Scientific Information
Retrieval 

1. Basic Library Skills

2. Using Library Catalogue

3. Systematic Information
Search
3.1. Finding Search Terms
3.2. Formulating a Search Profile

4. Selecting Databases
4.1. NELLI-portal
4.2. Melinda
4.3. Ebrary
4.4. ProQuest
4.5. EbscoHost
4.6. ScienceDirect
4.7. Sage Journals 
4.8. ISI Web of Science

5. Evaluating Results
5.1. Improving Your Search

6. Citing Sources
6.1. RefWorks - Reference Management
6.2. Avoiding Plagiarism 


5. Evaluating Results

Evaluating and assessing the search results is a vital part of the searching process. When you consider your search results, you maybe have to modify your search statements to make new searches. After conducting a search, the usefulness and relevance of the search results have to be assessed before applying the retrieved information.

When evaluating the results, make the following questions:

  • Is the document relevant to your topic? Look at the title, the descriptors and the abstract or summary to get an idea of what it is about.
  • Is the document scientific? Many databases contain both scientific and non-scientific articles, and often you can limit your search to refereed/peer reviewed articles.
  • Is the document reliable? Is there information on the author, the author affiliation and the publisher? Does the document include a list of references?
  • Is the document up-to-date? In many disciplines, a document is considered out-of-date if it is more than ten years old, but it depends on your research field and topic and the topic of the article. Some basic works can be very old, too.
  • Is the document available and what does it cost? If the document is not available at your own library, check the costs of an interlibrary loan in advance.

Tutorials:

Evaluating Web Sites

When using web sites in research, evaluating and source criticism are important since there is no centralized control over what can be published in the Internet. The quality and reliability of internet resources vary greatly.

Tutorials: