Techniques for Finding More Relevant Sources

For Books

If you find a relevant book in the catalog, select the Details tab to find information that lead to more books on the same topic. This image shows the Details tab for a book. Note the authors' names are hyperlinked and will lead to other items by the same others. Other hyperlinked details, like Subjects, will lead to more results about that topic.

Use Bibliographies and Reference List

Browse the bibliography or reference list at the end of a relevant book, article, or entry in a reference work. You can then search for these cited items in the PSU Library catalog. If the PSU Library doesn't have the item, request it from Summit or Interlibrary Loan & Article Delivery.

Use Citation Information

Use the database, Web of Science, to find more information about the sources cited in an article related to the sciences. Web of Science has a Citation Network that is designed to connect you to articles that cited this research, as well as other related articles. This image shows an article in Web of Science; note the Citation Network on the right side of the screen.

Use Google Scholar to find out citation information about an item. The search results list in Google Scholar displays the title and some brief information about the item, including how many times it has been cited and any related articles.

This image shows an example search result in Google Scholar. Note the links at the bottom of the description, "Cited by 6" and "Related articles."

Watch this video, Using What You have Found to Find More, to see these skills in action.

The Library strives to provide accessibility to all online content. If a library resource or video is not accessible, or you cannot retrieve it or view it, please let us know using our Report an Error form.