Discussions I have had over the years have highlighted the difficulty some people experience in finding citations to support their assertions, or provide detailed answers to questions that interest them. Probably a minority of members have access to substantial university libraries. I am curious as to the extent other members find this to be a problem. For my part I find that relevant material can normally be found, often in abundance, through Google Scholar, or perhaps PubMed. For matters relating to astronomy the ADS site is invaluable. In all these cases many of the articles are held behind paywalls, however the abstracts are nearly always available. For the level of discussion on a science forum these are often adequate and diligent searching can often turn up the original paper. (Checking the Home Page of the paper's author can be rewarding.) I am interested in the experience of other members in this matter. How often do you feel the need to seek references? How easy is it for you to find them? Do you find this varies with subject matter? Etc.
I do refer to sites like Google Scholar and sites like Science Magazine or PubMed or JTSOR. I also tend to refer to books a lot and then of course have to find the online versions or studies which are discussed in the books I am reading or using as a point of reference. There are some sites which I tend to have bookmarked for quick reference, like the Tanner Lectures on Human Values, for example, and various human rights sites, and of course the staples such as the UN site and Red Cross, as well as MSF and the ICC. That's sort of my go to for reading material out of personal interest and it has also helped in the work I used to do voluntarily in my spare time. Now it is just personal interest and sometimes it helps to know of certain things for my work.. It does come in handy sometimes. Legal sites, I tend to refer to Austlii for papers, legislation and also as my launchpad to searching for overseas cases and papers, which is usually for my work, along with various sites which deal specifically with my work - which I am not at liberty to discuss. How often do I refer to these references? All the time. Especially for my work. These articles, etc, are always up on my screen when my children are not in the room. I do tend to shield them from a lot of it. Plus for my work, it is quite sensitive, so that is only done when I am alone in the room from a secure laptop. On a few occasions, I have had to refer to something that I was able to find quickly, because I do tend to go through a lot of these websites and bookmark them to specific folders and I also have documents where I summarise articles, studies, and cases, under specific subject heading with links to the original. I am quite anal about how I keep such things and it is all "too neat" according to some. Plus such sites are backed up and the summaries and addresses are also backed up and printed off for quick reference and in case I lose everything.
