SPAN 430: Turismo, género y Medio Ambiente en la España contemporánea

I find it so hard to use the Library, why can't I use Google?

1. Google is not that reliable, but we will talk more about it here.

2. It's free! Well, I mean, you are paying a lot of money to study here, and part of it pays for the many helpful resources that the Library has.

The following video introduces the UBC Library website, important tabs, and basic search options.

• Transcript from tutorial

Sometimes you want to search broadly to get started discovering sources. The following video introduces UBC Library’s search engine, Summon, and how to use its features so you can find the topics and materials you are interested in AND so you can get access to them if they are available in full-text online. This video will help you getting your search started.

 

• Transcript from tutorial
• For more tips and tricks on how to use Summon, including how to narrow and refine your search, check out our Summon Help guide!
• Also, check out our Journal Articles guide if you would like to learn more about finding journal articles in Summon.

From Google to databases: How to Search?

We conduct research every day: choosing which new cellphone we should buy, where we should take our graduate courses on, and so on. Academic Research is a bit different.

Whereas on our day to day life we ask Google any question, for Academic Research questions, we should use keywords on databases and the Library catalogue. "Keywords? Databases?". The video below shows you how to go from a Research question to keywords.

 

Databases: Focusing your search

Summon, the Library Search Engine, is a great place for you to get your search started, learn more about a topic, and see what is available out there. However, it might be hard to narrow down your results - that is, to get results that are more specific to your topic. Databases are subject (e. g., Spanish, Latin American Studies) or functionality (e. g., data or reports) specific, which can save you time going through Search results. So, if you know what kind of resource you need or have a well-defined topic in mind, you might want to move on to more particular searching.

In this link you’ll get a chance to learn more about and explore a good scholarly database called MLA International Bibliography. The MLA International Bibliography provides access to scholarly research from 4,400 journals and series. It also covers relevant monographs, working papers, proceedings, bibliographies, and other formats.

Links:

• UBC Library, so that you can get your search started
• MLA International Bibliography, so that you can run more specific searches.

How can I make my keyword searching more efficient? Boolean Operators and truncation!

Boolean Operators:

You can make your keyword searching even more powerful using Boolean Logic, which uses special terms called 'operators' to include and exclude results from your search. Also called Search Connectors, they are: AND, OR, NOT.

Retrieved from http://uksourcers.com/2012/capital-letters-the-key-to-boolean-success/

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The operators must be written in ALL CAPS.

AND

• By default, all terms in a search are combined with the AND operator. The AND operator works to narrow your search.
• Use it to combine different concepts (keywords)

OR

• To expand the results set, use the OR operator. For example, microcircuits OR nanocircuits will return items that contain either term.
• This can be combined with quoted terms such as "teacher education" OR "educator training"
• Use it combine different synonyms for the same concept (keyword).

NOT

• To exclude items, use the NOT operator. When used in the following query animal NOT dog, the results will not include the term dog.
• Use it with caution (if at all), as it can keep great resources from your search results.

Truncation:

• * (star): Use it to broaden up your search results, for example: wom*n to search for women OR woman; Canad* to search for Canadian OR Canada OR Canadians
• " " (quotation marks): It tells the machine to search for an exact phrase. Use it narrow down your search results or look for exact resources, for example, a book or journal article title.

As we mentioned before, the default library search engine, Summon, allows you to find a great deal of articles. Besides MLA International Bibliography, UBC subscribes to a number of specific databases that can help you focus your search. Below you will find Tourism, Gender, Film and Environment related databases that might help you with the historical context of your assignment.

Spain

• Basque Database:

"Covers books, articles, chapters, dissertations, films and other materials on Basque Studies written or produced after 1994. The subject emphases are Basque history, language and culture."

Tourism

• Elgar Online: 

  "Edward Elgar Publishing includes scholarly research monographs, research handbooks, companions, dictionaries, encyclopedia & journals across Law, Business, Economics, and the Social Sciences. UBC Library has purchased all collections 2017 to current, and backfile content varying by collection."

Use it for Tourism information on Spain.

• Statista:

"A statistics portal that integrates statistics from thousands of sources, on topics related to business, media, public policy, health and others. Statistics can be exported in PPT, XLS, PDF, and PNG formats."

Use it for, among other things, graphs for Tourism information in Spain.

Film

• FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals

A "tool for film studies, created by the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). The database also incorporates the International Index to TV Periodicals; Treasures from the Film Archives, which identifies silent film holdings in archives around the world, and the International Directory of Film/TV Documentation Collections. Each entry consists of a full bibliographic description, an abstract and comprehensive headings (biographical names, film titles and general subjects)."

• Film and Television Literature Index

"A bibliographic database that provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for more than 380 publications, and selected coverage of 300 more. The database has been designed for use by a diverse audience that includes film scholars, college students, and general viewers."

Gender, Race & Social Justice

• Alternative Press Index

"Bibliographic database of journal, newspaper, and magazine articles from over 300 international alternative, radical, and left periodicals. Born of the New Left, the API was launched in 1969 to provide access to the emerging theories and practices of radical social change."

• LGBTQ+ Source

A "resource to the world's literature regarding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer issues. This database contains indexing and abstracts for more than 260 LGBTQ+ core journals, and full-text coverage for over 140 of those."

• Women's Studies International

"Produced by NISC, covers the core disciplines in Women's Studies to the latest scholarship in feminist research. Coverage includes more than 548,220 records and spans from 1972 and earlier to present. This database supports curriculum development in the areas of sociology, history, political science & economy, public policy, international relations, arts & humanities, business and education. Over 2,000 periodical sources are represented."

Environment

• OECD iLibrary: 

"OECD iLibrary provides online access to all books, journals, statistical series and databases originating from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development since 1998. UBC has access to the International Energy Agency's IEA Databases and to OECD.Stat.

OECD publications cover economic and social issues including trade, education, labour, social policy, health, finance, development, energy, environment, and science and innovation."

Use it for social, environment and gender justice.

ATTENTION: This database shows a "Buy pdf" button. UBC students have access to all OECD iLibrary content for free. Please, scroll down to "Click to access" to get access to the material and the format that you'd like.

• Green File:

"GreenFILE is a research database focusing on the relationship between human beings and the environment, with well-researched but accessible information on topics ranging from global warming to recycling to alternate fuel sources and beyond. Comprised of scholarly and general interest titles, as well as government documents and reports, GreenFILE offers a unique perspective on the positive and negative ways humans affect the ecology. Drawing on the connection between the environment and disciplines such as agriculture, education, law, health and technology, GreenFILE serves as an informative resource for anyone concerned about the issues facing our planet. GreenFILE's initial release includes abstracts and indexes for more than 600 titles, including comprehensive coverage from to volume 1, issue 1 to present for Bioscience (back to 1964), Conservation Biology (back to 1987), Journal of Ecology (back to 1913) and Journal of Environmental Planning & Management (back to 1948). The total number of records is approximately 295,000, and full text is provided for more than 4,600 records from open access titles."

As we mentioned before, keywords can help you improving your search results. Combine different keywords to adjust your search strategy. You can find suggested keywords below in Spanish.

• Desigualdad
• Estereotipos de género OR roles de género
• Ética del turismo
• Exploración de la naturaleza
• Norte y Sur en Europa
• Impacto medioambiental OR impacto ambiental
• Turismo Cultural
• Turismo masivo OR masificación turística
• Turismofobia
• Turismo sostenible

Expert tip: When searching, use the synonyms in English to look for resources both in English and Spanish, for example: turismo OR tourism.