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Using Wison OmniFile for Science Research

General Science Abstracts, part of Wilson OmniFile, is a good choice for starting research on a science paper at any level because it lists references (sometimes with abstracts) to articles in major journals. Wilson databases also offer clear and consistent subject headings that help you find more material. Also through a link resolver, some of the material in General Science Abstracts is partially full text. Wilson's General Science Abstracts via OmniFile is a great place to begin science paper research and supplements searching on Ingenta and ISI's Current Contents, though it does not replace a mediated Chemical Abstracts search with STN.

1. Before you start searching, examine your topic. Your topic probably contains two concepts, for example estrogens AND environment for environmental estrogens or remediation AND acid rain for cleaning up acid rain damaged waterways.
2. Wilson OmniFile is available on and off campus via GALILEO.
3. In the Subject Area box at the bottom of the screen, click the General Science (GS) option. This is the database that works best for chemistry. Be aware that this database is not entirely full text.
4. Type in your search. Remember to follow the directions in step 1 Put one concept on each line and put synonyms for each concept on the same line. For example, for searching estrogens AND environment, put, estrogens on one line and environment OR ecology on the second line. OR puts synonyms together into a single concept.
5. Wilson presents articles in crowded groups of ten. Articles with a striped icon or a red and grey Adobe Acrobat icon next to them are full text. Other articles are available in the library, through a link to another database, or via interlibrary loan.
6. Wilson arranges articles by relevance so the best ones are often closer to the top. To move among the articles on a single screen, scroll up or down. To move between pages of articles, insert a number or click the white arrows in light blue boxes at the bottom of the screen.
7. To see the abstract and a full reference for an article, click on its blue title.
8. To see the full text for an article, click on the striped icon or red and grey Adobe Acrobat icon. Remember Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF) articles can be slow to load on older machines.
9. To print a full text article, click the print icon on top of the full text article's pop up box, the printer iconinside Adobe Acrobat Reader, or for full text articles in other linked databases, follow THAT DATABASE'S printing instructions.
10. For non-full text articles, use GIL to see if the library subscribes to the article's journal and has a particular year of the journal.
11. Interlibrary loan is available free for most General Science Abstracts items. If the library does not have your journal, then order it via interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loan takes from seven to ten days, so please start your research early.
12. The library also offers access to other libraries' catalogs and periodical holdings. Most large academic libraries including Auburn, Georgia State, and Georgia Tech, permit you to photocopy their bound journals.
13. To start a new search in Wilson OmniFile General Science Abstracts, click Advanced Search on the left side of the screen.
14. To leave Wilson OmniFile General Science Abstracts, click on the home icon at the top of your browser, click the Exit Program button in the top right corner of the page, or just close the browser window.

EHK -- September 2005.