Searching SUMMIT from within RefWorks

If you find that you import a lot of references into RefWorks from SUMMIT, the Library's catalog, then consider using RefWork's "Search Online Catalog or Database" option.

From RefWork's "Search" menu, select "Online Catalog or Database". Choose "Syracuse Summit Voyager" from the list of search options.

The Quick Search automatically ANDs terms together — i.e., all terms you enter must be present in the catalog entry — and the Advanced Search lets you choose which fields you are searching and control the search logic for greater precision.

However, both searches return the results sorted in backwards relevancy order — i.e., the first item in the list is, unfortunately, the least relevant. This has to do with how SUMMIT returns the search results, rather than how RefWorks picks them up.

The strategy to apply here is to construct searches that return less than 50 search results — the maximum that RefWorks can import in this type of searching. That way you will have access to the most relevant search results; they just will be at the bottom of the list.

This problem does not apply to PubMed searches. If you search other library catalogs using the RefWorks search option, be sure to evaluate how the results are being sorted.

I double-checked searching the Library of Congress catalog using RefWork's search option. It also seems to be sorting the results in backward order. This problem may be true for all Voyager library catalogs.

* You'll note this problem in all resources that do not adhere to the Z39.50 data transfer protocol. PubMed does adhere. Voila, it retains relevance. Any resource that does not (and most library catalogs from any vendor, to my knowledge, do not) will not retain a relevance order. If you search a library catalog, and result relevance matters, search it directly and not from within RefWorks. Hope that makes sense! Mj *

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