INSPEC: 1969-present. Indexes scientific and technical journals and conference proceedings in physics, electrical engineering and electronics, computing and control, and information technology. Updated weekly.

* Access Inspec on the Web by going to the main page of Tripod Select Journal Indexes and other Databases and connect from Swarthmore College. You can find INSPEC under 'Physics' or 'Engineering' or 'Computing' on the subject page, or under 'I' on the alphabetical list. Select 'Better Interface' (does not have links to Tripod) or 'Faster Interface' (works better at peak times).

* You may search all or just selected parts of a database. You can search all the way back to 1969 or just the latest week... Select the parts you want, then click on Select (faster interface) or Open Selected Databases (better interface).

* Type in a term, phrase, or author name, then select the START SEARCH button.

* To NARROW search, you may limit terms to a certain field. Type term you wish to search, then select the IN box, and a list of FIELDS will appear. Type the two-letter abbreviation for the field you wish to search.

* Use the THESAURUS on the right side of the screen to find narrower or broader terms.

* Use an asterisk * at the end of a word to allow for different word endings. For example, symmetr* will get you 'symmetry', 'symmetrical', 'symmetries' and 'symmetric'.

* SELECT records by clicking the box above the title. When you have finished going through the records, select the SHOW MARKED RECORDS button on the right of the screen, and you will get a list of the records you selected.

SAMPLE SEARCH ON INSPEC:

Example: You want to write a paper on superstring theory and supergravity. You ran the following search in years 1997 to current.

#1 superstring* and got 136 records limiting it to words in the TITLE.

#2 supergravity and got 221 records limiting it to words in the TITLE

* Go down to the Search History box. Select #1 and #2, then click on the 'Combined Checked' button and you get 5 records which have both 'superstring' AND 'supergravity' in the record. These may be 5 PERFECT articles, or you may want to go back and BROADEN the search, perhaps by not limiting the words to just the title. Remember, each of those 5 articles will have a list of references, so you may get all the information you need right there!

Hint: To check on TRIPOD holdings as you scroll through your citations, keep a Tripod window open and toggle back & forth between the two databases.

Hint: Before you request a citation from this database from Inter-Library Loan, READ THE ABSTRACT FIRST! If you can't understand the abstract, you won't be able to understand the article...

URL http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/cornell/inspec.htm

Created 8/26/99 mes Last updated 1.5.01