EN4271: Library Resources for Research - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Title: EN4271: Library Resources for Research


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EN4271Library Resources for Research

• Ruby Seng
• Resource Librarian (ELL)
• rubyseng_at_nus.edu.sg

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Outline

• Information Sources The Research Process
• Advanced Searching Techniques
• Search Statements
• LINC vs. LINC, Google Scholar
• Databases
• Troubleshooting Evaluating Information Sources
• Materials Not Found in Library, Endnote, Getting
  Help

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• Information Sources
• The Research Process

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Information Sources

• Books
• Conference papers
• Internet sources
• Journal articles
• Newspapers
• Theses dissertations

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Books vs. Journals
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The Research Process

• Identify key concepts in the research topic
• List keywords, synonyms, related words variant
  spellings
• Create a search statement
• Search for sources using LINC databases
• Get more sources by checking references

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• Advanced Searching Techniques
• AND, OR, NOT, , ( ),

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Advanced Searching AND, OR, NOT

• AND both terms must be present (refine)
• OR either terms may be present (expand)
• NOT/AND NOT exclude a term

caution!
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Advanced Searching

• Use asterisk for variant forms of a word
• e.g. monarch monarchy, monarchies, monarchist,
  monarchic, monarchial
• e.gs. womn woman, women
• color colour, color

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Advanced Searching ( )

• Use paratheses ( ) for
• grouping similar or related words
• prioritising
• e.g. (kingship OR monarch) AND Shakespeare
• kingship AND Shakespeare
• monarch AND Shakespeare
• search within ( ) first, then combine with
  Shakespeare using the Boolean operator AND

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Advanced Searching

• Use quotation marks for searching a phrase
• e.g.

pride and prejudice 2851 results pride and
prejudice 1105 results
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• Search Statements
• Synonyms Related Keywords
• Search Statements

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Synonyms Related Keywords
Social networking Blog Facebook Twitter Second
Life
Modern fiction AND women Popular fiction AND
women Post-feminist fiction
Metaphors Quotations Language
purple prose
social media
chick lit
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Search Statement (1)

• cultural identity in Disney computer animated
  movies

cultural identity in Disney computer animated
movies
ethnic identity, racial identity, social
identity, heritage
cultural identity
computer animated
computer animation, computer assisted animation
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Search Statement (2)

• Ian Flemings novels in cold war Britain

Ian Flemings novels in cold war Britain
James Bond
Ian Fleming
cold war
anti-Soviet, anti-communism, iron curtain, Soviet
American relations
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• LINC, Databases Google Scholar
• LINC/LINC vs. Databases
• LINC vs. LINC
• Google Scholar

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LINC/LINC vs. Databases

• LINC/LINC search for resources in the librarys
  collection, i.e. books, journals, audio-visual
  materials, theses, etc.
• databases search for journal articles, book
  chapters reviews, conference proceedings, etc
• most databases provide citations abstracts
  some have full-text articles (or links)

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LINC vs. LINC
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Google Scholar

• aim single search engine for scholarly
  literature
• may include links to free PDF articles
• good for quick research
• However
• not all results come from scholarly sources
• many link to publishers' websites which require
  subscriber login

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Google Scholar
HANDS-ON

• use the proxy bookmarklet to access full-texts
• note only for resources subscribed by NUS
  Libraries

http//bit.ly/nuslibproxy
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• Databases
• MLA International Bibliography
• Literature Online
• Project Muse
• 19th Century
• Proquest Dissertations Theses

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Specialised General Databases

• Literature Language Databases
• Literature Online
• MLA International Bibliography
• General Databases
• 19th Century Masterfile
• Arts Humanities Citation Index (WOS)
• Humanities Abstracts
• JSTOR
• Periodicals Index Online
• Project Muse
• Proquest Dissertations Theses

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DB 1 MLA International Bibliography
DEMO

• Modern Language Association of America (MLA)
• scholarly books articles on modern languages,
  literatures, folklore and linguistics
• coverage literature from all over the world,
  works on literature transmitted orally, in print,
  or in audio-visual media

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DB 1 MLA International Bibliography
DEMO
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DB 1 MLA International Bibliography
DEMO
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DB 2 Literature Online

• gt350,000 works of English American poetry,
  prose and drama
• biographies, bibliographies, articles,
  monographs, literary criticism and reference
  sources
• searches content from MLA International
  Bibliography, ABELL, JSTOR

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DB 2 Literature Online
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DB 3 Project Muse
HANDS-ON

• full-text access to over 400 high quality
  humanities and social sciences journals from over
  non profit 100 scholarly publishers
• literature journals 124

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DB 3 Project Muse
HANDS-ON
chick lit
chick AND lit
chick lit
Modern fiction AND women Popular fiction AND
women Post-feminist fiction
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DB 3 Project Muse
HANDS-ON
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DB 3 Project Muse
HANDS-ON
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DB 4 19th Century Masterfile

• "Index of Indexes over 11 million citations
• largest resource for historical research prior to
  1925
• gt 60 subject indexes to periodicals, newspapers,
  books, US Congressional Record, US and UK
  Government Documents, US Patents

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DB 4 19th Century Masterfile
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DB 4 19th Century Masterfile
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DB 4 19th Century Masterfile
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DB 5 Proquest Disserations Theses
HANDS-ON
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DB 5 Proquest Disserations Theses
HANDS-ON
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DB 5 Proquest Disserations Theses
HANDS-ON
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Other DBs Notable Mentions

• Empire Online
• Factiva
• http//www.lib.nus.edu.sg/lion/n/factiva.html
• Perind
• http//libpweb1.nus.edu.sg/lion/d/perind.html
• Oxford English Dictionary

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NUS Academic Exercises

• Use advanced keyword

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• Recap,
• Troubleshooting
• Evaluating Information Sources

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Recap

• use synonyms and related words
• create search statement using keywords plus AND,
  OR, NOT, ( ), ,
• select fields e.g. article title, abstract
• limit search by type (article, books, reviews),
  date, peer-reviewed, etc
• sort results by relevance

Quality (Relevance) vs. Quantity
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Troubleshooting Search Results

• You may encounter
• too many results ? use more keywords
• too few results ? add synonyms
• too many irrelevant results ? exclude keywords
  that are
• too general
• no results ? use more general keywords, reduce
  number of keywords or redefine your research
  topic
• Quite often, youll need to refine your keywords
  through some trial and error.
• If you need help, check with your professor or
  ask a librarian! ?

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Evaluating Information Sources

• relevance to your topic
• authority reputable publisher, society or
  organisation authors credentials, institutional
  affiliation
• accuracy methods of research means to verify
  data support by references
• comprehensiveness range of viewpoints to support
  arguments
• objectivity biasness
• currency up-to-date
• scholarly peer reviewed, cited

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• Miscellaneous
• Materials not found in library
• EndNote
• Getting Help

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Materials Not Found in the Library

• Document Delivery Services (DDS)
• e-forms
• must be approved by supervisor
• 3 requests per year (honours)
• Recommend purchase of new books
• e-forms
• no endorsement from supervisor needed
• approximately 1 to 3 months to process

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EndNote

• A bibliographic management software that
• stores and organizes references from many sources
  eg. library catalogues, databases etc
• inserts these citations into a Word document
• formats your references according to citation
  style
• Step by step guide for EndNote
• http//libpweb1.nus.edu.sg/lion/e/endnoteGuide.htm
  l

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Getting Help
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Thank You!