MST8011:

Finding and Managing academic information

BIO1010

Finding good quality academic information

Moira BentFaculty Liaison Librarian

Information overload?

Information

resources

Books

E-Books

Journal articles

Conf Papers

Theses

Internet

Experimental data

Statistical data

Commercial material

Digital images

Chemical and physical data

Government reports

Maps

Don’t sink under the weight of all the information!

Having a search strategy keeps you afloat

• Primary data

• Secondary sources

• Maps/images

• How much?• What date?• How quickly?• Which

language

• Main terms

• Related terms

• Synonyms

• Logical approach

• Use proper strategies

Search Techniq

ues

Keywords

Info typeLimits

1 2

34

Search techniques

Use AND, OR and NOT to make logical connections biodiversity AND fish sea OR ocean OR marine

Use truncation Conserv* finds conserve, conservation,

conserving (and also conservatory!)

sea OR ocean OR

marine

fish biodivers

ity

LibrarySearch is a good place to start

Includes the library catalogue and a range of electronic resources

Full & mobile views

Use Library Search

To find printed books in the Library To find electronic books To get a general overview of a topic To find a few journal references for an

essay

DON’T rely on Library Search as the only source – not all our resources are included.

Journal articles

Report original academic research

Published in academic (high-quality) journals – published regularly

Up to date

More detailed than books – can be very technical

Peer-reviewed for quality (by other academics / experts in the field)

Available in Print and / or Electronic formats

Types of regular publication

• Academic / trade / magazines / newspapers / professional

Use databases to trace journal articles

Databases are: Collections of references and full text

articles International in scope Subject specific Essential for academic research Expensive resources

LibrarySearch is fab!Why use specific databases?

Proquest Unique content for biology Search in images, figures and tables Use taxonomic terms Set search alerts

Scopus Unique content for biology Set search alerts Search within results

To download results to EndNote

Use your Library Guide to identify key databases:

libguides.ncl.ac.uk/biology

Our electronic resources are available any time, anywhere

RAS – Remote Application Service

https://ras.ncl.ac.uk/

Use Library Resources folder

Library Web pages & Library Guide for

Marine

Google’s always worked for me…

Finding websiteshttp://www.intute.ac.uk• Portal to quality information on the internet• Resources selected by subject experts• Provided for UK academic community

http://scholar.google.co.uk/• Google’s search engine for academic literature

http://www.scirus.com• Scientific search engine – filters out non-

scientific sites

Now you have all the info you need – relax!

Makes clear what your own ideas are – this is what you get marks for!

It’s good academic practice

It helps you track down the info again in future

Avoids accusations of plagiarism

Referencing: boring but important

School of Biology guidelines

Author-date style

refer to a source by author’s surname and publication year in the text. (Bent 2009)

Alphabetical list of references in the bibliography

Check the Guidelines for Presentation of Written Work for full details.

School of Biology style

JournalStockdale, E (2003) How to keep first year students

awake. Education today 34:122-134.

BookBent, M (2002) The psychology of eating, Facet,

London.

Web sitePark, J, Finn, J, Cooke, R, Lawson, C (2008)

Agriculture and the environment: the current situation. University of Reading. http://www.ecifm.reading.ac.uk/subject2.htm Accessed 1 Dec 2008

Citing in an essay

Research has shown that giving students chocolate helps them to concentrate (Stockdale, 2003). Bent (2002 p 45) also claims that “chocolate reduces stress”. It therefore seems appropriate that universities provide chocolate fountains in all halls of residence.

ReferencesBent, M (2002) The psychology of eating, Facet, London. Stockdale, E (2003) How to keep first year students awake. Education today 34:122-134.

What do you do with all the references you find?

Keep a record as you search Saves time later

what was that big red book I read? Allows you to build on previous work

I’m sure I found a good article last year Creates accurate citations

Easy marks No chance of plagiarism

EndNote

Create your personal EndNote “Library” • Enter references manually• Download the results of online searches• Add images, files and PDFs

Organise the information• Sort and search your Library• Label and group references

Cite your references in Word• Choose your citation “style”• Create formatted bibliographies

Access EX5• On clusters and

RAS• EndNote Web• Personal copy

£77

HelpEndNote web pages http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/endnoteEndNote workshops First Thursday @11.30-1.00EndNote surgeries Tues@ 1.00, Thurs @ 12.00 EndNote helpline lib-endnotehelp@ncl.ac.ukEndNote blog http://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/Endnote_Users

Download the workbook: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/teaching/endnote/

What next…

• Do the quiz and bring your answers to your tutorial next week

• Use the hand out (on Blackboard) to

• Investigate the Library Guide for Biology

• Experiment with finding materials, using databases and EJs

• Download the EndNote workbook or sign up for an EndNote workshop

Things to do

Download the hand

out and try the

exercises

Download the EndNote

workbook or book onto a workshop

Explore the Biology

Library Guide