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The Lamont News-List lamref(a)fas.harvard.edu
April 10, 2005
http://hcl.harvard.edu/lamont
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April is National Poetry Month! Read, listen, discuss and discover at the
web site of the Academy of American Poets, which sponsors the annual
event. Point your browser here:
http://www.poets.org/index.cfm
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IN THIS ISSUE:
-- Power Searching Tip
no. 7: Creating "nested" searches in HOLLIS and other Harvard
e-resources
-- Cool Tool on the Harvard Libraries E-Resources Page
An extraordinary resource for research in the social and
behavioral sciences
-- On our Farnsworth Shelves
Murder, mystery, mayhem and international intrigue!
-- Looking for back issues of the Lamont News-List? They're archived
here:
http://hcl.harvard.edu/lamont/resources/tipsandtools/
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POWER SEARCHING
Tip no. 7: Creating "nested" searches in the HOLLIS catalog
Even if you've never heard the term "nesting" before, the principle behind
it is already familiar to you. Today's Power Searching Tip comes straight
out of basic math.
A long time ago, you learned to change the sense (and sum) of a string of
numbers, like 5 x 7 + 4, by introducing parentheses: 5 x (7 + 4). In the
HOLLIS catalog, it's possible to express--and change--the relationships
between a string of search terms by the very same means.
"Nesting" is a method of grouping words parenthetically in order to
clarify the logic of a search statement. The parentheses tell the
computer how to process the parts of your search: what to look for first,
what terms to combine, and in what way.
Here's an example: a simple keyword search for BIOLOGICAL AND MILITARY OR
DEFENSE in the HOLLIS catalog will produce more than 19,000 "hits"
(results). A nested search for the same terms--BIOLOGICAL AND (MILITARY
OR DEFENSE)--yields a mere 157.
What accounts for the discrepancy?
The second, nested search redistributes the "weights" of each term.
HOLLIS recognizes that you are treating "military" and "defense" as
synonyms, and that EITHER word is acceptable, as long it appears in a
catalog record that ALSO contains the word "biological."
Without the parentheses, the system will retrieve items that contain BOTH
"biological" and "military" OR any item at all in which the word
"defense"
appears. Your chances of having to sift through irrelevant information
dramatically increase.
Like truncation (Power Searching Tip no. 2), nesting enables you to extend
the reach of a keyword search while preserving a good degree of precision.
Nesting is a far more sophisticated approach to searching than truncation,
however.
Truncation relies entirely on the flexible spelling of individual terms
(famil? = family or families or familiar or familiarity).
The key to nesting is logical strategy: careful word positioning and
attention to the relationships between ideas.
When should you use it? Whenever you need to separate primary and
secondary search emphases, and whenever you can anticipate alternative
search terms that might be worth a try.
Examples:
(TEENAGERS OR ADOLESCENTS) AND SMOKING
(SMOKING OR TOBACCO OR CIGARETTES) AND (ILLNESS OR CANCER OR HEALTH)
You'll find that truncation and nesting are often used together to create
elaborate, even elegant search statements. Next time you feel like
experimenting, see what happens when you enter this search string into the
HOLLIS catalog:
BIOLOGICAL AND (WEAPON? OR WAR OR WARFARE) AND (MILITARY OR DEFENSE)
**And by the way: nesting--just like truncation (Tip no. 2)--is possible
in most of Harvard's e-resources.
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COOL TOOL ON THE HARVARD LIBRARIES E-RESOURCES PAGE
The International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.eresource:iesbsxxx
In print (26 v.): Lamont REF.ROOM H41 .I58 2001
The _IESBS_ is an amazing feat of international scholarship and an
extraordinary research tool. Years in the making, it's the largest
reference work ever published on the social and behavioral sciences, and
the first attempt in more than three decades to map the entire range of
knowledge encompassed by these fields.
College students sometimes shy away from using encyclopedias, under the
mistaken impression that they have limited value on the undergraduate
level and will carry less weight in their bibliographies than books and
journal articles.
It's true that GENERAL encyclopedias, like the _Britannica_,
tend to be broader than they are deep. An authoritative SUBJECT
encyclopedia, on the other hand, can be an absolutely indispensable
research aid when you need a solid overview of a topic, when you have a
knowledge gap to close, or when you want to place your research question
in its wider historical, intellectual, cultural, or interdisciplinary
contexts.
The _IESBS_ is among the favorite resources of Lamont Reference Librarians
because of its breadth, depth, and utility. We're as likely to recommend
it to you when you tackle a Core course assignment as when you embark on
your senior thesis. It's that good.
In fact, in the last two weeks, we've shown the _IESBS_ to a senior
preparing for her oral exams in Social Studies and a freshman who wants to
know a little bit more about what anthropologists "do" before he commits
to a concentration.
You'll find readable essays in the _IESBS_ on everything from Emile
Durkheim to hate crimes, from brain asymmetry to ecological imperialism,
and from "standpoint theory" in science to the social dimensions of World
War I.
Among the many reasons you might want to consult _The International
Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences_ (IESBS), we offer these:
* The _IESBS_ contains 4,000 detailed articles all written by recognized
experts. The fields that are covered exhaustively include (among others)
psychology, economics, political science, education, and sociology.
Perspectives from intersecting fields, like area and international
studies, neuroscience and psychiatry (for example) are also
well-represented.
*_IESBS_ essays summarize scholarly trends, evaluate methodologies, and
speculate on future research directions: challenges that lie ahead,
questions that remain unanswered, hypotheses that still need to be
tested. (More than one undergraduate has found a research project
suggested in an _IESBS_ essay, by the way.)
* All articles include a recommended reading list of materials chosen by
the author for their excellence. These research leads can save you time
and energy as you set about tracking down the work of other experts in
your field. Some of these bibliographical references are even linked to
articles in full-text.
* Articles contain cross-references to broader, narrower, and related
information covered in the _IESBS_.
Look up the essay on "false memory" (for example) and you'll also be
directed to entries on subjects like "Eyewitness memory, Psychological
Aspects of" and "Memory Development in Children" and "Reconstructive
Memory." By these means, the IESBS encourages you to think "around" a
topic, as well as to think "about" it.
A few search tips:
* If you're not sure of the keywords to use for a search, you can explore
broad subject classifications in _IESBS_.
* If you search by keyword, your search results will list entries in
alphabetical order. You can improve your results by clicking on the on
the option to resort results by RELEVANCE.
* If you want to truncate, the symbol to use is ! (exclamation point).
Let us know what you think of _IESBS_ if you're already using it. And if
you're not, now's the time to give this e-resource a try!
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ON OUR FARNSWORTH SHELVES
Just in case you're looking for that next good book to read
We know that April is the cruelest month for Harvard students. Just when
the days grow longer and the weather gets warmer, the pace of academic
life picks up: papers need to get researched and written, deadlines need
to be met, and decisions about the summer, the next academic year, or life
after Harvard need to be made. At this time of year, what a luxury it is
to lose yourself for an hour or two each day in a good book!
If you're already longing for a bit of respite from these end-of-term
pressures, perhaps you should pay a visit to the Farnsworth Room. Among
the many kinds of books there is a super selection of mysteries and
espionage fiction from all over the world.
This month, we've highlighted some of our favorites in an exhibit called
"Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem: International Intrigue."
You'll find the exhibit on Level 1, the books in Farnsworth on Level 5,
and a brochure of featured titles described here
http://hcl.harvard.edu/lamont/news/intrique_intl_apr2005.pdf
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HAVE A TOPIC you'd like to see us cover in a future issue of the Lamont
News-List? A research question you need answered? A tip you want
to pass along to other Lamont News-List readers? All suggestions welcome!
Send your thoughts and comments to sgilroy(a)fas.harvard.edu.
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Copyright 2005 President and Fellows of Harvard University