Tag Archives: resources

OneSearch at UAH is now set to search full-text by default: what this means for you.

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Today, we made a change to the back-end of OneSearch so that it now when you search, it limits results to full-text by default.

OneSearch: Dozens of databases, thousands of sources, millions of articles. One Click.

Why did we do it? Many of our patrons using OneSearch are wanting something tangible and to dive into the information right away. While some are wanting a wider look at the field, most are wanting to see primarily what is in our collection. If the majority of our users are always clicking to turn the full-text limit on, then it makes sense to work with how our users search.

What does this mean? That the results you get will automatically be filtered to include only those for which you have immediate access. Rather than a mixed page of abstracts and full-text, you will have only those in full-text right away.

How will this impact your searching? If you are the kind of person who just wants to get a few articles that are immediately available – in PDF or HTML – then it speeds up your process by cutting out those articles for which we only have abstracts. If you are a little more of a power-searcher, and want to see all of what is available, or if you are searching for a topic where the articles are a little more obscure, you may need to turn off the “Limit to full-text” option to get a wider view.

OneSearch screen with the new options highlighted on the left side: Full Text and Library Collection

How do I turn these options off? See the graphic above. Click on the little blue/white Xs after “Full Text” and “Available in Library Collection”. This will remove those options and show you also articles without immediate full-text.

Will this affect other databases? For right now, the plan is to keep the other databases in their current configuration. Those going to databases like CINAHL or Business Source Premier are driving down to slightly more precise information, so the idea is that those users are more likely to want to powersearch. With that being said, keep in mind that databases like JSTOR and SpringerLink are already set to default to showing our collection.

Is this change permanent? We’ll keep an eye on usage and make sure people are getting what they want. If it turns out that this is not how people want to search, then of course we will change it back.

Whom should I contact if I get articles that show up in full-text searches but there is no full-text attached? You can call us at the reference desk at (256)824-6529, or email us at erefq@uah.edu. Or see http://libanswers.uah.edu for more options.

Alumni Guest Access Now Free at the Salmon Library

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We are delighted to announce that guest access for UAH Alumni is now free at the Salmon Library. What does this access get you?

  • You can check out up to 5 books at a time for up to 28 days.
  • You can access our Info Arcade PCs and, through them, have access to online digital resources with millions of top tier, authoritative research sources.

Simply bring your Alumni Association Membership Card and a photo ID to the User Services desk any time the library is open. Haven’t got your free Alumni Association Card? Then contact the Alumni Association and they can help you.

You can see our most up-to-date information on library guess access (as well as other levels of access) on User Services guide. Or you can call them at (256)824-6530.

A quickish FAQ:

  • Does Guest Access include remote access to digital materials?
    Unfortunately, our licensing agreements prevent us from offering online access to people not actively associated with UAH. The good news is that the Alabama Virtual Library provides many high quality digital resources you can use from home [if you live in Alabama].
  • Does Guest Access include wi-fi?
    Access to our wireless internet is provided by OIT on the campus at large and so is not the library’s to grant. However, if you are making a special trip in, the Alumni Association can help with temporary access.
  • What about parking?
    Contact the Campus Police’s parking division with your guest card and they can get you a permit for parking during its interim. You can then park in the lot off of Ben Graves Drive.
  • Would this include access to the Reference Desk or the Archives?
    Most definitely. Technically, you don’t need guest access to visit those services, so if you want to stop by and talk to us feel free to do so.

Scopus to start expanding indexing back to 1970

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An eye on global research: 50 million records, 21,000 titles, 5,000 publishers

“The interconnectedness of all things,” is the mantra of not-quite-detective (debate remains on whether he is quite holistic) Dirk Gently, and rarely does it reach more of a truth than in research fields, where the understanding the state of the art is as much an understanding-the-context as an understanding-the-content.

Here at the Salmon Library, one of our key resources for seeing how articles and research are interconnected is Scopus: an Elsevier product that helps to see which articles are citing which other articles, how they are being cited, how they are being used in other ways (online mentions, social media mentions), how they relate to the author’s body of work, how the journals in which they are published match up with the field as a whole, and so forth.

Whether you are a professor looking to get published or a student wondering which articles you should prioritize with your capstone project, Scopus can help, and it is about to get bigger.

The Scopus blog has just announced today that the team will begin the Scopus Cited References Expansion project. Among other things, this will track citation data back to 1970, giving a better overall picture of how articles and researchers use other articles and research. For any field of research that needs to go back more than the past couple of decades, this will be invaluable.

To quote from their blog:

The Cited References Expansion project aims to increase the depth of Scopus’ scholarly content while enhancing the ability to use Scopus for evaluation and trend analysis. Moreover, author profiles and h-index counts of researchers who published articles prior to 1996 will be more complete.

The increased indexing will “become apparent” in the fourth quarter of 2014, and should be completed in 2016.

Curious about Scopus and how you can use it? Contact the Reference Desk (phone: 256.825.6528 or email: erefq@uah.edu, see link for more options) and we can help!