Using Web of Science as a Research Tool

Using Web of Science as a Research Tool : Experience at HKUST Library Steve Yip Electronic Information Librarian

Contents Ø Subscription History Ø Promotion and User Education Ø Usage Statistics Ø Tool for Both Locating Research Articles and Evaluating Academic Performance Ø Requests for Enhancements

SCI & SSCI Subscription started from Format Coverage Concurrent users 1992 CD-Net 1980 - 5 Jan 2000 WOS 1991 - 3 Jan 2003 WOS 1991 - 5 Oct 2003 WOS 1991 - 6 May 2004 WOS 1991 - 11 (together with JCR)

Promotion and User Education ØNotes From the Library Ø e. g. , <http: //library. ust. hk/info/notes 36. html#web> ØE-Mail Announcements Ø e. g. , <http: //library. ust. hk/mail-dir/msg 00372. html> Ø Search Guide <http: //library. ust. hk/info/db/wos. html>

Promotion and User Education Ø Workshops on WOS Ø 2 to 3 Sessions Every Semester ØAnnouncements Øe. g. , <http: //library. ust. hk/mail-dir/msg 00436. html> Ø Library Workshops on Specific Topics or for Specific Courses ØGuides <http: //library. ust. hk/res/subj-guides. html>

WOS Usage Statistics (from http: //reports. isiknowledge. com) Sub. Month sessions Queries Citation Total Items Events Requested Aug 2005 3, 659 12, 776 3, 203 18, 421 July 2005 3, 349 12, 597 3, 126 21, 524 Jun 2005 3, 475 12, 198 3, 259 66, 981 May 2005 3, 395 13, 498 3, 365 14, 360 Apr 2005 3, 576 14, 492 3, 771 23, 395 Mar 2005 3, 171 13, 578 4, 383 44, 870 Feb 2005 2, 592 10, 613 3, 173 19, 900 Jan 2005 3, 643 14, 135 3, 553 25, 197 Dec 2004 3, 050 10, 796 2, 404 18, 046 Nov 2004 5, 054 14, 216 2, 559 21, 279 Oct 2004 4, 454 13, 937 3, 090 25, 924 Sep 2004 3, 560 14, 799 3, 915 30, 463 Total 42, 978 157, 635 39, 801 330, 360 Average/day 118 431 109 905

Locating Research Literature - I Ø Search the abstracts of articles in 6, 357 international journals in science and engineering, as well as 1, 807 social sciences and business journals. Ø Link from search results to the full-text of the articles on the publishers’ web sites as well as the Library’s Catalog and Interlibrary Loan System. Ø Find the references cited in a particular article. Ø Find the journal articles that have cited a particular author or work (articles, conference papers, book chapters, patents, etc. )

Locating Research Literature - II Ø Locate related articles that share one or more cited references. Ø Discover key papers through sorting search results by "times cited". Ø Create Citation Alerts to receive emails on new articles which cite your chosen articles as references.

Evaluating Scholarly Performance - I Ø University Level ØSearch for the no. of articles published by universities in HK, and selected universities in China, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, United States, Canada, Britain, and Australia. ØConducted by the Vice-President for Research and Development Office annually to compare the scholarly outputs of the universities.

Evaluating Scholarly Performance - II Ø Individual Level Ø Professors search (usually done by their RA) for the no. of times that each of their works (articles, conference papers, book chapters, patents, etc. ) have been cited. Ø For applying the fellowship of Chinese Academy of Sciences or other prestigious organizations worldwide. Ø Search Results verified and certified by the Library.

Requests for Enhancements - I Ø Offer a platform (e. g. , Link@Ovid, CSA IILUMIMA) for Library staff themselves to create links to e-journals. Ø Standardize as much as possible the abbreviated names of institutions Ø Number the authors and the corresponding addresses

Requests for Enhancements – II Ø Increase the number of records that can be analysed from 2, 000 to 100, 000 or more. Ø Include the titles of cited works (articles, patents, conference papers, book chapters) and make them keyword searchable. Ø Allow limiting searches by broad subject categories Ø Offer an easy way to eliminate self-citation.

End Thanks for your attention and patience!