This section of UPLift! is aimed at students who want to further develop their information literacy skills. It focuses on using resources in the university.

This section of UPLift! is aimed at students who want to further develop their information literacy skills. It focuses on using resources in the university library and beyond. For example, it will help you to keep your research up-to-date by using additional features of databases such as storing and re-running searches and setting up RSS feeds.

Perhaps you know how to do some of these things already? Take the short quiz to find out.

Perhaps you need to develop a particular skill? Take the link to find out more.

If you would like some more help click on the Help! button, otherwisemove to the next page using the arrow icon.

Advanced Skills

UPLift! is designed to work with Microsoft Office 2007. If required, a viewer can be downloaded from here. To interact with UPLift! view as a Slide Show

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Click on Q&A to link to a short quiz to see if you can do the basics of this skill.

Click on the ? icon to find links to information, guides, video clips etc. to help you develop this skill.

Move between slides by following the navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Tick the box when you have completed the quiz.

First of all, select Slide Show, then From the Beginning.

Advanced Skills

Skill Can I do this? Find out more

Select subject terms from databases’ thesaurus or subject index

Construct a complex search using Boolean operators

Explain how to create RSS feeds or email alerts from your most important databases

Explain how to save and re-run searches in your most important databases

Identify a key database which provides impact factor data and suggest why this is important

Suggest why it is important to critically evaluate research papers.

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Advanced Skills

Articles in databases are indexed according to an agreed list of subject terms. Link out to Business Source Complete to find out what term the indexers of this database use for the following keywords. Choose Thesaurus from the purple tool bar when you link out to the resource.

Human resources management HRMHRM Personnel managementPersonnel management

Art in advertising Commercial artCommercial art Graphic designGraphic design

Higher education institutions Universities & collegesUniversities & colleges UniversitiesUniversities

Your keywords Which term does the thesaurus suggest you use?

or

or

or

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Select subject terms from databases’ thesaurus or subject index

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Select subject terms from databases’ thesaurus or subject index

Advanced Skills

Information about search techniques including using the thesaurus or subject index of a particular database, can usually be found on the databases own Help pages.

On Business Source Complete database you can find the information in several places:

Click on Help or ? in the box above to reveal the EBSCO Help menuClick on Help or ? in the box above to reveal the EBSCO Help menu

Advanced Skills

Construct a complex search using Boolean operators

Searching for information using

specialist databases

“vanilla ice-cream” AND“chocolate sauce” ANDflake AND nuts AND(wafer NOT waffle) AND(cornet OR cone)

“vanilla ice-cream” AND“chocolate sauce” ANDflake AND nuts AND(wafer NOT waffle) AND(cornet OR cone)Paul Wilkinson, Ice-cream, nuts and flake CC. From Flickr

Imagine this ice-cream is a piece of academic research. It is the perfect result of your

search:Vanilla ice-cream in a wafer cone with chocolate sauce,

nuts and a flake.

How might you construct your search strategy to get this result? Click on the ice-cream for a possible answer.

Advanced Skills

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Construct a complex search using Boolean operators

It is useful to understand how Boolean Logic works when you want to be a super-searcher. The Boolean Logic guide explains what it is and how to use it effectively. The Applying a search strategy worksheet will help you to think about doing this well.

Advanced Skills

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Explain how to create RSS feeds or email alerts from your most important databases

Stella is reading emails on her phone.She is hoping to find out whether anyone has cited the journal article that she has published. She set up a Citation Alert from the Web of Science database so that she could be updated automatically.

Stella is reading emails on her phone.She is hoping to find out whether anyone has cited the journal article that she has published. She set up a Citation Alert from the Web of Science database so that she could be updated automatically.

Link out to the database by clicking on the box below. Set up a Citation Alert for a subject that interests you. You will need to Register from the Sign in option then go to My Tools.

Link out to the database by clicking on the box below. Set up a Citation Alert for a subject that interests you. You will need to Register from the Sign in option then go to My Tools.

Advanced Skills

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Explain how to create RSS feeds or email alerts from your most important databases

Many databases allow you to set up email alerts or RSS feeds to help you keep up-to-date with your research topic. When a new articles are published and added to the database, it automatically sends the information to wherever you access your emails or read your feeds. You usually need to create a separate sign in to do this.

Visit the Web of Science Help pages: Citation alerts

Look out for similar options on other databases, for example you can create alerts from your search history on the library Discovery Service.

Visit the Research Support section on the library website for further tips.

Advanced Skills

Explain how to save and re-run searches in your most important databases

Searching for information using

specialist databases

What if I could save my search strategy and let the database tell me when new articles on my topic are published?

Toby had a good idea – an idea that could save him lots of time with his research

Can you explain to Toby how to set this up on the Library Discovery Service? Can he be informed via the following methods? Click on the correct answer/s.

Can you explain to Toby how to set this up on the Library Discovery Service? Can he be informed via the following methods? Click on the correct answer/s.

EmailEmailRSS feedRSS feed

TwitterTwitter

Advanced Skills

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Explain how to save and re-run searches in your most important databases

Many databases will allow you to sign in and save your searches. You can re-run your searches when you next login and retrieve any new results that have appeared on the database. Web of Knowledge database allows you to do this: Help: Save Search History

Some databases will email you regularly with the latest results relating to your saved search history. The Library Discovery Service allows you to do this. The Help section gives you guidance on saving your searches as well as setting up alerts to your favourite journals.

Advanced Skills

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Identify a key database which provides impact factor data and suggest why this is important

One measure of the importance of a journal is the frequency with which papers in that journal have been cited by other authors.

This is described as the journal’s impact factor and is a measure of that journal’s importance.

One measure of the importance of a journal is the frequency with which papers in that journal have been cited by other authors.

This is described as the journal’s impact factor and is a measure of that journal’s importance.

Newsstand, 32nd Street and Third Avenue, Manhattan CC. New York Public Library. From Flickr

Can you give a reason as to why some journals have higher impact factors than others?

Click on the picture to find outClick on the picture to find out

Advanced Skills

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Identify a key database which provides impact factor data and suggest why this is important

You can find out impact factors for many journals by looking at the Journal Citation Reports, which are available as an ‘additional feature’ on theWeb of Knowledge website.

Click on ‘Play’ to watch this video h. It explains what impact factors are and how to find them on the Web of Knowledge database (also known as Web of Science).

Further information can be found on the library website – Research Support: Bibliometrics.

Advanced Skills

Suggest why it is important to critically evaluate research papers

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Snowflake Study, Smithsonian Institution CC. Flickr

Why is it so important to critically evaluate research papers? Surely if they’ve been published and are in the library they’re okay to use?

Why is it so important to critically evaluate research papers? Surely if they’ve been published and are in the library they’re okay to use?

Tend to agree?Why? Click for our thoughts

Tend to disagree?Why?Click for our thoughts

Critical evaluation is important to ensure that papers are relevant, credible and accurate and that the information is objective and scholarly. Critically analyse and synthesise the information so that you can confidently assert why your own (further) research is necessary.

Critical evaluation is important to ensure that papers are relevant, credible and accurate and that the information is objective and scholarly. Critically analyse and synthesise the information so that you can confidently assert why your own (further) research is necessary.

Advanced Skills

Searching for information using

specialist databases

Suggest why it is important to critically evaluate research papers

Critically Analyzing Information Sources from Cornell University Library provides a useful guide to analysing the basics, such as author, date and publication, as well as considerations for analysing the content.

Information Source Evaluation Matrix from De Montfort University is useful for helping you get to grips with the concept of critical evaluation. It suggests that you think in terms of scoring the information source you are evaluating.