many resources Institutional Login is an option

VPN will give you the same access as on campus

Some TDNet functions do not work off campus without VPN

Look for ‘Institutional Login’, ‘UK Federation’ or ‘Shibboleth’ links

You often need to select the UK (or UK Federation)

Then find ‘University of Southampton’

(If you can’t find us look for

Southampton University)

VPN

Virtual Private Network

Link to University network

When connected your computer appears to be ‘on campus’

Managed by iSolutions. Instructions on iSolutions web pages at: www.southampton.ac.uk/isolutions/computing/net/vpn/

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Setup instructions

2nd Break

Use search techniques to improve your database results

The Assignment(5)

The Assignment

Quiz in Blackboard– Available 3rd June – 23rd June– Answers & feedback on 24th June– 13-14 Individual Project– SESA3011 / SESM3013 / SESS3015

The Quiz is compulsory!

The Assignment

Your literature search will be marked– As part of the preliminary report.– Discuss with your supervisor.

46

Referencing

For your project you will probably use Harvard (Author/Date) or IEEE (numbered) styles.

Lots of guidance at: www.soton.ac.uk/library/infoskills/references

Check with your supervisor which style, and any specific guidance.

Be consistent!

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Advanced features(6)

48

WOK: Citation search

Citation links are useful– to track further related research– also for articles found in Compendex

etc.

Citation searching is also possible– Find out what an Author has written

and who has cited each paper

49

Click here to see all citing

articles

Web of Science has a useful citation linking

feature

50

These articles both cite the ‘parent’

article

Controlled Terms

Terms added to a record by Indexers

Taken from a fixed list (thesaurus)

Using these can help– Making search results more relevant

and specific– Suggest alternative terms to search

By clicking on a term you can run

a search on it

You can do a keyword search and then just

pick out relevant controlled terms

You can also use the term in your

search

You can refine by controlled terms using the sidebar

Or you can use the ‘Thesaurus Search’. Enter

your term …

…and it will come back

with suggested controlled

terms

You can select the relevant

term(s) and run a

search

You can also get details of broader and

narrower terms

Using Search History we can

combine thesaurus searches

So we search on the controlled term

“Fuel Cells” instead of using a keyword

search

Notice also options to save and set up e-mail alerts on your searches so any new articles are

automatically sent to you

We can combine our 2 controlled term

searches.

Searching the 2 controlled terms

produces 196 results instead of 511 from

the keyword search. These should be all

very relevant to both topics

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Saved Searches (Web of Knowledge, etc.)

Search history

Saving searches

Alerts

NB You will need to register for these services

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Search history, to save / set up alerts

click

63

WOK and other databases allow you to set up a

profile

64

You can save your history or set up an email alert …

Help(7)

If you need help…….

Subject Enquiry Desk, Level 3 – Open Mon-Fri 9 am-5 pm

Contact Me– M.Whitton@soton.ac.uk– 023 8059 2709

Credits (1) Sky, David (2006). Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.

www.seemsartless.com/index.php?pic=859

(2) Mandiberg, Michael (2009). DATABASE at Postmasters, March 2009. www.flickr.com/photos/theredproject/3332644561/

(3) Vincente, Danard (2007). Search-Engine-Marketing www.flickr.com/photos/danardvincente/251214877

(4) Gold key. www.public-domain-image.com/objects-public-domain- images-pictures/gold-key.jpg.html

(5) Krawcowicz, Barbara (2009). Exam. www.flickr.com/photos/krawcowicz/3444474221/

(6) Britton, Ian (2004). Advanced Passenger Train. www.freefoto.com/preview/23-01-3/APT-Advanced-Passenger-Train-

(7) Leonard, Nick. (2006) Library. www.flickr.com/photos/jungle_boy/223447312/