CAB Abstracts on Web of Knowledge

Accessing CAB Abstracts on Web of Knowledge
Once in the Web of Knowledge interface
Searching for references in CAB Abstracts
Printing, saving, exporting, or e-mailing records
Editing searches and combining search results
Citation features
Search strategies
Thesaurus
Searching in the Descriptor field
Saving searches and running saved searches
Saving to EndNote (using Internet Explorer)
Use Help!

Printable version .pdf

Accessing CAB Abstracts on Web of Knowledge

Access databases from the Library’s Homepage http:/www.utas.edu.au/library
From here select from the Databases list or a specific Subject Guide.

Once in the Web of Knowledge interface

Select the CAB Abstracts database from the list in the left-hand frame or from the drop-down menu at the top
Click on the General Search button on the next screen
You will then see the General search interface page

Searching for references in CAB Abstracts

Enter your search statement in the "Topic" text box and click on the Search button
And/Or use the windows to search in specific fields of records if you know the author, source publication, (journal title), address, etc.
Improve the relevance of your results by searching in the "Descriptors" window. Search for the CAB descriptors in the Thesaurus.
You will then see a list of brief citations.

Search screen of CAB Abstracts

Remember the Help button is there when you need it!

Printing, saving, exporting, or e-mailing records

Mark the citations that you want to print/save/export/e-mail
Click on Submit button (Marks must be submitted before moving to the next screen)
Move to the next page and continue marking and submitting marks
When all required records are marked, click on the Marked List button that appears at the topic of the screen
Select fields that you want to include (eg abstract, descriptors etc.)
Choose the appropriate button: Format for Print, Save to File, Export to Reference Software or E-mail

Editing searches and combining search results

Click on the General Search button at the top of the screen to return to the CAB Abstracts search interface. You can then edit the original search and enter new searches.

Once you have conducted two or more searches you can combine them using the Search History button. The Search History screen also allows you to save your search history to rerun manually.

Once records have been marked and submitted, click on Marked List button to print/save/ export/e-mail records.

Click on title link to view the full record

Citation features

CAB Abstracts is linked to the Web of Science citation index. This means that some records in CAB will have citation links if they are in publications of major academic journals.

View the record in Web of Science to see: the reference list of the record; the references that have cited the record since its publication; and the references that have one or more references in common with the record displayed.

A CAB Abstract full record featuring links to Web of Science citation features:

Full record

Cited References show the references used by the authors;
Citing Articles are those that have cited the publication;
Related Records display references that have one or more references in common with the record displayed

Examine the full record to see if there are other terms that could help improve the search.

Print, E-mail, Save or Export to Reference Software (EndNote) from the full record screen.

Create a Citation Alert to receive email alerts on future citations to this record.

Search strategies

Effective searches strategies are essential for finding relevant references on your topic. The search operators below will help in combining terms that reflect your topic.

Boolean Operators:
Boolean operators define the relationships between words or groups of words.

Use	To
AND	Narrow search and retrieve records containing all of the words it separates.
OR	Broaden search and retrieve records containing any of the words it separates.
NOT	Narrow search and retrieve records that do not contain the term following it.
( )	Group words or phrases when combining Boolean phrases and to show the order in which relationships should be considered, eg: (mouse or mice) and (gene or pseudogene)

Proximity Searching:
Proximity searches limit the number of words between your search terms.

Use	To
SAME	Find words within the same sentence, eg: pollution same river retrieves records that contain the words pollution and river in the same sentence.

Wildcard Symbols:
Wildcard symbols can expand the scope of your search.

Use	To
*	Represent any number of characters, including no characters. For example: ferment* matches ferment, fermenting, fermented, fermentation, fermentor *sulur** matches sulfur or sulphur. Jones A* (in an Author/Editor search) matches Jones A; Jones AB; Jones A *Hofman** matches Hofman or Hoffman.
?	Represent any single character. For example: neuros?s matches neurosis and neuroses. organi?ation matches organization and organisation. iodi?? matches iodine, iodide

Thesaurus

You can search the thesaurus for descriptors (subject heading terms) to focus your search more accurately. Descriptors are added by subject specialists to indicate major concepts covered in the reference.

To use the thesaurus, clink on the CAB Thesaurus link from the Search screen

Enter a term in the Find a term box
Click Find
The results of the search will appear on the Results page of the thesaurus
Click on the T to view the Thesaurus details
Click on Add, then click on OK to transfer the term to the search screen

Searching in the Descriptor field

Find descriptors that describe your topic by examining the full records of your search results and by searching the thesaurus. Once you have established the best descriptor terms to use, type a search statement in the Descriptor window of the Search screen.

The Thesaurus screen showing the thesaurus detail for the term "transgenic plants":

Thesaurus search screen

The Use For field shows the subjects that the Descriptor is used for.
Broader, Related and Narrower terms may also be displayed.

Click on the Add button to add the term to a search using the Transfer function.

Saving searches and running saved searches

You can save your searches to run again at a later date. The advantage of this is that once a search has been established that retrieves relevant records, the search can be saved to run against future updates to the database.

To save a search (using Internet Explorer):

Click on the Search History button to open the Search History window
Click on Save History button at the top of the Search history table
You will be prompted to register with your e-mail address and a password.

Once registered, choose either of the options from the Save Search History page:

Save on the ISI Web of Knowledge Server – this option allows you to choose to receive email alerts
Save on Your Workstation – this saves your history to a local drive

A saved search can be run from the opening page of CAB Abstracts:

Click on the Open Saved Search button in the middle of the screen
You will be prompted to Sign in if you haven’t already
From the Open/Manage Saved Searches screen a list of your saved searches will be displayed
Select the search you want to run and click Open
From the View History screen click Run
Select the Time span you want the search to cover and click on Continue
On the Search History page click on the Results link

Saving to EndNote (using Internet Explorer)

To export references to your EndNote Library:

Mark and submit records and go to Marked List page
Click on "Export to Reference Software"
EndNote will engage and the Select a Reference Library window appears
Select your library and click OPEN.
Exported references will automatically drop into your library.

Use Help!

Web of Knowledge provides very useful Help screens that relate to the screen or function that you are currently using.

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