This is the second of an ongoing series on searching the academic literature. Check out Part 1 to learn about tools that collect, store, and share academic materials. In part 1, we focused on the library catalog, bibliographic databases, and repositories, covering what those tools are and when you might want to use each one.
In this post, we’ll focus on tools that make these and other collections searchable—search interfaces. Search interfaces are part of a larger category of user interfaces (UIs) used to aid humans in interacting with the digital world. They are not involved in selecting a collection of academic literature, like those in part 1, but instead work with and across existing collections to help you identify and locate items within a collection. It is important to know what these tools are and how they function so that you can critically assess their effectiveness for a particular information need and know when one might be a better option than another.
Search interfaces and platforms
Library catalogs, bibliographic databases, repositories, and other collections of academic materials, may be accessed by a variety of search interfaces or platforms. One search interface may serve as the UI for one or multiple collections. EBSCOhost and ProQuest are two very common search platforms that can be used to access bibliographic databases purchased by the library. When searching for academic literature using one of these platforms, you can choose whether to search in a single database or multiple databases at a time. For example, UNL Libraries has purchased access to many databases through the EBSCO-host platform, including Communication & Mass Media Complete and Business Source Complete. Once you enter the platform, you can choose to add both databases, or more, to search at the same time. Some databases, like Scopus and PubMed, come with their own unique search interface that can’t be paired with an EBSCO or ProQuest search.
The various interfaces may look similar, but behind the scenes, they all function a bit differently and those differences impact the ways in which your search functions. Platforms designed to search within the bibliographic databases typically use proprietary, keyword-based algorithms to return your search results. This means that the exact key words you enter into the search bar are very important. It also means you have more control over your search results than with tools that use other types of algorithms. If you are not familiar with keyword searching, UNL Libraries has a guide to help you get started.
Some platforms have more robust search features than others, which may impact the way a search functions (those individual proprietary algorithms at play). This means that the way you enter a search in one platform may not function the same way in another.
An example of this is how the databases understand stop words (exp. ‘of’, ‘or,’ and ‘the’) and whether they include or ignore stop words in phrase searching. Phrase searching is a technique for searching the database for an exact phrase using quotation marks. Another major example of where platforms differ is in advanced searching with wildcards (exp. hashtags, question marks, and dollar signs), truncations (asterisks), proximity indicators (exp. adj3, N/3, or NEAR/3), and field codes (exp. [tiab], :ti,ab, or TI “keyword”). These advanced search techniques can be powerful tools for developing a precise search that returns more relevant articles instead of overloading the results with a lot of irrelevant ones, but you have to know how the individual interface uses them before you can apply them effectively. Most platforms provide a Help or similar link where you can find guidance for how to structure your search (for an example, see EBSCO’s search guide).
When to use it:
Whenever you search in a catalog, bibliographic database, or repository, you will use a search interface to do so. Sometimes, bibliographic databases are available using multiple platforms. For example, UNL provides the ERIC database using the Department of Education platform, FirstSearch, and ProQuest. Which one you decide to use may depend on how familiar you are with the platform, or it may depend on the type of search you want to perform. Comprehensive searching for systematic, scoping, and other advanced reviews is better handled by the ProQuest platform for ERIC than the other two options, which may be better for other uses. When in doubt about which platform may be best for your project, ask a librarian!
This post is part 2 in an ongoing series on searching the academic literature. In the next post, we will focus on search engines, which are a specific type of search interface, but one that differs in scope and function from the types of search interfaces discussed here.