Thanks to Arif Iqbal for this original version section.

There are a number of ways to search for material on your particular field. A few of the most common methods to look either inside or outside UCL are given below.

Places to Look within UCL

Your first port of call is the college libraries and more specifically the Science (or DMS Watson) library. Although books on computer science can be found classified under the mathematics section within the Science library, it is also worth noting that computer science books can be seen in a number of different locations (due to the way books have been bought for different departments), for example some books on graphics are classified under engineering whereas information systems are likely to be found under librarianship in the main library. Consequently it is better to start your search using the library's computer catalogue (known as Libertas) and this can be accessed not only within the library but also from the department (the way to do this will be given later on). Periodicals are the main source of information for research students and can also be found using the computer catalogue. Most of the common periodicals can be acquired in the Science library, including the various ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) journals and the SigPlan Notices. If you require a journal article which is not available in the library then you can request a copy by completing a form obtainable from the issue desk.

There are two main ways of conducting a search for current and previous articles on a particular area. One way is to look up your chosen keyword(s) within the Computer and Control Abstracts or the Science Citation Index, both situated in the reference section of the Science library. Another less laborious method for searching articles, books or theses is by using a database on CD-ROM. The library has a number of CD-ROM systems and few of the relevant ones are given below. The attractiveness of the CD-ROM is clearly apparent that is, it can be less time consuming, you can easily vary your search strategy and your results can be saved on diskette. However there are also disadvantages, chiefly you are restricted to more recent years (so that if you field has a long history you may need information for ten or even twenty years). In addition the CD-ROM system is only updated on an interval basis. Therefore the abstracts in textbook form may a provide a better reflection of current work. In addition the volumes of abstracts contain a list of journals that have been used, and this can prove to be valuable in tracking down journals and providing an indication of subject range.

Since each database on CD-ROM is limited to a certain set of journals, it may be recommended that you investigate those in other subject areas related to your field, for example psychology for human--computer interface or medicine for medical expert systems.

INSPEC: includes literature of physics, electronics, electrical engineering, computers from 1989 onwards.

INDEX TO THESES: Indexes theses for higher degrees in British universities, from 1971 onwards.

DISSERTATION ABSTRACTS ONDISC: Indexes theses, principally PhD and MPhil accepted in US universities, but covering some from Europe and elsewhere, from 1861 onwards.

In order to search these you may need to arrange your search strategy beforehand (using a technical thesaurus) and to obtain a diskette.

INSPEC is a good CD-ROM to search on however a less well-known one is available in the small computer library, situated in the College's Computer Centre (i.e. the Kathleen Lonsdale Building). This library is run by Sam Weller. This particular CD-ROM, unlike INSPEC, is a full text version and though primarily aimed at the business market does contain a few good journals.

Lastly it is worth remembering that the Computer Science department has its own library. It is stocked mainly with journals but also contains previous theses and a neural networks section.

Other Universities

Another good source of information is other university libraries, especially in London. Although the University of London is fragmenting you can still use other libraries as a source of reference, on most occasions it is just a case of showing your college identification. The first on the list is Senate House library, which has a small but good collection of computer science books. You can certainly use it for reference as a UCL postgraduate, but may need additional permission from your supervisor to borrow books. A similar point can be made for Birkbeck College library. The other good university library in the locality is the Institute of Education. This is situated on Bedford Way on the same side as UCL's Department of Psychology. It is a new library with plenty of resources including study area and houses one of the best textbook sections on computer-assisted learning in the University of London.

Quite recently the University of Westminster has made an agreement with UCL to allow each other's students use their library for reference. Although this is broadly welcome since UCL students can now refer to computer science books in the New Cavendish Street library. It's not quite a break through for two main reasons, firstly most full-time students are allowed at the moment to use other universities on a reference basis, as long as they ask permission and are able identify themselves as bona fide students. Secondly the agreement as yet does not extend to borrowing rights. That said the facilities are certainly merit examination, if only for the alternative source of books, journals and CD-ROM systems, for instance Bookbank (available at the university) is a database which contains details of all current books published in English and is updated quarterly.

Two other libraries which are worth mentioning are Queen Mary and Westfield College (QMW) library and the library at Imperial College. Although the QMW library can be found on the Mile End Road, a long distance to travel, it does possess several virtues. Firstly it is a brand new library with a large range of computer science books, it specialises in material for people interested in Ergonomics and Human--Computer Interface, the library has the most up to date photocopiers, a variety of CD-ROM systems and a very pleasant atmosphere to study.

The other library of significance is the one positioned on the South Kensington campus of Imperial College. Despite the fact that UCL students are not allowed to borrow books, it is recommended as a visit even if to browse through their collection. It does house a large number of engineering journals and has a considerable assortment of computing books.

The British Library

The British Library is the national library for the UK. There are several branches each with its own specialisation. A number of London branches have been included below (details of others can be obtained from UCL library).

BIDS and Other On-line Information

There are quite a few information services available using the college computer systems. Unlike CD-ROM, these can be accessed either from the department or the college computers (i.e., via the Information Systems Division). One of the most important of these is BIDS (or Bath Information & Data Services), which is a group of wide-ranging databases stored at the University of Bath and made available for on-line access by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI).

The databases are:

• Arts & Humanities Citation Index
• Science Citation Index (SCI)
• Social Sciences Citation Index
• Index of Scientific and Technical Proceedings

If you wish to use BIDS you must ask the enquiry desks in the Main, Science or Boldero libraries. They will register you by signing a copyright declaration and issue you with a password and instructions on how to connect to and use BIDS. The advantages of this service is that you can use it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (except for a few hours on Monday and Wednesday when the information is being updated) and get it by using any terminal in UCL as long as it has a connection to the network and has a VT100 compatibility. Not only that BIDS draws on 7,000 journals worldwide and is updated frequently. The main disadvantage is that the databases are divided into years, which means that any searches conducted within on particular year have to be written down before changing to another year. Results to searches (which are not full text) can be automatically transferred to the your electronic mailbox.