ZOOLOGY HONOURS STUDENTS
February 2011
LIBRARY TRAINING:
WHERE & HOW TO FIND INFORMATION FOR
YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT
Pavlinka Kovatcheva, UJ Sciences Librarian, APK
pkovatcheva@uj.ac.za
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
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Introduction
Zoology Subject Portal
Library orientation
- Library Support to Honours Students
- Library Webpage
- Library Catalogue (incl. NEW Dewey System for books)
Steps in online searching
Searching techniques
Electronic Databases & Internet
Reference Techniques
Conclusion
LIBRARY WEBSITE: http://www.uj.ac.za/library
SCIENCES LIBRARIAN PORTAL: http://ujsciencelibrarian.pbwork.com/
UJ Sciences Librarian Portal
http://ujsciencelibrarian.pbworks.com/
Zoology Subject Portal
http://ujsciencelibrarian.pbwiki.com/Zoology
Library Support to Honours Students
 Sciences Librarian Portal & Geography Subject Portal
 Subject Librarian Help with Training, Queries & Searches
 Course Reserves (books/articles on reserve)
 MyUJLink (your library account)
 Inter Campus Loan & Inter Library Loan (via Pavlinka)
 Getting started with your Research Assignment
- Managing your Literature References (RefWorks)
- Plagiarism: How to avoid it?
- Citing and Referencing (Harvard method)
 Accessing Information Resources (Library DatabasesREMOTE ACCESS)
 Accessing Information Resources requires a library PIN
Access to Library Resources (via Zoology Portal)
Log-in to the Library Resources: PIN
LIBRARY CATALOGUE: UJLink
New Classification System for Books: Dewey
590 Zoological Sciences
New Classification System for Books: Dewey
570 Life Sciences
Starting your Research Project
 You have been given a Research topic and you need to
start searching for information.
 Before you do that you need to think about your topic.
Why?
- Analysing the topic will help you focus your search
- It will make you think about issues around the topic
- Develop several questions that you plan to answer, because
your questions will become topic sentences for your outline
Identify the Key Concepts and Keywords
By determining the key concepts and keywords before
searching on a topic, you save your time.
For example, your Topic is: “Fish histology as a biomarker of
aquatic pollution”.
Next decide on concepts and keywords for searching
- fish histology; biomarker; aquatic pollution
- Use synonyms or related keywords
They will become basis of your search strategy
Boolean Search Operators
 When searching the UJ Library Catalogue, the Databases or the
Internet websites, using Boolean Operators helps you broaden or
narrow your search and its results.
AND narrows your search
For example: Fish histology AND biomarker will retrieve information in which
both keywords are used
OR broadens your search
You will retrieve results in which either word or both appear in the article
For example: oxystele variagata OR o impervia ;
oxystele variagata OR variegated topshel
NOT excludes certain terms
Your search results will exclude the term after NOT
Phrase Search
Use the quotation marks to search for results that contained those words
together, rather than search for all instances of each separate word
Example for a Search Strategy
Finding the Information you need
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The information for your assignment can be found in
Books (print & electronic)
Journals and journal article (print & electronic)
Dictionaries & Encyclopedias, Handbooks
Internet Resources , etc.
Those resources can be access through the
Sciences Librarian portal, Subject Specific
Portals or the Main Library website
Finding Information in Reference Works
 For background, basic information consider:
- UJ Library catalogue: to search for print
general and subject specific encyclopedias,
handbooks, and other reference books.
- Databases: to search for Online Reference
works, such as: Oxford Reference Online, Oxford
English Dictionary, AccessScience, Combined
Chemical Dictionary, etc.
Finding Information in Books
(Print & Electronic)
 Find books for overview & retrospective information on
the Assignment topic
For Print Books search the UJ Library Catalogue.
Recommended books are also placed on the Reserve “Short
Loan” Collection (Library Foyer). Used only in the Library for
2h.
For Online Books search the Databases.
- CRC ENVIROnetBASE Online Books on Ecology,
Ecosystems, etc. (Remote Access, Multiple users)
- MyiLibrary
HOW TO FIND SPECIFIC JOURNALS IN PRINT AND
ONLINE: : UJLink
Search for Print &
Electronic Journals
per TITLE
HOW TO FIND SPECIFIC JOURNALS IN PRINT AND
ONLINE: A-to-Z LIST
Search for
Online & Print
JOURNAL
Journals search: A-to-Z LIST
Finding Current Information in Online Databases
Journal Articles Search
 You are required to search for Journal Articles References (current/
latest information on a subject, print or online)
Consider the use of the Online Databases available in the library. For
example:
- Parasitology Databases (1 user; abstracts with some full-text links)
- ISI Science Citation Index (Bibliographic)
- ScienceDirect (full-text articles from 1995+)
- SpringerLink (full-text articles from vol.1)
- Wiley Online Library (full-text articles from 1997+)
- Cambridge Journals Online (full-text 1997+, incl. “Parasitology” journal)
- EbscoHost (full-text + abstracts only)
More databases available on the Zoology Subject Portal:
http://ujsciencelibrarian.pbwiki.com/Zoology
Zoology Databases: Search for Academic Articles
How to Search the Online Databases for Journal Articles
 Go to the Sciences Librarian Portal or to Zoology Subject Portal
 Click on: Top Zoology Databases
 If you are off-campus your Surname & Student number gives you an
access;
 Click on a relevant Database to get started with your search. (see the
suggested databases)
 If the Database opens with a list of individual Databases, please choose
the ones you would like to search-in and click on Search/Continue;
 The databases have Basic and Advanced search screen options;
 NOTE: Each database can be searched with the help of THESAURES,
TOPICS, INDEXES.
How to Search the Online Databases for Journal Articles
 In the Search/Find box, type the terms/keywords representing your
topic (For South African information, please add “South Africa” as a
keyword)
 You can combine your keywords with the Boolean operators (AND,
OR, NOT) to narrow or broaden your search;
 Additional limitations, which can narrow your search results are: fulltext articles only, years you want to search, type of documents you
want to retrieve (scholarly journals; magazines, books, dissertations,
etc.).
 If no results are displayed, check your spelling, change your keywords,
use less keywords, add a keyword or use a synonym for the keyword;
Parasitology Database (1user)
SEARCH BY
USING
VARIOUS
KEYWORDS
Results list
-Search Terms Used
-Abstracts
-Ranking of results
-Links to UJLink
RefWorks
An online research management, writing and collaboration tool -- to help
researchers easily gather, manage, store and share all types of information, as well
as generate citations and bibliographies
Finding & Evaluating Information on Internet
You are asked to cite no more than 3 Internet
Resources
How to evaluate Internet Resources?
- Author (person or organisation) Look at the URL for: ac,
edu, gov, org… websites
- Content (reliable, accurate, objective, the user group)
- Layout (functional and practical, etc.)
- Date (how recent is the information)
Organising & Evaluating Your References/Information
Information Overload? Not enough references for the Assignment?
 Plan your Search Strategy (keywords, Booleans, Databases)
 Make sure you keep track of your references (print, save full-text)
 Evaluate the sources you have found, paying attention to their relevance,
purpose, value, accuracy, and authors’ credibility.
 Remember that Internet sources should also be evaluated for bias and
inaccuracies, and you should pay attention to whether the sites present
facts or opinions.
 As you start to create an outline of your project or paper, note areas
where you need more information.
 Organise your information so you find what you need, when you need it
Don’t forget to Gather Citations for your References
(Reference instructions at the end of the Presentation)
 As you’re doing research, you should write down
bibliographic information (author, title, publisher, date of
publication, etc.). This will enable you to be prepared to
create a “References” list.
 In books, you’ll find this information collected on a “title page,”
one of the first few pages.
 Online journals print this information at the top/bottom of the
page.
 Print journals usually have this information on their covers.
 Web pages are inconsistent about this information, so ask for
help if you have trouble locating it.
SEARCHING TECHNIQUES
 SEARCH STRATEGY
 Understand what is required
 Identify the concepts
 Translate the concepts into keywords
• BOOLEAN OPERATORS ( AND, OR , NOT)
• TRUNCATION ( * )
• WILDCARD CHARACTER ( ? )
• PHRASE SEARCH ( “ “ )
• USE OF PARENTHESIS ( )
BOOLEAN OPERATORS:
AND, OR , NOT
 DEFINITIONS OF BOOLEAN OPERATORS
 Boolean operators are the words used to group, combine, or
intersect terms when searching databases. Boolean operators
provide a way to tell a computer how to combine your keywords/
terms. In other words, they refer to the logical relationship among
search terms.

The operators used more frequently are AND & OR and not so
frequently NOT. They are used to combine search terms to
broaden or narrow the results of a search.
OR is more, AND is less.
BOOLEAN OPERATOR: AND
Using AND tells the database to look for all the words on either side of the AND. Thus, a
search for "success AND adult learners AND distance education" would retrieve only records
in which every one of the terms appears.
The more words you connect with AND, the fewer records the database will retrieve.
AND means "I want only documents that contain both words."
BOOLEAN OPERATOR: OR

OR
The more terms or concepts we combine in a search with OR logic, the more records we
will retrieve.
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Using OR tells the database to look for any one of the words on either side of the OR.
Thus, a search for "success OR achievement OR progress OR goals" would retrieve
records in which any one of the terms appears.
OR means "I want documents that contain either word; I don't care which word."
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BOOLEAN OPERATOR: NOT
Although NOT is considered a connector, it probably should be called
"The Eliminator." Use it very carefully, as it excludes any terms that follow it.
You may end up losing valuable information when you use NOT.
NOT logic is used to exclude a particular concept/term. We retrieve only records in which ONLY
ONE of the terms is present.
PHRASE SEARCHING (“ ”)
Phrase searching, use the quotation marks to search for results that
contained those words together, rather than search for all instances
of each separate word:
Exercise: Search ISI Science Citation index, ScienceDirect for:
 “fish histology” and then for fish histology (without quotation marks)
 “aquatic pollution” and then without the quotation marks
REFERENCE TECHNIQUES
To access full Reference Techniques document, go to
the Library main page:
http://www.uj.ac.za/library
Click on: Reference Techniques
OR
Consult the reference techniques from
“African Zoology”
Online full-text access: SA E-Publications or Academic
Search Complete (EbscoHost)
REFERENCE TECHNIQUES: TERMINOLOGY
 Citation: recognizing resources in-text (to support an
“argument”/conclusion)
 Reference list: List of resources used –
bibliographic details
 Bibliography: list of relevant documents – used and
additional reading material
REFERENCE TECHNIQUES
Avoid Plagiarism by:
 Keeping a record of all the sources - books, e-mails,
lectures (when, who, what?)
 Linking own ideas with that obtained from sources
 Collecting/using a wide range of sources
 Acknowledge, acknowledge, acknowledge!
Basic in-text referencing (citing)
In-text reference where the author of the source is known
Simply use whatever you used as author in the reference, as well as the year of publication.
Always insert the page number where possible.
Examples:
…the result of this is a “technical super identity” (Erikson, 1967:20).
Azar and Martin (1999) found that… (As part of the sentence)
…thus Cox (1966:52) refers to the modern urbanite as…
In-text reference to more than one source:
In-text reference to more than one author should be ordered alphabetically.
Examples:
More recent studies (Bartlett, 1992; James, 1998) show that…
The researchers (Bartlett, 1992:54; Brown, 1876:56; James, 1998:45) refer to…
GENERAL FORMS FOR REFERENCE LISTS
Non-periodical
Author, A.A. (1994). Title of work. Location: Publisher.
Non-periodicals include items published separately: books, reports,brochures, certain monographs,
manuals, and audiovisual media.
Part of a Non-periodical
Author, A.A. & Author, B.B. (1994). Title of chapter. In Title of book. Edited by Editor, A., Editor, B. &
Editor, C. Location: Publisher.
Periodical
Author, A.A., Author, B.B. & Author, C.C. (1994). Title of article. Title of periodical, xx:xxx-xxxx.
(Volume/Issue number/Pages)
Periodicals include items published on a regular basis: journals, magazines, scholarly newsletters,
etc.
Online periodical
Author, A.A., Author, B.B. & Author, C.C. (2000). Title of article. Title of periodical, xx:xxx-xxxx.
(Volume/Issue number/Pages) Available from: web address (Accessed day Month year).
Online document
Author, A.A. (2000). Title of work. Available from: web address (Accessed day Month year).