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Online Databases--Electronic periodical indexes In the previous lesson, we discussed how the Library catalog consists of unique records of materials the library owns. While the Library's catalog is an essential tool for identifying titles in the library collection, additional resources are needed to more fully reveal the contents of the library's collection. For example, the library online catalog can confirm that the library owns a particular periodical title for a particular year, but it cannot give you information on the contents of those titles. A periodical index is needed to identify the authors and subjects of articles contained in the periodical. Online databases and periodical indexes provide fuller access to the periodical holdings of Spring Hill College's Library AND for many periodical titles the library does not own. Periodical indexes will not tell you whether or not Spring Hill College Library owns the periodical title. Your professors pick the core titles in each discipline for the Spring hill College periodical collection. Preference is given to academic level journal titles, especially those published by the main professional body in a discipline. Examples: American Sociological Review American Sociological
Association Record Structures In a periodical index, each article has its own record. Each record has particular fields. A typical record for a periodical article in an index has these searchable fields:
Indexes devoted to the specific disciplines may have additional searchable fields that are unique to the knowledge in the area of study. For example, an index to journals in chemistry may included fields for chemical formulas. The ERIC index to journals in education provides more focused searching by including fields indicating the grade level of an article. The ATLA Religion Index has a very useful field for searching by scripture verse. Generally speaking, indexes devoted to specific disciplines require a greater level of searching skill and sophistication. By the time you graduate, though, you should be fairly competent in taking full advantage of the capabilities of discipline specific indexes. Until then, you may wish to begin your search and develop your searching skills by using a multidisciplinary index. Multidisciplinary Indexes Spring Hill College Library subscribes to three main multidisciplinary indexes to more fully reveal the contents of its collection of core periodical titles in each discipline. These databases offer indexing to academic journals in literature, religion, history, psychology, sociology, political science, communications, business, biology, technology, education, mathematics, art and music. These multidisciplinary indexes also offer searching for articles in current popular magazines, major newspapers, industry and trade magazines, reviews of recently published books, and theatre reviews.
How Do I Search an Electronic Index?
If you have determined that the types of sources should cover causes and effects, comparisons/contrast, proof, arguments, predictions, conclusions, hypotheses, most current, in-depth treatment supported by research, then the best place to begin is a multidisciplinary index (You may need to use a discipline specific index at a later point in the process). Searching in electronic indexes poses some special challenges. How do you know which words to use in your search? English has many synonyms, words with almost the same meaning. There are many opportunities for ambiguity in English, in which the meaning of a statement isn't clear and can be interpreted in different ways. Consider-- What's that stuff that plants grow in? Is it soil, dirt, earth, the ground? Librarians and other database producers have tried to solve problems of variety and ambiguity of language by creating controlled vocabulary for subject indexing in databases. They do this by selecting which of many possible terms will be used for each concept in the database. Do not assume that the terms used in one database will be the same in any other. The controlled vocabulary terms are entered into a special field in each record. Controlled vocabulary terms are usually in fields labeled descriptors (DE) or subjects (SU). Another way to find controlled vocabulary terms is to use a thesaurus. A database thesaurus is similar to a language thesaurus. It lists synonyms and indicates relationships among terms. A database thesaurus may be available in print format in the library or electronically. Related Record Searching When you find a record that you like in a database, look
at its descriptor or subject field to find what controlled vocabulary
terms were used to index that record. If any of the terms are appropriate
to your topic, use them to expand your search. You may be able One of the distinct advantages of searching electronic databases is that they allow you to group synonyms and combine concepts for more focused searching. To do this, you need an understanding of Boolean operators-- what they are and how to use them effectively. The next lesson covers this.
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