Database Search Guide for Business and Exercise

1. Guide to exercise 3 1. Expand 2. Business search 3. Dialindex search Tefko Saracevic

2. 1. Expand First on terms then on authors Tefko Saracevic

3. Expand (command e or expand) • Expand is a powerful command to view alphabetical listing around term asked and then select given terms or go and expand further • Every term, every field can be expanded • e library • e au=Saracevic Tefko Saracevic

4. expanding to browse for terms Tefko Saracevic

5. Go to ERIC – file 1. expand libraryobjective is to find what terms are around library & what are the related terms in the thesaurus 1 Result Tefko Saracevic

6. neat trick: expanding on expandobjective is to find what are related terms to e9 - library administration 2 Result Tefko Saracevic

7. after expanding on library service (R15) select to search on R22 – information services 3 Tefko Saracevic

8. then go to information services ( s r22) then to limit to most current ( s s1 and …) 4 5 after that you type what is retrieved and choose the items you want printed and pursue further Tefko Saracevic

9. objective is to find articles by author = Saracevic? in database 7, SocialSci Search start with expanding there are 96 items for that author in that file Tefko Saracevic

10. then to retrieve them select e2 click to display and then choose those of interest Tefko Saracevic

11. but if you go Library Literature and Information Science(file 438) & look for articles by same author again: hmmm… different number of articles Tefko Saracevic

12. and then to file Gale Group Magazine Index (file 47) I really struck out! Different strokes … All databases are not created equal. Some are more equal than others. Be careful in selection of databases. The discrepancies are universal! And not only in Dialog. Search several to be sure. Tefko Saracevic

13. 2. A business search A contemporary topic: the current banking and lending crises. Tefko Saracevic

14. follow with search on current financial crisis indatabases ABI (15) & EconLit (139) • as suggested in article: Affelt, A. (2008). Researching the current banking and lending crises. Online(Wilton, Connecticut), 32 (4), 19 – 22. [in RUL and also in Doc Sharing] her suggestion: Files 15 (ABI/INFORM) and 139 (EconLit) in Dialog have excellent coverage of these journals, and descriptor terms such as subprime, mortgage?, delinquent ?, regulat ?, and fore closur e? can be used to narrow results. In order to find discussions of the packaging of these mortgage loans into financial instruments (which led to the collapse of Bear Stearns), free text terms such as hedge()fund?, financial()instrument?, sivorsivs or structured()investment()vehicle, or mortgage?(3n)security? can be searched in proximity to subprime or mortgage() loan? [Note: () is the same as (w)] • Use the files. Do the search . Elaborate on terminology, if possible. Tefko Saracevic

15. 3. Dialindex – file 411 searching a database of databases- for your own practice Tefko Saracevic

16. Description Dialindex is designed to assist Dialog users in finding the best Database to use for searching a particular concept or a group of search terms.  Cute: As a mnemonic device, note that 411 is the phone number you call for information. Dialindex covers all files in Dialog or any subset as selected. Selection of a subset can be done by simply enumerating which ones you want to include or by selecting a preset subject category that contains files for that subject. For instance, category infosci covers library and information science files; compsci; ecology; educat; newsroom;papersNY; papertech; socsci - and a mass of others listed in the Bluesheet for 411 It has an extensive Bluesheet – a must to consult Tefko Saracevic

17. Bluesheet and other explanations “It is designed to assist users in identifying the DIALOG databases that contain information on a given subject. Search topics can be tested in a group of files of the user's choosing or in one or more database categories provided by DIALOG. Using a single SELECT statement of up to 240 characters to describe the search topic, a user can easily determine which databases are the best candidates for a search on the desired topic. “ You can select files to search by categories, by stating file numbers or a combination of both Tefko Saracevic

18. commands you can use in 411 SELECT. All of the features of the SELECT command can be used, but no sets are created in DIALINDEX. To apply the same SELECT command to a new SET FILES list, simply enter S alone. EXPAND. The EXPAND command may be used to view the indexes of up to 100 files, but EXPAND entries cannot be SELECTed in DIALINDEX. SAVE TEMP. The SAVE TEMP command may be used in DIALINDEX to save the SELECT command for additional searching in actual DIALOG files. This is a great feature to save your comands for later use. You will get To see the file banners for the file list specified with SET FILES, enter the command SHOW FILES Tefko Saracevic

19. Starting • After BEGINning in DIALINDEX (B 411), specify the list of files to be searched with the SET FILES (abbreviated SF) command. The file list can consist of file numbers, one or more category acronyms, or a combination, e.g., SF 16,POLLUT • You start with the command Set files – SF • sf infosci – tells you that you selected 10 files • show files (command to see what are these 10 files) it provides a listing • after that you enter terms for searching: s advanced()searching • you get a list indicating how many items does each of these files have • you can also sort them to get them in a numerical order from highest to lowest • then you click on which ones you want to search • then enter the same search (you can click previous to get it back) • and then you get all the items for advanced()searching Tefko Saracevic

20. results Tefko Saracevic

21. practice 1 Begin 411 Set files to infosci Topic is principles of searching where the key terms are within three words of each other. (you can also use advaced searching) Select and then begin those databases Save the search terms by giving the save temp command. If you like you can give the search a name, e.g. save temp searching. Note the code that appears on the monitor screen – you will need it later to get the search back ps: I loved this result I got from one of the files: EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS CONCERNING NORMS AND PERFORMANCE PRINCIPLES OF SEARCHING STRUCTURES AMONG HOUSE-CATS Tefko Saracevic

22. cont … Begin the databases that look most promising (don’t forget that you’ve only been searching in 411, the index of indices.) Execute the saved temporary search statement by giving the execute search (exs) command along with the saved code. If you’ve forgotten the code, you can give the recall temp or recall temps command. Examine the results by using the Display command (d) using the medium format (typically for bibliographic citation), 20 records.  Experiment with the formats. you can use terms for own searching Tefko Saracevic

23. practice 2 Begin 411 Set files to papersNY. Select steps for the terms online searching. Connect the terms by asking for them to be near each other (in any order) within four words. Select four papers that seem to have the least results, just for experimentation’s sake. Begin desired databases Select steps again or click on previous, Type out five records from each in full format. Display 20 records using the free format. Examine the records for relevance and precision. Tefko Saracevic

24. practice 3 • You can search all files in Dialindex • B11 • sf all – it told me that I selected 431 files • ss advanced()searching and libraries • it takes a while to process it • here is what I got: • There are 48 databases matching your statement 'SS ADVANCED()SEARCHING AND LIBRARIES‘ • sort them, choose • Use your own terms Tefko Saracevic