Biomechanics Library Resources

The intent of this exercise is to gain experience locating the best scholarly resources on some aspect of biomechanics.  

There are four steps to the research process:

1. Thesis or topic statement.       

Topic Statement:  

You will use them to search in the subject, keyword, title, abstract or text fields to locate material on your topic.  Do not use common words such as: the, with, when, if, effects, results

Keywords:

    ______________   ________________        _______________  

If you are unable to locate scholarly journal articles focused on your topic make an appointment with the Science Liaison Reference Librarian to determine a search strategy to locate the best journal articles and web sites on your topic. Contact Earl Belisle at 651-962-5004 or embelisle@stthomas.edu,

4. Evaluate and select the best material
      After you’ve gathered material select the best articles and web sites using the following six criteria for evaluating resources:

Authority
       Who is responsible for the work? (author, editor)
        What are their qualifications?     (degrees, associations, affiliations)

Currency    (When was it written and updated?)

Coverage
         What is the focus of the work?
         What aspects are covered and not covered?
         If it’s a web site is navigation within the web site clear?

Accuracy
         Are there references available for cross checking?
         Are sources of information listed for factual data?

Objectivity
         Are biases clearly stated? (political, ideological or funding)
         Are affiliations clearly noted?
         Who is the intended audience?
         Is there an introduction that explains these points?

Relevancy
         It is research or commentary, primary or secondary?
         Is this the best article or web site on the topic?
 

Selected Resources
 in UST Libraries 

Locate Journal Articles:
 Central Search is a good starting point to locate articles related to your topic.  It searches across multiple databases including CLICnet.  Enter your Keywords in the Central Search box to search the Health and Human Performance databases included in Central Search. For more material choose one of the Databases listed below the Central Search box.   

Recommended Journal Databases:

SportDiscus
Full Text offers comprehensive, bibliographic and full text coverage of sport, fitness and related disciplines.
SportDiscus RefWorks

General Science Full Text
 indexes and abstracts articles from popular science magazines as well as professional journals. Full-text coverage for selected periodicals is also included (since 1995.) Updated monthly. 1984-
General Science Full Text RefWorks

Health Reference Center - Academic
Articles on medicine, nutrition, fitness, diseases, public health, occupational health and safety, and more. Updated weekly. Current year and previous four years.
Health Reference Center RefWorks

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PubMed  a service of the National Library of Medicine, provides access to over 11 million MEDLINE citations back to the mid-1960's and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full text articles and other related resources
PubMed RefWorks 
 

Expanded Academic ASAP
Indexing, abstracts (summaries) or full text for articles from a large selection of scholarly & general interest publications. Strongest in humanities, social sciences, non-technical general sciences & current events. 1980-
Expanded Academic ASAP RefWorks

Database Access from off campus
     To access databases from off-campus you must have a UST e-mail account.  When you click on the name of the database the username and password requested is your UST e-mail username and password.  Company firewalls my prevent you from accessing these databases.

Locating Journals at UST
Use  the Journals A-Z list  to determine if the article is available in either a print or electronic format at St. Thomas. 

Reqesting Articles not Available at UST
If UST does not own an electronic online or print version of the journal article, you may request a copy of the articles from another library through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). 

If you are not registered as an  ILLiad user fill out the form on the ILLiad Log in Screen and proceed to request the article using the information listed above.  There is usually no charge.

Citing Journal Articles
Information Needed to Locate and Cite Journal Articles   

Article Author: ______________________________________________
 
 
Article Title: ________________________________________________
 

Journal Title: _______________________________________________
  
 
Issue Date:_____________    Volume: ____       Issue: ___ 

Article pages (e.g.25-30)_________

 

RefWorks
RefWorks is a "personal bibliographic citation manager"  that makes it almost painless to use web-based software to help you create and manage bibliographies.  It allows you to use a wide range of "works cited" styles required for your paper or project.  

Learning to use RefWorks requires a little time but the effort pays off in submitting well-formatted bibliographies for your assignments. 

Lots of help is available:

Tutorial (streaming video)

Quick Start Guide  pdf

Step by Step Directions by Resource   Folling the suggested database descriptons  above is a link to how to export your citations for that database.

If you have trouble with RefWorks, contact the library staff who can assist you at 651-962-5001 or 651-962-4664. The Libraries also have RefWorks workshops to assist you in using RefWorks. 

 

 

Locate Books:
Search the CLICNet  database by keyword for books on your topic. Once you have found one book check the Subject headings for the correct Subject heading to locate additional books on the topic.

More books not available in CLICNet can be found by searhing the WorldCat database. It contains more than 82 million bibliographic records and 1 billion holdings contributed by more than 9,000 libraries around the world.

Author:

Title:

Place of Publication:                                   Publisher:

Date:

Locating a book on the shelf
The LC Call Number is used to locate the book on the shelves.  In the O'S-F library the golden rod sheets tell you which floor your book is located on.

Locating Additional Books Not in CLICNet
For additional books seearh on your topic the WorldCat database. It contains more than 82 million bibliographic records and 1 billion holdings contributed by more than 9,000 libraries around the world.

 

Selected non-UST Resources  

The Biomechanics Lab is dedicated to stimulating thought and promoting education for all those interested in the field of biomechanics and its many related areas. This website will provide a medium for connection between individuals in the biomechanics field. By establishing a unified community, it will help in the advancement of human performance.

Biomechanics Magazine
The magazine of body movement and medicine.  Launched in 1994, BioMechanics is a monthly newsmagazine dedicated to total body movement and medicine. Peer reviewed articles focus on treatment of joint and body injuries, geriatrics, rehabilitation, function analysis, diabetes, pain management, foot health, wound care and devices that improve mobility.

American Society of Biomechanics
ASB Mission:
To encourage and foster the exchange of information and ideas among biomechanists working in different disciplines and fields of application, biological sciences, exercise and sports science, health sciences, ergonomics and human factors, and engineering and applied science, and to facilitate the development of biomechanics as a basic and applied science.

International Society of Biomechanics in Sports
The International Society of Biomechanics in Sports is composed of members from all over the world with a common desire to study and understand human movement, especially as it relates to applied sports biomechanics.

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 EMB
10/28/08