"We are just
an advanced breed of
monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the
Universe. That makes us something very special." -- Stephen Hawking
LinkedIn is such a rich source of information on experts that it makes sense to
repeat myself … master Boolean logic and use it in LinkedIn’s Advanced search
form.
For example, to find people with expertise in catalysis, you might use the
following search string …
catalyst (scientist OR researcher) (sulfur OR desulfurization)
You could type the search string directly into the Keyword search box. But I find it more convenient to compose the
search string in word or notepad, and then copy and paste the result into the
LinkedIn search box. This makes it
easier for me to spot typos and other mistakes.
Here is a screenshot showing a couple of the results of the above search …
And here is a screenshot of me inviting you to join my LinkedIn network (http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeansteinhardtresearch)
“If you feel the
urge, don't be afraid to go on a wild goose chase. What
do you think wild geese are for
anyway?” -- Will Rogers (American entertainer, noted for his pithy and
homespun humor, 1879-1935)
As great as is Google® Scholar for finding useful stuff, it lacks one important
tool … the wild
card search.
In search logic, a wild card is a symbol, most often an asterisk (*)
or a question mark (?), that enables you to search for a root word and all the
words containing the root with one simple search statement.
The wild
card feature is one advantage commercial databases like Elsevier’s ScienceDirect (or
SciVerse) have over search engines like Google and Yahoo!
Here is a simple example that illustrates the point … Click Advanced Search on
the ScienceDirect (www.sciencedirect.com)
main page. Click the Journals tab,
select the Title field in the drop down, and enter the key word thiophene.
The result is about 2400 hits.
Now repeat the process, but this time enter the key word preceded with the
asterisk (*) … in other words …
*thiophene
This time the results list contains over 5900 hits, including article titles
containing the words benzothiophene, dibenzothiophene, as well as a whole
lot of other “thiophenes.”
Try a similar search with your favorite chemical compound.
“Few companies that installed computers to reduce the employment of clerks have realized their expectations.... They now need more, and more expensive clerks even though they call them 'operators' or 'programmers.'” -- Peter F. Drucker (American Educator and Writer, b.1909)
Half the battle in keeping up with important developments in your field lies in efficient use of your time to do so. Today we offer you a time saver tip …
Use Boolean operators when you search Google Patents.
Let’s pose a hypothetical … you are interested in seeing recent desulfurization-related patents produced by a number of catalyst companies.
So you navigate to Google Patents (http://www.google.com/patents?hl=en), click the Advanced Search link, and enter the following into the search form …
In case the screen shot is too small to read, the search strategy is …
Find results with: desulfurization
Assignee: UOP
Date – Return patents between 2001 and 2011
The result is about 300 hits, including the following:
SELECTIVE NAPHTHA DESULFURIZATION PROCESS AND CATALYST
patents.google.comUS Pat. App 12605730 - Filed Oct 26, 2009 - UOP LLC
... (54) SELECTIVE NAPHTHA DESULFURIZATION PROCESS AND CATALYST (75) Inventors: Lorenz J. Bauer, Schaumburg, IL (US); Suheil F. Abdo, Lincolnshire, IL (US); ...
You repeat the search strategy, substituting “BASF” for “UOP” in the assignee field.
You repeat again, this time searching for “Albemarle” in the assignee field.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could search for ALL THREE vendors at the same time?
Yes, it would. And yes, you can.
Here’s how. In the assignee field enter the three vendor names separated by the Boolean operator OR.
The result is a list of patents produced by EITHER UOP or BASF or ALBEMARLE during the past 10 years. You now have only one search to perform, and one list to browse through.
Follow the Desulfurization Blog (www.desulf.blogspot.com) for a continuing stream of time-saver tips. Even better, add it as a feed to your organization’s Web.
