Goal:

• To show how to use GeoRef and Science Citation Index to find relevant articles for class project.
• Along the way, show how to do literature searches
• Also, show how to avoid unintentional PLAGIARISM.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GEOREF
SCIENCE CITATION INDEX
OTHER LIBRARY DATABASES AND RESOURCES
OBTAINING COPIES OF PAPERS
BROWSING AS A WAY TO FIND PAPERS
PLAGIARISM: HOW TO AVOID IT
 

• Great place to start your literature hunt.
• GeoRef is on the library's webpage of database.
• If you are off campus, make sure that you have set up the proxy server.
• Go to the top of the webpage just mentioned to find information about the proxy server.

"Why select this database?

      Provides access to the geoscience literature of the world
      Includes abstracts
      Contains references to journal articles, books, maps, conference papers, reports, and theses"

"Dates covered
                                1785 to present for N. America
                                1933 for international to present"
 
 

• The goal of searching is to come up with really good journal articles or other documents, whether in print format or available electronically.
• Lehigh has journal articles in both print and electronic form.  An example of an electronic journal article is this.
• How can you identify such papers as this one (either in electronic or paper format)? Online searching in GeoRef is one promising route.
• If you are not familiar with the basics of online searching, see this Generic Searching Guide
• Go to the library homepage, click on databases, and then select GeoRef.
• Run a search (see examples below).
• Here is a portion of a GeoRef record; it gives information about the article linked to above. Records like this are the target of your GeoRef searching:

• This is not an article--it is a record with information about an article. (See information below on how to obtain copies of papers.)
• Notice that GeoRef records are broken down into "fields" such as title, author, abstract.
• GeoRef gives you additional fields, such as "descriptors",  which enable you to obtain more focused results, as we shall see when we run some examples below (above is a truncated form of a record--does not show the descriptors).
• Descriptors are controlled subject headers assigned to records.

Anyone can throw in a few keywords and bring up search results. But with a little extra effort, you can come up with really good results.

Example 1

Find journal articles in English involving use of GPR in stratigraphic studies.

• First, try a simple keyword search using the keywords "gpr" and "stratigraphy or stratigraphic". A keyword search ranges over these "fields":

Abstract, Source Phrase, Subject, and Title indexes.
• Most people stop at this point. But watch what happens if you go further.
• Look at the "descriptors" for the articles that come up.  Again, descriptors are subject headers assigned to records.
• You will find that ground-penetrating radar is a descriptor.
• Do a descriptors phrase search on this and also put in the keywords  "stratigraphy or stratigraphic".
• This search has two effects. First, you will see new papers that do not appear in the original list. Second, you know that these papers are "on topic" (and thus 'focused'), since they should not have been assigned the descriptors if they were not.
• Try limiting by year and language to narrow the search results
• You can email or print the search results.
• Then see information below for information on how to obtain copies of papers.

Limit the above search to studies of peat or peatlands.

• In the search set that you generated in the previous example, you will notice the sample record displayed above.
• Suppose you decide to refine the previous search set in order to focus just on use of ground-penetrating radar to study peatlands.
• Look at its descriptors. You will notice peat and peatlands.
• Try putting in "peat or peatlands", this time using the descriptors field, not the descriptors phrase search.
• What results come up?

For more information about GeoRef:

See GeoRef Information Services
See also GeoRef Subjects Covered

Search Tips:

Following two statements are true of any FirstSearch database that Lehigh has:

• Do not use the limit to full text feature. You may not get much of anything that is actually available in full text at Lehigh.
• Items with the "library and book" icon are in our library. However, don't assume that if an item does not have that icon, that we do not have it. Check ASA.

GeoRef Preview Database
"The database consists of references to recent geoscience publications. Caution: This data is in process for inclusion in GeoRef. It may not yet have been indexed, been given a translated title, or been checked by a GeoRef editor when you see it."

What does it do?

Allows you to start with a document and find references later in time that cite it. This way you can build up a bibliography of related works.
 

Where can Science Citation Index be accessed?

CD: CDs covering forward are loaded on a computer behind the help desk in the lobby of Fairchild-Martindale.

We also have paper coverage of Science Citation Index  (See ASA).
 

For more information. . .
 

• See Cited Reference Searching: An Introduction
• Also: Sample Cited Reference Search: Science Citation Index on Compact Disc
• Help information is available at the CD station

(i.) INSPEC

For information about INSPEC, see the tutorial on the library database page (it may need some updating, but the general points should apply). Also, see INSPEC's webpages, including this guide.

Try using the treatment codes, e.g., "general or review", to hunt for review papers that might give you an overview of your subject.

INSPEC covers geophysics topics.  For example, INSPEC covers these areas of Seismology (this list is not necessarily exhaustive):

•      Seismic sources
•      Seismicity (spatial and temporal distribution)
•      Seismic waves
•      Oscillations of the Earth interior (periods less than 12 hours)
•      Seismic strong motions and damage
•      Tsunami
•      Earthquake prediction and precursory phenomena
•      Controlled source seismology.

(ii.) COMPENDEX (or, Engineering Index-EI)

Compendex covers a range of fields of engineering.

Note that thesaurus terms that come up in Compendex include:
 

•      Earthquakes
•      Seismic prospecting
•      Seismic waves
•      Seismographs
•      Seismology
•      Shock waves

(iii.) ANNUAL REVIEW OF EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCES

The review articles in Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences are worth checking for bibliography they contain.
Look for links for the following:

• "Search for citing articles in: ISI Web of Science"
• "Alert me when: new articles cite this article"

(iv). MCGRAW-HILL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology  provides a way to generate background information  (including definitions of concepts) about your topic before you do further research. Try putting in ground-penetrating radar and see what comes up.

(v.) APPLIED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ABSTRACTS

This may contain some information of an "applied" kind. Try searching on ground-penetrating radar.

We have used bibliographic databases to find references and abstracts for papers that look interesting.

How do you actually locate the paper(s)?

(1.) First, check ASA to see if Lehigh has the journal, either in paper or electronic format. (Note: ASA also includes books and other materials; we're just focusing on journals here.) Select "browse", type in the title of the journal, and then click "Journal Titles".

NOTE:

• A record will come up that shows you where the journal can be found in the library, if it is in print.
• Journals in electronic format have a link right out of the ASA record.
• Important: ASA does not identify specific articles--rather, titles of journals containing articles

(2.) You may want to see if one of the regional libraries has the journal.
(3.) You may order the article through interlibrary loan.    Don't wait til the last moment to order articles through ILL. 
 

An additional way to find papers: browse the tables of contents of recent issues or archived (bound) copies in the library, or look for relevant electronic journals browsable here by title or linked on ASA.

An additional way to find papers: browse the tables of contents of recent issues or archived (bound) copies in the library, or look for relevant electronic journals
browsable here by title (e.g., Geophysical Journal International) or linked on ASA.

Some journals that you might want to browse in this way are these:

•      Journal of geophysical research. Summary Holdings: 54- (1949-) 551.05 J86 FM-2-NORTH
•      Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. Summary Holdings: 1-43,45- (1911-) 551.2206 S462b FM-2-NORTH

If you engage in plagiarism, it is like a ticking timebomb. There is a good chance you will be found out, with serious consequences.

Without intending to engage in plagiarism, you may unwittingly do so. To avoid it,  familiarize yourself with what it is. If you learn how to do footnoting in the proper style, this can help you.

Here's a new Lehigh University Libraries webpage that can help you get started:  Ante/Anti Plagiarism.

NOTE:   This webpage is not a substitute for whatever instructions your instructor gives about correct footnoting style and what constitutes plagiarism.

Let us know what you think about the "Ante/Anti Plagiarism" webpage--whether you found it useful or how it can be improved. Send an email to Sharon Siegler, the webpage's designer, and copy me (Brian Simboli) in.