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| Version | User | Scope of changes |
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| Jun 20 2008, 6:23 AM EDT (current) | j.weinheimer | 58 words added |
| Feb 28 2008, 5:52 AM EST | j.weinheimer | 1 photo added, 1 photo deleted |
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Open Archives are some of the newest and most exciting developments for scholars on the web. They are an attempt to make available for free the materials produced by scholars. These materials can be anything from electronic versions of texts and dissertations to movies of lectures to entire interoperative sites.
Since Open Archives are so new, searching is still in its preliminary stages. The AUR catalog lets you extend your search by automatically searching the site(s) of your choice. At the moment, the only possibility is a keyword search using the "AND" connector. (For more on keyword searching, seeFull-Text and Search Engines)
Simply clicking on the searches may not be adequate but you may need to revise your search using the options in each search engine.
Example: The following book can be searched in the Bielefeld Academic Search Engine for the following subject: Gender identity in literature in the following way. Find a book with the subjects that interest you.
Click on Subjects under Extend this Search,select the subject you want and where you want to search it. In this case, select Bielefeld Academic.
Clicking the Find button will search Bielefeld Academic (BASE) for you. Of course, once you are in the database, you may want, or need, to revise the search.
This method can be followed for any database. Each database has refinements that are almost impossible to put into a single search box. You may have to examine some help pages occasionally to see what are the capabilities of a particular database.
Search engines have not yet standardized their search methods, so each has its own peculiarities. Please experiment with different methods, since it is impossible to predict which ones will and will not work. As always, if you need assistance, ask a librarian.
A directory of open archives is at OpenDOAR, "an authoritative directory of academic open access repositories," which currently lists over 1100 archives. There is a search tool using Google, and while it is worth trying, the results can be strange. There are some excellent materials in there, however and it will probably develop into something truly worthwhile.
For more information on the Extend Search function of the AUR catalog, see Extending the Search.
Since Open Archives are so new, searching is still in its preliminary stages. The AUR catalog lets you extend your search by automatically searching the site(s) of your choice. At the moment, the only possibility is a keyword search using the "AND" connector. (For more on keyword searching, seeFull-Text and Search Engines)
Simply clicking on the searches may not be adequate but you may need to revise your search using the options in each search engine.
Example: The following book can be searched in the Bielefeld Academic Search Engine for the following subject: Gender identity in literature in the following way. Find a book with the subjects that interest you.
Click on Subjects under Extend this Search,select the subject you want and where you want to search it. In this case, select Bielefeld Academic.
Clicking the Find button will search Bielefeld Academic (BASE) for you. Of course, once you are in the database, you may want, or need, to revise the search.
This method can be followed for any database. Each database has refinements that are almost impossible to put into a single search box. You may have to examine some help pages occasionally to see what are the capabilities of a particular database.
Search engines have not yet standardized their search methods, so each has its own peculiarities. Please experiment with different methods, since it is impossible to predict which ones will and will not work. As always, if you need assistance, ask a librarian.
A directory of open archives is at OpenDOAR, "an authoritative directory of academic open access repositories," which currently lists over 1100 archives. There is a search tool using Google, and while it is worth trying, the results can be strange. There are some excellent materials in there, however and it will probably develop into something truly worthwhile.
For more information on the Extend Search function of the AUR catalog, see Extending the Search.
