Advanced Library Searches

1
Advanced Library Searches

• This session aims to
• Introduce you to the range of information
  resources available for locating information in
  history
• Help you to develop research skills

University Library
2
Session Content

• Planning
• Advanced catalogue searching
• Finding journal articles
• Print resources
• Internet based indexes and abstracts (usually
  referred to as databases)
• Researching on the Internet

3
Planning

• What words or terms describe your topic?
• Are there other keywords that are relevant also?
• Are there differences in spelling or terminology?
• How do you combine keywords to get what you want?
• What limits do you apply?
• What sources (print and electronic) can you use?

4
Organising Terms to Describe Your Topic

• Keywords (free text)
• Subject headings (controlled language)
• Broader term
• Narrower term

• Victorian England
• England history 19th century
• Great Britain history
• Victorian Leicester

5
Subject headings
6
Combining Keywords

• Combine keywords to form a search strategy
• Topic
• Crime in London during the Victorian period

7
Sample topic

• Crime in London during the Victorian period
• Focus crime
• Keywords crime or criminals or criminology or
  offenders or felons
• Limits London or England or Great Britain
• Time period Victorian period or 1800s or 19th
  century or nineteenth century

8
Victorian language punishments

• Jails, gaols, prisons, penitentiaries, houses of
  correction, correctional institutions,
  reformatory
• Tread-mills, transportation, extradition, hard
  labour, corporal punishment, chain gangs

9
Build up your search using

• Keywords
• Limits by place
• Limits by historical period
• Language appropriate to the period
• Indexing terms
• http//library.le.ac.uk/

10
Crime in Victorian London (Catalogue Book
search)

• Crim and (England or Britain or London) and
  (19th century or nineteenth century)
• There are many more keywords that could be used!

11
Advanced Catalogue Searching

• Advanced search option
• Searching tips
• Truncation (crim)
• Wildcard ? (wom?n)
• Phrase searching Black Death
• Searching by subject headings

12
Finding Journal Articles (Print)

• Articles are NOT found in the online library
  catalogue
• Use printed indexes of individual journals e.g.
  Journal of Contemporary History index bound
  in volume 21
• Review journals such as Economic History Review
• Use Historical Abstracts to find references
  check the catalogue for the Journal TITLE
• Use references given in books and articles

13
Economic history review e.g.

• Catalogue link

14
Databases for Journal Articles

• Go to Leicester Digital Library
• Subject Rooms
• http//www.le.ac.uk/library/

15
Database search tips

• Truncation
• Wildcard ? (or ) check Help screens
• Phrase searching
• Searching by Index terms
• Use the Help screens

16
Indexes and Abstracts

• Lists of references to articles from selected
  journals arranged by author, subject and title
• To find out which ones to use, look at
• Look under the heading of Printed Reference
  Sources and Databases

Subject Rooms - History Subject Rooms - Economic
Social History
17
Researching on the WWW

• Evaluation
• Content
• Accuracy
• Currency
• Authority
• Reliability

18
Evaluating Information Information Sources

• Content
• Accuracy
• Currency
• Authority
• Reliability

19
Content

• Is the resource pitched at the right level?
• Is it too basic or too specific?
• Does it review information (secondary data) or
  does it present research results (primary data)?
• Does the resource cover the areas you are
  interested in?
• Is the information factual or an opinion?

20
Accuracy

• Are there a large number of errors in the
  resource?
• Does the resource state where its information
  was obtained?
• Does the information seem accurate when
  cross-checked with other sources of information?

21
Currency

• When was the source published?
• When was the source updated?
• Does the resource rely on old pieces of
  information or research?

22
Authority

• Who is the author?
• What are their academic/research credentials?
• What other works has the author published?
• Does the resource provide a bibliography or
  sources for further information?

23
Reliability

• Is the resource published by a reputable company
  or organisation?
• Has the resource been subject to peer-review
  and/or editorial processes?
• Is the providing institution/author recognised as
  an expert in your field?
• Is the resource biased?

24
Google Scholar

• http//scholar.google.com/
• still in testing phase
• Retrieves journal articles
• Check library catalogue for full text

25
Summary (for electronic searching)

• Choose your keywords carefully
• Build up your search
• Evaluate what youre searching
• Evaluate what youre finding
• Allow plenty of time!

26
Library Help

• Ask at the Enquiry Desk, Ground Floor
• For more subject specific help, ask for Evelyn
  Cornell, Information Librarian
• ec37_at_le.ac.uk, or ext. 2055