Finding, citing & evaluating databases: Finding 2: OneSearch

OneSearch

In the reading on Evaluation, I wrote:

Back in the dark ages when I was an undergraduate, sources were hard to find but easy to evaluate. Students these days have the opposite problem. Sources are very easy to find, but can be very hard to evaluate.

While sources are very easy to find, finding the types of sources your professor wants you  to use can be difficult for a number of reasons:

• you don’t know where to look
• you don’t know the best library database  for your topic
• you don’t know what a library database is (much less how to use it)
• you don’t really know what the professor wants
• you really just want to use Google and Wikipedia and be done with it

We’ve tried to simplify the process in several ways:

• the Library  website has a list of databases arranged by title and by subject.
  • On the Library’s home page, click on the blue pancakes icon (center).
    • Choose the subject area closest to your topic
    • The most important databases in that subject are listed at the top
• We create subject and class specific guides, called Libguides, that suggest the best databases for a specific subject areas.

While these lists and guides can be useful, they don’t always help:

• we have over 235 databases, but we only refer to a small number on any given guide.
• if you’re doing research that is interdisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, or multidisciplinary ;for example, a B.I.S capstone project, you may need to look in three or four or more databases, plus a scholarly search engine such as Google Scholar.

Over the past few years, companies have responded to this problem by developing discovery systems.  In the simplest terms, a discovery system encompasses most of a library’s information – books, articles, streaming music and videos, and digitized information from the University’s Archives and Special Collections.  (This means you can find primary documents from Special Collections & Archives that have been digitized.)

Stewart Library has implemented  a discovery system we’re calling OneSearch.  The company calls the system Summon, which you may see occasionally.

Using OneSearch  

OneSearch URL:   http://onesearch.weber.edu  or find a search box in the center  of the library’s home page.

NOTE:  if you are searching off-campus ALWAYS click on the small OneSearch link under the search box.  You must sign in from off-campus if you want to find the fulltext articles.

The OneSearch search box is similar to other search boxes.  (Click on the image to enlarge.)

 

 

If you’re off campus, OneSearch works a bit differently from our other databases.  You can do a search and read through the results (citations & abstracts) without typing in your WSU user name and password.   When you click on a “Find Fulltext”  link OneSearch will  asked for your user name & password then.

HOWEVER, the problem with searching without logging in is that you’ll miss things from a number of our subject databases such as PsycInfo, Econlit, MLA Bibliography and America:  History and Life.   These (and a few others) are  indexing and abstracting databases.  That means all you get is a citation and abstract or summary and if you’re lucky, a link to an article in another database.

If you’re off-campus, you have to log in before OneSearch will search any of the indexing and abstracting databases.  Since they include the most important subject databases in many areas, just log in and you won’t have to worry about it.

OFF CAMPUS?  BE SURE TO LOG IN BY CLICKING ON THE LINK IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER.  Ignore the log in link on the upper right hand corner.

RATHER WATCH A VIDEO THAN READ?  FOLLOW THIS ONESEARCH LINK FOR A VIDEO VERSION.

Once you’ve done a search, you’ll get a result screen.  On the left side, there’s a menu you can use to limit your search in various ways. The right side is the preview pane.  As you mouse over a title,  you’ll see information about the source appear. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

Need to narrow your search?  Use the limits from the menu on the left side.  You can narrow by date, by peer review, by journal article or subject matter.  The numbers after each option indicate the number of sources left when you use that limit.

When should you use OneSearch?  It’s best for lower level research and research where an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approach is needed or when you haven’t found anything using our other databases.

OneSearch is also good for searching databases we don’t own:  databases owned by other schools who use the same system can be searched if you check the “include results from outside your library’s collection.”

If you want to use OneSearch to search for materials for advanced classes, be sure to use the Advanced Search feature.  Find it by clicking the icon (it changes depending on the browser you’re using) to the right of the Search button on the basic search page.

Doing advanced work?  Figure out the best databases in your field and use them directly.  Individual databases will always have more powerful search features and take you to good articles more directly