YALE UNIVERSITY SCIENCE LIBRARIES - INTRODUCTION TO SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION
Finding information in a large research library can be a complex process.
In order to assist researchers we have created this page which lists some
of the most frequently asked questions about the information discovery process,
and their answers.
I
am looking for a defintion or an overview of a topic.
I
am looking for specific factual information ...
I
am looking for a book about ...
I
am looking for a journal article about ...
I
have a list of citations and would like to obtain the articles.
I
would like to obtain an article (or book) that is not held in any of the
Yale University Libraries.
I
am looking for information on the WWW.
Copyright Information
I AM LOOKING FOR A DEFINITION OR AN OVERVIEW OF A TOPIC.
If you just want some basic information on a topic, you may want to begin
by looking at a scientific dictionary or encyclopedia. These tools usually
give clear and thorough descriptions of scientific terms and concepts and
often include references to other sources of information. There are general
encyclopedias such as the
Britannica,
and subject-specific encyclopedias
such as the Encyclopedia of Applied Physics and Technology. A select list
of subject resource
guides by subject is available to help you locate the best encyclopedias.
One suggested general science encyclopedia is the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia
of Science and Technology. This encyclopedia contains 7,100 entries, covering
every field of modern science and technology. Most of the articles contain
bibliographies citing useful sources. Illustrations are included where necessary
to clarify the text. Additionally, the 20 volume set contains study guides
and a section on scientific notation.
KLINE SCIENCE LIBRARY, Reference Q121 +M33 1997
also available
online
I AM LOOKING FOR SPECIFIC FACTUAL DATA.
If you are looking for basic factual information on a topic, you may want to begin
by looking at a scientific handbook for boiling points, specific gravity, etc. These tools
usually provide data in tabular format and often include references to other sources of information.
Researchers can search a compilation of major
CRC Handbooks.
A Reference Help page and the select list
of subject resource
guides offer subject help with additional Reference tools.
I AM LOOKING FOR A BOOK ABOUT ...
Orbis
is a database of most of the books and journals contained within the Yale University Libraries (excluding the Law Library).
In Orbis, you can search for an author name, the title of a book or
journal, or keywords found in the titled or description of the item.
The Orbis record will display the name of the library where the item
is held and the call number under which it can be found. If the item
is checked out, it is noted in the Orbis record. IF THE BOOK YOU ARE
LOOKING FOR IS NOT AT YALE see the section on Interlibrary
Loan at the end of this document.
Orbis tutorial:
HTML, PowerPoint, or on flickr
I AM LOOKING FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE ABOUT ...
There are some questions you need to ask yourself when you begin a search
for journal articles:
a. Do I want a review article?
b. Do I want the most current research?
c. How in-depth do I want the information to be?
d. Should the information be in the form of a scholarly publication/research
article?
Your responses to these questions will help you decide which database to
use and how to construct your search.
See a
video tutorial: Find an Index demonstrating the multiple ways (described below) to select the best databases for identifying journal articles on a subject.
Once you have identified citations, you can use our "Yale Links" tool (see a
video tutorial: Yale Links)
to obtain many (but not all) full-text online articles in either PDF or HTML format.
POPULAR or SCHOLARLY LEVEL MATERIAL QUESTIONS:
I want journal articles that contain general or popular level information.
Your most comprehensive results will be obtained by starting your journal search in multiple
journal indexing databases. Use
Multiple Popular Science Database Searching to start your searching in the appropriate databases,
without needing to learn multiple interfaces. You will gain advantages of in-depth coverage provided by
various domain-focused tools AND the added value options from certain interdisciplinary tools
(e.g. citation tracking in the Web of Science). You can always limit results by selecting the results
from only certain databases after seeing the initial results, and you can use this single interface to
search all databases ... reducing the need to learn specific interfaces unless you need to perform more
sophisticated searches or to manipulate search results in special ways.
The following databases are included in the above cluster, and are geared to a more general, non-technical
audience. These database do include some scholarly journals, but scholarly publications are not their focus.
These databases also have direct connections to many full text articles.
EBSCOhost
// Academic Search
* Subject Scope: broad range of academic areas of study
* Full Text Available? Yes
* Coverage of International Journals? Yes
* Number of Journals Indexed: approximately 1,700 journals from 1990 to
the present; approximately 3,000 journals from 1984 to the present. Includes
coverage of 1,700 peer-reviewed journals.
* Years Of Coverage: 1984 - present
* Example of Journals Indexed in Academic Search: ACM Transactions, American
Health, American Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Physics, Behavioral
Neuroscience, Chemical Reviews, Computer Modeling & Simulation, IEEE journals,
Journal of the American Medical Association, Microbiological Reviews, Nature,
Science
Academic Universe
* Subject Scope: broad range of academic areas of study. Provides access
to newspapers, magazines, transcripts, business and legal information.
* Full Text Available? Yes
* Coverage of International Journals? Yes
* Number of Journals Indexed: N/A
* Years Of Coverage: N/A
* Example of Publications Indexed in Academic Search: New York Times, Scientific
American, Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Biotechnology Business News, Chemical
and Engineering News, New England Journal of Medicine, United States Patents
* NOTE: This database is a good place to find patent information. Also a
good resource for finding news articles.
I want journal articles from scholarly publications.
If you want an article or conference proceeding reporting on current research,
written by scientists for scientists then you should consider more comprehensive
databases focused primarily on scholarly publications.
Your most comprehensive results will be obtained by starting your journal search in multiple
journal indexing databases. Use either
Multiple Multidisciplinary Science Database Searching or one of the other pre-created subject clusters (located
to the left of the default cluster after selecting this link), to start your searching in multiple databases,
without needing to learn multiple interfaces. You will gain advantages of in-depth coverage provided by
various domain-focused tools AND the added value options from certain interdisciplinary tools
(e.g. citation tracking in the Web of Science). You can always limit results by selecting the results
from only certain databases after seeing the initial results, and you can use this single interface to
search all databases ... reducing the need to learn specific interfaces unless you need to perform more
sophisticated searches or to manipulate search results in special ways.
In addition to the specific interdisciplinary indexes listed below (which are part of the above cluster)
other in-depth subject specific databases (also included within the pre-created clusters) can be used for finding
journal article information. Web pages for specific subject coverages (Views) are found at the bottom right
corner of each page within the Quick Links. You may also choose to see the
subject list or
alphabetic list
of science journal indexes and abstracts.
Interdisciplinary Databases
Web of Science / Science Citation
Index
* Subject Scope: Covers the world's leading scientific and technical journals
in a broad range of disciplines.
* Full Text Available? Yes, links to full text are available through SFX
* Coverage of International Journals? Yes
* Number of Journals Indexed: over 5,600
* Years Of Coverage: 1945 - present
* Example of Journals Indexed in Science Citation Index: Advances in Immunology,
Biophysical Chemistry, Cell, Current Opinion in ..., IEEE journals, Journal
of the American Chemical Society, Nature, Physical Review A-E, Science
* NOTE: Includes the list of references cited in a paper as well as information
on the papers by which an article has been cited.
SCOPUS
* Subject Scope: Covers the world's leading scientific and technical journals
in a broad range of disciplines.
* Full Text Available? Yes, links to full text are available through SFX
* Coverage of International Journals? Yes
* Number of Journals Indexed: over 14,000
* Years Of Coverage: 1966 - present
* Example of Journals Indexed in SCOPUS: Advances in Immunology,
Biophysical Chemistry, Cell, Current Opinion in ..., IEEE journals, Journal
of the American Chemical Society, Nature, Physical Review A-E, Science
* NOTE: Includes the list of references cited in a paper as well as information
on the papers by which an article has been cited. (Not as far back as Web of Science.)
Current Contents
* Subject Scope: Contains tables of contents and bibliographic data from
current issues of the world's leading scholarly research journals in the
sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities.
* Full Text Available? No
* Coverage of International Journals? Yes
* Number of Journals Indexed: over 7,000
* Years Of Coverage: current 18 month only; updated weekly
* Example of Journals Indexed in Current Contents: Accounts of Chemical
Research, ACM Transactions ..., Cell, IEEE Proceedings ..., Journal of the
American Chemical Society, Journal of the American Medical Association,
Nature, Science
* NOTE: Use this database to find the most current research published in
a field. Current Contents provides and alerting
service. If you save a search strategy, the search can be automatically
run each time the database is updated. The results will be sent to you automatically
via e-mail.
General Science Full Text
* Subject Scope:The databasae covers popular science magazines as well as
professional journals in the fields of astronomy, atmospheric science, biology,
chemistry, environmental science, mathematics, medicine, oceanography, physcis,
and zoology. Articles must be at least one column in length to be indexed
by this database.
* Full Text Available? Yes (Full text articles are available for 35 of the
periodicals indexed in the database.)
* Coverage of International Journals? Covers only the United States and
Great Britain
* Number of Journals Indexed: approximately 140
* Years Of Coverage: 1993 - present (abstracts); 1995 - present (full text)
* Example of Journals Indexed in General Science Full Text: New York Times
Science Section, The Ecologist, Nutrition Today, Scientific American, Sky
and Telescope
* NOTE: This is a small database that does not cover very many professional
journals. This database should be used if you want to get a general overview
of a topic, but should not be used for in-depth research or if you wish
to do a comprehensive search of the literature. See the list of subject
databases if you would like to search for literature in a specific subject
area.
Applied
Science and Technology Full Text
* Subject Scope: Subject coverage includes (among others): acoustics, aeronautics,
chemistry, communication and information technology, computing, engineering,
machine learning, mineralogy, physics, solid statePeri technology, space
science, waste management, and othe rindustrial and mechanical arts. Periodical
coverage includes trade and industrial publications, journals issued by
professional and technical societies, and specialized subject periodicals,
as well as special issues such as buyers' guides, directories, and conference
proceedings.
* Full Text Available? Yes
* Coverage of International Journals? Yes; only if publised in English or
if English abstracts are provided
* Number of Journals Indexed: approximately 410
* Years Of Coverage: 1993 - present (abstracts) 1997 - present (full text)
* Example of Journals Indexed in Applied Science & Technology Abstracts:
ACM Transactions, American Journal of Physics, Analytical Chemistry, AT&T
Technical Journal, Chemical Engineering, Chemical Reviews, Electronics Week,
IEEE journals, Science, Water Resources Research
* NOTE: This is a relatively small database consisting primarily of technical
journals, trade publications, and popular level news publications. This
database can be used to find preliminary information on a topic, but should
not be used for a comprehensive search of the literature.
I HAVE A LIST OF CITATIONS AND WOULD LIKE TO OBTAIN
THE ARTICLES.
If you have a citation to an article and you would like to obtain the full
text of the article, there are a few options:
I. Look for online journal subscriptions
II. Enter citation data through Citation Linker
III. Identify paper copies on Orbis
1. Find out if any of the Yale Libraries subscribe to the journal by searching
for the JOURNAL TITLE in ORBIS.
ORBIS will only accept full titles (no abbreviations) so make sure you know
what the title is before performing the search.
2. You can find out a number of things from the ORBIS record:
a. If we subscribe to the journal at
Yale
b. If we have a print and/or electronic
subscription
c. The URL of the journals to which
we subscribe to electronically
d. The holdings information for the
journal (do we have v. 1- present or did we stop subscribing 10 years ago
...)
e. Which library holds the print copy
of the journal
f. The call number for the journal (In
the Kline Science Library, Geology, and Engineering journals are shelved
in call number order, in Chemistry, Math, and Medical they are shelved alphabetically
by title). Before hunting for a journal it is always best to check the ORBIS
record.
3. Journals cannot be checked out of the libraries; however, there are photocopy
machines in each library. The Yale University Libraries charge for photocopies.
Photocopies can be paid for in cash or with a copy card.
See a
video tutorial: Locating a Journal demonstrating the various ways to discover online and paper journals mentioned above.
I WOULD LIKE TO OBTAIN AN ARTICLE (OR BOOK) THAT ISN'T
HELD IN ANY OF THE YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES.
Journal articles and books that are not held in any of the Yale University
Libraries can be requested from a library at another institution via interlibrary
loan.
NOTE: Many books can be requested directly by researchers using the rapid delivery service Borrow Direct.
It can take anywhere from 2 days to 2 months to fill an interlibrary loan
request (esoteric items that are difficult to locate take longer to obtain),
so it is important to plan ahead. If you have a question about the status
of your interlibrary loan request you can ask the interlibrary
loan assistant, a reference librarian or a circulation assistant.
I AM LOOKING FOR INFORMATION ON THE WWW.
Our portal to finding WWW information is the Web Gateway.
NOTE: These tools require additional critical evaluation when compared to peer-reviewed information.
See a
video tutorial: Search the WWW demonstrating the multiple ways (described below) to search the web for science resources. |
