Following a Citation at Bates: How do I get it?

How do I get it?

Sometimes, after you've identified the citation for a potentially awesome source, you are not quite sure how to track that book, article, etc. down.  By following the steps on this page, you should be able to:

1. Track down a book from its citation information.
2. Track down an article from its citation information.
3. Use forward citation searching to identify articles and books that have cited (i.e. were published after) a specific book or article.

Obtaining a Book at Bates

Finding a book or book chapter at Ladd involves the following steps:

1. Check to see if the book is available at Bates.
2. Check to see if the book is available at Bowdoin College or Colby College libraries.
3. Place an Interlibrary Loan request.

Is the Book Available at Ladd Library?

• Search for the title of the book or book chapter in the LibrarySearch tool on the Library homepage. 
• Does Bates own the book?  If so, is it available?
  • If it's available at Bates, then you are all set.
    • If it's a physical book (i.e. "Available at Ladd Library Bookstacks"), record the call number for the book to the stacks and retrieve it.
    • If it's an e-book, click the "Available Online" link and start reading.

Is the Book Available at Bowdoin College or Colby College Libraries?

• Open the "Library" facet on the left panel of your LibrarySearch results and select the Bowdoin College and Colby College links. This limits search results to items available from Bowdoin and/or Colby Colleges.
• Do you see the book or book chapter in this filtered results list? 
  • If so and the result says "Available Online", you are all set. 
    • Click the link and start reading.
  • If so and the result says "Check for request options", click on the result title.
    • Check the CBB Holdings.
      • If it is available at Bowdoin or Colby ("Available at institution"), select "CBB request" under "How to get it".
      • Check the resulting popup form for accuracy and then select "SEND REQUEST" at the bottom of the form.
      • In 2-3 days, you should receive an email telling you your book or book chapter is available with instructions for access.
  • If not, proceed to "Place an Interlibrary Loan Request" below.

Place an Interlibrary Loan Request

• Perform a new search for the title of the book or book chapter in the LibrarySearch tool on the Library homepage.
• In the left panel, enable the "Search beyond the CBB collection" option beneath "Refine your results".
• Do you see the book or book chapter in this filtered results list?
  • If so, click on the item title in the search result.
    • On the resulting page, select the "Request via Interlibrary Loan" link under "Links".
    • Log in to your ILL (i.e. ILLiad) account using your Bates username and password.
    • Check the resulting form for accuracy.  Be sure that minimally all required fields are filled, but know that a more complete form has a better chance of providing your with content.
    • Scroll to the bottom of the form page and select "Submit Request".
    • In 5-7 days, you should receive an email telling you your book or book chapter is available with instructions for access.
  • If not, request help from a librarian at the Ladd Library Research Desk.

Obtaining a Journal Article at Bates

Finding a journal article at Ladd involves the following steps:

1. Search for an article title using LibrarySearch from the Library homepage.
2. Is the article listed in the LibrarySearch results?
   1. If so, and if the search result says "Available Online", then you are all set.  Click the "Available Online" link and select one of the "Full text availability" options on the resulting popup screen.
   2. If the article is listed, but the result says "Check for request options", click the "Check for request options" link and follow the steps provided in the "How to get it" section of the resulting popup page to request an electronic copy of the article.
3. If the article title is not listed in the search results, place an Interlibrary Loan request for the item.
   1. Open the "Accounts" option from the navigation menu at the top of the Library homepage and select "Interlibrary Loan Login".
   2. Enter your Bates username and password and select "Logon to Illiad".
   3. At the top of the Illiad webpage, select "New Requests".  Then select the appropriate item type (i.e. article, book chapter, etc.).
   4. In the resulting ILL request form, as much information about the item as possible.  The more complete the information is, the better the chances that we will be able to find the item for you.
   5. After entering all of the item information, scroll to the bottom of the request form and select "Submit Request".

Research as time travel

Following citations is a bit like traveling in time.  Frequently, we are taught to examine a source's bibliography to identify primary sources of supporting evidence or to trace the origins and development of a particular line of thinking.  This can be very useful, but because everything in the bibliography was published before the document they are cited in, when you do this you are always traveling backwards in time.

But what if you wanted to travel forward in time past the publication date of an important source you have identified?  Is there a way to identify related sources published after an important document?  In a word, "yes".

Following the "Cited By" link

Many search tools available to Bates researchers can allow you to generate a list of sources that have cited an existing document.  Because items in this "cited by" list were published after the document they are citing, researching them allows you to travel forward in publication time.

Search tools at Bates with "Cited By" functionality

• Google Scholar:
  Perform a search in Google Scholar and select the "Cited by" link below any desired search result.
  For sources cited by a large number of documents, it is possible to search with in the "Cited by" list results:

• Scopus
  Perform a search using Scopus and select the "Cited by" link in the last column of any desired search result.
  For sources cited by a large number of documents, it is possible to search with in the "Cited by" list results:

• PsycINFO:
  To identify the items in the PsycINFO database that cite a specific article, select the "Cited References" button from the top menu of the PsycINFO search screen.  Enter the article title of interest and search.
  From the results screen, select the items of interest and select the "Find Citing Articles" button.
   

Alternatively, do a search using PsycINFO and select the "Cited by" link in the last column of any desired search result.

• MathSciNet:
  Perform a search using MathSciNet and select the desired article from the list of results.
  From the item results page, you can select links to the citing documents from the "Citations" box at the right of the screen.