Generation Y - How do you search?

A three-year research study into the information-seeking behaviour of students born between 1982 and 1994 has painted a picture of typical 'Generation Y' researcher.

• heavy users of university's library collections, primarily online but also in person (varies across subjects)
• regularly use inter-library lending services
• had limited access to computers and the internet before secondary school but now are confident information-seekers.  Arts and humanities students find Google generates unhelpful overload of research resources and science and maths students prefer subject-related databases
• rely on journals, both physical and electronic, often beyond the institutional subscriptions
• do not like formal research skills training, especially delivered in groups
• readily embrace technology and applications if the new tools complement existing ways of working, clearly benefits our research and support is readily available.

Does this sound like you?  Does it sound like nonsense?

Both Adele and I do/have done research projects alongside their day-to-day jobs so we can sympathise with a lot of the headaches and priorities that you have.  We can give you tailored help and advice about getting the most of the Digital Library and Web2.0 gizmos that can help manage your research at Uni, at home and on the move.  Just send us an email or telephone to arrange a date, time and place for the chat.  We can even meet you in Costas - the wireless reception in there is great!

What does "WebBridge" mean?

When you search a journals database, you will spot this little WebBridge icon on your results pages.

 

If you are searching a database like Education Research Complete your results can include links to the full text of the article (usually as a PDF).  This is a simple and quick way to read the article.  But two education databases - British Education Index or ERIC - search results only have citations; a citation tells you who wrote it (the Author), the article title and the details of where it was published ie the journal's name, date (this might include the volume and issue number) and the page numbers.  

 

So, WebBridge is a quick way of checking the journal title in the citation against the University's subscriptions. Clicking the icon opens a small WebBridge window.  You then have the option to check the catalogue for a matching journal.  Sometimes there will also be the option to match the citation against our main journals provider, EBSCO.  (EBSCO is simply a big journals supplier we use - think of it like checking your Sky TV for the History Channel).

 

Lots of people find it helpful to duplicate their search results before they start using WebBridge.  This means you will always have a window open with your results list.  You can duplicate your window by 

• clicking CTRL/N to open a new window, or, 
• right-clicking on the tab where your results are displayed and selecting Duplicate Tab.

 This flowchart describes another way of working from a citation to getting a copy of the original journal article.