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Brief Guide to Effective Literature Searching
Best strategies for choosing relevant resources
Using databases and keeping up to date
How to check for access to articles
Judy McSorley Senior Liaison Librarian for Psychology 10.2011
Plan well ahead
It may take you some time to decide on your research topic/focus
It may take you longer to do your literature search than anticipated
You may need to visit other libraries or order items through inter-library loan
Not everything is freely available on the internet!
Plan your search
Find general background information before using more specific and recent resources
Think about the possible search terms or keywords for your topic
Arrange into broader narrower terms
Consider any alternative terms or spellings: eg. murder/homicide or behavior/behaviour
Evaluating Internet ResourcesHow do you know if a website is reputable and offers reliable information? Compare these three websites:-
http://www.wto.org/ http://www.gatt.org/
http://worldtradeorganisation.com/
Which is the genuine World Trade Organization?
How can you tell?
Remember – P . R . O . M . P . T
Provenance: who has produced it?Relevance: is it what you want?Objectivity: what are the creators interests?Method: is research explained fully?Presentation: is it clear and easily accessible?Timeliness: how recently updated?
Google or Google Advanced Search
Compare Google searching with Advanced Search, which offersnumerous refinements. http://www.google.co.uk/advanced_search
Or Google Scholar ???http://scholar.google.co.uk/ Use the Preferences
link to select notification for Middlesex accesses
and save
Google Advanced Scholar Search
Library and IT Support Web Page http://unihub.mdx.ac.uk/study/library/
Start from UniHub to link to Library and IT under the Your study tab.
Library and IT Support Web Page Scroll down the screen to Study and Research Resources
These are the most useful resources for Literature Searching
myUniHub for alternative access to the catalogue etc.Logging in here enables access to electronic resources without further authentication.
myUniHub
Library & IT Support Web Pages
PsycINFO BASIC SEARCH : ADVANCED SEARCH : ACCOUNT and ALERTS
PsycINFOAdvanced Search offers the option to “map term” which might speed up the search.It also provides the option to “Combine” searches which is not available from the Basic Search
PsycINFOUsing single terms and Combining from Search History using AND will narrow results in a gradual but focussed way enabling evaluation of individual term results – quality and quantity. The search can be adjusted as necessary, trying different terms or revising topic.
PsycINFO – updating results
If you create a PsycINFO Personal Account you can Save Searches, which can then be re-run. You will also be able to set up RSS feeds.
PsycINFO – updating results
PsycINFO – updating results
RSS Feeds can be saved in a number of different types of web site Readers: Yahoo, Google, Bloglines or your preferred browser.
PsycINFO – updating results
RSS feeds into Google Reader
Social Science Citation Index
SSCI: Search History & Results
SSCI – Managing Results
Register and Sign In
Citation Alerts- set up from single record
Saved Searches – from Search History
Zetoc Alerts
Zetoc provides access to the British Library's Electronic Table of Contents of around 20,000 current journals published per year.
The database covers 1993 to date, and is updated on a daily basis.
It includes an email alerting service, to enable you to keep up-to-date with relevant new articles and papers.
Zetoc is accessible from Learning Resources Databases listing.
Zetoc Alerts
Use the drop down Universities menu to select Middlesex, click “Go” and login next screen with your university network login as before.
Zetoc Alerts
Create your account with your email address and name or a search or journal name . Click Create then click the ZETOC Search button.
Zetoc AlertsThere are options to search for articles in Journals and or conferences, plus Zetoc Alert set up. Article search
Zetoc Alerts
The Alert can be set up for contents lists of several journal titles, and also for article Title Keyword searches
Zetoc Alerts You can have a number of alerts for Contents Lists or article keywords and add to them or make changes as required. They are set up for one year and will require renewing after that period. Email Alerts will be sent whenever the British Library database is updated with new issues and articles relevant to your searches.
Finding the Journal: Full-Text: via Library Catalogue A-Z:Print & Online
Reference Software - RefWorks• RefWorks is the system subscribed to by Middlesex
University and is for the use of Middlesex staff and students• RefWorks comprises of two parts:
Bibliographic Manager– provides folders for storing your bibliographic citations– enables precise organisation of and
immediate access to records
Write-N-Cite– requires downloading to the desktop– use to place saved bibliographic citations
directly into your own text– and to instantly create your Bibliographies
in appropriate styles
Items stored in RefWorks folders cannot be accessed after leaving the University.
RefWorks can seem rather clunky and is dependent on Reference Software compatibility of databases and catalogues etc.
A full comparison of the two products can be viewed here (scroll down the page) :
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/content.php?pid=58195&sid=426206
Reference Software - RefWorks
Reference Software - Mendeleyhttps://www.mendeley.com
Freely available softwareGo to the web site and create an account.
Reference Software - Mendeley
Installing the web Importer button on the browser bar enables swift importing of citations and references from databases, Google, Amazon and other bibliographic websites into your Mendeley files and folders.
Reference SoftwareRefWorks files articles into folders which are visible from drop-down folders. Mendeley displays all articles and authors on the Desktop
Library Subject Guides
Psychology resources brought together: http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk
Library Subject GuidesUnder the tab Searching for Journal Articles information about relevant databases and guides for using them. Also details for contacting your librarian and booking appointments.