BU2280 Finding information

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BU2280Finding information

• Lim-Yeo Pin Pin
• Senior Librarian
• Reference Services
• Central Library
• Sep/Oct 2005

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Data Collection

• Statistics, Data, Time Series
• Many countries
• EIU CountryData
• International Financial StatisticsSingapore
• Construction InfoNet (BCA)Must register for
  userid password
• Realis (URA)

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How to access

• www.lib.nus.edu.sg click LOGIN gtgt E-resources
  gtgt Databases gtgt By type gtgtStatistical data

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Data from REALIS
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Data from Construction InfoNet
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SingStat Time Series

• For time series data on Singapore in Excel format
• Data is the same as those published in
  publications like Yearbook of Statistics or
  Economic Survey
• Example of data available GDP, GNP, CPF
  contributions withdrawals, Interest rates.
• Fill request form, get supervisors heads
  signature, submit form to Information Desk in
  Central Library
• http//www.lib.nus.edu.sg/trend/index.html

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Publications

• Yearbook of Statistics, SingaporeHA1801 SYS 2004
  (CL Information Desk)
• Monthly digest of statistics HA1801 SSM (CL
  Reference Office CL Singapore-Malaysia
  Collection)
• Dept of Statistics

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Statistics on Singapore

• Bibliography for publications websites
• http//www.lib.nus.edu.sg/bib/ss/

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Singapore Statistics on Web

• http//www.singstat.gov.sg/ KeyStats

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Singapore Financial Data on Web

• http//www.mas.gov.sg/ Data Room

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Research Question

• What explains residential construction starts?
• What are the dynamics of project management in
  construction?

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Search Statement
Project management AND construction
(project management OR scheduling) AND
(construction OR building)
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Boolean Operators

• AND is used to indicate that both terms must be
  present
• OR is used to indicate that either terms may be
  present
• ( ) is used to indicate order of processing
• is used to truncate a term
• Start retrieves start, starts and starting

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Literature Review for Books

• Use LINC Library Integrated Catalogue
  linc.nus.edu.sg
• Simple keyword search
• View results
• Click on subject headings in relevant records
• Export and email relevant records

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Topic Housing Starts

• Search using Simple Keyword
• Type Housing starts

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Topic Economic Indicators

• Definition Housing starts data represent the
  beginning of new privately owned homes,
  apartments.
• Methodology, relevance, trends Importance of
  housing starts
• Links to overall economy
• Jobs for construction work
• Production of construction materials equipment
• Consumer spending on appliances, furniture
• Rate of housing starts influenced by
• No. of households
• Household income
• Interest rates
• Look for other books on Economic indicators

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Topic Project Management

• Simple Keyword project management AND
  construction

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LINC Advanced Features

• Author/Title
• Keyword Search
• Simple
• Advanced
• Subject (Library of Congress Subject Headings)
• Search Specific Library
• Search Special Collection
• Journals Collection
• Theses Collection
• Singapore-Malaysia Collection

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LINC Advanced Features

• Limit this Search by
• Year of publication
• Words in the TITLE, AUTHOR, SUBJECT
• Sort results by year
• Material type
• Language
• Publisher

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LINC Advanced Features

• Truncation and Boolean
• Truncate search term by 1-5 characters with an
  asterisk Advanc
• Open-ended truncation with two asterisks
  Woud
• Parenthesis to indicate orderConstruction AND
  (concrete OR steel)

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Literature Review for Articles

• Use an appropriate index/abstract
• Search using your keywords
• Use subject headings, identifiers, phrases found
  in relevant records
• Download or email bibliographic citation
  abstract
• Check if library has journal or book

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• Get a list of relevant articles for your topic.
• E.g.
• Residential construction costs and the supply of
  new housing
• The role of interest rates in influencing
  long-run homeownership rates
• Macroeconomic factors do influence aggregate
  stock returns 
• Regional housing supply and credit constraints

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Indexes/Abstracts for Building

• International Civil Engineering Abstracts
• Iconda
• EngineeringVillage 2
• Web of Science (SCI SSCI)
• ABI-Inform
• Business Source Premier
• Perind

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How to access

• www.lib.nus.edu.sg click LOGIN gtgt Major
  Databases

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How to access

• www.lib.nus.edu.sg click LOGIN gtgt E-resources
  gtgt Databases gtgt By subject gtgtDesign Environment

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Record in Web of Science
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View full text article
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Search Full Text Articles

• Some publishers allow a keyword search of the
  articles in their journals
• Almost like an index search
• Almost all articles have full text
• Limited to journals by one publisher, e.g.
• American Society of Civil Engineers
• Emerald
• ScienceDirect
• SpringerLINK
• SwetsWise
• Wiley InterScience

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How to access

• www.lib.nus.edu.sg click LOGIN gtgt E-resources
  gtgt E-Journals gtgt By publisher

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InfoGate

• Search across multiple resources via single
  interface
• Preliminary tool to determine which databases are
  most useful to your research
• Useful if you need a few relevant documents
  quickly
• Links to full text
• Limitations
• small no. of databases searched simultaneously
• small no. of citations retrieved from each
  database
• Error messages
• Response time may not be as fast
• Access from www.lib.nus.edu.sg

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Evaluate Search Results

• If (Construction and housing) gets too many
  citations
• Narrow search using
• Additional terms
• Scholarly journals
• Subject classification
• Language of article

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APA Book Citation Style

• Author. (Year). Title of book. Place of
  publication Publisher.
• Atkin, B., Borgbrant, J., Josephson, P. (Eds.).
  (2003). Construction process improvement. Oxford
  Blackwell Science.

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APA Article Citation Style

• Author. (Year). Title of articles. Journal title,
  vol (no), pages.
• Ammeter, A. P.,  Dukerich, J. M. (2002).
  Leadership, team building, and team member
  characteristics in high performance project
  teams. Engineering Management Journal, 14
  (4), 3-10. Retrieved August 21, 2004, from
  ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document
  ID 281143571).

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Library Instruction ONline www.lib.nus.edu.sg/lio
n/

• Help in finding info
• Help with using LINC
• Help with searching databases
• Building tutorial

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Conclusion

• Make full use of the NUS Libraries
• Rich resources for your research
• If you have problems, ask the librarian at the
  Information Desk
• Email
• pinpin_at_nus.edu.sg
• askalib_at_nus.edu.sg