Repositories as sources of supply - handout

Repositories as Sources of Supply: Guided Searches

Gareth J Johnson, June 2011

In the following examples we will attempt to locate the same recently published book chapter which is available from the Leicester repository using the different search tools available. In each case we will examine the easy and accuracy each of the tools in retrieving this object.

1) Google Scholar: scholar.google.co.uka) Select Advanced Scholar Search

b) Search for with the exact phrase: ain’t we all the same

c) There should only be a few results

d) Select the item by B Green and CJR Willmott – which is available in the Leicester Research Archive (it’s a book)

e) Note one of the links goes to the item in Google Books as well

2) OpenDOAR Search: www.opendoar.org/search.phpa) Search for with the phrase: ain’t we all the same

b) There are a lot of results from this search which makes spotting the one you want tricky. However, in this case if you can select the first one this happens to be the correct item.

c) Try searching again by including the author surnames as well: ain’t ee all the same willmott green

d) Again, while you have found the correct item there are still a lot of irrelevant results

e) Now try using Google search command language to force it to phrase search: “ain’t we all the same” willmott green

f) This time there are much fewer results, all of which are either the correct item link, or listings of the authors of the item in the hosting repository

3) BASE: www.base-search.net/a) Select the Advanced Search option

b) Search for Title: ain’t we all the same

c) Only one result is returned. Click on the title link from the result.

d) As you can see this is actually the publisher’s page about the book, not the open access version

This document is made available under a Creative Commons 3.0 Share-Alike/Non-Commercial/By Attribution UK License

e) Go back to the BASE results page (or research for the item) and look at the record more closely

f) There is a link to the URIi of the item on the repository towards the end of the record. Despite appearances if you mouseoverii it is a link to it on the LRAiii.

4) Institutional Repository Searchiv: irs.mimas.ac.uk/demonstrator/a) In the main search box search on: ain’t we all the same

b) There may be a pause before the first 6 results are shown – including the right article

c) The percentage figure given is the closeness of match between the search and the item retrieved.

d) Clicking on the link displays the Document Details and provides the link to take you to the repository document in question

e) Now repeat the search but set Document Type to Book Part

f) This time there are much fewer results, but this does include the right one still.

g) You might like to try other searches for items

There are no right or wrong tools to use, and in most cases it’s a matter of personal preference as to which one you want to make use of regularly. In some cases local search solutions (e.g. Summon) may well search some open access sources for you, if they are installed locally. From this point forward we are looking for a thesis by Dr S.Brown at the University of Sheffield involving radar.

5) Index to Theses: www.theses.coma) Open up the Simple Search

b) Enter the Author contains: brown, s

c) Start the search – there are far too many results to sort through

d) Return to the Simple Search and search for:

a. Author contains: brown, s

b. University: Sheffield

e) While Dr Brown’s thesis is visible, there are also a lot of false positives displayed.


f) Return to the Simple Search and search for

a. Author contains: brown, s

b. University: Sheffield

c. Title contains: synthetic aperture radar

g) This time there are only two results, both which are right. However, only one of these contains the link to the Ethos version of the paper.

h) Remember you will need to log into Ethos before you can download anything.

6) Ethos:ethos.bl.uka) Search for: brown, s

b) This returns over ninety documents. Let’s switch to the Advanced Search.

c) Then Search for:

a. brown selecting Author’s last name

b. Sheffield selecting Institution name

d) This time only 27 documents were returned, and iof you browse down the page you should be able to spot the right one.

e) Try another Advanced search

a. synthetic aperture radar in the Thesis Title

b. Sheffield selecting Institution name

c. Limit the search to items Available for immediate download

f) There are two results that you can download – but you must have registered and logged into Ethos before you can do this!

g) If it is available on the local (institutional) repository there should also be a link here. In this case this thesis is not archived by Sheffield.

a. You will not need to register to download a thesis on institutional repositories

Finally we will look at how the Directory of Open Access Journals can be used to locate open access journals and articles within them, even if they are not deposited into institutional or subject repositories.


7) DOAJ: www.doaj.orga) You can search for open access journals (useful for academics looking to

write for one) or for articles within these journals

b) You can search for the titles that DOAJ indicates are open access

c) Try searching for the Journal Plos Biology

d) Now go back to the home page and search for an Article. Search for the word weasel in Title

e) There is only one result. Click Full Text to view it.

f) This takes you to the open access journal where it is easy to open, download or just read the article.

Gareth J JohnsonDavid Wilson Library, University of Leicester June 2011


i Unique Resource Identifier – the stable, permanent web address of an item on site like a Open Access repositoryii Hover your mouse cursor over the textiii The Leicester Research Archive – the University of Leicester’s OARiv At times IRS may be a little less than reliable when you change search options. If it misbehaves refresh the page to correct it

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Repositories as sources of supply - handout