If you are looking to find articles
for a research assignment,
a good place to start is the Articles Tab
on the Libraries homepage.
The Articles tab searches a database
called Summon, which covers a wide variety of topics.
The library also has access
to more discipline-specific databases
and you might want to use one of those
if you are doing more exhaustive research.
But Summon is a good starting point.
Let's say I'm writing a paper
on the forensic science of
fingerprint identification. on the forensic science of
fingerprint identification.
If I type my search terms,
fingerprint identification,
into the search bar, Summon
brings up a big set of results.
This list includes
over 140,000 articles
that contain the words "fingerprint" and "identification."
But if I need only a handful
of really good articles,
how do I pick just a few of these?
Summon has some tools
to help me narrow and focus my results.
To start, let's make sure that we're looking
only at results that will have the
kind of sources that I want.
In this case, I'm only interested
in peer-reviewed, scholarly articles.
In the upper left of the screen,
Summon has a link, labeled “Peer-Review.”
Once I click that link,
Summon updates my results list,
focusing on articles from scholarly journals.
But if I look more closely at the articles,
I see that while many are about
fingerprint identification in forensic science,
quite a few are not.
This is because Summon
is searching only for the words fingerprint
and identification,
which can be used in multiple contexts,
not just in forensic science.
Summon has some tools to focus
my results to the area of my interest.
Two of these that can be very helpful
are the “Discipline” and “Subject Terms” filters
listed on the left hand side of the screen.
Filtering by “Discipline” can be helpful
if I need to make my search specific
to a particular area of study.
Since Summon does not list every discipline,
however, filtering by “Subject Terms”
is good when I want to focus my results
on a main idea that may not map
neatly to a specific discipline.
or the purposes of this video, then,
we’re going to filter by “Subject Terms.”
The top 5 most common terms
associated with my results
are listed here.
To see the full list, I’ll click the “More…” link.
I can pick out one - or a few -
that match the topic I'm looking for.
Here’s exactly what I’m looking for:
"forensic sciences."
I can also click the red ‘x’
next to the subject terms
that I specifically want to eliminate,
like all those related to “DNA” or “Genetics.”
In order to include and exclude these terms,
I must remember to scroll back up to the top of the page
and click the “Apply” button.
This reduces my set of results
to about 1,600 articles,
all of which are related to the forensic science
of fingerprint identification.
Note that Summon has other filters like
‘content type’ and ‘publication date’
that may help me further refine my results.
But I’ve already refined enough at this point
to scan my results for articles
I want to use for my research.
As I glance over the list,
I look for titles that seem most relevant to my topic.
Let’s say this one,
called "Comparing Categorical and Probabilistic Fingerprint Evidence”
seems to suit my purposes.
I can reveal a menu with more information,
including the article’s abstract,
by hovering my mouse over
or clicking the preview link at the bottom
of the record.
I can usually get the whole article
by clicking on its title
or the “Full Text Online” link.
This takes me to the journal publisher's website
or a database that provides access to this article.
In some cases,
the link in Summon may not bring you
directly to the article.
If that ever happens,
you can get help from a librarian
by clicking the chat icon at the top right of your results page.
It is important to know
that the URL from the database is
often a temporary address,
and will not necessarily return you
to the article at a later time.
However, Summon provides an easy way
to return to selected results.
You can access a permanent link
for an article from the results page
by clicking on the “Preview” button
and following the “Permanent Link” button below.
You can also keep track of the articles
that you have found potentially useful.
Next to each result,
there is a small folder icon.
Clicking this puts articles
in a temporary folder,
which you can print, email,
or export to your favorite citation management system.
If you decide to email the list to yourself,
the email you get from Summon
will include a permanent link to your results.
You can even format the citation
n your preferred citation style.
If you have any questions about Summon
or any other library tool,
you can always ask a librarian for help.