An introduction to library resources, including database search skills, to support the UC Summer Scholarship programme in the science and engineering fields.

1. Literature Searching For Your
Summer Scholarship
2011

2. Our mission is…
 Look at what’s been done on the topic
 Find past papers and read them
 Some groups have been given papers by supervisors
 Literature review
 Learn health and safety, lab restrictions
 Write a report with references
 Doing the work – making models, synthesis, coding, designing
systems, purifications, construction
 Find existing products (hardware, code)
 Find manufacturer’s information
 Find out if people have used components – what issues are
there with them

3. We already know...
 Textbooks for fundamentals
 Catalogue
 Database searching (ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science)
 Subject specific databases (PsycInfo, IEEEXplore, arXiv,
Earthquake Engineering Abstracts)
 Manufacturers datasheets
 Structure of report
 Referencing
 Use of Endnote to store references

4. We need to know...
 What questions to ask
 LaTeX
 Endnote

5. The Literature
You

6. The Research Process
Define your topic
What information do you need?
Who would have written about it? Where?
Find information
Judge it – is it reliable? relevant?
– does it point in new directions?
– is it enough? or do you still need more?
Analyse and synthesise
Cite all sources!

7. We would find info in...
 Google
 Google Scholar
 Wikipedia
 Library catalogue
 Library MultiSearch
 Library databases (Web of Science, SciFinder, Scopus, ACM)
 Supervisor, other people in the field
 Authors’ webpages, other archives
 Manufacturers’ datasheets

8. Getting Started

9. Web of Science

10. Scopus

11. Scopus

12. Google Scholar

13. More databases

14. Theses

15. Standards
 Online –
 AS/NZS
 ASTM
 IEEE
 NFPA fire codes
 or
 Print collection
 AS
 BS
 ISO
 Eurocodes

16. Requesting from EPS

17. Interloans
(image: world map of libraries)

18. Citing

19. Using Endnote

20. Using Endnote

21. Using Endnote
My Grand Chemical Engineering Research Project Thing

22. We’ve learned...
 About library subject guides. They seem useful and easy to
use
 That reference material is linked to off the library website, not
just databases
 Wikipedia is good
 I didn’t know the library had subscriptions to so many
databases/journals
 To search multiple databases for a wider range of articles,
rather than one or two
 How to use refinement options on databases
 The use of quotation marks to group terms in a topic search
on the database

23. We’ve learned...
 Range of databases that can be used for searching
 The database search locations, with citation counts
 Finding relevant literature from Web of Science
 Scopus seems easier to use than Web of Science
 Scopus has resources related to my subject
 Can download all /selected texts as PDFs all at once, not just
individually
 Science Direct is better than Scopus
 Found out about two databases (Scopus and Compendex) I
will use in future
 IEEEXplore exists – seems useful

24. We’ve learned...
 Google Scholar finds results from open databases too
 Google has a code search facility
 Asklive - ability to talk to a librarian online
 Interloans to get material that’s not available online
 UC Research Repository for theses and other UC publications
 The library has standards eg ISO, BS
 Introduction to Endnote for managing references – Tutorials
available

25. We still want to know...
More specific information on [my subject]
 Check the subject guide at http://canterbury.libguides.com/
and talk to the subject liaison librarian
Is there an easy way to compare results of two different
databases?
 Alas no. Though you could download all the results from each
into Endnote.
Google Scholar
 http://scholar.google.com/ - visit the Preferences page and
search for Canterbury under Library Links
How to access article full text when it’s not available
online
 Visit http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/interloans/

26. We still want to know...
A handout of all the databases
 There’s too many for a handout but see
http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/databases/ or your subject
guide
Search criteria to pick up more results
 Using fewer keywords, more generic keywords (eg “animal”
instead of “cat”), or alternative terms (cat OR feline) will
usually pick up more results – but your subject liaison
librarian can help with your specific topic.
How can I be sure I have found everything relevant?
 You’ll probably never have everything but when you’ve
searched a variety of databases with a variety of search
methods and keywords and you keep getting results you’ve
already seen, you’ve probably got the most important stuff.

27. We still want to know...
How to use Endnote properly
 Book a course at
http://webapps.libr.canterbury.ac.nz/webdb/course.php?sum
mary=1 (yes, this includes Macs)
Endnote / Latex / BibTeX
 Latex uses BibTeX to format references (rather than working
directly with Endnote).
 You can still use Endnote to manage references, then export:
File > Export > Output style = BibTeX Export

28. We still want to know...
How to formulate thesis questions / What makes a good
article / Format of literature review
These aren’t our specific areas of expertise but try...
 Learning Skills runs workshops:
http://www.lps.canterbury.ac.nz/lsc/
 We have books about writing in science/engineering:
http://webapps.libr.canterbury.ac.nz/webdb/biblioplus.php?pa
ge=el_techbks
 And search for review articles in databases to find examples in
your field.

29. Slides
http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/

30. Contact us