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Database tips

Definitions

Truncation: A symbol at the end of a word to retrieve all variations. For example diet$ searches for diet, diets, dietary and dietition. Each database uses its own truncation symbol. Some databases automatically truncate.

Proximity searching: Allows you to specify where your search terms will appear in relation to each other. The closer your search terms appear to each other, the closer the relationship of those terms.

For example pain w/10 morphine will search for the words pain and morphine within "10" words of each other. This command varies with each database.

When determing the value of the number consider:

  • Use w/3 to find terms in the same phrase
  • Use w/10 to find terms in the same sentence
  • Use w/50 to find terms in the same paragraph

Email alerts: Set up email alerts to notify you when new material is added to a database which matches your profile.

EndNote: EndNote is a software program that allows you to organise references in an EndNote library and link these references to your Word document.

Thesaurus: A thesaurus provides a list of prefered words and/or phrases which you can use to improve your search and retrieve more relevant results. The thesaurus lists spelling variations, synonyms, broader, narrower and related terms. The thesaurus can also be called a subject headings or controlled vocabulary list.

ACM Digital Library

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "prehistoric art"

3 users

Unable to mark fulltext for email. Each article must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Ask a question

ADT - Australian Digital Theses

Truncation - auto-stemming

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "carbon dioxide"

Ask a question

Agricola

Truncation - ?

Ask a question

Phrase search - "manure management"

-

EndNote filter available from the web site

-

American Chemical Society (ACS)

Truncation - automatic

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "diffusion feedback"

Email alerts

Unable to mark fulltext for email. Each article must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Ask a question

EndNote - direct export available

-

Annual Reviews

Truncation - * , auto-stemming

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "gene target"

Email alerts

Unable to mark fulltext for email. Each article must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Re-run saved searches

EndNote - direct export available

Ask a question

AustEdOnline

Truncation - *

Ask a question

Phrase search - automatic

-

Proximity search - e.g. mathematics w/5 teaching

-

Unable to mark records

-

AustLII


Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - automatic

Ask a question

AustLit

Truncation - *

Preferred browser - IE 4, Netscape 5 and above

Phrase search - automatic

1 user

Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT - must be capitalised

Email alerts

-

Ask a question

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Phrase search - "finance sector"

Fulltext

Help on ABS website

 

Citing ABS sources

Ask a question

Australian Standards

See SAI Global

Australian Medicines Handbook

Autostemming, forward and backward- steroid finds steroids and corticosteroid

Fulltext

Phrase search automatic

 

Does not support Boolean searching

Ask a question

Biomed Central

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "red blood cell", or select "exact phrase" from the drop down menu

Registration required - free

-

Re-run saved searches

-

Email alerts

-

Ask a question

Blackwell Synergy

Truncation - auto-stemming

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "gene therapy"

Email alerts

EndNote filters and save format

Re-run saved searches

-

Ask a question

BMJ Clinical Evidence

Truncation - *

RSS and email alerts

Phrase search - e.g. "myocardial infarction"

-

Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT - must be capitalised

-

Proximity search - e.g. "breast tumour"~5

Ask a question

British Education Index

Truncation - $

Ask a question

Phrase search - e.g. "lifelong learning"

-

Proximity search - e.g. teacher near5 shortage

-

Business Monitor Online

-

Email alerts

-

Ask a question

Business Who's Who of Australia

Truncation - *

Password required

Phrase search - automatic

1 user

-

Ask a question

Cambridge Journals Online

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "gene target"

Email alerts

Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT - must be capitalised

Re-run saved searches

Unable to mark fulltext for email. Each article must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Ask a question

CCH

Truncation - *

Preferred browser - IE

Phrase search - "unfair dismissal"

Only "Active Subscriptions" fulltext

Click "Print Mode" > tag the document to print > click "Print to PDF"

Ask a question

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher

 -

Searching

The opening screen displays all libraries. Only libraries listed under "Active Subscriptions" can be searched. Each library can contain a number of books. Searching can be across the entire library or within one book.

  • Click on the name of a library, then specific book if required > type in search terms > click Go
  • The number of times your search term appears is displayed in red. Click on a book title to view the Table of Contents > click on the plus sign to expand the subheadings > click on a heading at any time to view the text

Cengage (GaleInfoTrac)

Computer Database, Expanded Academic ASAP, Health Reference Centre

Truncation - *

Partial fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "information technology"

Computer database - 10 users
Health Reference - 10 users
Times Digital Archive - 1 user

Articles in PDF format must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Ask a question

To reformat a document for printing, select "Print" from the left hand side bar

-

EndNote filter and save format

-

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

Search using subject headings
Click on Subject Guide to browse / identify subject headings and subheadings

Chemical Abstracts / SciFinder Scholar

Enter search query as a sentence or phrase

Requires client software, available from the ITS site

Fulltext links are not necessarily to titles subscribed to by the University

2 users

EndNote - save as Tagged Format [*.txt ], use the SciFinder [CAS] filter

Ask a question

Tutorials, product tours etc. provded by publisher

-

CIAO

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - select from the drop down menu

Ask a question

Cochrane databases (Ovid)

Truncation - $

Partial fulltext

Phrase search - automatic

Re-run saved searches

Proximity search - e.g. animal adj5 behaviour

Email alerts

EndNote filter and save format

3 users

-

Ask a question

Cochrane Library (Wiley)

Truncation - *

Partial fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "mental health treatment"

Re-run saved searches

Proximity search - e.g. antidepressant NEAR/10 narcolepsy

Ask a question

EndNote filter and save format

-

ComAbstracts

Truncation - *

Ask a question

Phrase search - automatic

-

Proximity search - e.g. organizational /10/ network

-

CRCnetBASE

CHEMnetBASE, ENVIROnetBASE, NANOnetBASE, INFOSECURITYnetBASE

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - automatic

Ask a question

Proximity search - e.g. water w/4 filter

-

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher - CHEMnetBASE

-



CSA

(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)

Aluminum Industry Abstracts, Ceramic Abstracts, Copper Data Centre, Corrosion Abstracts, Engineered Material, Materials Business File, Materials Research, Metadex, MLA International Bibliography, Nursing and Health Sciences, Psychology, Sociological Abstracts, Weldasearch, World Ceramics Abstracts

Truncation - *

Partial fulltext

Phrase search - "water pollution"

Email alerts

Proximity search - e.g. carbon within 3 fiber

Re-run saved searches

EndNote filter and save format

Ask a question

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

CSIRO

Truncation - *

Partial fulltext

Unable to mark fulltext for email. Each article must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Ask a question

Current Index to Statistics

Truncation - %

Ask a question

Phrase search - automatic

-

EndNote - select "Refer" output format, save the results from your browser as a .txt file, use the EndNote Import filter

-

Duke University Press Journals Online

Truncation - * Also uses automatic stemming

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "signal transduction"

Email alerts

Possible to download into Endnote

Ask a question

EBSCO

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "hedge funds"

Email alerts

Proximity search - e.g. private N3 equity

Ask a question

EndNote - direct export available

-

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

Ed/ITLid Digital Library

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "distance learning"

Email alerts

Proximity search - e.g. math <SENTENCE> science, math <PARAGRAPH> science

Ask a question

Unable to mark fulltext for email. Each article must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

-

EndNote - direct export available

-

Education-line

Truncation - $

Ask a question

Phrase search - e.g. "higher education"

-

Proximity search - e.g. learning near6 organisation

-

Emerald

Truncation - * or check the truncation box

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "market research" or check the phrase box

Email alerts

Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT - must be capitalised

Re-run saved searches

EndNote filter and save format

Ask a question

Search using subject headings
Find a relevant article. Click on a term within the Keyword field

Engineering Village

Truncation - * comput* returns computer, computers, computerize, computerization
plus automatic stemming - management returns manage, managed, manager, managers, managing, management

 

Phrase search - "near field scanning"

 

Proximity search - e.g. water near5 pollution

 

EndNote filter and save format

Ask a question

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

Eric (Ovid)

Download PDF guide for Eric

ERIC Education Resources Information Center

Truncation - *

Ask a question

Phrase search - e.g. "higher education"

-

eTG Complete

Truncation - Does not support truncation

Ask a question

Does not support phrase searching

-

Boolean searching- Uses AND by default supports OR  

Factiva

Truncation - *

Preferred browser - IE

Phrase search - automatic

Fulltext

Proximity search - e.g. water near5 pollution

6 users

EndNote filter and save format

Ask a question

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher (This is on the Proquest site)

-

Searching

  • Scanning daily news / publications
    Select News Pages from the green toolbar > select a country or subject area from the menu > select a date and section from the menu OR
    Select Search from the green toolbar > click on Source > type in source name in the Find a Source box > click on the triangle to add to the Free Text box > select a date range from the Date menu > click Run Search
  • Searching a specific newspaper or journal
    Select Search from the green toolbar > click on Source > type in the name of the publication > click once on the publication title > type search terms in the Free Text box > select from the available limiting options e.g. date, full article > click Run Search
  • Searching across a range of publications
    Select Search from the green toolbar > click on Source > Select a source category from the menu > click on the plus sign to expand the list of publications > click ONCE on a publication or publication category at any time to select it as a source to search > type search terms in the Free Text box > select from the available limiting options e.g. date, full article > click Run Search
  • Image searching
    DO NOT select a source. Type in your search terms in the Free Text box > select the Pictures tab

Displaying results

  • Click Frames on the right side of the screen to display search results in the left frame and selected article in the right frame

FIRSTConsult

Truncation- None (not supported) Fulltext
Natural language, no Boolean operators, auto synonym search

Ask a question

FirstSearch

Restricted to academic staff and postgraduate students. Article First, Eco, World Cat

Truncation - *

Password required

Phrase search - e.g. "higher education"

Partial fulltext

Proximity search - e.g. water n5 pollution

Email alerts

EndNote filter and save format

Re-run saved searches

-

Ask a question

GaleInfoTrac

Computer Database, Expanded Academic ASAP, Health Reference Centre

Truncation - *

Partial fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "information technology"

Computer database - 10 users
Health Reference - 10 users
Times Digital Archive - 1 user

Articles in PDF format must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Ask a question

To reformat a document for printing, select "Print" from the left hand side bar

-

EndNote filter and save format

-

Search using subject headings
Click on Subject Guide to browse / identify subject headings and subheadings

Grove

Grove Art, Grove Music

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "gold medal"

Grove Art - 3 users

Grove Music - 3 users

~ preceeding a search term matches words that sound alike - e.g. ~mikelanjelo will find Michelangelo

Ask a question

Hein

-

Preferred browser - IE

-

Fulltext

-

Ask a question

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher - and YouTube presentation site 

-

HighWire Press

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "human disease" , or select the phrase radio button

Email alerts

-

Ask a question

IEEE Xplore

Truncation - *, auto-stemming

Fulltext

Phrase search - automatic

15 users

Unable to mark fulltext for email. Each article must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Email alerts

EndNote - direct import available. Each article must be imported seperately.

Ask a question

Tutorials product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

Search using subject headings
Find a relevant article. Click on a term within the Index Terms field

Informaworld

Truncation - * Can also check "stemming" box in advanced search

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "gene therapy"

Email alerts

-

Ask a question

Tutorials product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

 

INFORMIT

A+ Education, AATD, AGIS plus, AHB, APAFT, ATSIhealth, DELTAA, E-Library, ENDANGER, ENGINE, EVA, MAIS, Media Scan, Meditext

Truncation - *

Partial fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "information technology"

Unlimited users

Proximity search - e.g. water %5 pollution

Re-run saved searches

EndNote filter and save format

Ask a question

Tutorials product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

Targeting databases for your topic
Select Databases from the top of any Informit database screen > select Find Databases > enter a keyword > Search
Select one or more databases that provide the most matching records > click Start Searching

Search multiple databases
Select Databases from the top of any Informit database screen > select one or more databases > click Start Searching

Search using subject headings
Consult each database thesaurus as subject headings may vary. Do not use subject searches when searching across multiple databases.
Select Thesaurus tab at the top of the screen > type in a term > click Search Thesaurus OR Click a letter in the Browse Subject Terms box

Simulated search

Ingenta Connect / Duke University Press

Truncation - *

Partial fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "feminist theory"

Email alerts

-

Re-run saved searches

-

Ask a question

JCR (Journal Citation Reports)

Download PDF guide for JCR

JSTOR

Truncation - ?. Use 3 question marks to replace up to 7 characters e.g. bird???

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "feminist theory"

Ask a question

Proximity search - e.g. "marine pollution"~10

-

Unable to mark fulltext for email. Each article must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

-

EndNote filter and save format

-

Tutorials product tours etc. provided by publisher 

-

LawBookCo Online

Truncation - *

Recommended browser - IE

Phrase search - e.g. "beyond reasonable doubt"

Fulltext

Proximity search - e.g. "resource acquisition"@5

Ask a question

Unable to email search results

-

Simulated searches:

LawLex

Truncation - *

 

Phrase search - e.g. "beyond reasonable doubt"

Fulltext

Unable to mark fulltext for email. Each article must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Email alerts - legislation

Printing and saving varies between jurisdictions

Ask a question

Simulated searches:

Lexis.com

Truncation - !

Preferred browser - IE

Phrase search - automatic

Fulltext

Proximity search - e.g.

  • murder w/5 provocation
  • internet w/p copyright (looks for the words in the same paragraph)
  • atleast10(prenuptial agreements) Note: Must have no spaces (looks for documents in which the terms appear 10 times)

Email alerts

Click on Focus to modify a search

Ask a question

Selecting a Source
To search Lexis a "Source" must be identified first.
To select a source for:

  • American journal articles
    Select Legal>Secondary Legal>Law Reviews & Journals > US Law Reviews and Journals, Combined
  • Law resources by country e.g. Australia
    Select Legal>Legal (excluding U.S.)>Australia

Searching by segments
Lexis allows you to restrict your search to "segments" or particular parts of a document. Common segments in a case include name, judge, court and headnotes. Common segments in a journal article include author, publication and title.

  • To restrict your search to a segment, use the "Restrict by Segment" drop down menu > type in your search term > click Add > Search
  • Alternatively type in the name of the segment followed by your search term in brackets - e.g name(mabo), author(frazer)

LexisNexis AU

Truncation - !

Recommended browser - IE

Phrase search - automatic

Fulltext

Proximity search - e.g.

  • murder w/5 provocation
  • internet w/p copyright (looks for the words in the same paragraph)
  • atleast10(prenuptial agreements) Note: Must have no spaces (looks for documents in which the terms appear 10 times)

Ask a question

LexisNexis AU offers a range of search options. Each is designed to search a particular type of content.

Common Tasks search
Select a task from the Common Tasks menu > type in a document name > click Go

Quick Sources search
Click on an individual source > type in your search terms > click Search

Tab search
Select from the red tabs > type in your search terms > click Search

Libraries Australia

Truncation - *

-

Phrase search - select "as a phrase" from the menu

2 users

-

Ask a question

MathSciNet

Truncation - *

-

Phrase search - e.g. "invertible matrix"

Ask a question

Proximity search - e.g. module adj3 differential

-

MDConsult

Truncation - * auto synonyms search

Fulltext
Phrase search- Use quotation marks (“) to locate exact phrase Ask a question

MIMs Online

Unable to mark records. Each records must be printed separately

Fulltext

-

Email alerts

-

Ask a question

NBER Working Papers

-

Email alerts

-

Ask a question

New York Review of Books

Does not support truncation

Fulltext

Does not support phrase searching

Ask a question

NSW Legislation

Truncation - ?

Fulltext

Phrase search - automatic

Ask a question

Proximity search - e.g. right %3 appeal

-

Onesource Global Business Browser

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - automatic

Ask a question

Tutorials product tours etc. provided by publisher: Login to OneSource then from the Support menu, select Online tutorials

 

OVID

ACP Journal, Biological Abstracts, Biosis Previews, Cinahl, EBM Reviews, Econlit, ERIC, Georef, Inspec, LWW 100, Medline, Philosophers Index, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, Wilsons Art Index

Truncation - $

Partial fulltext

Phrase search - automatic

Email alerts

Proximity search - e.g. animal adj5 behaviour

Re-run saved searches

EndNote filter and save format

Individual databases have specific limits

-

Ask a question

Tutorials product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

Select Change Database to re-run your search terms in another OVID database

Search using subject headings
Type in your search term. Click the Map Term to Subject Heading box
Focus will retrieve documents in which the subject heading is the main focus
Explode will retrieve records containing your term and more specific terms

Oxford Journals

Truncation - *, auto-stemming

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "market research" or check the phrase box

Ask a question

Articles in PDF format must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

-

Endnote - direct export available

-

Tutorials product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

Physical Review Online Archive

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "chaos theory"

Email alerts

Proximity search - e.g. optical <NEAR/3> systems

Ask a question

EndNote - direct export available

-

Popline

Truncation - *

Ask a question

Project Muse

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "paradise lost"

Ask a question

Articles in PDF format must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

-

EndNote filter and save format

-

Proquest5000

ABI/Inform Global, Academic Research Library, Dissertation Abstracts

Truncation - *

Partial fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "management strategy"

Email alerts

Proximity search - e.g. marine w/5 pollution, select "WITHIN 3" from the menu

Ask a question

EndNote filter and save format

-

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher  (This includes Factiva)

-

Search using subject headings
Click on Browse Topics > click Thesaurus > type in your term > click Find Term

Limiting by article type
Click on More Search Options > from the Document Type menu select an article type
To exclude a publication type select AND NOT from the menu next to Document Type.This is useful to exclude Book Reviews.

PubMed

Truncation - *

Partial fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "health planning"

Email alerts

EndNote filter and save format

Re-run saved searches

Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT - must be capitalised

Ask a question

To limit to fulltext type in your search adding AND free full text [sb] - e.g. insulin AND diabetes AND free full text [sb]

Royal Society of Chemistry

Truncation - *, auto stemming

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "fuel cell"

Email alerts

Author search, use Boolean and between given and family name e.g. Alan and Jones

Ask a question

SAGE Journals Online

Truncation -*

Fulltext

Phrase searching - automatic

-

Endnote - direct export available

Email alerts

-

Ask a question

 

SAI Global

Phrase search - automatic

Fulltext

-

2 users to access fulltext
Unlimited users to search the database

-

StandardsWatch - Email alerts

-

Ask a question

ScienceDirect

Truncation -*

Fulltext

Phrase search - "water pollution"

Email alerts

Proximity search - e.g. water w/5 pollution

Re-run saved searches

Articles in PDF format must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Ask a question

EndNote filter and save format

-

EndNote filter and save format

-

Silverplatter / Webspirs

Ecodisc, GeoRef, RILM

Truncation - *

Ecodisc - 1 user

GeoRef - 1 user

RILM - 1 user

Phrase search - automatic

Re-run saved searches

-

Ask a question

Search using subject headings
Click Thesaurus tab > type in a term > click Go to Terms

SourceOECD

Truncation - * or select truncated box in advanced search

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "economic development" or select exact phrase box in advanced search

Email alerts

-

Ask a question

SpringerLink

Lecture notes in computer science

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "fuzzy logic", select 'Exact' phrase from the dropdown menu

Email alerts

Proximity search - e.g. human near geography

Ask a question

Articles in PDF format must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

-

Synergy

Truncation - auto-stemming

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "gene therapy"

Email alerts

EndNote filters and save format

Re-run saved searches

 

Ask a question

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher (This is on Wiley, who now own Blackwell)

-

Ulrichs International

Truncation - *

Ask a question

Is the journal Peer Reviewed?
Look for a Refereed icon on the Search Results page
Click on the journal title, check the Refereed field

Is the journal Academic / Scholarly?
Click on the journal title, check the Document Type field

Which database indexes the journal?
Click on the journal title, click on the Abstracting / Indexing tab

UltiBase

Phrase search - select "Exact phrase" option

Fulltext

-

Ask a question

Web of Knowledge

Current Contents Connect, ISI Proceedings, Web of Science (keyword search)

Truncation - *

Email alerts

Phrase search - "gene target"

Re-run saved searches

Proximity search - e.g. gene same target

Ask a question

EndNote filter and save format

-

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

Download PDF guide for Web of Science - Citation Index

Westlaw

Truncation - !

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "beyond reasonable doubt"

Ask a question

Proximity search - e.g.

  • design /s defect (looks for the words in the same sentence)
  • hearsay /p utterance (looks for the words in the same paragraph)
  • provocation w/5 murder

-

Wiley Interscience

Truncation - *

Fulltext

Phrase search - e.g. "gene therapy"

Email alerts

Proximity search - e.g. cancer near/5 prostate

Re-run saved searches

Articles in PDF format must be saved to the desktop, then emailed

Ask a question

Tutorials, product tours etc. provided by publisher

-

Willings Press Guide

"Outlet Country" defaults to United Kingdom after each search

Password required

-

Ask a question

WorldCat

Truncation - ?

Free site

Phrase search - automatic

Ask a question

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Last reviewed: 6 May, 2008 

 
   
 
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