EVAR 4000
Research Strategies & Resources
Today we will look at:
- Library services during pandemic times
- Search strategies & resources
- Expanding your search beyond the UM's collection
- Useful tools for searching & managing literature you've found
Quick Poll
How many of you have:
A - used the Library Search (aka the "library catalogue", once called "One Stop Search")
B - visited the Environmental Design subject guide
C - ordered something using Document Delivery
D - used the Avery Index database
E - used the Oxford Art Online database
F - used a reference management software (e.g. Mendeley, Zotero, EndNote)
Answer at www.menti.com/v4ojyk8y4g
Library services during pandemic times
Note - during pandemic times:
- Online library services are always available
- In-person services are available in a limited capacity, which may change as the situation evolves.
Currently:
Request physical books to pick up at
Elizabeth Dafoe Library
Request scanned portions of books in & outside our collection (up to 10% or 1 chapter)
Limited in-person study space available
Stevens House
Lautner, John. Stevens House. 1968. Malibu, California. Photograph by Julius Shulman. http://www.artstor.org.
Example search:
Architect: John Lautner
Location: Malibu, California
Date: 1968
Starting your research:
Reference books
(encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc)
- Overview of a person, movement, sometimes a specific building
- Recommended resources on Environmental Design subject guide:
- Oxford Art Online
- Credo Reference
UM Library Search
- All physical resources within the Libraries
-
Some (not all) of the databases we subscribe to
- Includes many reference texts available online (encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc)
- Very broad search engine - might get a lot of unrelated results.
Requesting Items
- Sign in to the Library Search with your umnetID
- UM email account without "@myumanitoba.ca", same password
- Problems signing in? Staff on the Ask Us library chat can help
When requesting a book that's checked out, the other person has 3 weeks to return it (recall period extended during the pandemic).
Document Delivery during pandemic times
("Request from another library" link in the Library Search)
No physical book requests
Request a copy of up to 10% or one chapter of a book
Request journal articles
Requesting a chapter or 10%
Search for the Table of Contents:
- in the Details area of a Library Search record
- via Google Books or Amazon (sometimes there is also a preview...)
- email documentdelivery@umanitoba.ca just to request the Table of Contents
- Provide at least the title, author, link to the book in the Library Search
Searching beyond the UM Library Collection
- Request whatever you need via Document Delivery
- Library Search > Include Results beyond UofM
- Databases include results beyond our subscriptions
- Avery Index - architecture
- Canadian Business & Current Affairs - Canadian topics
- Google Scholar (with links to UM resources)
- WorldCat.org
For more sources, check:
- Bibliographies of works on your topic
- "Cited by" feature in many databases (e.g. Avery)
- Subject headings in databases
Search Tip #1
Put a phrase "in quotation marks" to find results with that phrase.
E.g.: "gothic revival" - finds documents with this phrase
Searching for gothic revival without quotation marks finds all documents with gothic and all documents with revival.
Gothic architecture = medieval, mid-12th to 15th centuries
Gothic revival architecture = 18th & 19th centuries, renewed interest in Gothic style
Search Tip #2
- Use AND between keywords to narrow your search
E.g.: (Canada AND "new urbanism") - results will contain both of these keywords
- Use OR between keywords to make your search more broad
E.g.: ("climate change" OR "global warming") - results will contain at least one of these phrases
Search Tip #3
Try to find all the different ways of expressing the concept you're searching for. This can be done by:
- putting OR between synonyms (Canada OR Canadian)
- adding an asterisk (*) to the root of a word:
E.g.: Canad* - finds Canada, Canadian, Canadians...
"new urbanis*" - finds "new urbanism", "new urbanist"...
(note: don't use this for short root words - art* = art, arts, artist, artificial, arthritis, Arthur... 292 million results in Library Search)
Search Tip #4
Use NOT (all caps) before words or phrases you want to exclude from the search
E.g.: gothic NOT revival - no results for "gothic revival" will come up.
Miami dolphins NOT football
Finding Images
-
Library Search > limit resource type to Images
- Pulls images from the ArtStor database and other sources
- All images in these databases are OK to use for research & educational purposes
- Images in books and journal articles
- The publication should have at least nine other images to fall within the fair dealing guidelines for copying an image.
- Libraries and/or UM Copyright Office can answer Qs
- Images via Google Images
- Might be uploaded illegally, might have copyright restrictions... use with caution!
Citation Guides
Citation Management Software
- Keep track of research,
- annotate documents,
- produce a bibliography
Free software options:
- Mendeley
- Zotero
Academic Learning Centre Resources
Questions?
General Library Help
- Questions about your library account, or how the UM Libraries work? The Help & Services page for undergraduate students may have the answer.
- During the Fall term, library staff are available via the Ask Us chat service: 9am-8pm Monday-Thursday, 9am-6pm Friday, and 1pm-4pm on weekends.
- Fastest way to ask a general question about the Libraries.
- If we're not online, your message will be received the following morning.
Questions?
Research Support
-
Environmental Design subject guide
- resources for research
- citation info
- Contact Ellen for help with your search strategy when looking for resources for your assignments, advice on which databases are the best places to look for various research topics, and with questions about citing.
- By email: Ellen.Tisdale@umanitoba.ca
- By appointment, via phone or video chat
- By cellphone: (204) 583-1528
EVAR 4000
By Ellen Tisdale
