MSTAH 2005/06

SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE

DISCOVERY & ACCESS

ITM Library, March 2006

Major themes

Searching for reliable information Scientific literature Bibliographic databases Full-text electronic journals Linking databases and journal articles

The purpose of searching

Reliable information

on specific topics

All the essential information

without irrelevant side-tracks

Information sources

Remember from your education/training Read in your personal book collection Ask a colleague (expert?) Visit a good library (available?) Look up on the internet (WWW)

- Search engines (e.g. Google) - Structured directories (e.g. Yahoo) - Websites of organizations (e.g. IVIS)

Use of internet indexes

Some disadvantages: Relevance? Types of information: too general or

fragmentary – not the published research results Reliability? Not controlled by peer review Complete survey? A lot is always missing (e.g.

the ‘deep web’), but you don’t know which part Limited search modalities (refinements?) Unclear relevance ranking (manipulated?) Conclusion: unfit for a systematic analysis

Scientific literature

Result of scientific research (‘publication’)

Source for future scientific research (‘archive’)

Primary literature

Journal articles Recent findings Specific topics Indexed widely in

popular databases Widespread distribution

in libraries and internet

Books Less-up-to-date Broader scope Indexed only partially

in the databases Limited availability in

libraries and internet

Scientific journals

Over 20.000 biomedical journals? Essential: periodical issues, via subscription Important quality filter: peer review Status: inclusion in major databases (e.g.

Medline, CAB Abstracts, citation indexes) Status: hierarchies, often also based on

citation data (e.g. ‘Journal Impact Factors’)

Animal health journals

Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences Bulletin of Animal Health and Production in

Africa Tropical Animal Health and Production Tropical Veterinarian Veterinary Parasitology Veterinary Record …

Non-journal literature

BooksMonographs [generally a specific topic]

Textbooks [broader field + large or multivolume]

Dissertations Grey Literature [‘unpublished’ ?]

Conference proceedings, reports, …Limited distribution documents

Secondary literature

Bibliographic indexes: listings of journal contents

=> Now: bibliographic databases Abstract journals : incl. critical summaries

=> Now: bibliographic databases Review journals : systematic => synthesis

=> Now: knowledge databases

Bibliographic databases

Contents: the databases cover clearly defined subject areas and sources(e.g. a specific journal collection)

Structured bibliographic descriptions containing a number of searchable fields (author, title, journal name, type)

Search tools include thesaurus (controlled keywords, hierarchically organized) and alphabetical index(es)

Some examples

ITG Book and Document Holdings ITG Student Dissertations ITG Staff Publications Tropical Endemic Diseases Control

See: ‘http://lib.itg.be/datab.htm’

Some characteristics

Produced by ITM library staff Relatively small; e.g. 5,000 records Limited to relevant topics and collections Focus on developing countries All publication types are included Free keywords; no thesaurus Availability of full-text in the ITM library + link

to electronic full-text (if available)

Search strategies:1. Where to start ?

Select an appropriate database!

Criteria:

- scope: time frame + subjects covered

- full-text accessibility (print? PDF? …)

- document types included (books? …)

Search strategies:2. How much is needed?

Reference or location of a specific document (a)

or

More or less extensive literature survey on a topic (b)

(a): Specific document(s)

Determine the most specific elements

Search for those in the appropriate fields

Use the indexes to verify spelling

Are the following books in the library? If so, where can you find them?

Kaufmann J. Parasitic infections of domestic animals. Basel, Birkhaüser Verlag, 1996.

Van den Bossche P. The development of a new strategy for the sustainable control of bovine trypanosomiasis in Southern Africa. Pretoria: University of Pretoria, Faculty of Veterinary Science, 2000.

Select the appropriate database What specific elements distinguish this reference from

most others? Specify the appropriate fields if necessary (e.g. ‘… in TI’) Look for the location coordinates (library subject code)

Generate a list of ITM theses about theileriosis + in English

Open the appropriate database (‘ITG Student Dissertations’)

Theiler* #1 LA=English #2 #1 and #2 #3 Alternative: #1 + use the ‘Limit’ button

Find the following references

… the 2005 article of S. Geerts on Glossina tachinoides in Ghana …

… the recent article on Trypanosoma brucei in cattle published in Tropical Medicine and International Health …

… recently a new book on trypanosomes was published by CABI …

…the CD-ROM of edition of the Merck veterinary manual…

International databases

Pro Broad coverage Large volume Well structured

keyword systems Weekly updates

Contra Articles only USA/UK/English bias Other continents are

underrepresented No relation with

available ITM collection

Some examples

Medline / PubMed (NLM) CAB Abstracts Veterinary Science Database (CAB)

See: ‘http://lib.itg.be/datab.htm’

(b): Information on a topic

Select an appropriate database Describe the topic or research area Start with 1 or 2 essential terms Use Boolean operators: AND; OR; NOT Add extra terms if the result sets are too

large Try broader terms if they are too small Set limits (language, publication year,

publication type, availability)

Additional tips

Truncation (‘*’) may increase your results Think about synonyms and alternative spellings Evaluate the results + look for ‘better’ keywords ‘Free text’ vs. ‘thesaurus’ and/or the indices Avoid complex, nested term formulations, try

combining clear search sets instead Watch out when using «not», some relevant

material may be excluded along with the superfluous

Handling records

Display options: brief fields vs. all fields Mark / Unmark records Print options: select records and fields to

print Download options: idem + location

More exercises

Find recent English literature (2000-2005) on the following topics:

Control of foot-and-mouth disease in Africa

Epidemiology of taeniasis in Southeast Asia

Availability of the full-text ?

On paper, in the ITM library?

Digital, on the Internet?

How to locate the (paper) documents at the ITM library?

1. Journal articles Check if the ITM library holds the journal

(‘*LHM’ field or periodicals catalogue) Copy or print all relevant data ‘SO’ (source field) is essential ! All periodicals are arranged alphabetically

Recent issues: upper floorOlder, bound volumes: lower floor

2. Books Copy or print all relevant data Book code and publication year (‘CD’ and ‘PY’

fields) are essential! The ITM books are arranged by subject

3. ITM dissertations Consult the printed lists or the student

dissertations database See series field (‘SE’) for the correct number To be requested at the library counter

(registration!)

4. Grey literature Search ‘ITG Books and Document Holdings’

database Check series field (‘SE’) for identification See message field (‘ME’) at the top of the

reference for further guidance

5. Statistics, etc. Consult the reports in the ‘Reference’ section,

located next to the public computers

Electronic journals Most journal websites now offer a digital,

full-text edition of the printed format, but not all of them!

Most journal websites are limited in time coverage (e.g. 1997-present)

Different access policies:Free for all (possibly excepting recent issues)Free for print-subscribersElectronic edition at extra costElectronic edition only

E-journal lists

‘http://lib.itg.be/journals.htm’ (ITM)

‘Alternative’ list of electronic journals (ITM)

Various portals: e.g. FreeMedicalJournals.com, HighWire Press Free Online Full-text Articles, FreeFullText.com, …

Open access initiatives HINARI – Health Internetwork: special access

conditions for developing countries (2 groups: free or ‘low price’).

PubMed Central: free access to established journals after 6 months.

BMC - BioMed Central: a series of freely available new electronic-only peer reviewed journals, financed by author fees.

See: ‘http://lib.itg.be/journals.htm’, sections 2 & 3

Linking database records and full-text articles

Journal level: Local holdings: link to the E-journals list

Article level:NT field (copy-paste with Ctrl-C)FTXT field (clickable, but currently limited

to international databases only)