Guide to CISTI Source

Description |  How to access  |  Quick tips  |  How to search  |  Mark records  |  Print/save/email marked records  |  Logout  | 

Description

CISTI Source provides citations to articles from the table of contents of journals, and to conference proceedings, in all subject areas. Over 20,000 journals are indexed (65% are science, technology, and medicine). Abstracts are included for about 15% of the database - primarily in the Life Sciences. There is no controlled vocabulary. Coverage is from 1993 onwards. Some links to full text are included. CISTI Source is updated weekly.

How to access

  1. Go the MUN Libraries homepage at http://www.library.mun.ca/
  2. If you are at home, click on the Off-campus Login icon at the top right of the home page, and follow the instructions.
  3. Select Article Indexes
  4. Under Indexes by Title, select C
  5. Select CISTI Source

Quick tips

Help on blue banner at top of screen
Truncation/Wildcards * (asterisk) e.g. behavio* retrieves behavior, behaviour, behavioral, behaviors, etc., also # for a single letter, e.g. gene# picks up gene or genes, but not genetic
Combining terms use Boolean operators between terms (and, or, not)
Note: if you do not enter a Boolean operator between terms, the system defaults to and, e.g. acid rain searches for acid and rain. More information
Phrase searching use double quotes around phrases, e.g. "cognitive behavior therapy", "acid rain"
Parentheses use to group concepts when using operators, e.g. gene* and (DNA or "deoxyribonucleic acid"). Terms inside parentheses are processed first. Otherwise, the system searches terms from left to right.

How to search

  1. Choose a search type: Simple, Advanced (default), or Browse.
    Advanced Search allows you to combine search terms in different fields and to limit and sort your search results. Use Browse to scan selected indexes alphabetically, beginning with the term you entered. Use for author searching.

  2. Choose a database: e.g., a) CISTI Source Articles (to search by subject), b) CISTI Source Journals (to view the Table of Contents of a particular journal), c) CISTI Source Catalogue

  3. Search for: enter your words or phrases in the search box(es), choose the field(s) you want to search from the drop down boxes, and click the GO! button. Search fields differ from database to database.

Author searching

To search for a specific author and retrieve all variations of a person's name, you can:
  1. Browse (recommended)
    • Choose Browse as your Search Type
    • Choose CISTI Source Articles database
      • >
    • Type the author's surname followed by a comma, followed by a space and the first initial. Click on GO!. Click on the number beside each index term to see the references. Select all appropriate variations of the author's name. Results for each will have to be viewed separately.

  2. Search
    • Choose Simple (or Advanced) as your Search Type
    • Choose CISTI Source Articles database
    • Change the drop down box to Author
    • Type the author's surname, followed by a comma, followed by a space, and either initial(s) or a name. NOTE: Personal names are not standardized in the database. This means that for example, Johnston, Stephen Albert could also be listed as Johnston, S, Johnston, S A, Johnston, Stephen, Johnston, Stephen A, etc. To pick up all variations of a name, you can use truncation, e.g. Johnston, S* will pick up all the above, but will also pick up Johnston, Susan, Johnston, Simon, etc.

      In Search mode you can also search for articles written by more than one author. Often just entering the authors' surnames will be sufficient, e.g. Johnson and Lewis, or you can enter their names truncated as above, e.g. Johnston, S* and Lewis, M*.

Refine search

If you find that you have too many or too few results, you can refine your search by adding or deleting terms. Click on the refine button located on the left side of the results page.

Search history

Click on the history button at the top of the page to view all the search statements from your current session. You can combine search statements using the boolean operators AND, OR, NOT. Check the boxes beside the search statements you want to combine, select a boolean operator and click on the GO! button. You can also re-run a previous search by clicking on the search query.

Search results

Search results appear in summary form, ten records at a time. Click on the article title to view a fuller record.

Mark records

To mark records, click in the corresponding box on the results page, or click on the select all button to select all the records on that page. To view selected records click on selections on the blue banner. Selected records are in brief format. To see the full format, click on the full display button.

Print/save/email marked records

Click on selections to create a file of marked records, then use your browser's Print or Save function to send records to a printer or disc. To e- mail records, click on the e-mail button when viewing selections and enter your complete e-mail address.

Logout

Once you have finished searching, click on "logout" to end your session.

For more detailed help, consult with a librarian, or use the Help provided within CISTI Source.

For general help on effective database searching, see our Tips for Successful Searching.

Note: To access the full range of services available from CISTI Source, including a table of contents/current awareness service and article alerts, you will need an account. Accounts are available to faculty and graduate students. For further information, ask at the Information Desk of your branch library.

August 5, 2008