Distance Learning

Searching

Tulane provides hundreds of literature search databases covering various disciplines. They are the products of many different companies, so unfortunately there are many differences in search engines. It can be confusing even for people here on campus to decide which databases to search, and then to become familiar with the ones they choose. So allow quite a few hours, possibly days, to devote to searching. Before discussing the list of Tulane databases, keep in mind these tips which apply to most searching situations:

1. If a summary or description of a database is available, read it to see if it could cover your topic, the type of publications it indexes (whether scholarly, trade publications, newspapers, etc), the company or organization producing it, etc.

2. For a thorough search, try several databases, especially if not finding much. Keep in mind that some journals are indexed in many databases, so you will probably get duplicate references.

3. The "Advanced" or "Guided" search is usually better than a "Basic" or "Quick" search, so choose that if available.

4. Read the "Help" information for each database to get the most effective search results. What truncation or wildcard symbol does this database use to find various endings for a prefix? For example, comput* would pick up the words computer, computers, computational, computed, computerized - another database might use ? or $ for its wildcard symbol. Some databases require caps for the Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT, some read both upper and lower case.

5. Boolean operators - AND, OR, NOT - can be illustrated with a Venn diagram. The Ithaca College Library has a good explanation at http://www.ithaca.edu/library/course/expert.html.

6. Other than MEDLINE (which uses a structured, hierarchical vocabulary) most databases search by keywords found in the title, abstract and sometimes a keyword list. After entering search terms many databases will offer suggested terms you may want to consider. You will get better results if you work with the vocabulary / thesaurus of a specific database. You must remember to use various terms and spelling variations that might cover your concept, such as renal, kidney, nephr*. In addition to the term heavy metals, you would have to list barium, mercury, cobalt or any other specific metals important to your topic.

7. Think in specifics. Don't look for the more general concept of "construction industry safety" if you really want "preventing falls in the construction industry".

8. Divide your topic into separate concepts. Don't enter the statement "preventing falls in the construction industry" in a search engine. Instead enter each of these three concepts (fall OR falls, construction, prevent*) as separate searches and then combine the sets with AND.

9. Be cautious when entering phrases because the computer looks for that exact string of characters. "Black lung" would be an appropriate phrase because it would find a specific condition. However, entering "construction industry" in the search sample above would miss potentially valuable articles using terms like "construction falls", "building construction", "construction worker". Using simply "construction" might pick up some false hits, but would give you a more thorough retrieval.

10. Searching can be easy or complex depending on your topic. You usually do not get a real "answer" to a "question". If not finding enough, you may have to try other related concepts that could be applied to your topic. Perhaps articles on prevention of other types of construction accidents might supplement those specifically on falls. Or remove one concept - forget prevention and try only falls and construction. If you don't get an overwhelming number of hits, browsing 100 or so references will probably yield some good results. If the date of publication is not crucial, search back a few years earlier.

11. As you search different databases, some of your selected references will have full-text articles that you may choose to print on the spot. In most databases, you can mark potentially useful references, then you can either email, save to disk or print your selected citations. We highly recommend that you use a web-based Reference Manager tool, either RefWorks or EndNote Web. These are useful for organizing selected articles in folders. Later these can be used in paper writing to create footnotes and a bibliography. Locate these under Publication Support.

12. If you already have a good article or book chapter on your topic, their bibliographies may be a good source of related references. Some databases have a link to related articles.

The Reference staff is available weekdays 8 - 5 (CST). If you need assistance with a search, feel free to call us at (504) 988-5155. Help is also available via email when you Ask a Librarian or medref@tulane.edu. Please mention that you are a distance student.

Back to Distance Learning: Navigating the Electronic Literature Maze