EBSCOhost Databases - Alliant International University

EBSCOhost Databases

Alliant Library

Searching techniques should be similar on all of the databases in the EBSCOhost Databases. For further descriptions of the databases and the subject areas they cover please see the Ebscohost research database page. Click on the "help" link from any

EBSCO Database page for more online documentation.

Use this handout for: Academic Search Premier, Alt HealthWatch, Business Source Complete,

Education Research Complete, ERIC, EJS, E-Journals, Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, Greenfile, HaPI, HealthSource: Nursing/Academic Edition, , HealthSource: Consumer Edition, LGBT Life with Full Text, Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, MAS Ultra School Edition, Mental Measurement Yearbook & Tests in Print, Military & Government Collection, Newspaper Source, PsycArticles, PsycInfo, PsycBooks, PsycExtra,

PsycCritiques, Regional Business News, SocIndex with Full Text

Access: Alliant students, faculty and staff members: From the Alliant Library' home page, click on Databases then EBSCOhost Research

Databases (to get a list and to search multiple databases) or the database of your choice. For remote users you will be prompted for your name and 14-digit library barcode or ID number. (Pop-ups will need to be enabled.) If you have not activated your library account please fill out the form located on the library web page or contact your home library so you can be added to the system. Click on the "ID Card" tab from the login page for a complete list of where to go to get an ID card.

Advanced search (default): Type terms in up to three boxes, select a field to search for each term (or leave as default), and then click "Search".

Visual search: If a Visual Search tab appears, you can also search EBSCOhost and have your results presented in an interactive, visual map. You can change the style of the Result List at any time by selecting either Block style or Column style from the Display Style menu.

Choose databases: If you only selected one database and want to expand your search into more databases you can click on "Choose Database". When the database screen appears click in the box next to the databases you wish to select and click on OK. When you search multiple databases you may not have as many choices for refining your search. You can also click on "choose databases" to remove databases from your search strategy.

Search Options/Modes: The search option section below the search boxes has the following options ?

? Boolean/Phrase -- These operators are AND, OR, or NOT and are used to either narrow or broaden result numbers. o AND--requires both terms to be in each item returned. If one term is contained in the document and the other is not, the item is not in the resulting list. (Narrows) o OR--either term will be in the returned document but not necessarily both. (Broadens the search). o NOT--the term following this word subtracts any items containing the term from the results. (Narrows the search and can be too exclusive)

? Find all my search terms ? This is the same as a Boolean "AND" search.

? Find any of my search terms ? This is the same as a Boolean "OR" search. ? Smart Text Searching -- Enter as much text for your search as you want - a phrase, a

sentence, paragraph, or even whole pages. This mode searches EBSCO Databases only. ? Search for related words ? searches the thesaurus or subject indexes for related terms. ? Search within the full-text of articles ? expands your search capability and increases the number of citations retrieved.

Other Searching "Tricks"

? Wildcard (?) and Truncation (*) Symbols -- Use the wildcard and truncation symbols to create searches where there are unknown characters, multiple spellings or various endings. Neither the wildcard nor the truncation symbol can be used as the first character in a search term. The wildcard is represented by a question mark (?). To use the wildcard, enter your search terms and replace each unknown character with a ?. Truncation is represented by an asterisk (*). To use truncation, enter the root of a search term and replace the ending with an *.

? Grouping terms together using parentheses -- Parentheses also may be used to control a search query. Without parentheses, a search is executed from left to right. Words that you enclose in parentheses are searched first. Why is this important? Parentheses allow you to control and define the way the search will be executed. The left phrase in parentheses is searched first; then, based upon those results, the second phrase in parentheses is searched.

? Using Quotation Marks -- Typically, when a phrase is enclosed by double quotations marks, the exact phrase is searched.

Limit Your Search ? You can limit your search to the following: Full-text only, Scholar (Peer Review) Journals, a specific publication, publication date, and image quick view. If you select any of the common limiters, they are applied to all databases you are searching. A limiter will appear in the common limiters section only if it is available in all the databases you selected.

Special Limiters -- If you are searching more than one database, under the "limit your search" area "special limiters" sections appear. The database-specific limiters appear under the heading Special limiters for: Database Name. (e.g., Special limiters for: Academic Search Premier) If you select a special limiter, it is applied only to the database under which it appears. For example, you might select the Publication type limiter below Academic Search Premier, and need to select it again below PsycInfo.

Results List: The results screen is split into three sections ? Left section ? Shows number of results from your search. You can refine results by: o Full-text, Scholar Journals, o Date slider (shows range from date of oldest article to newest article ? can slide to left to get newest articles), o Source Type (periodicals, news, dissertations, books), Database (if searched multiple databases can see only ones in a particular databases). ? Middle section ? List of first 10 results o Items are in date descending order; you can change the sort to Date Ascending, Source, Author or Relevance.

o Page Options ? You can display the results in standard, brief (default), title only or detailed. You can also change the Image Quick View, Results per Page, and Page Layout.

o Alert/Save/Share ? You can add results to a folder, Create an alert, or create a permalink to bookmark or share.

? Right section ? Related images and the "Ask a Librarian" Chat box. If available to can send a message to a librarian if you need assistance with your search or have a "how do I find something" question.

Full-text articles will show "linked full-text" [HTML or PDF or both] which may take you directly to the full-text article or a page with an abstract where you will need to click on another link to open full-text in a different window. Some full-text links are "dead ends" because the university does not have a subscription to the journal. If the citation does not have a full-text link then it is not full-text on this database you can click on "Check LinkSource for more information" to see if available in paper or on another database. But understand if the item is a dissertation, book chapter, or government report the link may not give you a definitive answer. For dissertations you need to search the dissertation database. For book chapters you need to search the library online catalog for the title of the book (not the title of the chapter). For journals you can check the "Online Journals" or the library catalog to determine availability. Some journals are purchased as part of a package and may not have links in the Ebsco Databases. If a journal is not available through on another database or in paper at your home library you can order through Interlibrary Loans.

Printing, E-mailing, Downloading: ? One at a time: Click on the HTML Full-text or PDF Full-text link to pull up the full article. Please open all documents, either PDF or HTML, before emailing to insure receiving the full text format. Click on print, email, or download link on the right of the page. This method is recommended if you are worried about losing marked records. Remember, if printing from PDF document, open the PDF document and use the print icon on top of the PDF document NOT the print icon on the web browser or under "File". ? Using the Folder (to temporary save items): To print, email, or save an article or citation, click on "add to folder". A "Folder has Items" box will appear on the right side of the screen with a list of titles in the folder. Click on "Go to Folder View" to see items in folder. Select all or some items and click on "Print", "Email" or "Save as File" icon on the right. The default settings include "Remove these items from folder after emailing" and "PDF as separate attachment (when available)". Be aware that some email programs strip attachments and you may not get your article. Or the email may come with persistent links to the article that you may not be able to open. Items saved to the Folder are only temporary and will disappear once you exit the database. To save items to look at later you must set up a MyEBSCOhost account and then log into that account every time you access an EBSCO database. ? MyEBSCOhost: To view items saved from a previous search you must first log into MyEBSCOhost account. Only items saved while logged into this account will be available to view at a later date. ? Print or Email citations in Industry Citation Format (APA, MLA, Turabian, etc.) -- After clicking on Print or Email select "Citation Format" and select format desired from the pulldown menu. Along with your full-text articles (if available) you will get the citations in the format you selected.

Rev. 8/2010 wl/md

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