Science Library Updates

Three databases hosted by EbscoHOST -- MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and PsycArticles, have recently added a "Visual Search" feature. Visual Searching allows you to start with a broad topic and narrow your results by looking at a map of clusters of related topics. This is very useful for those who may be more visual thinkers rather than linear thinkers, and it gives everyone a new look into searching strategies and the relationships between documents.

NOTE: You must have Java to use this tool.

To begin a Visual Search, go to one of the databases mentioned above. At the top of the screen, click on the "Visual Search" tab. Type your search in the "Find" text box.

Check out this resource on these databases! A tutorial for this feature is available at http://support.epnet.com/training/flash_videos/VisualSearch.html.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 1:34 PM | Permalink

Because of an overload of spam, this blog will no longer accept trackbacks. I apologize to anyone outside of W&L who wishes to legally trackback, but this seems to be occuring more frequently.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 8:41 AM | Permalink

In addition to Scopus' new Citation Tracker, they have released the first version of the Scopus Author Identifier. This tool allows you to search for a particular author, then determine that author's affiliation, variations of name or name changes, and browse past co-authors. This is a particularly helpful tool when looking up authors with very common last names. Too see a demo of this tool, go to the "Scopus Author Identifier" overview demonstration.

UPDATE: Our Elsevier representative has sent me a PowerPoint presentation detailing how to use this new feature. It is available at http://library.wlu.edu/science/authorprof6.ppt.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 8:33 AM | Permalink

The University of Maryland's Physics Education Research Group has a website dedicated to a multi-university project designed to reform physics education: Activity-Based Physics. The site includes ideas, papers, and tutorials from other educators that will help physics instructors brainstorm about creative ways to teach physics.

From the website:

Activity-Based Physics is a multi-university project to sustain and enhance current efforts to render introductory physics courses more effective and exciting at both the secondary and college level. This program represents a multi-university collaborative effort by a team of educational reformers to use the outcomes of physics education research along with flexible computer tools to promote activity-based models of physics instruction. This multifaceted program includes the refinement of existing written materials, apparatus, instructional techniques, and computer software and hardware; the creation of new instructional materials and approaches; and dissemination. The refinement and development of new instructional strategies and materials will be informed by a comprehensive program of classroom testing and educational research.

Check out the website and see some interesting new ideas.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 10:19 AM | Permalink

Scopus has a new feature: Citation Tracker. Simply perform an Author Search in Scopus, then click the "Citation Overview" button to see a breakdown of how that author has been cited in the past.

This function is comparable to Web of Science's Cited Reference searching, which is the standard in citation searching. To find out more on how to use Citation Tracker, see the information page. This function has been added to W&L's list of electronic resources as Scopus Citation Tracker, at http://library.wlu.edu/details.asp?resid=907.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 9:41 AM | Permalink

Some of you may have noticed that the blog was down on Friday afternoon. All is well, now. Just a minor glitch in the root path. We're back in business!

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 4:55 PM | Permalink

Many students use Google Scholar, for better or worse, to search for journal literature for their research. Maybe some of the faculty do, as well. If you use RefWorks, W&L's web-based bibliographic software, you can now export citations directly from a Google Scholar results page. From the April 2006 RefWorks press release:

Google Scholar Provides Direct Export Capability

RefWorks Users can now set an export preference to send data from Google Scholar to their RefWorks account with the click of a button.

To set this feature up in Google Scholar:

1. From the Google Scholar search page, click on the Scholars Preferences link..

2. Scroll down to the Bibliography Manager section.

3. Select Show Links to Import into and select RefWorks from the drop-down.

4. Click Save Preferences.

To initate a direct export to RefWorks:

1. Conduct your search in Google Scholar

2. Each record displayed will have an Import into RefWorks link. Clicking on the link will launch the RefWorks login page.

3. Once you log in, you are brought automatically to the Edit view of the reference. If you do not wish to edit the record, you can navigate to any other area of RefWorks.

4. Your record is stored in your Last Imported Folder.

Try creating a Google account if you don't already have one. Your Scholar Preferences should be saved in your profile.

Posted by Mary Abdoney at 10:52 AM | Permalink