Retrieval of very large numbers of items in the Web of Science: an exercise to develop accurate search strategies

Authors

  • Ricardo Arencibia-Jorge El profesional de la información
  • Loet Leydesdorff
  • Zaida Chinchilla-Rodrí­guez
  • Ronald Rousseau
  • Soren W. Paris

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2009.sep.06

Keywords:

Information retrieval, Search strategies, Databases, Web of Science, Scientific production, USA

Abstract

The Web of Science interface counts at most 100,000 retrieved items from a single query. If the query results in a dataset containing more than 100,000 items the number of retrieved items is indicated as >100,000. The problem studied here is how to find the exact number of items in a query that leads to more than 100,000 items. One way to achieve this objective is presented. The retrieval of the entire scientific production from the United States in a specific year (2007) is counted and an advanced search strategy is designed. Different sections of items can be retrieved using the Source field of the database. A Boolean statement was created with the aim of eliminating overlapped sections and improving the accuracy of this search strategy.

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Published

2009-08-08

How to Cite

Arencibia-Jorge, R., Leydesdorff, L., Chinchilla-Rodrí­guez, Z., Rousseau, R., & Paris, S. W. (2009). Retrieval of very large numbers of items in the Web of Science: an exercise to develop accurate search strategies. Profesional De La información, 18(5), 529–533. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2009.sep.06