Hints on finding mathematical sources

The Internet is a great way to find mathematical sources efficiently.

MathSciNet (http://ams.rice.edu/) is a searchable database of just about every mathematical article, conference proceeding and book in existence since 1940.  Not only does it give you basic citation information, but it has abstracts and short reviews of each article or book.

The ISI Citation Database (http://webofscience.com/) is useful when you want to know who has cited a particular book or article.

Our own Math Research Library (http://www.lib.washington.edu/math) has a plethora of links to other search engines and journals.  Many journal articles are now available online.

Sifting through a list of sources

Now that you have a stack of possible sources, how do you go through them efficiently?

1. Filter out the irrelevant items by reading the title, abstract and keywords.
   
   After reading these things, you should be able to answer the questions "What is problem is this article trying to solve?" and "How will the problem be solved?"
   
   
2. Look up articles that are available online before making trips to the library.
   
   You can save yourself a lot of time by viewing documents online instead of making unnecessary trips to different libraries.  When you download an electronic version of a document, be aware that the file may come in different formats.  If the file ends in "ps" (Postscript file), then use GhostView to view document before you print it.  If the file ends in "dvi", then use "xdvi" to view the document on a Unix machine, or GhostView on a PC. If the file ends in "pdf", then you need Adobe's free Acrobat reader software if your computer doesn't already have it.
   
   
3. Scan the bodies of the articles to see if it is what you want.
   
   Once you have obtained complete copies of possible articles, scan each article by reading the introduction and conclusion (if it has one) first.  Don't get distracted by the displayed equations and figures since they probably won't make much sense yet. Similar advice applies to books too.
   
   
4. Look for further sources.
   
   Once you have found a suitable article or book, look at its bibliography to find other related sources. Even when an article is not a perfect match, you can sometimes find relevant sources this way. 

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