Accessing Vetted
Scientific Research
Evelyn Smith
MS in Library Science, University of North Texas (2012)
If a blog is user-centered, it needs to consider all avenues by which researchers access information. Accordingly, this researcher has surveyed a more or less random collection of university libraries and found tutorial videos that will help undergraduate students access bibliographic search engines.
Students taking science courses will benefit from this sampling of short online videos that explain bibliographic research tools—Web of Science, PubMed, CSA databases, Science Direct, SciFinder, and Scopus. Studied in conjunction with university library tutorials, these brief films should help clarify most of the more common questions researchers might have about using these databases.
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Tutorial Videos
Citation mapping. Web of Knowledge. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://wokinfo.com/products/_tools/multidisciplinary/webofscience/citmap/
This Web site, complete with video, tells how to track cited references, using color coding to reconfigure citation maps as well as giving the user instructions to allow the access of any Web of Science record. Another link allows the user to search the master journal list.
Instruction. (2011). Marian Koshland Bioscience & Natural Resources Library. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/Bios/biosis_isi_quick_2007.html
This one-stop shopping instructional video and tutorial site from the University of California at Berkeley provides “how to” movies and tutorials on how to access Web of Science, PubMed, CSA databases, EndNote, RefWorks, alerts and RSS feeds, and bioinformatics/structure databases.
PubMed my NCVI tool. (2010, February 16). MIT Tech TV. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/5369_pubmed-myncbi-tool-
MIT video covers how to register for PubMed account, save searches and search strategies, customize how to receive searches, access recent saved searches, and organize and filter results as well as customize use filters.
ScienceDirect tutorial from Baylor University. (2011). Elsevier Training Desk. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://trainingdesk.elsevier.com/ja/node/370
Baylor University video walks researcher through word, author, and journal, using advanced searching, and limiting searches by way of subscribed sources and dates as well as taking the viewer through a sample search.
SciFinder tutorial: Web Version. (2011). CAS. American Chemical Company. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://www.cas.org/support/scifi.tutorials.html
A catalog of reference videos presents various search topics, including those that help with patent searches.
Scopus—Increase your chances of citations. (2009, July 27). ScopusTV. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v-u6bJuQsEXYQ&feature-related
Scopus video illustrates the process of calculating a journal article’s impact factor and offers the warning that a journal’s circulation does not equate with its impact factor.
Tracking a citation using Web of Science. (2009, May 8). MIT Tech TV. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/2699-tracking-a-citation-using-web-of-science
MIT video clarifies why to search for who has cited a paper, why to track citation, and how to deselect and refine searches to reduce results sets.
Web of Science. (2009, May 8). MIT Tech TV. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Libraries. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/2698-web-of-science
MIT video details what is Web of Science, tips for searching—limiting searching by using the default options and sorting by relevance—as well as finding results and getting to the full text.
All the links have been checked. Obviously, this list remains incomplete and is begging for some additions!
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Addendum
See also:
Binkley, Collin. (2015, October 7). For 1st-time MIT’s free online
classes can lead to a degree. Yahoo Tech. Retrieved from https://www.yahoo.com/tech/s/1st-time-mits-free-online-classes-carry-credit-160944911--finance.html
Evelyn,
ReplyDeleteThis is a useful and interesting compilation of resources.
Cristin
Wow! This is quite a listing. I have always found NLM's tutorial videos to be very useful.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bettie. STEM students should find the compilation of University of California Berkeley videos particularly helpful. As you can see, I was trying to put a different spin on "user-centered spaces".
ReplyDeleteThe various tutorials are certainly useful, and seeing a database's interface in a tutorial format could help users become more familiar with the online format.
ReplyDeleteI have always wondered how useful these video tutorials are for users. I know if I have to sit through a 10 minute video when all I want to know is one thing, I become frustrated and don't bother going through the whole video. I would also be interested in how the video transcript is made available for the visually or hearing impaired.
ReplyDeleteGail, very few of the vidoes are ten minutes long, and most only give the highlights of using a particular database. For more detailed information, students will still need to turn to written tutorials.
ReplyDelete