Search options in libraries and databases

Databases are collections of information objects and organized to be accessed easily. When doing research, databases are more and more important since many journals archive their published material by means of such media. There are bibliographic databases (e.g. ProQuest ‹https://www.proquest.com/›, Web of Science ‹https://www.webofscience.com›), reference books, and full-text collections (e.g. Science Direct ‹https://www.sciencedirect.com/›, ACM ‹https://dl.acm.org/›. The access to such databases is often limited (especially to full-text collections) and can only be established at certain locations. Databases with a campus license, that are subject to costs, can be accessed for free when being a University member (e.g. via VPN or Library PC). You should additionally know something about the databases' content as well as the research process itself. Databases are ordered alphabetically as well as technically (e.g. according to sciences). The research process differs depending on each single database; however, it is similar to a library catalog's structure (search for titles, authors, keywords; cf. the section «Internet research via search engines», further down).

The database ‹Web of Science› - established from the «Institute for Scientific Information (ISI)» - contains articles from more than 8'500 international scientific journals.

There is a compilation of important databases as regards Geography on the website of the GIUZ Library (Department of Geography at the University of Zurich) ‹https://www.hbz.uzh.ch/en/fachinformationen/geographie-human/DB_humangeographie.html›. In the FAQ section (frequently asked questions) you will get further details as regards databases.

Internet search

There are a lot of possibilities when researching literature via the easily accessible Internet. Various journal articles can be used or ordered online when being a University member (ordering is often subject to costs). The Internet even provides access to library catalogs, most of the time via the universities' websites (Baade et al. 2005: 75). However, the large amount of unorganized data on the Internet can also cause problems. First, there is hardly time to deal with so many data. Second, the sheer quantity gives you the feeling that all relevant data can be found via the Internet (Hart 2001: 128). And third, it is problematic to use sources found on the Internet since websites only exist virtually and can be changed any time. Older versions may not always be available. If you take a piece of information from a certain website, it can be altered or even deleted the very next day. The whole page could be gone entirely. In addition, the information's origin and credibility is open to dispute. In print media, there are still editorial departments exerting control, but on the Internet things are published without a check being made. There is one exception: online journals. Similar to traditional journals, these journals do dispose of a review system guaranteeing that only high-quality articles will be published on the Internet. Even though online journals exist only virtually, they are not internet sources in the strict sense. This is because they have editors that review articles for their quality. Therefore, they can be handled like other journal articles. Noting an article's url helps the reader to find it.

It is therefore important to see the Internet as a complex search platform that cannot replace the conventional way of searching for literature. You can start an Internet research in two different ways:

• by means of a global keyword search via some search engine or
• via searching through Internet directories thematically (their content cannot always be detected via search engines since those are part of databases that cannot be combed through with search programs, even if they are public).

Internet research via search engines

Another possibility is to use a conventional search engine such as «Google», «Yahoo», «Exalead», etc. However, this can result in endlessly searching for publications and certain keywords in piecemeal fashion. It is necessary to reasonably combine significant keywords before critically analyzing the search results (Baade et al. 2005: 75). We recommend familiarizing yourself with the operators of each search engine (e.g. «OR», «+», «-», «~», «*», etc. for Google). For more details you should have a look at the help function or online guidelines such as the Google Tutorial ‹http://www.googleguide.com›.

There are also special search engines for scientific literature. In contrast to commercial search engines, these ones also search through Internet sources of the «invisible web». Here are a few examples:

• BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine):
  ‹https://www.base-search.net/›
• Google Scholar:
  ‹https://scholar.google.com/›
• Science Direct:
  ‹https://www.sciencedirect.com/›

Other search engines can be found when using the following link of the GIUZ library: ‹https://www.hbz.uzh.ch/en/fachinformationen/geographie-human/DB_humangeographie.html›

Searching in internet directories

Internet directories (cf. Lauber-Reymann 2007) are edited search aids allowing access to selected resources (information and documents of any kind). These websites list collections of links intellectually created and lead to single sources or source books. Internet directories show single links that are hierarchically structured and allocated to various categories, similar to a library's systematic catalog. This is why Internet directories are also referred to as «virtual libraries» or «catalogs».

There is a broad variety of such directories, not only as regards their increasing amount but also in terms of quality, structure, and user interface.

In addition to general directories (commercial catalogs such as ‹https://suche.freenet.de›), there are others focusing on a single discipline or discipline clusters. Virtual libraries are often established by university departments or universities of applied sciences in order to pool, analyze, and professionally structure all the academic information available on the Internet. These directories are checked for their quality and generally don't pursue any commercial interests; under ideal circumstances, there are experts or specialists who select and systematize these sources.

There is a distinction between virtual public libraries (without any restrictions) and virtual specialist libraries (dealing with single scientific fields).

Within such a virtual library, in general there is a special search software for the keyword search in addition to the navigation. It must be pointed out that subscripted documents in a directory are often not available in their full-text version. It is therefore only possible to search through titles (indexing dataset), short abstracts, their respective categories or keywords.

Here is just a small selection of links:

• Virtuelle Allgemeinbibliothek (virtual public library):
  ‹http://www.virtuelleallgemeinbibliothek.de›
• WWW Virtual Library:
  ‹http://vlib.org›

Evaluation of results

It is mandatory to have a reasonable search structure, to select deliberate keywords, and to critically evaluate the results received. This is even more important when searching on the Internet instead of traditionally looking for appropriate literature. We recommend establishing criteria for evaluation before asking about:

• the purpose of publication (target group, objectivity)
• the source (authors, corporation)
• the URL's top level domain (.gov, .org, .edu, etc.)
• the timeliness of data (last update)
• the information's correctness and verifiability
• the references (links to other works)
• the style and functionality

In order to limit the fleetingness of virtual information it is best to locally archive or print important content. For further information on this subject we recommend the following websites:
‹https://guides.library.ubc.ca/EvaluatingSources›