1 BSCI Biological Diversity Mary Lee Jensen Liaison Librarian for family and consumer or

2 Session Goals Introduce you to KentLINK and OhioLINK for finding books Review the characteristics of primary literature in the sciences Describe the peer-review process Introduce database searching strategies Highlight additional library services

3 KentLINK The online catalog for Kent State University Allows you to find books, reports, videos and other media Let’s you locate materials in 6 campus libraries (including Chemistry/Physics) and 7 regional libraries Let’s you renew books you have checked out

4 Primary Literature - Article Format Introduction or Literature survey Methodology or Materials and Methods Data or Results Discussion or Interpretation Conclusion Bibliography

5 Crafting Effective Research Statements Features Available in Most Research Databases

6 Common Searching Features Keyword/Controlled vocabulary Boolean Operators/Connectors Phrase searching Truncation

7 Keyword Searching

8 Controlled Vocabulary

9 Boolean Operators Examples from L. Rich

10 “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”

11 Cautions about Phrase Searching Phrase searching in databases is not the same as the Web If you type: impact of invasive species on ecosystems in Google you will get 100,000 hits because Google looks for each word separately

12 Cautions about Phrase Searching If you type: impact of invasive species on ecosystems in KentLINK or in a database, you might get zero results, because you are asking the system to look for that EXACT phrase

13 Instead use Boolean Logic: “invasive species” AND ecosystems loosestrife AND (ponds or lakes) “zebra mussels” AND “lake erie”

14 Truncation: To Get Word Variations Truncation makes it easier for you to get all variations of a word. Some systems use the asterisk * to truncate example: Academic Search Premier Some use the dollar sign $ example: Biological Abstracts

15 Truncation: To Get Word Variations coast* retrieves coast coasts coastal labo$r retrieves labor, labour, laborer biolog$ retrieves biology biological

16 Revising Your Search: Use Booleans to Your Advantage Too many hits on your topic? Add another search term with AND. Too many hits on an unrelated topic? Eliminate a word with NOT. Too few hits on your topic? Add another search term OR.

17 Additional Database Features Limiting Date Language Document type (article, book, review, etc.) More options, depending on the database Mark relevant records Printing Downloading

18 Sample search Is there a relationship between the availability of food or feeding behavior and aggression in birds?

19 Sample Search - Concepts Concept 1 Boolean Connector Concept 2 Boolean Connector Concept 3 Food$ OR Feed$ AND Aggress$ AND Bird$ OR Aves OR Avian$

20 Sample Search - Strategy (feed$ or food$) and aggress$ and (bird$ or aves or avian$)

21 Primary Literature – Peer Review Process Original research Written by scholars Journals have an editorial board Manuscripts undergo peer-review process Evaluation by other experts in the same field Soundness of methodology, results, conclusion Suggestions for subsequent revision(s) Final acceptance for publication

22 Primary Literature - Characteristics AudienceStudents Scholars AuthorsScholars (university-based) Credentials listed and relate to subject of article Overall AppearanceCharts and graphs Many pages Few ads; very professional DocumentationFootnotes Bibliography

23 Primary Literature - Characteristics PurposeReport original research Discipline-related content Focus, narrow AuthorityEditorial Review Board Peer-review process FrequencyOften quarterly May also be weekly ExamplesAmerican Journal of Botany Science Nature

24 Where to Search Article indexes/Research databases ( Biological Sciences ( ) Nursing ( ) Electronic Journal Center ( JSTOR (

25 Article Indexes/Research Databases Access Science Biological Abstracts Academic Search Premier Biological and Agricultural Abstracts

26 Electronic Journals (Full-text) Electronic Journal Center ( Current coverage Early 1990’s - present JSTOR ( Historical coverage Back to 19 th century (depends on title)

27 Library Services Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery ( PERCs ( Ask A Librarian ( 60-Minute Seminars (

28 Conclusion Many resources Many opportunities for assistance…just ask! Please take this brief survey!