Support : Publications : Chronolog Archives : May/June 2004

Dialog Enhances Flagship Command Search Interface

Dialog has introduced the next generation in professional search tools with an enhanced DialogLink. This improvement to Dialog search technology integrates more fully into searchers' workflow and provides more powerful search and output tools.

Powerful Options

Built using XML-based technologies, DialogLink 4.0 now offers powerful new functionality, including:

• Enhanced output option with templates for XML, HTML, Microsoft® Word and Microsoft® Excel
• Electronic linking to fulltext journals
• Linking to external Web sites
• Secure connection via an HTTPS option
• Enhanced Alerts management
• Enhanced DIALINDEX® functionality
• New Visual Expand command
• Expanded Account Management capabilities

Enhanced Output Options

DialogLink 4.0 offers two new output commands, XML and HTML, which enable you to download records in either format. And as always, Dialog offers Electronic Redistribution and Archiving (ERA^SM) so that you can account for additional uses of the selected records.

View Figure 1

Additionally, DialogLink 4.0 now helps you generate reports from search results. You can customize templates to generate either Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel documents, and the templates allow you to control how the records appear ­ without requiring manual formatting. For example, it is possible to have titles appear in bold, or to insert semicolons between author subfields, by creating or adjusting the template, selecting the downloaded records, and then automatically building the report.

Linking

Dialog eLinks helps to get the most out of eJournal subscriptions giving you more content to work with. If you are looking to link through to various eJournals vital in science and technical searching, you can now access these documents via DialogLink. Additionally, URLs will now link directly to pages on the open Web. In an effort to provide these same features for classic Dialog DataStar searches, DataStar Classic Web can now be launched from within the new DialogLink, gaining a powerful command interface and improved linking capabilities. In Investext® PDF Index (File 745), you can now access Investext PDF documents.

Secure Access

DialogLink not only improves performance and increases productivity, it also provides a secure connection option ­ essential in today's competitive environment. If you want this increased level of security, you can connect to Dialog services via an HTTPS connection, a Verisign-certified secure connection.

Enhanced Search Features

Alerts management has been made even easier with DialogLink. Alerts can now be edited via a new editing window, instead of requiring the line editor.

DIALINDEX (File 411) has been enhanced with easy selection features, including checkboxes and buttons to select, rank and begin databases.

In addition to classic EXPAND, DialogLink provides Visual Expand (VE), which presents 50 terms in a single window, and terms can be selected via checkboxes. The terms are then automatically combined using "OR" to create a search set. Alerts can now be created directly, instead of requiring the editing and replacement of the "e" ranges in older versions of the software. It has never been easier to browse the indexed terms and select all relevant variations and options. The Visual Expand window also offers EXPLODE, which allows you to retrieve related narrower terms in files with thesauri.

View Figure 2

With Market Records you can manage and edit snippets of data in a "marked text" window. The contents of this window can then be saved as text (TXT), Word (DOC), Rich Text Format (RTF), HTML, or PDF through Adobe® Acrobat®. Alternatively, text can be moved to another application, which means the Marked Records window can now serve as a project window to hold key facts and information.

The Type Ahead buffer includes the "previous commands" tab, which keeps a record of the commands entered during a search session. These can be re-executed by going to the tab and double-clicking the correct command, saving valuable time and increasing accuracy by eliminating typing.

Expanded Account Management Capabilities

DialogLink has always offered accounting records to help searchers keep track of costs. This has most often been used with subaccounts to allow searchers to bill back for their work. Now DialogLink adds more power by enabling you to track accounting records by user, subaccounts and projects. Projects and subaccounts can be set up ahead of time in the configuration settings and will automatically track your search costs, providing a level of detail previously unseen in the accounting file.

Easier Preferences Management

Dialog command language previously required searchers to use the SET commands and consult a search guide for syntax. DialogLink 4.0 simplifies this process, by offering a Preferences panel, which allows for customized search environments. Sliding the mouse over each label shows the default or range options, and clicking in each field shows the equivalent SET command.

Getting Started

To get more information on DialogLink 4.0, or to download it, see: http://support.dialog.com/downloads/dialoglink/ or contact your Dialog sales representative or Knowledge Center.

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