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"Fracking" vs. "Hydraulic Fracturing:" A Review of Search Terms
Meredith Ayers
Science Librarian
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, Illinois
mayers@niu.edu
Abstract
The increased debate over the use of hydraulic fracturing to access natural gas found in low permeability shales has brought this well established method of retrieval to the attention of the public at large. Whereas scientific literature uses the term hydraulic fracturing, the media and general public often use the term fracking. Researchers unfamiliar with the scientific term may miss out on valuable information and research articles when searching indexes and databases using the term fracking. This article examines the differences in research outcomes when using the two terms, and provides an analysis of the source types found in each database.
Introduction
Hydraulic fracturing is a method by which fluid under high pressure is injected into a well to fracture the surrounding rock and open up fissures to extract the natural gas within. For more background and information about the process and a review of the literature, the author recommends reading Bierman et al. (2011). Although a recent increase in media coverage concerning hydraulic fracturing may cause the general public to perceive the process as new, hydraulic fracturing was first conducted in 1947 (Howard and Fast 1970; Veatch et al. 1989). Recent developments in horizontal drilling and the increased production of gas from unconventional sources have brought the topic to the public's attention. The term fracking to describe hydraulic fracturing has been popularized by the new wave of media attention and is commonly used in public discourse.
Since library databases have been indexing articles under the subject heading of hydraulic fracturing for over 60 years, library users searching for hydraulic fracturing may miss many relevant resources if using only the nickname fracking. This article examines the use of both terms for searching in commercial databases.
Methods and Data
To examine the difference between using the terms fracking and hydraulic fracturing in database searches, a keyword search was performed in 18 scientific, technical, and general databases. This is not a list of all possible relevant databases. Rather, these are the ones to which the author has access via institutional subscriptions. There are other databases and web sites not mentioned that are suitable for this kind of research such as Reaxys (Elsevier), Toxnet, and Petroleum Abstracts (TULSA). The keyword searches, when possible, were broken down by format or to the sources types available in each database. A subject search was then performed in the same 18 databases used for the keyword search. The author limited the search to the subject fields of the database where applicable.
Table 1 lists the results of a keyword search performed in 18 databases. With the exception of LexisNexis Academic, all the databases produced more information using the keyword phrase hydraulic fracturing than using the word fracking. LexisNexis Academic is the only database that produces nearly equal hits for fracking and hydraulic fracturing. This is probably due to LexisNexis indexing more non-academic literature than the other databases.
Table 1: Results of Keyword Searches in Various Databases (January 2014).
| Database | # Hits for Fracking | # Hits for Hydraulic Fracturing |
|---|---|---|
| Academic Search Premier (Ebscohost) | 1,557 | 1,742 |
| ArticleFirst (OCLC) | 44 | 399 |
| ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers | 4 | 109 |
| Biosis Previews (Thomson Reuters) | 13 | 418 |
| Business Source Complete (Ebscohost) | 1,165 | 1,278 |
| Compendex (Engineering Village) | 97 | 13,053 |
| Current Contents Connect(Thomson Reuters) | 43 | 1,131 |
| EconLit (Ebscohost) | 6 | 13 |
| GeoRef (Ebscohost) | 39 | 5,806 |
| GPO Monthly Catalog (OCLC) | 0 | 105 |
| GreenFILE (Ebscohost) | 299 | 325 |
| IEEE Xplore | 4 | 82 |
| Inspec (Ovid) | 21 | 568 |
| LexisNexis Academic | 997 | 995 |
| PapersFirst (OCLC) | 5 | 690 |
| SciFinder Scholar | 142 | 2,793 |
| Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 133 | 4,875 |
| WorldCat (OCLC) | 376 | 3,393 |
Table 1 also indicates which databases may be the best for looking up literature related to hydraulic fracturing. For example, Compendex and GeoRef with the greatest number of hits, suggest that either one of these databases would be a good place for a user to start looking. Based on the scholarly nature of the literature indexed, Compendex would be best for engineering aspects and GeoRef would be best for geological aspects. Also note that Compendex and GeoRef only found 97 and 39 articles, respectively, for "fracking," indicating that "hydraulic fracturing" is clearly the preferred term. For the non-scientist, Academic Search Premier, with its large pool of both scientific and general resources, may be the best place to start searching.
The breakdown of the keyword search by format was not possible in Article First and Paper First since they each contain one format, peer-reviewed articles and newspaper articles respectively. All 105 hits in the GPO Monthly Catalog are classified generally as books. The breakdown for the remaining databases can be seen in Table 2.
Table 2: Breakdown of formats for the database keyword searches.
| Source Type | Database | # entries using Fracking | # entries using Hydraulic Fracturing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academic Journal | Academic Search Premier (Ebscohost) | 622 | 830 |
| Business Source Complete (Ebscohost | 82 | 103 | |
| EconLit (Ebscohost) | 5 | 9 | |
| GeoRef (Ebscohost) | 38 | 4,559 | |
| GreenFILE (Ebscohost) | 68 | 101 | |
| Archival | WorldCat (OCLC) | 0 | 15 |
Article or Articles | Biosis Previews (Thomson Reuters) | 10 | 364 |
| Current Contents Connect(Thomson Reuters) | 15 | 1,065 | |
| Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 51 | 4,136 | |
| WorldCat (OCLC) | 10 | 42 | |
Article in Press | Compendex (Engineering Village) | 0 | 56 |
Book or Books | ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers | 0 | 3 |
| Biosis Previews (Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 7 | |
| EconLit (Ebscohost) | 0 | 1 | |
| GeoRef (Ebscohost) | 1 | 700 | |
| GreenFILE (Ebscohost) | 0 | 1 | |
| IEEE Xplore | 0 | 1 | |
| SciFinder Scholar | 0 | 1 | |
| WorldCat (OCLC) | 152 | 1,853 | |
Book (Monograph) Chapter | Biosis Previews (Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 16 |
| Compendex (Engineering Village) | 0 | 187 | |
| Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 2 | |
Book Reviews | GreenFILE (Ebscohost) | 2 | 1 |
| Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 3 | 0 | |
Business Opportunities | LexisNexis Academic | 0 | 2 |
Commentary | SciFinder Scholar | 1 | 4 |
Company Directories & Profiles | LexisNexis Academic | 0 | 19 |
Computer | WorldCat (OCLC) | 2 | 23 |
Conference | SciFinder Scholar | 17 | 145 |
Conference Article | Compendex (Engineering Village) | 25 | 5,967 |
Conference Paper(s) | GeoRef (Ebscohost) | 28 | 2,866 |
Inspec (Ovid) | 1 | 109 | |
Conference Proceedings | ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers | 1 | 54 |
Compendex (Engineering Village) | 0 | 328 | |
Inspec (Ovid) | 0 | 8 | |
Conference Publications | IEEE Xplore | 0 | 71 |
Correction | Current Contents Connect(Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 2 |
Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 1 | 5 | |
Discussion | Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 20 |
Dissertation | SciFinder Scholar | 0 | 44 |
GeoRef (Ebscohost) | 0 | 248 | |
Editorial (Material) | Current Contents Connect(Thomson Reuters) | 15 | 5 |
SciFinder Scholar | 2 | 1 | |
Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 24 | 37 | |
Historical | SciFinder Scholar | 0 | 1 |
Industry Directories & Profiles | LexisNexis Academic | 0 | 19 |
Industry Profiles | Business Source Complete (Ebscohost) | 3 | 3 |
Industry Trade Press | LexisNexis Academic | 1 | 25 |
Internet | WorldCat (OCLC) | 158 | 1,375 |
Journal(s) (Article/Paper) | ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers | 1 | 49 |
Compendex (Engineering Village) | 72 | 5,827 | |
Inspec (Ovid) | 20 | 451 | |
SciFinder Scholar | 66 | 1,237 | |
Journal & Magazine | IEEE Xplore | 4 | 10 |
LexisNexis Academic | 6 | 25 | |
Law Reviews & Journals | LexisNexis Academic | 11 | 51 |
Legal News | LexisNexis Academic | 4 | 15 |
Letter | Biosis Previews (Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 8 |
Current Contents Connect(Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 6 | |
SciFinder Scholar | 2 | 9 | |
Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 6 | 15 | |
Magazines | Academic Search Premier (Ebscohost) | 457 | 448 |
ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers | 2 | 2 | |
Business Source Complete (Ebscohost) | 476 | 466 | |
GreenFILE (Ebscohost) | 122 | 120 | |
Market Research Reports | Business Source Complete (Ebscohost) | 3 | 7 |
Meeting (Abstract) | Biosis Previews (Thomson Reuters) | 3 | 36 |
Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 4 | 95 | |
Memoirs | ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers | 0 | 1 |
News (Item) | Current Contents Connect(Thomson Reuters) | 13 | 0 |
LexisNexis Academic | 11 | 0 | |
Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 38 | 8 | |
Newsletters | LexisNexis Academic | 1 | 3 |
Newspapers | Academic Search Premier (Ebscohost) | 307 | 293 |
Business Source Complete (Ebscohost) | 184 | 155 | |
LexisNexis Academic | 958 | 820 | |
News Transcripts | LexisNexis Academic | 1 | 2 |
Newswires & Press Releases | LexisNexis Academic | 5 | 26 |
Note | Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 29 |
Patent | Biosis Previews (Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 7 |
SciFinder Scholar | 46 | 1,332 | |
Preprint | SciFinder Scholar | 0 | 3 |
Proceeding Paper | Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 3 | 825 |
Product Reviews | Business Source Complete (Ebscohost) | 5 | 14 |
Reprint | Current Contents Connect(Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 1 |
Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 1 | |
Reports | GeoRef (Ebscohost) | 0 | 301 |
SciFinder Scholar | 0 | 34 | |
Review(s) | Academic Search Premier (Ebscohost) | 14 | 12 |
Current Contents Connect(Thomson Reuters) | 0 | 52 | |
SciFinder Scholar | 5 | 112 | |
Web of Science (Thomson Reuters) | 3 | 118 | |
Serial | WorldCat (OCLC) | 1 | 19 |
Sound | WorldCat (OCLC) | 12 | 2 |
Trade Publications | Academic Search Premier (Ebscohost) | 157 | 159 |
Business Source Complete (Ebscohost) | 411 | 525 | |
Visual | WorldCat (OCLC) | 40 | 63 |
Web-based Publications | LexisNexis Academic | 47 | 60 |
Working Paper | EconLit (Ebscohost) | 1 | 3 |
Analysis of Table 2 shows that there is greater use of the term fracking in magazines and newspapers. Table 2 also shows some use of the term fracking in journals, trade publications, reports, patents proceedings and the Internet. Table 2 also shows that, with the exception of newspapers and magazines, hydraulic fracturing is the preferred term in nearly all other formats including Internet sources and web-based publications.
Next, the author examined the use of subject headings when searching for information on hydraulic fracturing/fracking. Not all of the databases have the option to search by subject headings. Where subject searching was not available, as in Compendex and IEEE Xplore, controlled vocabulary searches were conducted instead. Table 3 shows the results, which clearly indicate that fracking is not used as a subject term in the scientific or technical databases.
In these databases, hydraulic fracturing is used as a subject heading and some of the records viewed during keyword searches for fracking show that hydraulic fracturing was included in the list of subject terms found for the record. The reverse was not true for items found using hydraulic fracturing as a keyword search. The majority of the databases use the term hydraulic fracturing as a subject heading. An inverted version of the term is used for indexing in SciFinder Scholar, and it sometimes appears in the author-supplied keywords field in databases maintained by Thomson Reuters. Fracking as a subject term did pull up one related result in PapersFirst and 37 related results in WorldCat, indicating that some of the general databases have started adding the term in the subject field.
Table 3: Results of Subject Searching (January 2014).
| Databases | Fracking | Hydraulic Fracturing |
|---|---|---|
Academic Search Premier | 0 | 1,442 |
ArticleFirst | N/A | N/A |
ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers | 0 | 51 |
Biosis Previews | N/A | N/A |
Business Source Complete | 0 | 1,102 |
Compendex | 0 | 5,466 |
Current Contents | N/A | N/A |
EconLit | 0 | 2 |
GeoRef | 0 | 5,414 |
GPO Monthly Catalog | 0 | 93 |
GreenFILE | 0 | 267 |
IEEE Xplore (IEEE terms) | 0 | 0 |
Inspec | 0 | 0 |
LexisNexis Academic | N/A | N/A |
PapersFirst | 1 | 161 |
SciFinder Scholar | N/A | N/A |
Web of Science | N/A | N/A |
WorldCat | 37 | 2,193 |
Out of the 18 databases searched, eight had controlled vocabulary or made use of a subject thesaurus. Of these eight, five used subject terms and three used thesauri. Three of the eight did not have subject or thesaurus terms for fracking or hydraulic fracturing. Table 4 lists the database and other terms available for searching on hydraulic fracturing. Though SciFinder Scholar allows the input of CA concept headings, it does not have a searchable thesaurus or subject headings. It does have a Categorize function. The Categorize function will, for any search set of 15,000 results or less, retrieve and collate the category and index terms for each record in the results set. The user can then select the Category heading, Category, and Index terms of interest in that category to quickly narrow down the search results.
Table 4: Subject and thesaurus terms for select databases.
| Databases | Subject or Thesaurus terms |
|---|---|
Academic Search Premier | Fracturing fluids, Hydraulic fracturing, Hydraulic fracturing--Equipment & Supplies, Hydraulic fracturing--Lawsuits & Claims |
ASCE | Hydraulic fracturing |
Compendex | Fracking fluids, Fracturing (oil wells), Fracturing fluids, Hydraulic fracturing, Oil wells--hydraulic fracturing, Oil wells--fracturing, Oil wells--fracturing fluids, Proppants, Water wells--hydraulic fracturing. |
GeoRef | Hydraulic fracturing |
Inspec | Natural gas technology and/or oil technology |
Conclusion
The databases to use will depend on the needs of the user. Those looking for more scholarly articles will probably find the scientific databases to be more useful, while someone looking for more popular articles or some background information will probably want to start with the general databases.
Compendex and GeoRef are the best databases to use when looking for scientific or technical information on hydraulic fracturing based on number of hits alone. Academic Search Premier may be a useful starting point for the researcher who is not sure which aspect of the topic to research. Business Source Complete is ideal for users looking for information on the companies that perform hydraulic fracturing. GreenFILE, even though it does not produce a large number of hits, would be an appropriate place to look for aspects of hydraulic fracturing that affect the environment. Legal information on regulations and court cases can be obtained from LexisNexis Academic. SciFinder Scholar or any other chemistry-related database would be good to use when learning about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluid and why they were chosen.
The term fracking is not the best term to use when looking for scholarly research; hydraulic fracturing is the preferred subject term to use when searching in most databases. Knowing this will be helpful to students and members of the general public interested in learning more about the process. This knowledge would also be useful to librarians assisting patrons with finding information on hydraulic fracturing. The format break down of the keyword search shows that while fracking is commonly used in newspapers and magazines it is seldom used as a subject or controlled vocabulary term. Information of hydraulic fracturing is readily available for those who know where and how to find it.
References
Bierman, James, Kulp, Christina, and Foote, Jody Bales. 2011. Reviews of science for science librarians: hydraulic fracturing: geological, engineering, and environmental literature. Science & Technology Libraries (30:4): 326-42.
Howard, G.C. and Fast, C.R. 1970. Hydraulic Fracturing. New York: Henry L. Doherty Memorial Fund of AIME, Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME.
Veatch, Ralph W., Moschovidis, Zissis A., and Fast, Robert C. 1989. An overview of hydraulic fracturing. In: Gidley, John L., editor. Recent Advances in Hydraulic Fracturing. Richardson, TX: Henry L. Doherty Memorial Fund of AIME, Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME. p. 1-146.
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