Slides to acompany the workshop session for postgraduate (PhD) students at Leicester University. Covers accessing databases and building more sophisticated searches.

1. Advanced Database Searching
Efficient research information searching
and retrieval for post-graduate scientists
Nov 2008
Gareth J Johnson
David Wilson Library

2. Today’s Session
 Aims
◦ Get you familiar with accessing Leicester’s
suite of information resources
◦ Provide some hands on time with searches
◦ Give you a chance for some 1-2-1 support
with your searching
◦ Explore some methodology to help save you
time and effort

3. Session Outline
 Accessing information resources on/off
campus
 Searching comprehensively
 Strategies for building quality searches
 Refining search results
 Alternatives to databases
 Building your own bibliography (briefly)

4. Your Experiences
1. What databases/information
resources have you used before?
2. What’s your approach to searching?
3. Are you confident that you are
finding everything you need?
4. Would you like to spend less time
searching and more time reading?

5. Resources at Leicester
 Allaccessed via Leicester Digital
Library
 Nearly all available off campus too
 Each indexes a different range of
journals
 To be comprehensive will need to
search more than one!

7. Which Databases to Use?
 Depends on your research area
 Some multidisciplinary ones
◦ SCOPUS, Web of Knowledge
 Some more subject specific
◦ BIOSIS Previews, Medline, Crossfire
 Subject Rooms have some guidance
 More information on Digital Library page

8. How Many is Enough?
 Comprehensive searching requires using
several
◦ Omissions and overlap between resources
 No literature review is 100% authoritative
 Rules of thumb
◦ Expect to search 3-5 quality resources
◦ See previous theses for guidance in scope
 Bibliographic software can assist in
eliminating duplicate results

9. Hands on time!
 Browse the booklet to Self test (1)
 Why not
◦ Look through the A-Z databases and find ones
you are familiar with
◦ Have a look at Subject Rooms
 Questions?

10. Sophisticated Searching
 Preparation of a search strategy is the key
 Searches can be built up
◦ Single search element at a time
◦ Portions of larger search statement
 Need to be familiar with Boolean Logic
◦ AND – makes search more specific
◦ OR – includes synonymous terms
◦ NOT – eliminates irrelevant results

11. Boolean Logic
pain or injury
broad search,
many results
pain and injury
focussed search, fewer
but more specific results
focussed search results
pain not injury
omitted useful results?

12. A Simple Search (Mk 1)
 Find articles on earthquake detection
sensors
earthquake and detection and sensors
 While this works, it is NOT
comprehensive
 Many articles will be missed
 Results will be too broad
◦ Good for finding random papers of possible
interest

13. Truncation & Parenthesis
 Truncation substitutes for part of a
word
 Good for finding plurals or alternative
spellings
 Brackets ( ) allow Boolean logic to
function correctly
◦ Order of priority NOT > AND > OR
◦ fish or sausages and chips 
◦ (fish or sausages) and chips 

14. A More Sophisticated Search (Mk 2)
 Articles on earthquake detection sensors
1. earthquake or seismic
2. detection or identification
3. sensors or monitors
 Run each search independently
◦ Then combine to make final search
(earthquake* or seismic) and (detect* or identif* and
(sensor* or monitor*)
◦ Good for finding papers specifically concerned
with our interests

15. Hands on Time Again!
 Browse the booklet to Self test (2 & 3)
 Why not
◦ Try running the search we’ve just tried on a
database or two
◦ Try improving the search
◦ Make your own simple or more sophisticated
search
 Questions?

16. Enhanced Searching Strategy
Expanding on what we’ve considered:
1. Define your topic clearly
2. Identify key concepts and synonyms
3. Group similar concepts
4. Build a search strategy on paper
5. Test your search strategy
6. Refine the results or the strategy
7. Output the results for safe keeping
8. Read your papers

17. A Most Sophisticated Search (Mk 3)
 Articles on earthquake detection sensors
1. earthquake or seismic
2. detection or identification or monitoring
3. sensors or seismograph
4. Not nuclear
 Revised in the light of test search
 Run each search independently
◦ Then combine to make final search
((earthquake* or seismic) and (detect* or identif* or
monitor*) and (sensors or seismograph )) not nuclear

18. Refining Your Search
 Expect to revise your initial search
◦ Rarely work exactly right first time
 May need to expand
◦ Include more synonymous terms or
truncation
 May to need to focus
◦ Use more specific terms or use filters
 May need to rethink approach
◦ Try different resources
◦ Reconsider search terminology or logic

19. Other Tools
 Saved searches
◦ Can be used for search alerts on some resources
 Subject index searching
◦ Using controlled terms rather than keywords
 Open Access
◦ Freely available quality research
◦ Online search engines available
 OpenDOAR, BASE Academic Search
◦ No need to worry about if the University
subscribes to the journals
◦ Reliable quality alternative

20. Bibliographic Software
 There to aid you in managing your search
results
◦ Build a personal bibliography
◦ Eliminate duplicate results from multiple
databases
◦ Citation insertion into Word documents
◦ Inserts custom bibliography formatted to house
or particular journal styles
 On campus support for RefWorks and
Endnote
◦ Further training online or classroom sessions
available

21. It’s A Small World(z)
 If you haven’t already, join the Leicester
Science graduate online community
◦ smallworldz.wetpaint.com
 Interact with scientists, academics, fellow
students and research support staff
 Discover Twitter feeds, blogs and social
networking identities
 Share experiences and peer support
 Keep up to date on new developments

22. Contacts
 For searching/database support
◦ Gareth J Johnson (Physical & Biological
Sciences) gareth.johnson@le.ac.uk
◦ Other Information librarians
 www.le.ac.uk/li/about/informationlibrarians.html
 General enquiries
◦ libdesk@le.ac.uk
◦ 0116-252-2043

23. Final Hands on Time!
 Browse the booklet to Self test (4)
 Why not
◦ Try answering the questions?
◦ Contrast a sophisticated search on different
resources?
◦ Start to develop your own search strategy?
 Questions?

24. Slides
Available online at:
Slideshare