bsci 10110 biological diversity

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BSCI 10110Biological Diversity

Mary Lee JensenLiaison Librarian for Biological Sciences

330-672-1661 or mjensen@kent.edu

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Session Goals

Introduce you to KentLINK and OhioLINK for finding books and Research Databases to find articles Introduce searching strategies Describe the peer-review process Review the characteristics of primary literature in the sciences

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Library Services

Research Help PERCs (http://www.library.kent.edu/page/10750)

Ask A Librarian (http://www.library.kent.edu/page/10750) 60-Minute Seminars (http://seminars.lms.kent.edu/index.asp?d=lms)

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KentLINK

The online catalog for Kent State UniversityAllows you to find books, reports, videos and other mediaAllows you to locate materials in 6 campus libraries (including Chemistry/Physics) and 7 regional librariesAllows you to renew books you have checked out

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OhioLINK

Group of 84 college and university librariesOhioLINK Central Catalog allows you to borrow books from any of the librariesTakes 4-5 days for book to arriveKeep the book for 3 weeks; renew onceGREAT resource!

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OhioLINK

More than Books!!

Research Databases allow you to find articles that have been published in scholarly journals and in magazines.

Many are full-text – but not all.

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Crafting Effective Research Statements

Features Available in Most Research Databases

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Common Searching Features

Boolean Operators/ConnectorsKeyword/Controlled vocabularyPhrase searchingTruncation

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Truncation: To Get Word Variations

Truncation makes it easier for you to get allvariations of a word.

Some systems use the asterisk * to truncateexample: Academic Search Premier

Some use the dollar sign $ example: Biological Abstracts

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Truncation: To Get Word Variations

fish*

retrieves

fish

fishes

fishery

fisheries

labo$rretrieves

labor, labour, laborer

biolog$

retrieves

biology

biological

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Boolean Operators -- OR

Use OR to broaden a searchThe words connected by OR should be synonyms or be

alternative ways of saying something

For example:

salmon OR fish

fisheries OR hatcheries

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Boolean Operators -- AND

Use AND to combine two different concepts or ideas

This helps narrow your search

salmon AND fisheries

salmon AND disease

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“Phrase Searching”

This feature allows you to search for words as phrases.Some databases automatically search words as a phrase; other databases require you to use quotation marks around the phrase

“invasive species”“biological diversity”

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Cautions about Phrase Searching

Phrase searching in databases is not the same as the WebIf you type the following in Google:

impact of invasive species on ecosystemsyou will get 100,000 hits because Google looks for each word separately

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Cautions about Phrase Searching

If you type:

impact of invasive species on ecosystems

in KentLINK or OhioLINK or in a database, you might get zero results, because you are asking the system to look for that EXACT phrase

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Instead use Boolean Logic:

“invasive species” AND ecosystems

loosestrife AND (ponds or lakes)

“zebra mussels” AND “lake erie”

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Revising Your Search:Use Booleans to Your Advantage

Too many hits on your topic? Add another search term with AND.

Too few hits on your topic? Add another search term OR.

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Sample search

What impact does salmon farming have on the wild fish population?

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Sample Search - Concepts

Concept 1 BooleanConnector

Concept 2 BooleanConnector

Concept 3

salmonAND

farm*ORfisher*ORhatcher*

ANDwildORecosystemORdisease*

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Sample Search - Strategy

salmon and (farm* or fisher*) and wild

salmon and (farm$ or fisher$) and ecosystem

(fishery or fisheries or hatcher*) and “side effects”

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Primary Literature - Article Format

Introduction or Literature surveyMethodology or Materials and MethodsData or ResultsDiscussion or InterpretationConclusionBibliography

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Primary Literature - Characteristics

Audience StudentsScholars

Authors Scholars (university-based)Credentials listed and relate to subject of article

Overall Appearance Charts and graphsMany pagesFew ads; very professional

Documentation FootnotesBibliography

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Primary Literature - Characteristics

Purpose Report original researchDiscipline-related contentFocus, narrow

Authority Editorial Review BoardPeer-review process

Frequency Often quarterlyMay also be weekly

Examples American Journal of BotanyScienceNature

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Article Indexes/Research Databases

Research Databases(Alphabetical or Subject)

http://www.library.kent.edu/page/10562Access ScienceBiological AbstractsAcademic Search PremierBiological and Agricultural AbstractsElectronic Journal Center

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Conclusion

Many resources Many opportunities for assistance…just ask!