Web of Knowledge

What is Web of Knowledge?

It is a database service from the Institute of Scientific Information. It includes Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index and ISTP. It used to be called BIDS or Web of Science.You will need an Athens password and username. External members and mentors are not entitled to an Athens password under the terms of their library membership.

How do I log on?

Start your browser. Do not use Internet Explorer when searching WOK, it has a fault which makes it very difficult to display the full text of journal articles. Use Firefox or Google Chrome. Go to the WOK home page at http://wok.mimas.ac.uk You can also go to the WOK home page using the Database list in the Search for menu on the Library web pages and clicking Web of Knowledge. Click the Green Connect to ISI Web of Knowledge button, then the Login button. Type your Athens user ID and password and click Enter. Select which type of search you want, it is best to click the Web of Science tab, though you can use the All databases option. You will see a general search form.

How do I search?

You can search for either topic, author, journal, language, year of publication, document type or address. Searches are performed on all years at once unless you enter a range of dates. Combining terms: And (to narrow your search), Or, (to search for words that mean the same thing - such as child or paediatric), Not (to screen out topics which are not relevant - animal when you are interested in research on humans).Topic (or subject) search allows you to search for various combinations of keywords. Enter your keywords in the white boxes, combining them as described above. Remember to specify the type of search for each row in the form. Click search. The system will automatically display your search results ten at a time. The number of references retrieved is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

The Author search will search for an author's name. Enter the Surname first, then a space and an initial. You can follow the initial with a wildcard if you suspect there may be two, for example, Bovell D* You can also use the Group Author search. The system provides both an author and group author index to help you select the right name. The

Address search will search for the place where the research has been conducted. If you want to search for different forms of a word, use the wildcard symbols when typing in your search term. * replaces any number of characters in the middle or end of a word - sul*ur finds sulfur and sulphur. Each ? replaces one character in the middle or end of a word - sul?ur finds sulfur sul??ur finds sulphur.

Refining your search Once you have run your search, the results will be displayed. At this stage there is a green sidebar at the left of the results list offering you options to restrict the search. Clicking a category will display further options. Choose from these by clicking in the tick box beside them, then click search. You can build up your search by using these options. There is also a further search within results box at the top of the results list which allows you to add more search terms to your query.

How do I use advanced search?

This will use the years and database that you have already selected but you can change then using the change settings button. Advanced searching allows you to construct more complex searches and specify the fields to be searched. Use the field tags listed on the right and combine search terms using the boolean operators in the list. There are also links to the Author, Group Author and Full sources index. At this stage you can restrict your search by language and by document type. You can use the search history feature to combine previous searches.

How do I run a Cited Reference Search?

Click the blue Cited reference search link at the top of the search screen. Enter the name of the primary Cited Author and the abbreviated title of a Cited Work, and then click search. You can also enter search terms in just one field but you may retrieve hundreds or thousands of references. If you retrieve too many hits, return to the form and add a Cited Year or a limited range of cited years. After you click Search, you will see references from the citation index that contain the cited author/cited work data you entered. Select reference(s) from the citation index, and then click search. When you click Finish Search, you will retrieve records of articles that cite the references you selected from the citation index.

How do I save a search and create RSS feeds?

Use Save history from the search history screen, specify either WOK server or local drive and file name. To run a saved search, click the Open Saved history button on the search history page. This will allow you to select your search from either the WOK server or from your own computer. The search screen will display with the search values from the saved query. Edit the search values if you like or leave them as is to repeat the same search against whatever database and time span is currently selected. Click Search or Lookup to execute the search. Searches can also be saved as RSS feeds; simply click the XML icon after clicking Save History.

How do I display results? Click the title to display the abstract then click the blue Back to results list link to return to the search results screen. To mark selected items, click on the box at the left of the title and a tick will appear. If you mark selected items you must click Add to marked list to save your choice.

How do I save results? Insert your USB pen drive. Move down to the foot of the screen to the grey Output records box. Click the "plus abstract" checkbox. Select the file format (usually text) from the drop-down list, then click save. Continue by naming the file (for example f:search.txt). 

How do I save results to RefWorks?

Move down to the foot of the screen to the grey Output records box. Click the "plus abstract" checkbox, then save. The popup blocker may block the next step - you may hear a beep. If so, click . Save the data to a text file on your desktop. In Refworks click on import in the references menu then choose import filter/data source: ISI (institute for Scientific Information). Choose database: Web of Science. Select Import data from the following text file and use the browse button to select the text file from the desktop then click import.

How do I email?

Move down to the foot of the screen to the grey Output records box. Click the plus abstract checkbox, then the email button. Enter your email address and click on the send email button.

How do I print?

Move down to the foot of the screen to the grey Output records box. Click the plus abstract checkbox, then the print button. This will display your records on screen. Click the yellow Print this page button. Exit from the print screen by clicking the Back button.   

How do I log out? Click on the blue Log out link at the top of the page.

How do I get help?

Help is available via the Help button or specific links such as Author. If you have any questions which cannot be answered by this guide please contact your librarian.