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Database Help:
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1. Write down your topic in a sentence or question (this helps you stay focused on your topic once you begin the actual computer search).
Example: What marketing strategies have been used to sell dog food?
2. Identify the major ideas (by underscoring or listing them).
Example: marketing strategies, dog food
3. Think of other terms synonymous with each major idea or concept.
Example: marketing strategies, dog food, pet food, canine food (maybe also use a known company or brand name)
4. Connect your ideas properly, using boolean operators or other special operators (near, with, same, etc.). These may be available in the specific database you are searching. Consult help guides available online in each database.
Example: marketing strategies and dog food
Example: dog food or canine diet or Purina
Example: marketing strategies and (dog food or canine diet or Purina)
5. Consult the subject index to choose the proper database for your topic. If needed, ask for help at the reference desk or call the reference services department at 886-5720.
6. Select a Database. Then consult the information we've provided about the database. Type in your search terms.
Sometimes you will want to search a database for a group of closely-related words, rather than just a single word. You might want to find both the singular and the plural form of a word, or you might be looking for any word derived from the same word-stem (for example, librar would be the word-stem for library, libraries, librarian, and librarianship).
You can do these kind of searches by using truncation. When you truncate, you will use a truncation symbol (also called a "wildcard") in place of one or more letters (or characters) in your search term.
Example: comput* will find:
- computation
- computations
- computational
- compute
- computed
- computer
- computers
- computerization
- computes
- computing
- and any other words that start with comput...
Truncation can work very differently in the various databases. Some databases don't offer it at all, and some offer only limited truncation. The symbols used to replace letters vary as well. Brief information for specific databases is listed below. (Check each database's help menu for more detailed information.)
Multiple-character truncation symbol: *
Example: revolution*
Single-character truncation symbol: ?
Example: wom?n
Multiple-character truncation symbol: *
Example: train*
Multiple-character truncation symbol (end of word): *
Example: computer*
Multiple-character truncation symbol (middle of word, 0-9 characters): ?
Example: colo?r
Single-character truncation symbol: #
Example: gr#yscale
Ideal automatically searches for word plurals, even without a truncation symbol.
Multiple-character truncation symbol: *
Example: electro*
Single-character truncation symbol: ?
Example: con?oy
JSTOR allows use of the "+" symbol at the end of the words which will allow standard English pluralization only. Use of the "+" will add "s", "es", "ies", "ves" to the end of the words.
Example: wolf+
[finds both wolf and wolves]
Multiple-character truncation symbol: !
Example: comput!
Single-or-zero-character truncation symbol: *
Example: wom*n
Multiple-character truncation symbol: * or $ (Note: In this database, the word-stem will only be extended by up to five characters.)
Example: environment* or environment$ (finds environmentalist, but not environmentalists)
Single-character truncation symbol: ?
Example: wom?n
Project Muse uses four different truncation symbols.
Single-character truncation symbol: ?
Example: wom?n
Multiple-character truncation symbol: *
Example: geograph*
Stemming symbol (when automatic stemming is turned OFF): +
Example: run+ (finds run, runs, running)
Exact match symbol (when automatic stemming is turned ON): #
Example: scout# (only finds scout, prevents automatic stemming)
Proximity operators allow the searcher to specify if words should be searched in pairs, and if so, in what word order, and how many intervening words will be allowed. A common proximity operator is "n", meaning search words are next to (or near) each other, and can be in any word order. Using the proximity operator "w" will retrieve words next to each other, but the words must occur in the order in which they were typed.
e.g., "common n knowledge" - retrieves the phrase "common knowledge" or the phrase "knowledge common"
e.g., "common n3 knowledge" - retrieves both words "common" and "knowledge" within 3 words of each other, in any word order
e.g., "student w attitudes" - only retrieves the phrase "student attitudes"
e.g., "student w3 attitudes" - retrieves "student attitudes" as well as phrases such as "students with strong attitudes"
Some databases automatically search for words as subjects or descriptors, or else they have some clearly labeled boxes that lead the searcher to indicate where they would like the search words or terms to occur, such as looking for "Smith" in the Author Field, or the word "environment" in the Subject Field, or the name of a journal in the Journal Name field.
With popular databases such as WilsonSelect (a database in FirstSearch) or Dissertation Abstracts (another database available via FirstSearch which is password protected) searching can become much more difficult since search terms can be searched anywhere within the text of the article. This means that the search strategy must be much more specific, with attempts made to ensure that articles will be relevant and not false hits (items that do not really represent the subject being searched for).
Other databases such as ERIC or General Science Abstracts in FirstSearch do not contain full-text. These databases only provide indexing, and sometimes abstracts, of the available information. Search terms will only be located in specified fields such as author, title, subject, or journal name fields, as selected by the searcher. Serious false hits are less likely to occur since there is no full-text in either of these databases. When searching in full-text, the example below could result in false hits:
e.g., "railroad and crossing" - can retrieve the word railroad in the title of the article or book and the word crossing could be the author's last name.
If you get an unexpected search result (too many or too few results), simply change a word, use truncation, wildcard characters or more synonyms to radically change your result.
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Jake Pichnarcik
Interlibrary Loan Department
Gee Library, Texas A&M University - Commerce
PO Box 3011, Commerce, TX 75429
phone: (903) 886-5719
email: Jacob_Pichnarcik@tamu-commerce.edu
Last updated September 2006.