Oceanography 200

Oceanography 200 Library Exercise Using ASFA

Click here for the Library Exercise Using ASFA.

Things to Know about ASFA:

ASFA is the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts.
Click on Research Databases on the Libraries home page: http://lib.washington.edu. Type ASFA in the enter database name search box. (ASFA is the first in the list of two databases.)
Or, from the Fisheries-Libraries home page, http://lib.washington.edu/fish/, click on Databases: Journals & More.
ASFA is a journal citation database, rather than a full-text database.
Covers the years 1971 to the present.
Subjects include all aspects of oceanography, fisheries, marine biology, marine policy.
International in scope.
Please note! To use ASFA from a computer off-campus, log in by clicking on the red outlined box "off-campus access." Your UW NetID and password are required.

Here is the journal citation to use in this exercise. Identify the three authors. Next, connect to ASFA.

Multiyear increases in dissolved organic matter inventories at Station ALOHA
in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Church, MJ; Ducklow, HW; Karl, DM
Limnology and Oceanography Vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 1-10. Jan 2002.

Notice the three tabs: Quick Search, Advanced Search and Search Tools. Click on the Advanced Search tab.

ASFA Advanced Search

On the first set of search boxes, change Anywhere to Author AU= using the pull down menu.

Type in the lastname and initials of the author you have chosen, and click search. Note that names and initials do not need to be capitalized.

TIP: An author's name may appear in ASFA in different forms, for example, miller jk as well as miller julian k. To gather together all the versions of an author's name, use the Author Index which is found under the Search Tools tab.

Take a look at your results list. It will look generally like this one:

Click on the tab labeled Peer-Reviewed Journals

Browse the article titles and, to read an abstract, click on the article title link.

When you have selected the article you want, click on the purple box with the words Check for UW Holdings.

If the journal in available as an e-journal, the Check link will take you either directly to the article or, in some cases, to the e-journal.

Open the PDF version of the article, and print** the first page.

If the journal or the journal issue you need is not online, then click on the link to the Libraries' Catalog. You'll need the journal call number and the name of the library on campus where the journal can be found.

To complete the second step of the Library Exercise, use the Advanced Search page again. This time, don't select the Author field, but leave all the search boxes at Anywhere. This is the broadest kind of search. Try your keyword or keywords, or even keyword phrases.

** PRINTING TIPS: A Dawg Prints card or your HuskyCard is needed to print in the libraries. You may purchase $5.00 Dawg Prints card from a dispenser in the library. Printing costs $.12/page.

For additional help with ASFA searching, stop by the Fisheries-Oceanography Library Computer Lab on Friday, May 2 between 2:00pm and 3:00pm. The librarian, Louise Richards, will be available to answer your questions. You can also email fishlib@u.washington.edu for help.

Last modified: Thursday April 30, 2008