Tunnelling and Underground Space MSc
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A Guide to Basic Literature Searching Getting Started
University of Warwick Library
4 October 2013
Helen Ireland, Academic Support Librarian
h.ireland@warwick.ac.uk
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What Types of Information Are
Available?
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Books
Journal articles
Conference papers, theses & dissertations
Standards/codes of practice / Patents
Company and marketing information
Government publications
Statistics /reports/ Grey literature
Always make a note of references used!
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Most of an iceberg is below the
water…so the Library has more
than what you see on the shelves
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connecting you with information,
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connecting you with information,
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connecting you with information,
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connecting you with information,
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Books
• Reading lists or supplementary reading
• Use the Library catalogue
• Increasingly, books are now available electronically
(E-books)
• Buy books which you are going to need to refer to
regularly – be guided by your tutors.
• Look for books in other libraries.
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Books
• QA (Maths, Statistics, Computing), QC (Physics and
Engineering Science)
• T-TS (Engineering and Manufacturing)
• Floor 2 Extension
• Reference and Oversize books (Mobile shelving)
• H-HY (Social Sciences, Business and
Management), Floor 5
• Electronic books (E-books)
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Encore
• Simple Search, Scholarly Results
• Searches content of e-books, e-journals and
databases
• “Quick & Dirty” search
• Doesn’t cover all the Library’s e-resources
• For a systematic and thorough search, use the
advanced search option on individual databases
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Print Journals
• 2000 onwards volumes in mobile shelving in Floor 2
Extension
• A-Z by title of journal or publisher
• Pre-2000 volumes in Store – fetched on request
• Online request form
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connecting you with information,
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connecting you with information,
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connecting you with information,
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connecting you with information,
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Basic Database Searching
Why do you need to search?
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Books can quickly become out-of-date.
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The only information available might be in journal
articles, conference papers or patents.
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You will need to use one of the subject
specialised databases.
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Choosing a Database
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Does it cover my subject?
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Does it cover the years I need to search?
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What kind of material is it searching?
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Is the database full-text or abstract only?
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Full-Text Databases
– Advantages
• Quick route to information.
• Easily available off-campus.
– Disadvantages
• Limited material type.
• Limited title/subject coverage.
• Limited time scale.
– Often not subject specific.
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Indexing/Abstracting Databases
– Advantages
• Good time span
• Subject specific
• Best material coverage in terms of range and
type
– Disadvantages
• Item may not be in the library
• Extra stages might be needed to obtain the
full-text article
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Key Resources
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Web of Knowledge
Scopus
Engineering Village (Compendex and Inspec)
ScienceDirect
Construction Information Service
OHSIS
E-book packages such as ICE and Springer
Fame (Company Information)
ABI Inform
Business Source Premier
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Explore our web pages to find others!
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Starting to Search
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Think about the different ideas / concepts covered by your topic
Identify keywords or phrases
Think about any synonyms or alternative spellings
Use truncation symbols or wildcards for different word endings
and spellings
• Phrases can often be placed in “speech marks”
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Combining Your Search Terms
Boolean operators
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OR
Will find articles containing either search
term.
OR broadens a search
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AND
Will find articles containing both search
terms.
AND narrows your search.
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NOT
Will exclude a term from your search.
Use NOT with caution!
You might exclude something useful!
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Limits
• Year
– Most recent? All years?
• Language
– English only?
• Publication Type
– Journal articles, conference papers, standards,
case studies, company reports
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Citation / Cited Reference Searching
• Search for articles which have cited / quoted a
previously published work.
• Through a cited reference search, you can discover
how a known idea has been confirmed, applied,
developed, improved, extended, criticised or
corrected
• Web of Science is the key resource for citation
searching, although other database providers are
beginning to offer it
• Search by name of author and date of publication
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Search Results
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Link to full text if available
Mark useful references
Email, download or print references
Export to EndNote Web or other reference
manager
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Reviewing the Search
• Review results and identify possible additional keywords which
could be used
• Consider alternative spellings, word endings or broader or
narrower terms
• Edit and re-run the search
• Re-run the search in alternative databases / resources
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No Link to Full-Text?
• Check the Library Catalogue for a paper or
electronic copy – search for the journal title
• Check the A-Z list of titles on the Electronic
Journals webpage for an electronic copy.
• Not in the Library?
– Ask for the article through Article Reach or
Document Supply
– Visit another local library.
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Document Supply
• For students working on dissertations
• Forms are available from the Library.
• No charge.
• Your supervisor needs to countersign the form.
• You need to sign the copyright declaration.
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Evaluating Internet Resources
• Who has written it? Bias and authority.
• When was it written?
• Are there contact details on the site?
• Is there any way of validating the information?
• Use a subject gateway
• Work through an online tutorial such as the Internet
Detective http://www.vtstutorials.ac.uk/detective/
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Google Scholar
• Better quality research information than Google
• Scholar preferences
 Click on Library Links and enter “Warwick” to get
access to all our full text journal subscriptions
 Click on Settings and then on Bibliography
Manager to import references into EndNote or
other reference management packages
• Scholar Advanced Search
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Referencing
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Departmental guidelines
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Library online tutorial on referencing
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/main/help/guidespublications/bib_cit/
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PLATO (Plagiarism Teaching Online)
http://www.warwick.ac.uk/services/elearning/plato/
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Reference Manager software such as EndNote Web
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Further help
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connecting you with information,
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Questions?
h.ireland@warwick.ac.uk
Good Luck with Your Studies!
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