Searching for Geology
Research Literature
Finding quality research information and
publications
Jan 09
Gareth J Johnson
David Wilson Library
Slides online at:

Today’s Session
Aims to

◦ Examine ways to save you time and effort
◦ Give an overview of what is research
literature
◦ Familiarise you with Leicester’s suite of
information resources
◦ Examine database searching techniques
◦ Help you identify keywords and terms
◦ Give you time for questions

Session Outline
Research literature
1.
Accessing information resources
2.
Strategies for effective searching
3.
Refining search results
4.
Other resources and tools
5.

What is Research Literature?
Other materials

◦ Textbooks
◦ Maps and charts
◦ General website
Research literature

◦ Specialist & professional books
◦ Geological surveys
◦ Peer-reviewed journal articles
◦ Conference papers & reports
◦ Quality web resources

Why do you need it?
 To inform your own lab, field and
project work
 To find detailed and accurate
information on a specific subject
 To discover professional techniques
and insight
 To provide information for your
studies and project work

Journal Articles
Primary sources of research information

 Professional communications from
geologists and scholars
 Peer-reviewed before publication to
ensure quality and accuracy
 Articles not listed on Library Catalogue
or Leicester e-Link

Journal Variations
Generalist

◦ Cover news, opinion, comment and articles for non-
specialists
◦ E.g. Geology Today
Research

◦ In depth, peer-reviewed quality research
◦ E.g. Journal of Geology
Review

◦ Overviews of areas within a subject
◦ May be or may not be peer reviewed
◦ Invaluable for identifying key authors and topics
◦ E.g. Trends in Ecology and Evolution

Geological Surveys
Surveys on geological aspects of

country/regions
 Cover aspects of mineralogy,
geochemistry, hydrology and mapping
 Produced by governmental bodies
responsible for geological work
 See the Geology Subject Room for
more information
 Find surveys in the Library on the
catalogue

Conference Proceedings
Collections of lectures delivered at

professional conferences and events
 Quick dissemination of research
 Often available in advance of journal
articles
 May be peer reviewed but often not
 Sometimes published as books or journals

Reports
Produced by institutions, societies,

government or independent bodies
◦ Known as grey literature
Will not be peer reviewed

◦ Risk of bias so consider when reading
Recent years generally available on the

web
◦ Older editions harder to obtain
Questions?


Resources at Leicester
 All accessed via Library Webpage
◦ Library Catalogue
◦ Leicester Digital Library
◦ Leicester e-Link
 Nearly all available off campus too
 Eachindexes a different range of
material
 You will need to be familiar with
them all

Finding Literature
Library Catalogue

◦ Lists all books, maps and reports held by the
Library
◦ But only lists journal titles not the articles
within
Searching

◦ Try Subject search E.g. petrology
◦ Use advanced search for more options
◦ Finds books on a subject not just in title
◦ Search for journal titles to see if in stock
 E.g. Japanese journal of geology and geography

Bibliographic Databases
Often referred to as just databases

 Contain descriptive (bibliographic)
information for a range of publications
◦ Including books, journal articles, reports etc
Provide a reference and abstract

◦ Enough to track down the article
◦ Must be careful to record all the information
◦ Can email or download references for later use
No single database indexes all geology

research literature

Which Databases to Use?
Depends on your research area

 Some multidisciplinary ones
◦ SCOPUS, Web of Knowledge
Some more subject specific

◦ GeoRefs, Crossfire. Biosis
Subject Rooms have some guidance

◦ See booklet and Digital Library A-Z pages for
more information

Key Geology Databases
GeoRefs

◦ Geology and Earth-Sciences coverage
◦ Includes journals most other resources don’t
◦ Covers 1785 on (N/America) & 1933 on (international)
◦ Updated biweekly
Scopus

◦ General Science coverage
◦ 7,000 science journals indexed
◦ Covers 1966 to date
◦ Updated daily
Web of Knowledge

◦ Multidisciplinary coverage
◦ 5,300 major science journals indexed
◦ Covers 1970 to date
◦ Updated weekly

Leicester E-Link & Digital Library
Leicester E-Link

◦ Searchable list of all e-journals available
◦ Links to subscribed full text journals
◦ Most available on or off campus
 CWIS login required from off site
Digital Library

◦ A-Z of all databases and access information
◦ Additional help and support
◦ Access to subject room for Geology

Search Methods
Preparation of a search strategy is the key

 Searches can be built up
◦ Single search element at a time
◦ Portions of larger search statement
Need to be familiar with Boolean Logic

◦ AND – makes search more specific
◦ OR – includes synonymous terms
◦ NOT – eliminates irrelevant results

Boolean Logic
ore or deposit
broad search,
many results
ore and deposit
focussed search, fewer
but more specific results
focussed search results
ore not deposit
omitted useful results?

Basic Searches
Find articles on earthquake detection

sensors
◦ earthquake and detection and sensors
This will work

◦ But it is NOT comprehensive
Many articles will be missed

◦ Results will be too broad
Good for finding random papers of possible

interest
 Need to consider alternative terms too

Keywords & Variations
Identify key concepts and words

◦ Earthquake/Detection/Sensors
Think about keyword

◦ Earthquake
earthquake, earthquakes, tremors, seismic etc.

◦ Detection
detection, detectors, identification, monitoring etc.

◦ Sensors
sensors, sensor, seismograph, seismographs etc.

Questions?


Your Turn
 Find out about ore deposits in the
UK
 What are the:
◦ Main concepts?
◦ Keywords and alternative terms?

Your Keywords
Important concepts

◦>
Keywords

◦>

How does that match up…?
Ore

◦ Lode, ore, ores, orebody, mineral, minerals,
aggregate
 Maybe specific ore types too (e.g. magnetite hematite,
haematite, goethite, limonite, siderite. Etc)
Deposits

◦ Deposits, deposition, sedimentation, accretion,
accumulation
UK

◦ United Kingdom, Britain, England, Wales, Scotland,
British isles, northern Ireland etc.

Truncation & Parenthesis
Truncation/Wildcards

◦ Substitutes for part of a word or letters
◦ Good for finding plurals or alternative spellings
 E.g. ore* finds ore / ores / orebody
 E.g. minerali?ation finds mineralization and mineralisation
Brackets ( )

◦ Allow Boolean logic to function correctly
◦ Order of priority NOT > AND > OR

◦ fish or sausages and chips
◦ (fish or sausages) and chips 

A Better Search
Articles on earthquake detection sensors

1. earthquake or seismic
2. detection or identification
3. sensors or monitors
Run each search independently

◦ Then combine to make final search
(earthquake* or seismic) and (detect* or identif*)
and (sensor* or monitor*)
◦ Good for finding papers specifically concerned
with our interests

The Best Search (?)
Articles on earthquake detection sensors

1. earthquakes or seismic or tremors
2. detection or identification or monitoring
3. sensors or seismograph
4. Not nuclear
Revised in the light of test search

 Run each search independently
◦ Then combine to make final search
((earthquake* or seismic or tremor*) and (detect* or
identif* or monitor*) and (sensors or seismograph ))
not nuclear

Refining Your Search
Expect to revise your initial search

◦ Rarely work exactly right first time
May need to expand

◦ Include more synonymous terms or
truncation
May to need to focus

◦ Use more specific terms or use limits/filters
May need to rethink approach

◦ Try different resources
◦ Reconsider search terminology or logic

Citation Searching
Search for (more recent) articles that

refer to a classic (older but significant)
paper
◦ Brings thread of research up-to-date
◦ Can broaden your results into otherwise
hidden areas
Only available on WoK, Scopus & Google

Scholar

Identifying Relevant Articles
How recent is it?

◦ Is there a more recent version available?
Is an abstract available?

◦ Does it mention your mine/ore suite?
◦ Does it talk about your class of ore deposit?
◦ Does it contain information about regional
geology?
Where are the author(s) based?

 Where does the article appear?

Other Tools
Saved searches

◦ Can be used for search alerts on some resources
Subject index searching

◦ Using controlled terms rather than keywords
Open Access

◦ Freely available quality research
◦ Online search engines available
 OpenDOAR Search, BASE Academic Search
◦ No need to worry about if the University
subscribes to the journals
◦ Reliable quality alternative

Other Tools
Intute Earth Sciences Portal

◦ http://www.intute/sciences/earthsciences/
Geology Subject Room

◦ Link from Library Webpages
◦ http://rooms1.library.le.ac.uk/rooms/portal/
Wikipedia

◦ Okay for general information
◦ But not good for research literature

Bibliographic Software
There to aid you in managing your search

results
◦ Build a personal bibliography
◦ Eliminate duplicate results from multiple
databases
◦ Citation insertion into Word documents
◦ Inserts custom bibliography formatted to house
or particular journal styles
On campus support for RefWorks and

Endnote
◦ Further training and help online

Help & Assistance
For searching/database support

◦ Gareth J Johnson (Physical & Biological
Sciences)
◦ gareth.johnson@le.ac.uk
For general enquiries (password

problems, off site access etc)
◦ libdesk@le.ac.uk
◦ 0116-252-2043

Slides
Available online at: