GETTING THE BEST SEARCH POSSIBLE
"I need information about violence on television and its effect on children."
The above sentence expresses what you want - BUT - the computer doesn't understand questions or sentences very well. Your sentence needs to be put into a form the computer better understands.
2. Highlight the main ideas in your concept
sentence.
3. You want these three concepts to be in all of the items you find
- so - you want:
The word AND is the command or instruction; it informs the computer that you want ALL concepts to be found in all of the articles or books which are retrieved. While not all the articles will be exactly what you want, they will all have the three concepts..
Use BACK BUTTON to return---------- Power Searching.---------- Power Concepts.
AND is a great instruction but there are others when AND alone isn't enough!
A word of caution . With over 25 different database not all of the commands mentioned below will work in all of the databases. The instruction sheets for each of the databases will list the major commands which can be used in the database. Search examples illustrating how to put them together will also be listed on each database guide sheet.
OR ----- Use OR to include similar concepts.
Click here for another neat feature of database searching
OR
At least one of the concepts within the parenthesis must be found in any of the items retrieved.ALL may be included but only one is required.
Note that the concepts connected by OR are in parenthesis. If parenthesis are not included the search results will make no sense.
NOT
-----Use NOT to eliminate a concept from your search.
ADJ
-----Use ADJ to find concept words next to one another - adjacent to one another.(television
adj violence) and childrenDepending on the database the ADJ command may require that the words appear in articles in the exact order typed; in other databases the words may appear in either order. Check the instructions for the specific database. Words using the ADJ command are given automatic parenthesis but adding them yourself won't affect the search.
W/S
Use W/S to find the linked concept words, in either order, within the same sentence.(television
W/S violence) and children
Concept format differs for each database please check the individual database sheets for instructions.
CLICK on the BACK button until you return to the screen you want
The use of parenthesis gives order to the search. As an example:
3 times 7 minus 4
You can't tell.
The use of parenthesis tells the computer how to process the request.
CLICK on the BACK button until you return to the screen you want
The use of TRUNCATION allows you to search for words which begin with the same series of letters or ROOT. Look at the following words. Each begins with the same series of letters (the same ROOT):
Each database uses a symbol which allows you to search for
those words with the same ROOT.
Symbols vary for different databases. Following are some common symbols used.
The following examples illustrate the FORM of its use.
The WILDCARD feature is similar to TRUNCATION. Its most common usage is to find both the SINGULAR and PLURAL forms of a word; and, to substitute for variable internal letters.
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This page is maintained by P. Charles Livermore