FOR PROFESSIONAL OR ACADEMIC PURPOSES
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
Online Searching1
Structure of the module
First day: Academic databases1. Characteristics of academic databases2. Demonstration of search process and information
retrieval3. Case study
Second day: Academic search engines1. Presentation of results of case study2. Academic databases:
1. Google Scholar2. Scirus3. Live
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
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Academic Databases - I
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
Content specializations Humanities and Social Sciences Science and technology Multidisciplinary
Context At the heart of the cyclical process of academic research and
publishing Document typology. References or full text of:
Journal articles of peer review journals Reports, books, patents and theses, etc.
Users: Researchers (Universities) and engineers and developers
(Corporations) University students and professors In general: authors of academic journal articles, reports or
booksAccess:
Not free. In fact they are extremely expensive Access only by subscription or by pay per view (pay per document) Only subscribed to by universities or corporations (not by private
persons )
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Academic Databases - II
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
Main protagonists: Scientific publishers of journals or books:
Elsevier Springer …
Independent producers: Universities Private companies …
Distributors of tens or hundreds of different databases: Ebsco Dialog …
Authors: Researchers and developers University students and professors Authors of journal articles or books So… authors are both users and contributors
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The Process of knowledge production
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
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The Peer Review Journals
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
The most respected kind of scientific journals and the typical content of the academic databases
Process: Author submits their papers to a peer review journal. The journal asks the opinion of at least,two experts in
the field. If approved, and only if approved, by the experts, the
article will be published, probably with corrections and additions suggested by the experts.
The whole process is anonymous: the author is unaware of the identity of the referees (evaluators) and vice versa.
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The Search Process
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
1. Identification of the information need of the user and the keywords that express the main concepts of the information need.
2. Occasionally, identification of the proper names (persons, corporations, countries, etc.).
3. Identification and selection of the most suitable database.
4. Selection and execution of the query (basic or advanced search).
5. Review of the references in the database results page.
6. Occasionally, refinement of the query and obtaining new keywords to repeat the process.
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Main interdisciplinary international databases
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
ISI Web of Knowledge: the most influential database in the world. Provides access to tens of thousands of the most important international journals (Thomson).
Science Direct: the database of the most important scientific publisher of the world. Access to one thousand two hundred journals (Elsevier).
Wiley Interscience: the database of one the most important scientific books and journals publisher (Wiley).
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International databases by specialization
Computers (but related with Art, Society and Humanities) ACM
Technology and computer engineering IEEE Xplore
Humanities Humanities Index Arts and Humanities Citation Index
Social Sciences JStor
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
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And in Spain…
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
Multidisciplinary: CSIC: The most influential in Spain and one of the
most important in Spanish speaking countries. Provides access to all peer review Spanish journals.
Other databases by specialization: News: EfeData and MyNews Online Law: Aranzadi
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To access databases in UPF
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
To access academic databases via UPF: www.upf.edu > Library > Databases > Alphabetic list:
Example: www.upf.edy > Library > Databases > Alphabetic list
> A > ACM Digital Library
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Off Campus
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
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Off Campus (II)
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
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Database List
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
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ACM Digital Library
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
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Exercise: Case Study - I
1. Select a set of keywords2. Select a database3. Make tests with the set of keywords in
selected database4. Write a report about the database with this
the elements indicated in next slides
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
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Exercise: Report content
Database name Content description: topics covered by the database and typology of
documents (journal articles, books, proceedings, patents, etc.) Tip: See the help page, or the about us page, etc.
Main search facilities (only a list of the two or three main options). Possible relevance of the database content in relation to the student
topic of interest: is the content relevant, is the information up to date, is there enough information about the topic?, etc.
Subjective user satisfaction: does the database have friendly user interface? are the search and navigation options understandable? is the overall system usable?, etc.
Annexes: The list of the keywords used by the students to test the database. One screenshot of the search page of the database. One screenshot of the database results page after a search with one of the keywords
of the student list.
September 2007L. Codina. UPF Interdisciplinary CSIM Master
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