Journal databases
Learning objectives
On completion of this module, you will be able to:
- search a database using descriptors
- use an online thesaurus
- search an author index
- create a list of marked records
- download search results to EndNote.
This module is designed to help you search the journal databases available to the UNE researcher.
We will focus on the journal databases hosted on the CSA Illumina and Informit platforms. The techniques learned in this module can be applied across many other databases.
Comparing a range of databases
Your choice of database will depend on the topic of your research. Investigating the databases on offer, talking with your Faculty Librarian or consulting your supervisor can quickly point you in the right direction.
CSA Illumina
The CSA Illumina platform hosts a number of separate databases.
- To make your choice, click on the Select Specific Databases from the initial CSA Illumina page.
- Click on the
icon to see a full description of the database. - Select the database you wish to search by clicking in the check box next to the database name.
- Click on Continue to Search.
- CSA Illumina allows you to search more than one database at once by clicking on multiple check boxes.
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Figure 1: CSA Illumina database menu
Keyword search
Before we search CSA Illumina, we need to determine the correct keywords and the choice of databases.
As an example, let's search for information on the greenhouse effect. Close synonyms for the greenhouse effect include global warming and climate change.
The appropriate databases for this search include: Biological Sciences, Biology Digest and BioOne Full-Text.
To search for articles on the greenhouse effect, follow these steps:
- Go the CSA Illumina database menu
- Enter your username and password when prompted.
- Click on Select Database.
- Click in the check boxes next to the following databases: Biological Sciences
Biology Digest, BioOne Full-Text. - Click on Continue to Search. You will now see the Advanced Search window (Figure 2)
- Enter the phrase greenhouse effect in the first box on the top line.
- Enter the phrase climate change in the second search box on the same line.
- Enter the phrase global warming in the third search box on the same line.
- Limit the search to the last two years by selecting the Date Range: 2005 to 2006.
- Click on Search.CSA Illumina will take you to a list of matching entries.
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Figure 2: CSA Illumina Advanced Search window
This search should take you to over 1300 results in peer-reviewed journals alone. You can also narrow down your search by using the pull-down menus to the right of the search boxes.
These allow you to limit the search by the following:
- Keyword, KW
- Author, AU
- Journal Name, JN
- Descriptor, DE
- Abstract, AU
- Title, TI.
Restricting your search using the Descriptor field (DE) is most useful when your keywords return too many articles and you need to narrow your search.
Let's look how this is done in greater detail.
Subject searching
The Descriptors, DE option allows you to make use of a database's controlled vocabulary. Controlled vocabularies permit greater precision in your searches, allowing you to find articles on your precise topic.
If we click on edit search, we can rerun our search after changing Anywhere to Descriptor, DE in the pull-down menu box to the right.
Running the search again results in a smaller number of results: less than two hundred.
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Figure 3: Using Descriptor, DE to limit a search
Thesaurus Searching
Often the correct descriptors are not obvious. If the database you are using has a thesaurus, you can use this to find the exact descriptor. To run a search based on a Thesaurus term in CSA Illumina:
- Click on the Search tools tab at the top of the CSA Illumina screen.
- Select Thesaurus from the tabs which appear.
- Select the appropriate thesaurus from the pull-down menu, eg Life Sciences Thesaurus (English).
- Enter a keyword in the Browse thesaurus for box, eg greenhouse effect.
- Click in the Hierarchy display radio button.
- Click on Go. CSA Illumina will display a list of matching terms.
- Click on check box next to the terms which match your subject.
- Click on the Use OR to broaden radio button under the words New Search Using Marked Terms.
- Click on the Search button.
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Figure 4: The Thesaurus display
Note: Thesaurus terms are specific to a database. To use a thesaurus search, you should search one database at a time.
Links
When CSA Illumina displays a list of search results, it includes a number of active links in each entry.
Links in a record
Records contain a number of links:
- Clicking on the article title will take you to the full record for that article, including the complete abstract.
- Clicking on the name of an author will take you to a list of other articles by that author.
- If the database you are using has a Thesaurus, the descriptors will be displayed as active links.
- In indexes with full-text linking, there will also be a link to content in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) or HTML format.
- There will also be a Find-It button that will allow you to check elsewhere in our collection for full-text.
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Figure 5: Links in a record
Wildcards and truncation
Wildcard symbols can be used in CSA Illumina to expand your search. These symbols can be used to modify keywords in the Advanced Search window.
- The * symbol expands a search term to include all forms of a root word: austral* will find australia, australian, australia's or australasian. The same symbol can be used to indicate different spellings: behavi*r finds behaviour or behavior.
- The ? symbol can also be used for words with different spelling: wom?n finds women or woman, carbon fib?? finds carbon fiber or carbon fibre. Note: ? represents a single letter, ?? two letters and ??? represents three characters.
Author searching using the Index
Author names are often cited in different ways. Some indexes use forenames, some initials only. A few use either.
Many of the indexes hosted on CSA Illumina include an author index which allows you to find author. Our next example uses the name of a George A Kaplan, and Sociological Abstracts.
To change to Sociological Abstracts, click on the Specific Databases link below the Advanced Search window.
- Deselect any other databases and click in the check box next to Sociological Abstracts.
- Click on Continue to Search.
- Click on the Search Tools tab, then the Indexes tab.
- Select Sociological Abstracts Author Index from the pull-down menu.
- Enter the family name of the author you require, in this case, Kaplan.
- Click the Go button.
- Click the box opposite each possible entry for your author to select these choices.
- Click the Go button.
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Figure 6: Author searching
Marking records
When CSA Illumina displays the results of your search, you are able to mark records for later use. To do so:
- Click in the check box next next to a record to mark that record or click on Mark all on page.
- Click on Marked Records to view and edit your list.
- To save, print or email the contents of your list, click on Save, Print, Email and follow the directions.
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Figure 7: Options for printing, saving and emailing marked records
Saving searches to EndNote
CSA Illumina, like many database platforms, allows you to save the results of your search to EndNote.
To save the results of your search to EndNote:
- Click on Save, Print, Email.
- Click on the Marked List radio button to save marked items only or choose to save a range of entries from your search results, eg from 1 to 500.
- Choose Full format from the pull-down menu.
- Click in the relevant File format radio button (the choices are PC, Macintosh, Unix).
- Click on Save. Illumina will download your search results to your desktop.
 | Importing records from CSA Illumina into EndNote Once you have created a marked list in a CSA database, you can import the selected records into EndNote. Click on the Play button below to find out how.  |
More Help
Most indexes have online help. CSA Illumina is no exception. To access the online help files, click on the Help & Support link on the upper right hand of the screen .
Informit
Informit is a collection of databases that index and abstract a range of Australian publications. If your topic relates to almost any aspect of Australian society, you will find the Informit databases extremely useful.
Subject areas covered include: public affairs, law, criminology, policing, family studies, health, education, history, Indigenous peoples, heritage, business, economics, management, engineering, environment, agriculture and Asian resources.
Many Informit databases are abstracting and indexing databases with links to Web-based full-text materials. A+ Education, AGIS Plus Text, APA-FT, Family & Society Plus and Meditext are all full-text databases which include thousands of articles in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format.
Searching Informit
- Go to the Informit database menu (Figure 8).
- Enter your UNE username and password when prompted.
- Click in the check boxes next to databases you wish to search and then click on Continue.
If you don't know which database to search, click on the More Information link for a description of each database. Another option is to click on the Find Relevant Databases tab and perform a simple keyword search. Informit will show you which databases include information on your topic
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Figure 8: The Informit database menu
Search
The Informit search interface works much the same way as the Advanced Search interface in CSA Illumina. Enter terms or phrases into the boxes provided, selecting from drop-down options for Boolean operators (AND, OR and NOT), and fields to search. You can also limit your search to Full Content Records (full text) or by Date Range .
Wildcards and Truncation
The wildcard * with a number can stand for one or more letters: dra*3t will find draft or draught. The same wildcard * is also used to indicate truncation: aborigin* retrieves aborigines, aboriginal, aboriginality and so on.
Author searches
To search for an author click on the Indexes tab on the right, and then use the drop-down arrow and choose All Author fields. Type an author surname such as kaplan into the search window and click on Browse Term.
When the results are displayed, tick the boxes to the left of the relevant matches and then click on the Search Checked button.
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Figure 9: Author searching
Thesaurus
This function is available in specific Infomit databases. It allows you to search controlled subject headings including broader, narrower and related terms to retrieve highly relevant results.
To find the correct thesaurus item:
- Click on the Thesauri tab at the right
- Choose the relevant thesaurus from the drop-down menu..
- Enter the your keyword or phrase in the Search Subject Terms: box.
- Click on Search Thesaurus. Informit will display any matching terms in the Search Term box.
To know more about a particular thesaurus term, click on the term in the Search Term box. This will display any related terms.
Clicking on a related term will take you to additional information.
To retrieve all entries in the database which include a particular term, click on the Search Subject button when the required term is displayed next to the words Browse Term: (Fig 10).
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Figure 10: The Informit Thesaurus
Remember that if you limit your search to thesaurus terms, it is better to search databases individually, as each database has its own thesaurus.
Viewing your results
After performing a search, the results are displayed on the left side of the screen. To view the full text of an article, click on the link to Full Text under the record. If no link to full-text content is displayed, use the Find it icon to check if we hold it elsewhere.
Search histories
Click on the Manage Search History on the top right of the Informit screen. This takes you to a screen which allows you to view, combine, re-use or remove search results.
You can combine search terms by clicking in the check boxes next to each search and then clicking on one of the three options: Re-use checked, Combine using AND or Combine using OR.
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Figure 11: Combining searches
Marking records
To make your own list of article citations, click in the box next to each record in the list of search results.
To see your list of marked records, click on View Selected above your results list.
You can Save, Print or Email your marked list of results by clicking on the appropriate button.
Saving your Informit results to EndNote
To save the results of your search to EndNote, follow these steps:
- Mark the records you wish to save.
- Click on View Selected
- Click on Save.
- Click in the appropriate check box under the words Records to Save (usually Marked Records).
- Select Complete Record from the Fields to Save pull-down menu.
- Deselect Save Search History by clicking in the check box.
- Choose EndNote Direct from the Output Format pull-down menu.
- Click on Save Records.
- Nominate the EndNote library in which you wish to place your records.
- Click on Open in the Task Panel that appears.
Remember to edit any references you load into your EndNote library.
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Online Help
To access the online help for Informit from the Search Screen, click on the Help link at the top of the screen.
Logging Out
When you have finished using Informit, click on Logout at the top right of the screen.
Summary
This module is dealt with the following topics:
- using descriptors
- using an online thesaurus
- searching an author index
- creating a list of marked records
- downloading search results to EndNote.
 | Self-test Try these quick self-test questions to assess what you have learnt from this module. |