How to Use the Most Expensive Resources (For Free!)
Posted on Thu, Jan 26, 2012
There are a number of high-quality, free-of-charge research resources on the Internet, including a variety of BioMed and BioTech resources. But the fact remains that many of the largest, most advanced search databases require membership or per-article payment. This presents a problem for Article One Researchers who need to search a wide range of topics and databases. Or does it?
Subscription resources are not usually barred off completely. Many allow users to search for articles, but require payment for the full-text versions. Some even offer full-text for free whenever possible. In any case, these resources can still provide great value to Researchers, even in their unpaid states. Here are some tips on getting the most out of paid-access resources without having to spend your own cash.
Abstracts are Friendly
Some resources, like IEEE Xplore and the ACM Digital Library, offer fully functional search within the abstracts of their articles. (Others, like SciVerse and CiteSeerX, offer both full-text and paid-access articles.) Even if access to the full text of articles is out of the question, abstracts can be a rich source of information. They summarize the article, allowing Researchers find new leads based on the information available. Examples include key vocabulary, phrases, citations, or author names. In some cases, these are all you need. You can set off in a new research direction based on what you learned from only the abstract! Abstracts may not be strong prior art in and of themselves, but they certainly play an important role in a successful research process.
Google Your Way Around
If you come upon an enticing abstract and think there might be valuable information buried in the full text of the article, you may not have to fret — or open your wallet, for that matter. Many articles that are available with paid access through big databases are actually available in other locations for free, especially older articles. Use the search functions of a paid database to find an abstract, then try copy/pasting the full title of the article into Google. You may be surprised to find that the full text is widely available on university websites and free databases!
Use Free Trials
If you have searched the title of an important article on Google and it appears to be unavailable for free, you may consider signing up for a trial of the original database. These are not always available, but are certainly worth investigating. For example, IEEE Xplore offers a 30 day trial, and IET Inspec Direct offers a request form for a free trial. Of course, trials are temporary and are difficult to make use of more than once. But it may be a good one-time option if you're up against a wall and think that you're close to grabbing that great winning reference.
After using a free trial, you might even decide to sign up and reap the benefits of a new database and the other educational resources it has to offer!
University Access
If you are currently a university or graduate student, or have graduated recently, you may still have unfettered access to a huge amount of information. Online database access for students is not always advertised, so you may have access to more than you think! Librarians are great sources of research information, and will be able to tell you exactly which resources you are able to access through your school. Plus, online library access doesn’t always expire at graduation, so if you're no longer a student, go back and check out your library website to see if you still have access to their services resources.
As usual, this comes back to persistence and creativity. As a Researcher, you will always hit dead ends and bumps in the road. Your creativity can help lead you to the key information in a location you did not expect. Your persistence can help you push through those roadblocks to find the reference that wins the Study. Consider these and other creative solutions as you try to find the most unique and valuable references!
Photo courtesy of user Ginnerobot on Flickr.