Using Library Resources to Search for Information

(…and an introduction to plagiarism & referencing)

Sport & Exercise Science Year 1 - University of Bath - Autumn 2012

Peter Bradley, Subject Librarian for Health, lispgb@bath.ac.ukImages provided by Clipart throughout presentation

By the end of these two sessions, we will cover:

• Quick catalogue re-cap: see induction presentation for more info

• Learn how to find articles beyond your reading lists

i.e. how to use databases:

i. Why search databases: why not just Google-it?

ii. Search strategy: selecting & entering keywords

iii. Applying strategy to specific databases: Web of Knowledge & PubMed

• Plagiarism: what is it & why is it serious? how to avoid plagiarism: citing & referencing

What are journals …& why use them?

• Similar to magazines i.e. regularly published

• However, they feature current academic research of potential use to students & researchers

• More cutting edge than text books

• If you reference journal articles: potentially higher marks!

• Journals provided in print or/and online formats:date coverage of one format might not match the other

• Journals can be organised by volumes & issues:

A single volume contains multiple issues

A single issue contains multiple articles

• Printed books & journals: mostly

on Level 4: normally shelved at 796+ numbers for books &

Per 79 for journals

• You should be able to access all the Library’s online resources both on and off-campus

• For the vast majority of online resources, you only need to your BUCS username & password on request

Accessing information for your assignments

Exercise 1In pairs, briefly scan the following two documents, write down any differences between their content, authorship, audience, sources, format & style. Then, decide which document is more reliable & relevant to academic study:

1. Go to Google and type: plyometrics training science Click aprox 4th result: from www.faqs.org...

2. Open another window and go to the Library website / catalogue and search for the journal article title: Effects of a plyometric program on vertical landing (from the journal title Physical Therapy in Sport)

Find the record for the online version & view it online

Which of the 2 documents is more appropriate for your studies?

Wor

ld o

f Sci

en...

Arti

cle

from

P...

0%0%

1. World of Science document

2. Article from Physical Therapy in Sport

Searching for

articles

beyond your

reading list…

…searching

databases

Why not just “Google-it”?

• Google doesn’t provide access all online information& misses out many quality articles...

…where they exist, can be difficult to find (too many results!)

• Many websites lack quality, depth, accuracy…e.g. written by amateurs

• Difficult to check credibility of many ‘Googled’ sites as: don’t provide author’s name so questionable authority

don’t provide references acknowledging sources

• Some sites lack objectivity (e.g. trying to sell you something)

What are databases... & why use them?

More convenient/thorough than browsing

Many index information about articles from thousands of quality peer-reviewed journals & conference proceedings:

Peer-review process: author’s paper has to be checked & approved by other academics for accuracy & logical development of argument)

Some databases provide additional material i.e. statistics & data

Not everything you’ll find referenced will be available in full-text but a significant number of articles might be

Before you search a database: select keywords / search terms that you’ll need to enter

When you do a keyword search, a database looks for your chosen keywords within the record of an article

e.g. the article’s title & its abstract/summary

Choose keywords by first identifying 2 or 3+ concepts related to your assignment/project title

e.g. investigate how plyometric exercises can impact upon sprinting ability

For each concept:

think of a separate set of alternative/related keywords

& alternative/plural spellings: check lecture notes, books, articles...

sprint

sprinter sprinters

sprinting…

plyometric

jump training jump exercises

others?

Link keywords with AND & ORUse OR to link alternative words for same theme

Each theme entered in a separate search field

sprint*

AND

plyometric* or “jump training” or “jump exercis*”

Note: after looking at your first sets of results, take a look at the range of themes covered – this may help you if you need to narrow or broaden the focus of your research

Entering keywords: use truncation symbol *

By adding a truncation symbol * at the end of the stem of a word, you can

find variations of that word: saves time!!

` For example in Web of K, sprint findsSpome some some variations but not all – sprint* finds:

sprint, sprints, sprinter, sprinters, sprinting

rehabilitated

Entering keywords: phrases

In Web of K, you may want to search… f

keywords as an exact phrase, # - if so, enter them in speechmarks:

e.g. “distance run*”

Note: I’ve included the * so WoK will look for:distance distance run, distance running &

distance runners

How would you best truncate the word athletics to retrieve variations?

ath

*

ath

let*

ath

letic

*

0% 0%0%

1. ath*

2. athlet*

3. athletic*

How would you enter keywords on the topic of injuries in sprinting?

inju

r* AND s

pr...

inju

r* OR s

pri...

inju

red s

print..

.

0% 0%0%

1. injur* AND sprint*

2. injur* OR sprint*

3. injured sprinters

Searching

databases:

Web of Knowledge…

Accessing the Library website on-campus

To access the databases: visit Library website:Go to Resources for your Subject: Health

Health resources search more than 1 database: both unique and overlapping content between databases: note guides & tutorials

Catalogue topic search:

Advanced search is a useful option

Many results: although in order of “relevance”, those that are most relevant to your specific assignment may not appear within the first page or so…

You can also use filters to refine results & click description for more info

Select results of interest for ‘My Collection’:click on star next to relevant result

My Collection (need to be signed in):

can also send selected results to your email

Web of Knowledge homepage Search defaults to AND between fields - so need to enter AND

VERY IMPORTANT: for a general search: select ‘topic’ for each field

Web of Knowledge homepage once ‘topic’ selected for each field, enter your keywords

Results starting with most recent Options include sorting results by relevanceCan also click View Abstract for an article summary

Results sorted by relevance

Abstract opens up beneath result

Save & email records of interest:

tick selected results & click plus sign +

Saving records: then click number that appears next to sign +

Save & email results as HTML format e.g. save to laptop, USB..

Emailing results: click on Envelope icon – a useful back-upEndnote Web: useful if saving references from multiple databases

Back to results: can click on an article’s ‘times cited’ number i.e. potentially link to other articles that have cited it

Click on to find out whether the full-text is available to you - don’t just look for results with logo:

New window opens: look for possible link to full text online Check catalogue link for printed journals: remember Bath Copies

Full article in Journal website(in some journals: may then need to click PDF / HTML link)

Close Links page to return to results: for more information about an article click on its title

Full record includes related keywords & link to the article’s ‘references’

(‘Related Records’ are other articles sharing same references)

Can set up citation alert i.e. get emails about articles that will cite this

Reading your article: evaluate its content

• Consider the article in relation to other papers on the same topic area: don’t just rely on one perspective e.g. look for the full-text of articles it references

• Consider its currency: this could be important if your research area is rapidly developing

i.e. the date range of its references: not just the article’s own date

• Older articles may still be crucial classic’ papers might still be heavily cited in recent articles

• If you have doubts about any ‘facts’ presented in an article: check them against 2 or 3 reputable sources

Exercise: Web of Knowledge1. Go to Library’s Health Resources: e.g. go to http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/

& look for ‘Health’ via ‘Resources for your Subject’. Enter Web of Knowledge.

2. Search on a topic of your choice: first identify the main individual themes within your

topic. Then for each theme, identify any alternative/related key words & phrases.

3. Enter each set of keywords in a separate field: add OR between each keyword. Where

relevant, use * to truncate words (for variants) & speech marks for phrases.

Ensure all fields are set as ‘Topic’ in the right-hand drop-down menus. Click Search.

4. Sort your results by relevance: the sorting options are located above the results.

5. Check abstracts/summaries of any interesting results. Look for any potential ‘cited by’ articles. Consider refining your search.

6. Click to find out whether an article’s full text is available to you online. Exit the Links page to return to your results.

7. Select/tick results of interest. Click the envelope/email icon above to email the results to yourself in html format.

8. If emailing results from across multiple pages: select results on each page as relevant & then click the + sign above. After a number of pages, click the number next to the + sign to open your ‘marked record list’. From here, email results to yourself in html.

PubMed

• Very extensive coverage of health & medicine. Many of its results can be found in Web of Knowledge but it has additional useful limits & some fresh content can be found because of its index

• Sometimes better to search PubMed without asterisks & speech marks: if you use them, you deactivate the index search – try both approaches

• Single forms of words sometimes better than plural: try both

• Supplementary material (e.g. datasets) available via any articles featuring PubMed Central links

• If use single-field: enter brackets around each themed set of search terms as in next slide

PubMed: note also advanced option for multiple-field searching

Results (note potential filters)

Results: can save/email via ‘send toClick on a result for more information

Sometimes there are direct links to the full-text online: Links may appear as publisher logos Can also search for article title in Library Catalogue

If use advanced search: put brackets around themed sets of search terms(note this time, I’m trying search without speech marks and asterisks this time)

What is plagiarism?

• Copying from / referring to any other source including books, journals, websites, etc…

i.e. without acknowledging/citing sources within your main text

& without referencing it in your list of references at the end

• Copying / referring to theories, findings, quotes, data, tables, diagrams, images, conversations, emails, letters…

• Copying from, or colluding with, other students

• Duplicating your own previously submitted work…if you’re allowed to do this, must cite your work…

Why is plagiarism serious?

• It’s cheating: you declare you haven’t plagiarised when you submit your assignments

• Can result in penalties: lower grades or worse

• Lacks respect towards someone else’s hard work: degrades academic standards, degrees…

• Easy to be caught out: Turnitin software checks your work against web content & other students’ work

• Core academic skill: to prove you’re capable of independently evaluating/synthesising a range of information

Avoiding plagiarism

1. Good time management

2. Effective note taking

3. Using quotations accurately - also cite & reference them

4. Summarising & using your own words- still need to cite & reference your source

5. Recognising what is common knowledge

6. Keeping records of what you use and citing/referencing your sources correctly

Referencing: don’t just use general library guide see the information skills page for more referencing guidelines

• Citing your source within the text: cite author surname & date:Biddle (2008) argued that…

It has been suggested that…(Biddle, 2008)

• Citing 2 authors within the text:(Smith & Jones, 2004)

• 3 or more authors: just cite first surname followed by et al.

Taylor et al (2004)

Instructions in JSS are different regarding 3+ authors:

J.Betts confirms you can use the above example instead

Referencing 2

Each citing reference should link to a full reference at the

end of assignment. Full references appear in a list (alphabetical order by author)

Journal Article:

Wilber, R.L. (2007). Application altitude/hypoxic training by elite

athletes. In Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 39,

1600-1609.

Book:

Weinberg, R.S. (2007). Foundations of Sport and Exercise psychology (4th ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Specific chapter in an edited book, secondary/indirect referencing, multiple papers by same author…see guidelines

Develop your Information Skills: help with referencing, finding & evaluating information and writing assignments

Endnote Web: save results from multiple sources & ‘cite while you write’

Use SES link to Journal of Sports Sciences guidelinesunless asked to using alternative style

Training events

Peter Bradley: your Subject Librarian

P.G.Bradley@bath.ac.ukOffice on Level 5Other Librarians also happy to help

http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/Note Resources for Subject section

Any questions? I’m here to help…