A method is described to empower students to efficiently perform general and specific literature searches using online resources. The method was tested on undergraduate and graduate students with varying backgrounds in scientific literature. Students involved in this study showed marked improvement in their awareness of how and where to find accurate scientific information.
REFERENCES
1.
University of California Berkeley, “
Teaching library internet workshops
,” ⟨www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/FindInfo.html⟩.2.
D.
Hirst
, “Conducting a literature search
,” ⟨www.mace.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/informationcentre/informationskills/searchguides/guideforstudents.pdf⟩.3.
N.
Espinoza
, A.
Rincon
, and B.
Chacin
, “Use of web-based tools by health sciences professionals at a Venezuelan university for searching scientific literature. A cross-sectional study
,” Profesional de La Información
15
, 28
–33
(2006
).4.
See ⟨www.isiknowledge.com⟩.
5.
For a supplemental search of the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) database via SciFinder Scholar, see ⟨www.centenary.edu/attachments/physics/tmessina/litsearch/literaturesearchs i01.pdf⟩.
6.
C. G.
Smith
, A. S.
Herzka
, J. F.
Wenz
, and E. P.
Henze
, “Searching the medical literature
,” Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res.
421
, 43
–49
(2004
).7.
See ⟨www.scholar.google.com⟩.
8.
Text appearing in typewriter font indicates search strings used in online databases.
9.
Careful attention must be paid to work done at different stages of an author’s career because academics often change institutions.
10.
J. E.
Hirsch
, “An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output
,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
102
, 16569
–16572
(2005
).11.
L.
Bornmann
and H. -D.
Daniel
, “Does the h-index for ranking of scientists really work?
,” Scientometrics
65
, 391
–392
(2005
).12.
M. G.
Banks
, “An extension of the Hirsch index: Indexing scientific topics and compounds
,” Scientometrics
69
, 161
–168
(2006
).13.
If the prestige of a journal is unknown, we can estimate the journal’s overall impact by analyzing its -index in analogy to the -index of an individual.
14.
All search results were found in late December
2007
and will have changed by the time of the publication of this article.15.
Editorial, “
The aim of a good introduction
,” ⟨prl.aps.org/edannounce/PRLv95i17.html⟩.© 2009 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2009
American Association of Physics Teachers
AAPT members receive access to the American Journal of Physics and The Physics Teacher as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.