This search guide was originally created by the Neumann Library Web Committee, University of Houston-Clear Lake and is used with their permission.

Connect to Databases to access these, and other, Library databases.

Art Full Text, Biography Reference Bank, Book Review Digest Plus, Education Full Text, Essay and General Literature Index, Play Index, and Art Museum Image Gallery are available in the Saint Mary's College Library via the World Wide Web. This guide gives you general searching tips (including marking, printing, downloading, and emailing) that apply to all these databases. Use this guide in conjunction with Database Descriptions, which discusses each individual database and shows the individual differences that might help you in your research. Please note that on-line help is also available by using the Help button on the search screen within each database.

HOW TO SEARCH

Choices of search method are available as buttons at the left of the screen:

• Advanced Search: default search method, allows the greatest searching flexibility; see sample search form below.
• Basic Search: permits keyword, phrase, natural language, Boolean, and command syntax (<near>, <sentence>) searches.
• Browse: permits previewing and selecting search terms from various field lists (subject, author, journal name, etc.).
• Thesaurus: permits searching from controlled vocabulary subject terms, displayed hierarchically by concept/topic.

SEARCHING TIPS

Limiting functions may be used and include: limit by date, full text, peer reviewed articles, and document type.

Boolean operators and command syntax may be used in Basic Search. Truncation symbols (* and ?) may be used in either Basic or Advanced Search.

and	stadiums and marketing	finds both words in the same record, ranked for relevance
or	hyperactivity or adhd	finds records containing either or both terms, ranked for relevance
not	"attention span" not adhd	finds records containing attention span, but not adhd
<sentence>	family <sentence> therapy	finds records with both words in the same sentence
<near/n>	safety <near/5> training	finds records with the specified words within 5 words of each other (n = an integer between 1 and 1024)
"  "	"fe3 co 12"	finds specified phrase, i.e., chemical formula Fe3(CO)12
"  "	"condition"	finds exact single term condition, as opposed to conditions, conditioner, conditioning, etc.
*	electric*	finds electric, electrical, electricity, etc.
*	colo*r	finds color or colour (* may be used for zero or more characters)
?	?atherine deneuve	finds Catherine Deneuve (? stands for a single alphanumeric character and may be used as many times as needed, i.e., catherine d?n??ve)

THESAURUS SEARCH

You may improve your search results by using official subject headings. Click the Thesaurus button on the left of the screen, enter your subject term in the search box, and click Start.

VIEWING AND MARKING RECORDS

PRINTING, DOWNLOADING, AND EMAILING RECORDS

To download, you will need an IBM-formatted disk. Place the disk in Drive A. Click the Save radio button under Destination, make other selections, and then click Start. When your records display as desired, select Save as… from the File Menu of the browser. Enter the filename, and set the Save as type to .txt. Be sure to direct the download to Drive A, and then click Save. Note: You must be using a PC with MS Word or MS Excel to save in those formats.

Online Tutorial Index