Electronic Databases

Description

Gateway to a variety of bibliographic databases, including PsycInfo and ERIC.

Availability

Available at all Library workstations.

Remote access for Upstate faculty, students and staff available through LEAP.

Simultaneous Use

Not restricted.

Timeouts

Databases will timeout after several minutes of inactivity.

Exit Instructions

Click on Exit on sidebar.

Default Search

Basic search - Matches one or more key search terms entered in the
Search for: box.

• If searching for an exact phrase, enclose the phrase in double quotes.
• May use parantheses to group search terms

The default search is a Keyword search; can also select the Author or Title index.

Browse index - to verify the correct spelling and format for search terms.

Other Options

Advanced search - searches for terms in one, two or three fields; can combine fields using Boolean and, or, not.

Expert search - allows creation of search statement using Boolean and/or proximity operators, truncation and wildcards.

Truncation

Use the plus sign (+) to retrieve plurals (s or es)

Use an asterisk (*)to retrieve variations of the root (root must have at least three characters)

Wildcards

Can be used within a word or at the end of a word.

• Use the pound sign (#) to represent a single character
• Use the dollar sign (?)to indicate any number of characters. Include a number to represent a maximum number of characters. (E.g.., colo?1r)

Boolean/Proximity
Operators

Defaults to Boolean and.

Allows use of Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT.

Proximity:

• Use n between two terms to search for records containing both terms, in any order/
• Use w between two words to search for records containing both terms, in the order typed
• Include a number after n or w to indicate the maximum number of words between search terms.

Limit Search

Limit options are available on the seach screen:

• Basic Search: Can select limits for library and full text.
• Advanced Search: Can select limits for year, language, document type, library and full text.

May also use the Limit icon to limit the results of a completed search.

Previous Searches

Select Results: Previous Searches to display searches.

Combining Searches

Select Results: Previous Searches to display search sets. Two or more numbered search sets can be combined, or a previous search can be combined with a new term.

Special Features

To repeat a search in a different database:

1. select Previous Searches
2. select the new database from the list
3. select the search from the list of previous searches
4. click on Search/Combine

Displaying Records

To view the detail record for a single citation, click on the link to that record.

To view multiple records, click in the box next to the citation, then select Marked Records from the sidebar options. (Note: marked records will remain unless cleared.)

Print or E-mail
Citations

To print a single record or a list of marked records, click on the Print icon to format, then use the browser's print option.

To email a single record or a list of marked records, click on tbr> Citations

To print a single record or a list of marked records, click on the Print icon to format, then use the browser's print option.

To email a single record or a list of marked records, click on the Email icon and follow the directions on the screen.