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Using Harris County Public Library As A Resource

Using Harris County Public Library As A Resource. Agenda. Basic Search Tips HCPL Databases Other Library Resources Questions. www.hcpl.net. Click on ‘Articles & More’ to find the list of databases Databases are organized by topic (e.g. business, law, literature) and alphabetically.

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Using Harris County Public Library As A Resource

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  1. Using Harris County Public Library As A Resource

  2. Agenda • Basic Search Tips • HCPL Databases • Other Library Resources • Questions

  3. www.hcpl.net • Click on ‘Articles & More’ to find the list of databases • Databases are organized by topic (e.g. business, law, literature) and alphabetically

  4. General Reference Center • Located in the list under ‘Magazines and Journals’ • Search techniques available • Boolean operators • Truncation • Proximity operators • Restoration marks

  5. Boolean Searching • OR expands a search (cat OR dog) • AND narrows a search (cat AND dog) • NOT narrows a search further (chocolate AND chip NOT cookie) OR, AND, and NOT are all stop words, meaning that the database will not include them as part of a search phrase.

  6. Truncation • If you do not know exactly how a word will appear in an article, and you want to expand your results, you may truncate the word. • E.g. fish* will find results containing the words fish, fishes, fisher, fishing, fisherman, etc.

  7. Proximity Operators • Proximity operators allow you to search for words located near each other in an article. • Wn – the second term must occur exactly n words after the first term. • Nn – the second term may occur n words before or after the first term.

  8. Restoration Marks • Restoration marks allow common stop words to be included in a search phrase. • e.g. sink or swim – to make sure or is included as part of the phrase, use quotation marks. • Sink “or” swim - now the database will include the word or in the search string.

  9. Other Search Tips • ‘+’ the word must be included in the result • ‘-’ the word must not be included in the result This search method is not available in the General Reference Center, but you can use it in most search engines.

  10. Each database and search engine uses different searching strategies, so read the search tips before you perform a complex search. Trouble with your search?

  11. Health Source: Consumer Edition • Found under Health and Medicine • Contains • Medical Dictionary • List of Publications • List of Subjects • Image Search

  12. Medical Dictionary • You may use this feature to research the definition of a medical term. • When you type in the word, a list of possible terms and their definitions appears on the screen. • You may stop with the definition, or you may place a check by the term and search for articles that contain that word.

  13. Searching • Use Boolean searching to find articles. • If you cannot find articles about a subject, begin with general terms and gradually make your search more specific.

  14. Limiters and Expanders • You may limit your search to full-text articles only. • You may expand your search in 2 ways. • Choose to search for keywords that appear in the full text of the article as well as the title and abstract. • Search for words that are related to the keywords.

  15. Photos of People Natural science photos Photos of places Historical photos Maps Flags Image Search

  16. Valueline Investment Database • You may look up company information, such as stocks, timeliness reports, etc. • The Valueline reports are updated every few months to provide a fairly accurate picture of the companies. • Valueline is not available through remote access; you must visit the library to use this database. • The library will be receiving the print version of Valueline in January.

  17. Look Up Company • On the main page, go to ‘Look Up Company’. • You may search by ticker symbol, industry, or company name. • You may view your results in PDF or html format.

  18. Survey Issues • The most popular of the Survey Issues is the Summary & Index. • The Summary & Index is updated weekly and provides analysis of stocks based on factors such as timeliness. • You may print out certain reports, or the entire issue.

  19. Reference USA • Allows you to search for business, residence and healthcare addresses and phone numbers. • Custom Search allows you to choose different search values, such as ZIP Code, city, phone number, SIC code or yellow page heading.

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