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WISER Science. CAB Abstracts for environmental research Judith Pinfold, Anne Marie Townsend February 2007. Why use an abstracting service?. Plus points Wide coverage Content chosen by subject specialists Publisher independent Long back runs Currency
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WISER Science CAB Abstracts for environmental research Judith Pinfold, Anne Marie Townsend February 2007
Why use an abstracting service? • Plus points • Wide coverage • Content chosen by subject specialists • Publisher independent • Long back runs • Currency • Abstract is an indicator of usefulness • Minus points Not full text within database, but may have link to full text Complex searching
Biological/environmental abstracting services • Leading products available in Oxford • Biological abstracts • CAB abstracts • CSA Illumina • Forest Science • GeoBase • Zoological record
Main scope • Very broadly • Biological Abstracts – life sciences • CAB Abstracts – applied science • CSA Illumina – diverse coverage - arts, social science, biology including environmental sciences/pollution management • Forest Science – forestry, forest products, wood Includes relevant CAB Abstracts records • GeoBase –sciences including environment • Zoological Record - zoology
Today • CAB Abstracts • Biological Abstracts and Zoological Record covered in WISER session on 26 February • Details and booking at http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/staff/information_skills/wiser
CABI / CAB abstracts ? • Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International • Founded 1913, International status 1985 • HQ in Wallingford, Oxon. • Offices worldwide • Inter-governmental, not-for-profit organization • 40 member countries • Research/information services in applied life sciences (global focus)
CAB Abstracts • Over 5 million abstracts • Online since 1972 • 200,000+ new records added each year • Regular weekly updates • Source material from over 158 countries • 50+ languages • 20% environmental records non-English • Older material (1910-1971) covered by CAB Abstracts archive • Print publications also available
Types of source documents • Scientific journals • Bulletins • Books • Theses (if published in a series) • Reports • Conferences
CAB subject coverage • Agriculture in the broadest sense, including Plant Science, Animal Science, Human Health, Parasitology, Ecology, Forestry, Soil Science, Food Science & products, Agricultural economics, Biotechnology, Agricultural Engineering, Leisure and Tourism
Environmental subject coverage • Forestry • Soils • Water • Grasslands • Climate change • Biodiversity From 222 core environmental journals + other sources
Forest science • Subset of CAB Abstracts • Listed separately on Oxlip Coverage • Forest management • Forests and forest trees • Agroforestry and community forestry • Non-wood forest products • Wood technology
Future developments for 2008 • Enhanced coverage of biodiversity Will cover all vegetation types more comprehensively (e.g. tundra, fynbos) Better coverage of freshwater aquatic biodiversity Improved coverage of ecology – theoretical and applied
Access in Oxford • Via OXLIP (portal for networked electronic resources) • Biological abstracts • CAB abstracts • Forest Science • Zoological Record • All above are on ERL (using OVID [Silverplatter] software) • CSA Illumina and GeoBase use different software
Platforms? • Way of viewing data • Functionality / appearance varies between platforms • OVID now owns SilverPlatter and plans to merge platforms later this year • So our current platform will change – probably Autumn 2007
OVID • This is the current platform for CAB Abstracts and Forest Science used in Oxford • On ERL (Electronic Reference Library) via Oxlip • Biological Abstracts and Zoological Record also use OVID • Convenient for cross-searching between databases
Access outside Oxford -Remember to set up BEFORE leaving Oxford via OUCS • Register for Remote Access Account https://register.oucs.ox.ac.uk/self/remote_access • Sign in using Oxford single sign-on login (as for Webmail/Weblearn) • For ERL databases use Virtual Private Network (VPN) http:/www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/network/vpn/oucs-service • Download Cisco VPN software
How do I find Oxlip? • Go to the general library webpage http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk • ‘Information for users’ in box on right • ‘Electronic resources’ • Oxlip
Oxlip – Oxford list of electronic databasesBrowse by Subject group or Name of database
Let’s do a search • From Oxlip go to CAB Abstracts via Title list
Useful information on screen • Coverage = 22 databases, i.e. range of years
Topic: Effects of climate change on biodiversity in Asia Easiest is ‘simple search’ - default Type keywords in box All fields searched (Subject, Title, Author, Descriptor, CABI codes) Keywords: Biodiversity, climate change, Asia
Results Full text icon + link Click here for full record
Link not available? • Sometimes full text not available • BUT don’t give up … Look on OLIS Ask a Librarian Obtain via Inter Library Loan (ILL) Standard charge of £3.50 (OULS)
Search history Can be modified, saved, rerun
While we’re here – get email alerts to latest additions to database with SDI
Same search – but limit • Limit by subject / title / author
Fewer results CABI field codes containing search terms
You can also get better searches if you • Use truncation south* to retrieve south, southern afric* to retrieve africa, african oil spill* to retrieve oil spill, oil spills, oil spillage
Try the thesaurus To find Narrower terms, related terms, broader terms – ‘explode search’