LANL Research Library Newsletter - June 1998
Approximately 4,000 journals are indexed and over 2,000 conferences, that currently create over 300,000 abstracts each year. The database coverage begins in 1969 and contains almost 6,000,000 references. The database is searchable by author, title, subject, journal and many specialized indexes -- chemical, classification, astronomical and numerical. Hyperlinks are provided where the article or journal is available full-text on the World Wide Web; notes are also provided where the Library has the material in print form.
This database is accessible via the Web or Telnet. The Web version can be reached by selecting Electronic Databases from the Research Library home page and then selecting INSPEC. If you have any questions about using this product please call the reference desk at 7-5809. Check the training schedule for upcoming free classes on the database, which will be offered each month this summer.
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This series has established itself as a medium for the reporting of new developments in computer science research and teaching - quickly, informally, and at a high level.
Take a look and send us your feedback.
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You can be notified electronically by subscribing to the list of new books using simple instructions. Also, you can find the list on the library's new book page. If you would like to check out any of the new titles, please send email to library@lanl.gov, call the library at 7-4175, or place a hold in the online catalog.
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Word, or keyword searching, looks for a word anywhere in a title, author, subject, note, etc. -- whichever index you have selected. You can narrow a search by specifying several words, in the same or other word indexes. Word searching is particularly helpful when you don't know the first word of a name or subject heading. Acronyms and years can be used in word searches.
Browse searching offers the ability to scan an alphabetical list of terms -- titles, authors, subjects, etc. -- whichever index you select. You must know the first word of a title or subject heading, or the last name of a personal author. You will get a browse list which can be scanned for nearby headings. Cross-references are available to alternate and related terms. Browsing is good when you're not sure of the spelling of an author's name because it may appear nearby what you typed. Browsing is generally fastest when you know a specific title. For example: You want to know if the library has a book titled "Chaos." A title browse search for "chaos" has 3 hits; a title word search for "chaos" has 229 hits, because it finds the word "chaos" anywhere in the title, not just at the beginning.
In general, word searching gives broader recall; browse searching gives greater precision. One useful technique is to start with a word search and move to a browse. For example: You want material on the topic "chaos". You start with a broad search, for Title or All Word "chaos". You scan the results for a few titles that look promising, pull up the Full/Detailed Record displays and look at the subject headings. You see the subject heading "Chaotic behavior in systems" and search that heading (in the web version, just click on the heading; in the telnet version, use the Extend Search option). This is helpful because the browse list for the subject heading gives you a focused group of material on the subject, often with subdivisions, as well as showing cross-references to related subject headings. So depending on what information you have and what you seek, word, browse or a mix of both can be the best means of achieving the goal.
In the web version of the catalog the first box is browse searching; the second box, with three input lines, is word searching. In the telnet version of the catalog, the center column is word searching; the right-hand column is browse searching.
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The asterisk is the truncation symbol or wild card. Use this to denote no characters, or one or more additional characters beyond what was typed. At least three characters must precede the asterisk. In the examples above typing air* or gas* will give the different variations of the word.
Use the question mark to search for a single character truncation for the middle initial in an author's name.
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| 6/3 | Research Library Tour | 1-1:30 |
| 6/4 | INSPEC at LANL - New Product | 1-1:30 |
| 6/9 | Introduction to Electronic Library Resources | 1-1:30 |
| 6/10 | Research Library Tour | 1-1:30 |
| 6/11 | MELVYL (U of CA specialized databases) | 11-11:30 |
| 6/17 | Finding Addresses and Phone Numbers on the WWW | 1-1:30 |
| 6/17 | Research Library Tour | 1-1:30 |
| 6/18 | InfoSurfing: Basic Web Searching Strategies | 2-4 |
| 6/23 | GeoRef on the Web | 1-1:30 |
| 6/24 | Research Library Tour | 1-1:30 |
| 6/25 | SciSearch at LANL -- at your desktop! | 1-1:30 |
Classes are free, but you must pre-register by using the email links above to send a message to library@lanl.gov or calling the Library Service Desk at 7-5809. Please include your name, the date and title of the session, and your email address in your message.
Special classes and orientations can also be arranged; call 7-5809 for more information.
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Newsletter Editorial Team: Donna Berg , Jack Carter, Lou Pray, Kathy Varjabedian, and Eileen Vela. To receive an electronic subscription to the Research Library Newsletter, sent the first of each month to your e-mail address, do the following:
The name and e-mail address of the Library member who contributed an article appears at the end of the article. If you have comments or further questions, please contact that person. If you have general questions or comments about the Newsletter itself, please contact the Newsletter Coordinator, Kathy Varjabedian.
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