WISER Science An Overview of E-resources Juliet Ralph, Radcliffe Science Library October 2007

OxLIP Oxford Libraries Information Platform …let’s take a guided tour for Science & Medicine –Key headings –Key resources Especially those we have bought or subscribed to! –There’s a complete A-Z list of all resources on the Title List tab –They are also listed under relevant headings on the main Subject List screen

Library Catalogues and Library Information OLIS - Union Catalogue of Oxford LibrariesOLIS - Union Catalogue of Oxford Libraries to find books & journals OLIS - Union Catalogue of Oxford Libraries World-Wide Library Catalogues World-Wide Library Catalogues Latest Database Acquisitions and TrialsLatest Database Acquisitions and Trials e.g. “Henry Stewart” Talks Latest Database Acquisitions and Trials Online lectures in biomedical science

All Subjects Dictionaries, Encyclopædias and Reference Works Dictionaries, Encyclopædias and Reference Works Electronic Journals and E-books Electronic Journals and E-books General Bibliographic Tools and Publishing Aids General Bibliographic Tools and Publishing Aids Newspapers Official PapersOfficial Papers (inc. sources of statistics) Official Papers OXAM - Oxford Examination Papers Online OXAM - Oxford Examination Papers Online World Wide Web and the Internet World Wide Web and the Internet

Dictionaries, Encyclopædias and Reference Works Dictionaries, Encyclopædias and Reference Works Major reference sources such as Oxford English Dictionary Encylopaedia Britannica Online Oxford Reference Online –quick reference collection, including English and bilingual dictionaries, English grammar & thesaurus, plus subject dictionaries

Plus some specialised ones Encyclopedia of Biodiversity Encyclopedia of Cancer Encyclopedia of Life Sciences Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics Images.MD (medical images) Knovel Critical Tables (chemistry)

General Bibliographic Tools and Publishing Aids General Bibliographic Tools and Publishing Aids British Standards Online –Technical specifications –Current, historic and draft standards –Requires an Athens account even within the Oxford domain Index to Theses –List of theses (with abstracts) accepted for higher degrees by universities in Great Britain and Ireland since 1716 Dissertations & Theses (ProQuest) –doctoral dissertations and master's theses, worldwide, from 1861

Sciences Biological Sciences Biological Sciences Earth & Environmental Sciences Earth & Environmental Sciences History of Science History of Science Medical Sciences Medical Sciences Physical & Mathematical Sciences Physical & Mathematical Sciences Under these headings are listed relevant databases, reference works and e-books, and internet sites

Bibliographic Databases Key tool for literature searching –find journal articles, book chapters, conference proceedings, etc in your subject. Different interfaces but all do a similar job: To list Citations + Abstracts + links to full text if Oxford has access, using + links to full text if Oxford has access, using

Key subject databases Biological Sciences Biological Sciences –BIOSIS (biology & biochemistry) –CAB Abstracts (agriculture & forestry) –Zoological Record Earth & Environmental Sciences Earth & Environmental Sciences –GeoBase (geography) –GeoRef (geology) History of Science History of Science –Historical Abstracts

Medical Sciences Medical Sciences –Medline (medicine) Freely available via PubMed Also via Ovid Web Gateway –AMED (complementary medicine) –Embase (pharmacology) –Global Health –PsycINFO (psychology) –SPORTDiscus (sports medicine)

Physical & Mathematical Sciences Physical & Mathematical SciencesChemistry –Chemical Abstracts (via SciFinder Scholar) Engineering –Compendex Materials –METADEX - Materials Research Database (via CSA) Maths –MathSciNet

Physical & Mathematical Sciences Physical & Mathematical SciencesINSPEC For Physics, Engineering, Computing, Applied Maths, Astronomy …  Coverage includes pure and applied physics, electronics, electrical engineering, communications, computer science, control engineering, information technology and manufacturing, mechanical and production engineering  Indexes approx 4200 journals, 1000 conferences, books, reports, dissertations  Coverage from 1969 onwards

Multidisciplinary databases Web of Knowledge  Web of Science  Arts & Humanities Citation Index,  Science Citation Index Expanded,  Social Science Citation Index, 1956-

Science & Medicine SCOPUS  Contains 4 of those specialist databases:  Compendex  Embase  Geobase  Medline  Plus these datasets: Fluidex ; World Textile Index ; Biobase  journals in total  Also websites and patents  Produced by Elsevier

Databases v Search engines Contents indexed by specialists Subject headings Limits Allow you to: View search history Combine searches Mark & sort results Print/save/ & Export results Save searches Set up alerts Free text searching only No limiting functions None of these!

Getting your hands on the Full Text  If there’s no link from the database…  Check the Oxford e-journals list az az az  Check the Library Catalogue (for books and printed journals)

What if it’s not available in Oxford? Some authors allow unlimited access to their work and if you type the title of the paper into Google you may be able to access a downloadable copy of the paper. Contact the author(s) and ask them to send you a reprint of their paper. Alternatively, use our Inter-Library Loan/Document Supply service!

Managing your references Several packages available: 1. EndNote Either buy a licence from OUCS at Or register for a free (to you) web-based account 2. RefWorks Also free (to you) and web-based Create an account at

Accessing OxLIP resources Direct access from Oxford University network Remote access –Register for a personal Athens account – –If database does not use Athens, install the Virtual Private Network on your pc for access to the University network –

Here to help Queries about e-journals and databases, including access problems Radcliffe Science Library

Or contact your Subject Librarian Bio- & environmental sciences: Life sciences & medicine: Physical sciences: Health Care Libraries: Complete list at

Over to you Try the tutorial for one of these databases: –INSPEC (physical sciences) –Medline (medicine) –SCOPUS (all science & medicine) –PsycINFO (psychology) Go to Select database from the Title List And look for