How to Use ISHAR

There are several ways to use ISHAR:

• Personal research & education
• Academic references
• Citing online statements on reference sites like Wikipedia

Research & Education

ISHAR has been built to facilitate different research and exploration styles, so we are designing the site to maximize knowledge discovery.  The more information we add, the more connections we will draw between sources and pages.  The three main methods of searching for references and sources are the Browse menu, the Search bar and Tags.

• Browse Digital Library: This tab will take users to our menu of major topics and their subtopics (this list is far from exhaustive and continually being expanded).  Clicking on any of these topics will lead to the Topic Summary page, which contains comprehensive definitions, functional summaries, the state of research and, most importantly, a link to all the sources regarding that topic (Go to ISHAR Online Source List: "Topic").  This exploratory mode allows users to research different topics they may or may not be familiar with, reading explanations of practices or following cross-referenced links to more and more pages of topics.  Clicking the source title from a summary list will bring up the full information on that specific source.
• Search Bar: A feature most users are already familiar with, the search bar allows users to find more specific sources and then organize them to suit particular purposes (only full abstracts included, sorted by publications, etc).  ISHAR's search feature is fairly powerful, seeking for matching terms in publications, article title or abstract, then allowing for more refining by abstract presence, author and sorting once the results return.  There is no need to include "and" if searching for several words.  For example, if a very particular user wanted to find sources by Elizabeth Blackburn that explore meditation's effect on telomerase, they would type in "meditation telomerase", then use the advanced search features to narrow the results by selecting Author>Contains>"blackburn".
• Tags: There is a sidebar on ISHAR labelled Tags, which presents a list of the tags used most often in ISHAR sources.  These tags also appear at the top of certain articles, and allow users to explore connections between topics by bringing up all sources that include a particular tag.  Tagging is an imperfect system that includes many odd tags imported from medical journals, but offers an unparelleled level of wide ranging exploration.

Academic Referencing

One of the most useful functions of ISHAR is as a one-stop reference library for hundreds of Integrative Studies topics.  To that end, all sources on ISHAR are designed to automatically compile a bibliographic citation so any writer can copy/paste the reference into their research paper, website or other publication with two clicks.  ISHAR believes in not only making information more accessible, but more accountable, so all efforts are made to increase the ease of citing of specific academic sources.

Turabian/Chicago citation style was chosen for ISHAR's referencing format because it is the most widely accepted, as well as being more feasible to program than trying to accomodate the more than half dozen scientific/medical citing styles.  While Turabian/Chicago was chosen due to its broad applicability, please be aware of the style expected for particular types of publications and adjust ISHAR's default citation accordingly.

Example:

Wikipedia

As a reference library ISHAR is not in opposition or competition with Wikipedia, but is designed to be complementary to its encyclopedic intent.   ISHAR’s tens of thousands of sources are all designed to be easily formatted into Wikipedia references, enabling users to contribute more fully and meaningfully in discussions about the sources behind Integrative Studies on Wikipedia, the world's most powerful and influential database.  The beautiful aspect of Wikipedia is that it can be edited by anyone in the world, but there are very strict rules about what can be said or claimed there.  On Wikipedia content must be neutrally phrased, relevant to the article and thoroughly cited.  For medical topics users should review Wikipedia's special guidelines.

ISHAR users who wish to contribute their findings to Wikipedia should follow these steps:

1. Verify Relevancy: Double check the article to see if your statement has already been made and to ensure it belongs in that article.  However much scientific evidence you may have compiled on meditation, it does not belong on Noam Chomsky's biography page, for instance.
2. Check the Talk Page: All Wikipedia pages have Talk pages where other editors discuss the status of the page.  Check there before posting, as there may already be a discussion about whether to add the information you have.  Editors should try to resolve conflicts of Talk pages before making contentious changes to the article, whenever possible.
3. Edit the Article: Click the Edit tab at the top of the article, then enter the desired information you have gathered from ISHAR.  Example of a hypothetical edit on Integrative Medicine: "Double-blind study reviews for Integrative Healing treatments of wounds have shown statistically significant results in two out of five cases, the other three being either inconclusive or non-significant."
4. Cite a Source: Assetions without solid citations are almost immediately removed from Wikipedia, so citations must be used to support any statement.  Copy/paste the Wikipedia Citation formatting from the shaded box on ISHAR's sources to the end of your statement.  
   

   Wikipedia Citation

   Configure
   <ref> {{Cite journal | doi = | issn = 1075-5535 | volume = 2 | pages = 493-502 | last = Wirth | first = D. P. | coauthors = Richardson, J. T., Eidelman, W. S. | title = Wound healing and complementary therapies: a review | journal = Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (New York, N.Y.) | date = 1996 | pmid = | pmc =  

   }} </ref>                   Example: "Double-blind study reviews for Integrative Healing treatments of wounds have shown statistically significant results in two out of five cases, the other three being either inconclusive or non-significant. <ref> {{Cite journal | doi =  | issn = 1075-5535 | volume = 2 | pages = 493-502 | last = Wirth | first = D. P. | coauthors = Richardson, J. T., Eidelman, W. S. | title = Wound healing and complementary therapies: a review | journal = Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (New York, N.Y.) | date = 1996 | pmid =  | pmc =  }} </ref>

5. Preview the Edit: Click the Preview button at the bottom of the page to check if everything looks right.  The above example should look like this (the foot note will be at the bottom in the References section: _{Double-blind study reviews for Integrative Healing treatments of wounds have shown statistically significant results in two out of five cases, the other three being either inconclusive or non-significant. ^[1]}
   
   1. _{Jump up^ Wirth, D. P.; Richardson, J. T., Eidelman, W. S. (1996). "Wound healing and complementary therapies: a review". Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (New York, N.Y.) 2: 493–502. ISSN 1075-5535.}
6. Save & Publish the Edit: Congratulations, you're on your way to becoming an accomplished Wikipedia editor!

ISHAR’s researchers also include Wikipedians who are responsible for improving the encyclopedia in strict accordance with the highest ideals of the spirit and letter of Wikipedia’s guidelines.  In accordance with Wikipedia guidelines, we will list source type with an archived reference, reveal any ‘conflict of interest’ on any page or article where appropriate, and present sources to Wikipedia editors working on the article.

ISHAR does not promote, advocate, or market material on Wikipedia.  ISHAR’s goal on Wikipedia is to provide reliable sourcing to help promote accurate, academic representation of Integrative Studies.

If there are questions and concerns about ISHAR Wikipedians, or for any other questions, please contact [email protected].