PsycINFO and Web of Science Searching Tips
To access databases, go to the Databases. Choose from the alphabetical list or the drop-down list
of subject areas (choose Psychology).
PsycINFO
Limiting is a very important feature in PsycINFO. In the upper
right hand corner of the screen, there is a link to Change the search
limits. Consider limiting by publication date (there is an option to
limit the search to articles with a Publication Year greater than 1997).
Also consider limiting by Language (i.e. English) or Document Type
(i.e. Peer Reviewed Journal). Other limiting options are available. Select
the appropriate limits and click OK to apply them to the search.
The Advanced search (one of the tabs at the top of the screen)
allows you to search for Terms anywhere in the article record
or search for keywords in specific fields (Author, Title, etc.) using the
drop-down menu. Combine terms using the available AND option for best
results.
To identify useful search terms, try breaking down the topic into specific
components and then identify related or synonymous terms that can also be
used in the search. PsycINFO provides two resources that are helpful when
selecting search terms: the Thesaurus and the Index (Thesaurus
terms appear in article records as Descriptors). The Search History
is useful for keeping track of previous searches.
When viewing search results, click on the Complete Record link
for more information about the article, including an Abstract and the
relevant Descriptors. To locate the full-text of an article in either
paper or electronic format, click on the Find Text at NCSU button.
Note that on the right side of the screen, in the middle, there are options
to E-mail, Print, or Save references from PsycINFO (be sure to specify
the Complete Record, including the abstract).
Web of Science (Social Sciences Citation Index)
Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) is one part of the Web
of Science (it also includes Science Citation Index and Arts & Humanities
Citation Index). This database is unique because it can track bibliographies
and citation patterns (what articles have been cited most frequently by researchers,
etc.).
You can search all three components, or just SSCI, which goes back to
1956. Try starting with a General Search, although if needed the Cited
Ref Search allows you to search for articles that cite a particular author
or article.
When viewing search results, click on the title of the article for additional
information (frequently this includes an abstract). Cited References
is that article's bibliography. Times Cited is the number of times
that article has been cited by other scholars. Related Records is a
list of articles whose bibliographies include at least one of the sources
cited by the original article (articles with the highest number of related
records are listed first). Click on the links for the specific citations.
Librarian Contact Information
No results.
|
