Summon Discovery User Guide

PKU Summon Discovery(Summon, for short) is a one-stop service for searching scholarly resources, hosted by the Library since 2011. As users search online, items from multiple sources, in varied types, and related to any subjects, are about to be listed, collected, shared, or downloaded.

Feel free to benefit from Summon, no matter you are green at the Library or experienced enough.

Services

By using Summon,registered users on the PKU Networkcan explore databases of e-journals, e-books, theses and dissertations subscripted by the Library, as well as patents, government publications, and open access papers.

Third-party contents, such as cited counts, altmetric indicators, encyclopedia excerpts, and selected results from alternative searching portals, are intented to suggest more items outside Summon, deliver unsubscripted full texts, and helpful bibliometric stats.

Environment

Users from all countries can access PKU's Summon bySearch the Librarysection on the Web portal of the Library.

TheVPN hosted by PKUis not necessary for exploiting Summon even if you are out of the campus network. However, the VPN is required for downloading subscripted full texts through Summon.

Languages amongSimplified Chinese (简体中文),Traditional Chinese (繁体中文)andEnglishare all available for serving on Summon.

Some functions like Related Topics are English exclusive.

Popular Web browsers on desktop or laptop computers, smart phones, and tablet devices are supported in visual and operational friendly designs.

Begin to search

As you type what you want inside the Discovery field afterSearch the Libraryon the Library's Web, and click theSearchbutton, a Summon result page is popupped in a couple of seconds.

The layout of the result page on desktop Summon, from left to right:Filters,Results,References. Above these 3 sections, we have aSearchfield, anAdvanced Searchbutton, aFavorite Folderbutton, aMenubutton, and aFeedbackentry.

Filters

Prepairedfiltersunder the headings --REFINE YOUR SEARCH,CONTENT TYPE,PUBLICATION DATE,DISCIPLINE,SUBJECT TERMS,LANGUAGEand more -- are used to refine the results in a click. By turning on a single filter or multiple ones as your wish, all the results that fit your filters will be together in one list.

  • REFINE YOUR SEARCH: Show only items ifFull Text Onlineavailable,Scholarly & Peer-Reviewed,Open Access, or from theLibrary Catalog.
  • CONTENT TYPE:Journal Article,Newspaper Article,Book Review,Book/eBook,Dissertation/Thesisor so, among more than90types of the items.
  • PUBLICATION DATE: You can drag thefromortopoint, typing dates infromandtofields, click either of the Canlendar icons for selecting a date range, or one of the frequently applied ranges of the date: Last 12 Months, Last 3 years, or 5 years.
  • DISCIPLINE: Show only items in one or more disciplines.
  • SUBJECT TERMS: Show only items matched with one or more subject terms.
  • LANGUAGE: Show only items in Chinese, English, French, German, etc.
  • Some filters else available when Library Catalog is on.

Sort results and expand your searching scope

On top of Results section you have two options.

Results are sorted byRelevanceranking by default, which lists first the itemsliterallymore relevant to the words typed in the search field. Chinese results rank a bit higher when the Chinese user interface is on. Other orders as your need:Date(newest),Date(oldest),Author,Title.

The checkbox readsAdd results beyond your library's collectionis OFF unless you click it manually. When it's ON, the results will expand to much more items beyond the Library's subscriptions. This may help you learn about more bibliography to some focused subjects. For the full text out of subscription, please contact theInterlibrary Loan (ILL)staff with the Library.

You can save and share the results on Summon web pages.

Copy from web pages

  • Simply select by mouse any bibliography you need from the listed items,copy to Clipboard, and pasteelsewhere.
  • Citation:Bibliography formatted in a popular style. Click the Quote iconin gray to the right of any item in the list,choose a format,that qualified to the journal on which you want your work published.

Save or share with emails

Click the Mail icon in gray to the right of any item in the list, write down an address insideSend email to,Choose a Citation Format, and clickSendbutton, a bibliography (of this single item) in the chosen format will be sent to the address you write before.

Send to your own address for saving privately, or to an address owned by other one for sharing the results.

Export to citation management softwares

Click the Ellipsis icon in gray to the right of any item in the list, and click a name of software underExport to, your web browser will start to download a file containing the this item, for importing it to the chosen software.

EndNoteis recommended for users at Peking University. The downloaded file can be imported withEndNoteorNoteExpress.

Save a customed list of items

For saving multiple items you need, please use theFolder iconswithin the list and theFolder buttonat the top-right of the page.

Every item in the list has a Folder with Plus icon to the right of itself, to be clicked for collecting the item to the Folder.

After collecting a couple of items, clickFolderbutton and your collection show in a list. You can get citations of the listed items, send to email, or export to EndNote, in the way you can do to a single item.

Notes: When you are not logged in toRefWorks(Web), items collected in the Folder stay justfor now. Closing the browser or idling for long will probablyclearthe Folder, so you are advised to copy, send, export, or otherwise, save the items for good, before you lose them.

RefWorks (Web)

This works like the temporary Folder, on the contrary you will have the items collected to your ownRefWorks accountfor a long term. Don't be afraid of losing them when you sleep.

For now this service isfree of charge.

You are suggested tobackupthe saved collections to your local computers, or export them to a software (EndNote or NoteExpress) licensed to the University users.

Report a problem

For any problems or suggestions, please click theFeedbacklink at the top-right of the page and leave your message. The administrator with the Library will respond in time.

And hence your email address is advised for receiving a reply. Please describe your trouble in details, or your vision about a better service in clear words.

The Library is looking forward to hearing from every user.

One hour lectures

The Library holds lectures onHow to use Summon Discoveryevery semester. The Summon administrator with the Library gives the lectures (in Mandarin Chinese only) and welcome all the campus people.

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