Boost your research skills for your Built Environment research project

You will find out about:

• The varied ways research tools can work.
• Library Search and databases.
• How to find information.

When searching, it always takes time and experimentation to develop an effective search.

Even if you're an experienced researcher, it will take a little while to work out what works best for an unfamiliar topic. If the first search you try doesn't work, you've not failed: that is your first attempt at learning. You can reframe the search and try a few different approaches.

What is Library Search?

Library Search is the Hallam Library search engine that you can use to find high quality academic resources. Library Search is set up so you can search our books, journals, and many other sources in one go, and return them in one  list that can be refined to show just the kind of resource you need.

You mentioned specialist resources like databases...

Library Search enables you to search almost all of our library resources in one search. Specialist databases are collections of articles, videos or any text or image based resource that you can search as an individual collection. An example would be British Standards or Construction Information Services.

But, if I can search almost every resource in one search, why would I search an individual database?

That is a really good question! Here are the benefits of searching an individual database:

• The content is more subject-specific, which removes lots of irrelevant material from your results right from the start.
• The extra subject metadata and search features make it quicker and easier to filter and find sources in that subject area.
• Sometimes you can only access certain sources via a particular database.

The decision is yours! We tend to recommend a combination of both approaches depending on what information you are trying to find!

 Activity 1: Watch the short video to show you how to improve your searches.

This video is here to make sure that you are all aware of how these techniques can be used and make your searching time more effective!

Here you can see the same concepts represented visually.

The little words that you use to connect your different search terms have a huge impact on your search results! 

Remember:

Using AND will narrow your search results: concrete AND pavement. AND narrows your search!

Using OR will get you more results: concrete OR cement. OR expands you research... OR equals more!

Using NOT will exclude but use with caution as you can exclude useful content!

You can use an asterisk to truncate words and find alternative word endings and plurals: sustain* will find sustain, sustainability, sustain*

Phrase search means you control the search and your search result will only find what is within the  quotation marks "self healing concrete". If we do not do this, databases and search engines tend to put AND between each word.

 Activity 2: Watch the short video to show you how you can manage and sort your results.

The video relates to Scopus but the approach is transferable as many databases offer similar features.

 Activity 4: Watch the video to see how useful Analyse Results features in databases can be!

The video relates to Scopus but this feature is also available in Web of Science. It is not available in Library Search.

The Library subscribes to lots of online resources.

Many will require you to login to access the resource. Most Library resources are accessed by using your SHU login when prompted.

• If you are using Library Search, we recommend you sign into Library Search at the beginning of your session to make sure you can access full text.
• If you are using a database or another specialist resource, you may be able to access the full text within the resource or you may need to use the SHU Links to access the full text.
• Some resources have individual registration processes and require a user to register to use the resource. If a resource is unique and does not provide access using your SHU login, you can find out how to access the resource in the A-Z List of databases.

Remember to always sign out of any resources you use e.g. Library Search, especially on a shared device or computer, to ensure your searches remain private and your personal settings cannot be adjusted by anyone else.

Here are a selection of links to library help pages and FAQ pages about using resources. 

 Using review articles is a really good way to get into a new subject straight away!

One of the quickest ways to find a review article is to use a database.

What is a review article?

A review article is a journal article themed around a specific topic. It is a secondary source as the writers review other researchers work and answer the research question based on observations from looking at multiple sources. 

Why do you recommend this approach rather than using Library Search?

It is much quicker and easier to find a review article in a database with a review article filter rather than searching in Library Search. If you use Library Search to find this type of article, you will need to scan each article to see if it is a review. The review filter in Library Search returns mostly book reviews.

We recommend using databases like Web of Science, Scopus or other databases on your subject guide to find review articles because many databases have additional search filters like article types that you can apply to your search.  

Try a large journal article database* which covers a broad range of subjects:

• Web of Science. An added bonus with this database is the inclusion of conference proceedings. 
• ProQuest Central. An added bonus with this database is the increased number of magazines and trade / professional publications.

*There are other databases you could choose to use and they are all listed in the relevant section of your subject guide above!

Do all resources have article type filters?

That is a great question! Many databases will have article or document type filters. If they do not, you will have to evaluate the article and decide what type of article you working with.

You can find examples of articles found using Web of Science and ProQuest Central.

What is a subject guide?

Subject guides are written by your subject librarian and designed to help you find and use specific academic resources. You'll find information regarding books, eBooks, specific journals and key databases that are relevant to your subject. 

 Activity 3: Go to the Construction, Surveying and Real Estate subject guide. 

• Take a look at the Journals and specialists resources like databases and websites section.
• Take a look at the Technical, Regulations, Standards and Contracts section.
• Take a look at the Legal and Planning section.

By looking at the resources available within these sections, you should have a better understanding of the specialist resources available to you.

If you need specialist information, it can be quicker to search these resources direct rather than searching via Library Search.

You may need to balance up the academic perspective with professionals working within the industry.

It can be harder to identify these types of information within Library Search as they will be indexed as journals.

Here are ways you can identify the publications:

• take a look on your professional bodies / organisations websites to find out what is the featured publication for that organisation.
• ask your lecturers.
• ask any professionals that give guest lecturer sessions or talks for their recommendations.
• use the resources that make it easier to find this information and have magazine filters like ProQuest Central, Business Source Premier or Scopus.

The Built Environment industry has a range of publications and trade magazines written for construction and property professionals.

Here are a few examples available within Library Search.

It really depends what your topic is!

You need to take a look on the Construction, Real Estate and Surveying subject guide to ensure you are making the most out of the specialist content available to you.

It might be that your search doesn't work exactly as you hoped, and you get too few or too many results.

Don't worry! It's usual for a search not to be perfect on the first attempt. But if your search isn't producing the results you hoped, there are some things you can try.

Too few results

• Check nothing is mis-spelled or mistyped. It sounds silly, but it happens to everyone at some point!
• Rather than searching for your entire topic in one big search, try searching for each element separately at first and then combining them later. It might be that there's just one or two search terms which need adjusting, and this helps you pick out where the problem might be.
• You can also combine the results of several smaller-scale searches to create a bigger picture: this can often be more effective than trying to find everything in one big search.
• Check your search strategy to make sure you have linked your search terms correctly. This can easily happen with big, complexes searches. 
• Try swapping to another search tool: it might be the one you are using isn't suitable for what you want. 

Too many results

• Use the filters on the database, this can help you narrow down the results by age, type of material, subject area, etc
• Try swapping to another search tool, particularly if you are using a multi-disciplinary database like Web of Science. It might be that a subject-specific search tool like Construction Information Service helps you narrow the results more effectively. 
• Check your search strategy to make sure you have linked your search terms correctly. This can easily happen with big, complexes searches. 
• If you are still getting too many results, consider limiting the topic you are searching to a more specific context, for example a certain place, time or group of people. Check with your supervisor before doing this: but topics can sometimes turn out to be unmanageably broad in range, and setting some sort of limit can make it easier to handle. Even professional researchers sometimes have to set limits to make it possible to effectively research a topic with the people and resources available.

If you need help with any of the above...

The Library can offer advice on how to improve your searches, develop your search skills and suggest resources related to specific research topics. You can find out how to get help from the Library in the Support section of this guide.

We are coming to the end of this section and have covered a lot of content!

There is one last activity!

 Activity 4: Answer the following question about your search preferences!

Congratulations you have completed three sections! 

Time to take a break - maybe take a look at the Wellbeing Wednesday blog posts in the Hallam Library Blog. This week we were focusing on how we can connect with Nature to improve our wellbeing.