Searching Abstracting & Indexing Tools

Terminology Notes:

An indexing tool (sometimes known as an "index") is a publication that provides access to the primary literature in a subject area via one or more indexes (for example, an author index, or a subject index); the information supplied is a bibliographic reference. Most indexing tools cover journal papers; some also cover conference papers.

An abstracting tool (sometimes known as an "abstract") is an indexing tool that supplies a bibliographic reference, as well as an abstract (or summary) of the content of each reference.

Level of Indexing

abstracts & indexes point to titles within titles For example:
- abstracts & indexes in the field of Statistics will point to papers within the journal Journal of the American Statistical Association
- some abstracts & indexes in the field of Economics will point to papers within the conference proceedings Proceedings of the Seventh International Symposium in Economic Theory and Econometrics
so you can search for journal (and sometimes conference) papers by author or subject using abstracts & indexes.

Usefulness of Abstracts & Indexes

in a search of the primary literature - Indispensible
Unlike TRELLIS, there is no one source of information
- so you must select appropriate abstracts & indexes for your subject
- staff at the Information Desk can help with this selection

Formats for Abstracts & Indexes

Internet [http://tug.lib.uwaterloo.ca/indexes/index.html]
- free search (either free to the world, or the Library subscribes to it)
- if the service has large files, usually only a few years available
CD-ROM [a few available from the Davis Centre Library]
- free search, since electronic version is owned by Library
- if the service has large files, usually only a few years available
paper [about 100 in Davis Centre Library]
- free search
- usually many years are available
WATMARS [access to over 1000 through Davis Centre Library]
- charge for search, since commercial electronic version off-campus
- usually many years are available

Search Strategy Formulation for CD-ROMs

Pick a specific subject
- Suppose you are interested in the use of linear regression analysis in economic time series or business cycles.
Form a phrase that expresses the subject, e.g.
- linear regression analysis in economic time series or business cycles
Construct a search statement using the appropriate search language; e.g.
- (linear regression) AND ((economic time series) OR (business cycle*))
Note: The classic form of the search statement is:
- (A1 OR A2 OR ... OR An) AND (B1 OR B2 or ... Bm)
- where the As are synonyms for one central concept
- and the Bs are synonyms for another central concept
- and you want both central concepts simultaneously
If you retrieve too many references, you can reduce the number by:
- removing synonyms that you think may be generating garbage (conservative option), OR
- adding a new ANDed section for an additional concept, which effectively narrows your search to items that include this new concept (radical option)
If you retrieve too few references, you can increase the number by:
- adding synonyms that you think may be appropriate for the concept (conservative option), OR
- removing an ANDed section for an entire concept, which effectively broadens your search (radical option)

Generating Search Vocabulary

It is clear from the last section that it is important to have as many alternative terms for each concept that you are searching as possible.

Here is a systematic way in which you can generate and keep track of search vocabulary:

prepare a list of alternative terms for each concept that you are interested in
consult a dictionary or thesaurus for your subject field to enrich that list of terms
when you search an abstracting tool and discover a useful looking reference, examine the words used in the title and abstract of the reference; if you find other alternative words for your concepts, write them down
for each new term that you discover, go back and redo your previous searches to make sure that you make full use of your new vocabulary
if you are having trouble finding a sufficient number of useful references, you may want to create records that indicate which search terms you have used in which searching tools, so that it is easier to backtrack and redo searches without doing the same thing over again.

Librarian, Information Services and Resources
Last Updated: October 22, 2004