Biology Literature Research (BioLitRes) 101 -
Part 4p - Search Primary Sources of Information.


Overview: In this section you will learn search strategies specific to perform searches on primary sources of information.

booksPrimary literature presents results of original research in formats such as articles, pre-publication prints of articles, and conference proceedings. Of the sources in this category, you are most likely to find and use journal articles, whether traditional paper journals or those you will find online.

When you see the word "article," don't assume that you will be consulting Time or Rolling Stone to find primary materials. True, those publications carry many articles, but the type you want will be found in scholarly and academic journals like Nature and the Journal of Experimental Biology. These articles contain original data and have been "peer-reviewed" by scientists familiar with the area being researched.

Why Use Primary Literature?
Use journal articles to learn the latest results of fairly specific scientific studies. Journal articles will also acquaint you with the names of scientists working in particular areas and lead you to related articles cited in the bibliography. The information you'll find in primary literature is more focused than that found in secondary literature.

GUIDELINES
STEP 1: Retrieve the list of refined concepts you compiled in previous steps

CONCEPT

Alternative
Descriptor

Type of  source(s) of information:
R=reference,
S=secondary,
P=primary,
W=web

Priority
1=highest

Location

Human genes and chromosome

same

Reference, secondary

1

Biology library

Central dogma

same

Reference, secondary

2

Biology library

Gene Mutation

same

Reference, secondary

3

Biology library

Hemoglobin and red blood cells

same

Reference, secondary

4

Biology library

Human genetic disease

same

Reference, secondary

5

Biology library

Sickle cell anemia aka sickle cell disease aka SCD

same

Reference, secondary

6

Biology library

Name of gene for SCD

TBD

Primary, web-based

7

NCBI PubMed

Gene database record

TBD

web-based

8

NCBI Entrez

Gene sequence

TBD

Primary, web-based

9

NCBI GenBank

STEP 2: Retrieve the list of refined queries you wrote in previous steps

Query

Operator1

Concept1

Operator2

Concept2

Operator3

Concept3

Q1

 

Hemoglob*

AND

(Human

OR

Homo sapiens)

Q2

 

hemoglobin

AND

Genetic disease

 

 

Q3

NOT

Protein sequence

AND

Gene sequence

AND

sickle cell anemia

Q4

 

Sickle cell anemia

OR

Sickle cell disease

 

 

Q5

 

Gene mutation

AND

Human genetic disease

 

 

Q6

 

Gene mutation

AND

Central Dogma

AND

Human genes and chromosome

 

 

 

 

 


STEP 3: Select the queries you are going to search on primary sources.
From the two lists in previous steps select those that are going to be searched on primary sources of information

Example1:

Query

Operator1

Concept1

Operator2

Concept2

Operator3

Concept3

Q3

NOT

Protein sequence

AND

Gene sequence

AND

sickle cell anemia

STEP 4: Locate the search engine that will give you access to your primary source of information.
Locate the source of information, for example, if you named PubMed as your primary source of information; get information from their website as to ways in which you can access their search engine to formulate your queries. 

Click here to see a video demo. In order to watch the video, you should have flashplayer plugin installed. You can download the plugin from here 
Click here to see a list of sources for UIUC patrons

STEP 5: Formulate your query
Once you have access to the search engine; formulate the query by typing the query expression you wrote in the table as shown above.

STEP 6: Examine the results  
The set of results -or hits- is given to you once the search is finished.
Examine the set.

STEP 7: Done yet?
if satisfied with the results; then move on to the next query and the next until done with the list.
If the results are not quite what you expected, refine your search by using the tricks you learned in previous sections of this tutorial or by specific ones applicable to the search engine you are using. Then try the search again.

STEP 8: Collect results
Put together a list with the results you obtained here.

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