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SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION STRATEGIES FOR RETRIEVAL

SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION STRATEGIES FOR RETRIEVAL. HSMP 2011-12. Why?. Effective searching for pertinent information All essential, key information Without irrelevant side-tracks. What?. General information, broad subjects Books, review articles Specific information, recent developments

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SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION STRATEGIES FOR RETRIEVAL

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  1. SCIENTIFIC INFORMATIONSTRATEGIES FOR RETRIEVAL HSMP 2011-12

  2. Why? Effective searching for pertinent information All essential, key information Without irrelevant side-tracks

  3. What? General information, broad subjects Books, review articles Specific information, recent developments Articles Statistics Websites - reports

  4. Resources for the selection • Internet search engines • Websites of international organizations • Bibliographic databases Relevance - Thoroughness – Invisible - Deep web – Integrity - Reliability - Up-to-dateness - Repeatability

  5. Search engines Google http://www.google.com/ Bing http://www.bing.com/ Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com/

  6. Google Scholar • Combines search engine characteristics with database features • Searches scientific literature instead of websites • Relevance ranking, citation analysis • Offers links to the full text (provided you have access rights) http://scholar.google.com/

  7. International organizations and agencies WHO http://www.who.int/en/ UNDP http://www.undp.org/ World Bank http://www.worldbank.org/ UNAIDS http://www.unaids.org/en/ CDC http://www.cdc.gov/ CIA – World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/ Integrity, Stability, Currency, Full Text

  8. Bibliographic databases • Cover clearly defined subject areas • Structured bibliographic descriptionscontaining a number of searchable fields (author, title, journal,…) • Search toolscomprise thesaurus (hierarchically arranged list of keywords) and alphabetical index(es)

  9. Search strategies: Where to start? 1. Select an appropriate database Criteria: - scope: time frame and subjects covered - full text accessibility (print, PDF…) - document types included

  10. Search strategies: Where to start? • ITM catalogues and databases • ITG Book and Document Holdings • ITG Student Dissertations • ITG Staff Publications • Tropical Endemic Diseases Control • Health Care in Developing Countries See: ‘http://lib.itg.be/datab.htm’

  11. Search strategies: Where to start? • ITM catalogues and databases • Produced by ITM library staff • Relatively small; i.e. 5,000-20,000 records • Limited to relevant topics and collections • Focus on developing countries’ issues • All document types are included (books, articles, grey literature…) • Full text is available in the ITM library + link to electronic full text (DOI) • Free keywords, no thesaurus

  12. Search strategies: Where to start? • Medline/Pubmed • Major database in biomedical and allied life sciences • 1950 to the present • Articles only • Anglosaxon bias • Local or Third World journals underrepresented • No relationship whatsoever with ITM collection • Pubmed Tutorials! • Next week: How to search Pubmed

  13. Search strategies: Where to start? • Other databases • Global Health (CABI) subscription-based • Popline free • Lilacs [Latin America!] free See: ‘http://lib.itg.be/datab.htm’

  14. Search strategies: Type of information 2. Choose the right search strategy Reference or location of specific document(s)  strategy A or More or less extensive literature survey on a topic  strategy B

  15. Search strategies: Strategy A Strategy A: Find (a) specific document(s) • Determine the most characteristic elements (E.g. author, word in title, periodical, publisher) • Enter search terms in the appropriate fields (advanced search) • Use the indexes to verify spelling

  16. Search strategies: Strategy A • Are the following books in the ITM library? If so, where can you find them? • Green A. An introduction to health planning in developing countries; 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007: 397 pp. • Preker AS, Carrin G, editors. Health financing for poor people; resource mobilization and risk sharing. Washington: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank; Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO); Geneva: International Labour Office (ILO), 2004: 446 pp. • Select the appropriate database • What specific elements distinguish this reference from most others? • Specify the appropriate fields if necessary • Look for the location coordinates

  17. Search strategies: Strategy A • Generate a list of ITM memoirssince1995concerningRwanda • Log in to Webspirs(http://lib.itg.be/version.htm) • Select the appropriatedatabase • Enter Rwanda in the Keywords index • Enter 1995 in the Publication Date index and select everyyearuntil 2011 – Click « Searchmarked » • Go to Searchhistoryand combine searchresults

  18. Search strategies: Strategy A • Find the followingreferences • anarticleon aninsurance system in Ugandatowhich B. Crielcontributed • anarticlefrom2009on the impact of decentralization of health care on district level health personnelin Indonesia • a bookon the history of trypanosomiasisin Central AfricapublishedbyCambridge University

  19. Search strategies: Strategy B Strategy B: Literature survey on a topic • Describe the topic or research area • Start with 1 or 2 essential search terms; use the thesaurus and/or keyword index (if available and relevant) • Determine the logical relationship between the selected terms and combine those terms or search sets using Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT • Evaluate the results: • Look for “better” terms if the results are unsatisfactory • Add extra terms if the result sets are to large • Try broader terms if they are to small • Set limits (language, publication year, publication type, availability) where relevant

  20. Search strategies: Strategy B Some extra tips • Startwith the essential, continue in logicalsteps • Do not use searchtermsthat are alreadyobvious • Someveryspecifictermsare bettersearched in « free text », other, broadertermsthrough the thesaurusand/or the indexes • Think about synonymsand alternative spellings • Wildcards(*) canincreaseusefulresults • Avoidcomplex, nestedsearch sets, trycombiningclearsearch sets instead • Watch out whenusing « NOT », some relevant materialmaybeexcludedalongwith the superfluous

  21. Search strategies: Strategy B Find some references on safe motherhood and availability of emergency obstetric care or competent midwives

  22. Full Text • Digital, on the Internet? • On paper, in the ITM library?

  23. Full Text – Digital Access E-journals • Most journal websites now offer a digital, full-text edition of the original printed version (but still not all). • Most journal websites are limited in time coverage (e.g. last 5-10 years) • Different access policies: • Free for all (Open Access, free, with or without embargo) • Free for print-subscribers • Electronic edition at extra cost • Electronic edition only (subscription-based or Open Access)

  24. Full Text – Digital Access E-journals lists • ITMhttp://lib.itg.be/journals.htm • Selected full-text journals • Complete list of over 10,000 full-text journals • Various portals: e.g. FreeMedicalJournals.com, HighWire Press Free Online Full-text Articles, FreeFullText.com, …

  25. Full Text – Digital Access Open Access initiatives • HINARI – Health Internetwork: special access conditions for developing countries (2 groups: free or ‘low price’). • PubMed Central: free access to established journals after 6 months. • BMC - BioMed Central: a series of freely available new electronic-only peer reviewed journals, financed by author fees. • PLoS - Public Library of Science: ‘author pays’ journals, e.g. PLoS Biology, PLoS Medicine, ... • TropMed Central Antwerp: digital repository of ITM staff publications (2000-…)

  26. Full Text – Digital Access Linking database records and full-text articles • Journal level: • Check “Full Text Options” in ITG Serials Holding database • Article level: • Webspirs: Full text link (PDF)in bibliographic record • PubMed: (only via http://lib.itg.be/datab.htm!)

  27. Full Text – Print Version How to locate documents at the ITM library? • Journal articles • Copy or print all relevant data • Journal and Year are essential ! • All periodicals are arranged alphabetically • Recent issues: upper floor • Older, bound volumes: lower floor

  28. Full Text – Print Version How to locate documents at the ITM library? • Books • Copy or print all relevant data • Book Code and Year are essential! • The ITM books are arranged systematically

  29. Full Text – Print Version How to locate documents at the ITM library? • ITM memoirs • Consult the printed lists or the ITG Student Dissertations Database • See Collections (e.g. ‘CIPS’) and Volume (call number, ‘M1032’) for the correct identification • Download or request at the library counter (registration!)

  30. Full Text – Print Version How to locate documents at the ITM library? • Grey literature • Search ITG Books Catalog • Check Series Title for identification • See holdings information: • This document can be obtained at the ITG Library counter • This document is in the periodicals section (Issue) • This document is in the reference section (Statistical & country information) – See: shelves next to the library computers

  31. Selection of useful websites ITM Library http://lib.itg.be Databases PubMed http://www.pubmed.org PubMed Central http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov Scielo – Scientific Electronic Library Online http://www.scielo.org WHO Library Database WHOLIS http://www.who.int/library/ BioMed Central http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/ Free Medical Journals http://www.freemedicaljournals.com Open Access Projects HighWire • Free Access to Developing Economies: http://highwire.stanford.edu/lists/devecon.dtl • Free Online Full-text Articles: http://highwire.stanford.edu/lists/freeart.dtl HINARI http://www.healthinternetwork.org INASP – International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications: http://www.inasp.org.uk

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