HOME : SUPPORT : TRAINING : ONLINE COURSES

Need Help?
Email Course Coordinator

Using the databases selection tool—DIALINDEX (continued)

DialogWeb returns a list of all databases that have information on our topic, along with a listing of the number of "hits" (records) found in each of them.

DIALINDEX Results

Dialindex unSORTED results

Once the list is completely displayed on the screen, I can reorder it by clicking sort. This makes it easier to see which databases have the most records on the search topic because they will appear at the top of the list.

Dialindex SORTED results

We can see that a number of databases have at least one or two articles on our topic. Brian will be interested to know that researchers are already writing about this topic.

DIALINDEX has identified databases with records on our topic. To see the actual records, we must check databases we want to search and click begindb to run the same strategy. Alternatively, we may choose the database(s) to search by entering the file numbers and even change our search strategy. If we want to try a brand new search strategy, we can click newsearch.

Before we actually look at the records, however, I want to discuss how to make a simple search more comprehensive. We will see how to create a more detailed search strategy in Lesson 2.

Go on to the Exercises to reinforce what we just discussed.


1-6

Authoritative Answers Enriched by ProQuest

Learn More #5:

Knowing the content of databases is extremely important to get accurate search results. I often look at the database descriptions to get specific information about the database content.

For example, if we want to search The New York Times and the Boston Globe, we can click the titles of the papers and review complete descriptions of each newspaper.

I should probably review several databases here before deciding on my choice, especially if I want to see what the focus of specific regional newspapers is. This is especially important when the databases contain more diverse information.

File Description

The Boston Globe database contains the fulltext of all staff-written news stories, features, columns and editorials published in The Boston Globe, the largest source of information from the Northeast. The Globe offers reports on national and international issues in its national/foreign section. On a more local level, topics covered include politics, business, science and technology, real estate, the arts, entertainment and sports. Special emphasis is given to area politics, high technology and local environmental issues. The Boston Globe focuses much of its attention on the numerous high-tech companies in Boston and its vicinity.

Search Tip 1-4

Dialog is not case-sensitive; search commands and terms may be entered using upper- or lower-case letters.

Examples
SELECT frontier AND merger
select Frontier and Merger

Search Tip 1-3

We can clear checkboxes by clicking the specific ones we do not want to include, or we can click the Clear Selections button to clear all checkmarks and choose fewer databases.

Search Tip 1-2

Requesting the database description opens a second copy of our Web browser. We can leave this open for reference during the search.

We simply click the original page on the desktop if it is visible, use ALT+TAB to switch between screens, or use the "boxes" on the bottom menu bar in Windows.