Training Updates: Issue 3, August 2011

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Training Updates

From the Editor

The new release of ProQuest Dialog™ has arrived! To find out more about the new features and functionality, register for our new Webinar “What’s New on ProQuest Dialog." Now is the time to sign up for other training sessions designed to highlight features, content, and how to develop search expertise on the new service. The new Dialog Training Event Center makes it easy to register for live Webinars. Take advantage of new self-paced modules to learn at your own speed and time or to gain more practice. And, explore search techniques for both Dialog and ProQuest Dialog. Read on!

ProQuest Dialog training classes

Have you seen how to preview records, translate content in any one of 13 languages or use the Look up feature to search Author Names, Publications or Subjects? Now you can do it all! Online classes describe new features on ProQuest Dialog, and live demonstrations illustrate how easy it is to use them. Register at the Dialog Training Event Center now!

New What’s New on ProQuest Dialog highlights the newest features and functionality included in the most recent ProQuest Dialog release.
Introduction to ProQuest Dialog provides an overview of the key features and functionality of the new service. You will learn about content coverage, database selection, basic search features, review of search results and tools for translating, citing, saving or exporting your results. Webinars in English are held on August 16, 23 and in both French and German on August 17, 31.
Developing ProQuest Dialog Expertise helps you further develop your ProQuest Dialog search expertise by introducing the advanced and precision search features used most often by professional searchers. Sign up for a class on August 18, 24 (English); August 24 (French).
Essential Tools for Research on ProQuest Dialog focuses on the key content and functionality available for expert research in the biomedical and pharmaceutical research fields (August 23, 30) and for engineering and technology research (August 17, 25).

Scheduled legacy Dialog training classes

If you want to attend a legacy Dialog training class, choose from several options taught by our expert content specialists.

Finding Worldwide Business Intelligence and News (August 10)
Using SIC, NAICS and Other Industry Codes in the Business Files on Dialog (August 16 )
Essential Tools for Trademark Searching on Dialog (August 31)
Tips and Tricks for Database Selection and Multifile Searching (September 7)

Review the Dialog Event Center for more classes.

Sign up for classes at the Dialog Training Event Center

Dialog makes it easier than ever to register for training classes. A new Event Center has everything you need all in one place on the Dialog website—class schedules with date and time for English, French, German and Italian sessions, descriptions of the events, panelists and more.

Easy-to-use, convenient features
The new Dialog Training Event Center offers new features to make your training experience easier than ever.

Register for multiple Webinars at once, just check boxes for each event of interest and click Register.
Identify the panelist presenting your session.
Listen to the Webinar via automatic audio broadcast using the chat feature to ask questions and make comments, or alternatively dial into the optional teleconference.
Replay a recording of a previous session you couldn’t attend or one you need to review.
Find worldwide phone numbers easily.

Here’s how it works.

At the top left, click the language (1) link to set preferences —home page, time zone, locale and language. The locale you set will determine the other preferences.
View Event Recordings (2) of previous sessions at the bottom of the page.
Click an Event name (3) to learn more about the session.
Change the time link to change to your local time (4).
Click the Back to List button (5) to see all events.
Review events by program (6).
If you display by date (7), you can see all events from all programs.

On the registration page you can view the following information:

Read the description of the session (8).
Register right from the same page (9).
Complete the Information, and join the Event at the appropriate time (10).

Self-paced training materials

Learn about ProQuest Dialog at your own pace

At a Glance modules let you learn in your own time at your own pace.

A new At a Glance module will help organization administrators learn more about ProQuest Dialog. My Research Administrator module is designed for use by the designated administrator at an organization’s site. In this module learn to import and manage a list of users, set up both individual and group accounts and edit accounts.

If you haven’t done so, review three other self-paced modules to learn more about other features on ProQuest Dialog.

Use the online thesaurus — Follow a search through Embase illustrating how easy it is to use the thesaurus in Embase and MEDLINE. Learn how Explode can help you in your biomedical search. Watch for new databases with thesauri coming soon!
Advanced Search with new features — See how to conduct an Advanced Search using features including new display options, post-processing, transactional pricing, Alerts and RSS.
Set Searching — If you typically use command language on DataStar or Dialog, you will learn how to translate the powerful precision features of these services into ProQuest Dialog data retrieval.

With one click you can now try out its new features at your own pace and time in self-paced modules.

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In this issue

From the Editor
ProQuest Dialog training classes
Scheduled legacy Dialog training classes
Sign up for classes at the Dialog Training Event Center!
Self-paced training materials
Documentation
ProQuest Dialog Search Techniques
Legacy Dialog Search Techniques

Documentation

ProSheets for all databases on ProQuest Dialog

ProQuest Dialog ProSheets have made quite a hit with our users! You can now review ProSheets for all databases on ProQuest Dialog. They include descriptions of the databases, available search fields with examples showing you how to create precise searches, limit options and more. Experienced and novice users will welcome these new data sheets. ProSheets provide professional researchers with all the information they need to perform command line searching.

ProSheets are also available from the Support Center, just click the ProSheet Look Up tab and select the ProSheet you want.

ProQuest Dialog Search Techniques

Can I search with phrases in ProQuest Dialog?

The good news about ProQuest Dialog is you can simply use natural language and enter phrases to find relevant results. However, a word to the wise is that AND is assumed when you enter multiple terms as a phrase. For example, if you enter the phrase cancer research, ProQuest Dialog interprets that query as cancer AND research. The service sorts by relevance, so the top records retrieved should be right on target.

As you hone in for precision, you’ll find excellent ways to gain more exactness in what you want to find. In some cases you might want to enclose terms in quotes to ensure the words are right next to each other as in “cancer research”. Alternatively, you can use a connector to specify words together in exact order. In the cancer research example, try searching on cancer pre/0 research. Now, you retrieve the words right next to each other in exact order, with variant endings, such as plurals.

Do you have an exact title to search, such as “the cat in the hat”? Go ahead and search with quotation marks. All words are searchable — no need to worry about “stop” words, or words that cannot be used.

It’s best to enter variations as ORed synonyms, as in the search query ultraviolet or “ultra violet” or uv. If you prefer using the pre/n operator, enter the query ultraviolet or ultra pre/0 violet or uv.

In ProQuest Dialog spend more time on the answers than the strategy.

Legacy Dialog Search Tip

The food files serve up patent data for competitive intelligence

Legacy Dialog’s Food Science databases cover every aspect of science including the life sciences, biochemistry, microbiology, biotechnology, process engineering, nutrition, packaging and more. As an added value, some of these files stir in patent data too. This presence makes a nice recipe for competitive intelligence.

Files in the Food Science [FOODSCI] DIALINDEX^® OneSearch^® category that cover patent information include Food Science and Technology Abstracts (File 51) and Foodline^®: SCIENCE (File 53).
While these two files have thesauri where you can use EXPAND to see and use the controlled vocabulary, you can also enter terms and qualify to the Title, Section Heading and Descriptor fields (/TI,SH,DE) for relevancy. Use LIMIT to qualify results to a publication year or range of publication years (S S1/2010:2011), and then RANK on the patent assignee (PA) field to see a ranked list of companies with patents in a particular product area. Browsing the RANKed list, make note of newcomers; see who’s on top and who’s at the bottom, with one or two patents, who may be just entering the market. Click the icon to view a RANKed list from the search strategy on the keyword cereal.

Note: Patent records in Foodline: SCIENCE (File 53) do not have Patent Year (PY=). Search the patent publication year on the Notes (/NT) field. The format for the year is not uniform, but post-2000 it is likely to have the full four digits, e.g. 2011/nt.