Faculty Resources
FACULTY RESEARCH MENTORS
Remember: Librarians are able to provide one-on-one appointments for researchers to design a literature search strategy.
There are many things that faculty mentors can do to reinforce access to vetted sources.
QUALITY SOURCE RETRIEVAL
Three Tips
First, promote the top research databases of relevance from our list of subscription databases. (Select your subject area from the first drop-down.)
Second, remind students to take advantage of the sophisticated advanced search features which allow them to limit searches to types of studies, peer reviewed articles, or other parameters. Ask them to dig deeper by following citations forward and backward throughout the literature. Task them with reviewing the latest issues of an important journal in your field to see how their research project fits into trends or fills gaps.
Third, encourage students to maintain awareness of their research project’s timeliness by setting a research alert or two. They may follow an important citation forward (see if it is cited again during their research period), set a search alert to automatically email new matches, or an alert for the table of contents of important journals.
RESEARCH ALERTS
Set Alerts By Database
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Academic Search Elite (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
- Use the Sign In option on the top, right to create an account.
- Run a search and modify it until it is exactly what you want.
- While in your account, from the menu button near the options for sorting search results, click the “Create Alert” button. Fill out the alert form and pick how often you want an alert. Enter your email address and a subject line. Click Save Alert.
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PsycInfo & PsycArticles (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
- Click on the person icon in the top right to create (or sign into) a My Research account.
- Run a search and modify it until it is exactly what you want.
- While in My Research Account, click on Recent Searches on the results page.
- For the search you like, click Save search/alert and choose Create Alerts from the drop down menu. Fill out the alert form and pick how often you want an alert. Enter your email address and a subject line. Click the Create Alert button.
These can be used in any Proquest brand database.
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PubMed This link opens in a new window
- Sign up for a My NCBI account.
- Run the search that you want to have as an alert.
- Click on the link “Save search” at the top of the page and then the “Save” button.
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Science Direct College Edition This link opens in a new window
- Click "My Account" at the top of the screen. Enter your email. Verify the email from “Elsevier”. Register.
- Perform a search. Adjust and filter as needed.
- Click "Set search alert" from the side menu. Fill out the form.
- Manage and update alerts by selecting "Manage Alerts" from the account menu.
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Sage Journals This link opens in a new window
- Click "Access/Profile" and select the option to create a new profile.
- Verify the email from “Sagepub” and complete registration.
Note: Sage articles can be shared outside of Luther College! (As “read only”.)
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Taylor and Francis Social Science and Humanities Library This link opens in a new window
- Verify the email from "Taylor & Francis"
- Create an account and sign in.
- Use the browse tab at top to identify journals of interest.
- Click New content alerts.
