Brief Guide to Effective Literature Searching Best strategies for choosing relevant resources Using databases and keeping up to date How to check for access to articles
Brief Guide to Effective Literature Searching
Best strategies for choosing relevant resources
Using databases and keeping up to date
How to check for access to articles
Plan well ahead
It may take you some time to decide on your research topic/focus
It may take you longer to do your literature search than anticipated
You may need to visit other libraries or order items through inter-library loan
Not everything is freely available on the internet!
Plan your search
Find general background information before using more specific and recent resources
Think about the possible search terms or keywords for your topic
Arrange into broader narrower terms
Consider any alternative terms or spellings: eg. murder/homicide or behavior/behaviour
Evaluating Internet ResourcesHow do you know if a website is reputable and offers reliable information? Compare these three websites:-
http://www.wto.org/ http://www.gatt.org/
http://worldtradeorganisation.com/
Which is the genuine World Trade Organization?
How can you tell?
Remember – P . R . O . M . P . T
Provenance: who has produced it?Relevance: is it what you want?Objectivity: what are the creators interests?Method: is research explained fully?Presentation: is it clear and easily accessible?Timeliness: how recently updated?
Google or Google Advanced Search
Compare Google searching with Advanced Search, which offersnumerous refinements. http://www.google.co.uk/advanced_search
Or Google Scholar ???http://scholar.google.co.uk/ Use the Preferences
link to select notification for Middlesex accesses
and save
Google Advanced Scholar Search
Library and IT Support Web Page http://unihub.mdx.ac.uk/study/library/
Start from UniHub to link to Library and IT under the Your study tab.
Library and IT Support Web Page Scroll down the screen to Study and Research Resources
These are the most useful resources for Literature Searching
myUniHub for alternative access to the catalogue etc.Logging in here enables access to electronic resources without further authentication.
myUniHub
Library & IT Support Web Pages
PsycINFO BASIC SEARCH : ADVANCED SEARCH : ACCOUNT and ALERTS
PsycINFOAdvanced Search offers the option to “map term” which might speed up the search.It also provides the option to “Combine” searches which is not available from the Basic Search
PsycINFOUsing single terms and Combining from Search History using AND will narrow results in a gradual but focussed way enabling evaluation of individual term results – quality and quantity. The search can be adjusted as necessary, trying different terms or revising topic.
PsycINFO – updating results
If you create a PsycINFO Personal Account you can Save Searches, which can then be re-run. You will also be able to set up RSS feeds.
PsycINFO – updating results
PsycINFO – updating results
RSS Feeds can be saved in a number of different types of web site Readers: Yahoo, Google, Bloglines or your preferred browser.
PsycINFO – updating results
RSS feeds into Google Reader
Social Science Citation Index
SSCI: Search History & Results
SSCI – Managing Results
Register and Sign In
Citation Alerts- set up from single record
Saved Searches – from Search History
Finding the Journal: Full-Text: via Library Catalogue A-Z:Print & Online
Library Subject Guides
Psychology resources brought together: http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk
Library Subject GuidesUnder the tab Searching for Journal Articles information about relevant databases and guides for using them. Also details for contacting your librarian and booking appointments.