Title:
SPORTDiscus, via UNCLE (Health Electronic Resources)
Rationale for selection:
Given the topic of my search, this seems like a database likely to
have numerous resources on the topic of running and its effects, both positive
and negative. I am not sure of the nature of this database, but since
it is accessed through UNCLE, I believe it will be technical in nature.
As a result, I will limit my search to periodical articles.
Evaluation of source:
Format/means of access: Available on the Web, via UNC Library’s
Electronic Indexes and Databases list, http://unclib.lib.unc.edu/eid/eresources.html,
also available off campus with an UNCLE password.
Scope:
Content/topics covered: The SPORTDiscus database covers both serial and monographic literature in the following areas of sport: recreation, exercise physiology, sports medicine, coaching, physical fitness, the psychology, history and sociology of sport, training, and conditioning. Seventy percent of the database consists of periodical articles.*
Time period covered: 1949 to September 1999, with selective retrospective coverage. It is updated quarterly.
Types of material covered: articles, periodicals, monographs, analytics,
books, theses,
microforms, videotapes, audiovisuals, CDs, diskettes*
Geographic/language coverage: international/international
Authority: produced by the Sport Information Resource Centre, very authoritative I would say. (http://www.sirc.ca/)
Access points/indexing: Very well indexed. Thirty-four searchable fields. It also has the option of mapping search terms to subject headings. This can help to limit the search and make it more precise.*
Abstracts and Full Text Availability: Full citation is available for all citations, with abstracts for most, but not all citations. No full text is available.
Special Features: Pretty cool graphics aid in the search process. Provides a search history which is expandable, this saves room and is a nice feature because it eliminates annoying scrolling when you are conducting a lengthy search. Desired and useful search results can be “marked”, displayed, then saved to a disk, e-mailed to the searcher, and, of course, printed out.
Search strategy:
This is the first database I searched, so I started from scratch with
my search topics:
1) running or jogging
2) health or medical
3) effects or results
Set 1: searched for “running OR jogging” [mp =english abstract,
subject headings, heading words, title, english classification subjects]
= 18,724
Set 2: searched for “health OR medical” [mp =english abstract,
subject headings, heading words, title, english classification subjects]
= 16,461
Set 3: searched for “effects OR results” [mp =english abstract,
subject headings, heading words, title, english classification subjects]
= 30,469
Set 4: searched for “1 AND 2 AND 3” [limit to English articles,
and periodicals] = 58
Set 5: from 4 keep 1,5,10-12,18-19,27,30,38,43,49
Information found:
My search of this database yielded 12 promising hits, which I limited
by browsing the abstracts of Set 4’s results. It provides a wide-range
of articles discussing research in my search topic, and should provide
ample material to gain a basic knowledge of the subject and expand my search
topics.
*Information taken from vendor website, http://www.ovid.com/products/databases/