Finding Academic Literature in Physics

Richard Holmes, Durham University Library

Aims

• To bring everybody up to speed

• Pre-empt some common questions

• Dispel common misapprehensions

• Explain the tools available

• Provide time for hands-on and for Q&A

Format

• Where to search Introduction to the tools

• Hands on

• How to search: strategies and techniques

• Hands on

• Q&A

• Feedback

Quick Question

• Where do you search for academic information at the moment?

Use the Right Tool

• Google isn’t great for academic research

• Alternatives are more efficient…

• Save you time

• Improve your results

What’s wrong with using Google then?

Problems with Google

• Too many search results

• Not targeted at academics

• Indiscriminate harvesting of information

• Search results are manipulated (personalised) and sorted by popularity; not by quality.

• Google has no awareness of Durham holdings or subscriptions

But, good for finding ‘grey’ literature

Library Catalogue, then?

Hands-on!

Using the library catalogue - http://library.dur.ac.uk- find at least one good-quality piece of academic research on:

Determination of the Hubble Constant

Library Catalogue

Benefits:

• Degree of quality assurance

• Check local availability of specific content

• Find monographs on your subject

• Access to everything it finds

No good for finding:

• Chapters (in textbooks)

• Articles

• Conference papers

• Newspaper reports

• Theses

• Technical notes

• Images

An extremely superficial search tool

Commercial Databases

Two distinct types:

Full Text

VS

Bibliographic

Commercial Databases

1 - Full text collections

– ScienceDirect

– Institute of Physics e-journal collection

• Search every word in every paper (deep searching)

• View the full PDFs immediately (where entitled)

But…

• Narrow breadth (limited or individual publishers)

• Multiple search interfaces to learn

• Increased chance of ‘false hits’

Commercial Databases

2 - Indexes of bibliographic information– Web of Science

– FirstSearch

– Astrophysics Data Service (ADS)

Search multiple publishers at once

Mainly peer reviewed materials

But…

No knowledge of your access entitlements

Use ConneXions to check Local availability

A Hybrid…’Discover’

• Deeper searching

• Identifies a range of content types (including articles, chapters, images, primary material)

• Options to limit or filter results

• Searches just owned/subscribed content but can also search more broadly

But…

• No citation data to assess popularity or impact

• Less refined than some alternatives

• Fewer advanced search options than niche subject alternatives

Have a Go!

“Determinations of the Hubble Constant”

Catalogue - http://library.dur.ac.uk

ScienceDirect - www.dur.ac.uk/library --> Databases

Web of Science - www.dur.ac.uk/library --> Databases

Discover - www.dur.ac.uk/library (link under search box)

No one resource covers everything! Use a range of options.

What to search

Entering correct syntax

The Research Cycle

1.Decide

where to search

2.Choose

your search terms

3.Perform

the search

4.Review results

Choosing Search Terms

Identify keywords from your topic:

Describe the physics behind butterflies’ iridescent colours

Choosing Search Terms

Identify keywords from your topic:

Describe the physics behind butterflies’ iridescent colours

Choosing Search Terms

Identify keywords from your topic:

Describe the physics behind butterflies’ iridescent colours

Advanced searching techniques:

• Synonyms: butterfly | Lepidoptera | diurnal insect

• Truncation: physic* to locate physics, physical science, physicist…

• Wildcards: colo?r to locate colour or color

• Phrases: “iridescent colour”

• Joining Words: AND, OR, NOT

Have a go!

Identify keywords from your topic:

Describe the physics behind butterflies’ iridescent colours

Advanced searching techniques:

• Synonyms: butterfly | Lepidoptera | diurnal insect

• Truncation: physic* to locate physics, physical science, physicist…

• Wildcards: colo?r to locate colour or color

• Phrases: “iridescent colour”

• Joining Words: AND, OR, NOT

A Word on Google Scholar

• Filters out web sites and other ‘lay’ material

• Searches mainly academic domains

• Some awareness of Durham collections

• Broader search than some alternatives

• Indexing is still automated

• Hazy definition of ‘scholarly’

• Depth of coverage (misses key resources)

• Limited filter/refine options

• Less structured/consistent records than alternatives

Tip: Set up ‘library links’

The Good The Bad

Evaluate your resources

Consider:

• Who wrote it

• What are their credentials?

• Who did they write it for?

• Why did they write it?

• When did they write it?

Further guidance at

• http://prezi.com/q5jglgamre6c/evaluating-information/

• https://www.dur.ac.uk/library/using/finding/evalinfo/

Key Points

• In most databases you do not have full access to everything

• No one database searches everything

• Use the right tool for the type of information you need

• Full Text searches deeply in a narrow spectrum of literature

• Bibliographic searches information about materials; not the full text

• ‘Discover’ combines bibliographic and full text searches

• Commercial databases need more careful and more literalinstructions than Google…

• …but are more efficient and offer better limit/filter options

Further Information

Physics Subject Page - https://www.dur.ac.uk/library/physics/ (follow link marked ‘Research Skills’)

Slides available at: https://www.dur.ac.uk/library/physics/info_skills/undergradsession/