PROQUEST DIALOG SEARCHING BEYOND THE BASICS

Agenda

Overview• Content and databases

• Search modes

Search Essentials• Word variations and truncation

• Multiple terms and phrases

• Logical and proximity operators

• Nesting and order of processing

• Field indexing

• Look Up browsing feature

ProQuest Dialog Search Basics Database Documentation

9/28/2014 3

A-Z Database List•Comprehensive list•General and patent databases•Short description of each database

http://www.dialog.com/proquestdialog/

Database Documentation

Content Overviews•Pharma/Biomed•Engineering/SciTech•Patents•News/Trade

http://www.dialog.com/proquestdialog/

Database Documentation

ProQuest Dialog Search Basics Database Selection

9/28/2014 6

Database Selection

How to I select databases to search? • Multiple methods for database selection

- Search all general databases by default (no upper limit!)

- Search all patent databases simultaneously

- Pick and choose from the database listing

- Choose one or more industry groupings

- Set up “shortcuts” to your favorite databases

ProQuest Dialog Search Basics Search Modes

9/28/2014 8

General DatabasesCore Search Modes•Basic•Advanced•Command Line

Specialized Search Modes•Find Similar•Look Up Citation

9/28/2014 9

Search Modes

Patent DatabasesCore Search Modes•Basic•Advanced•Command Line

Specialized Search Modes•Look Up Patent

9/28/2014 10

Search Modes

Auto-complete Feature

What is “Auto-complete”? • Displays common search terms and phrases based on the term(s) entered

into the search box.

• You can either

- Select a suggested term from the list

- Ignore the terms

- Close the drop-down for the specific search

- Turn off Auto-complete in current session

- Deselect Auto-complete in your preferences

Auto-Complete Feature

Plurals

What is retrieved when I enter a search term? • Singular and plural form of the term are automatically retrieved

- Both regular and irregular

CAT => CAT, CATSCHILDREN => CHILD, CHILDREN

• Use quotation marks to search an exact term without plurals

“CATS” => CATS

• If desired, deselect automatic retrieval of singulars and plurals in your preferences.

British and American Spellings

What is retrieved when I enter a search term? • British and American spellings are automatically retrieved

- Applies to all databases

COLOR => COLOR, COLOUROESTROGEN => ESTROGEN, OESTROGEN

• Use quotation marks for exact term search

“COLOUR” => COLOUR

• If desired, deselect automatic retrieval of British and American spellings in your preferences

Comparatives and Superlatives

What other word variations are automatically retrieved? • Comparatives and superlatives

TALLER => TALL, TALLER, TALLEST

• Use quotation marks for exact term search

“TALLEST” => TALLEST

• If desired, deselect automatic retrieval or comparatives and superlatives in your preferences

Exact Words and Phrases

How can I search an exact word or phrase? • Enclose a word or phrase in quotation marks for an exact search

• Quotation marks “turn off” word variations

“BOOK” “FINANCIAL FUTURES”“THE CAT IN THE HAT”

• TIP! Truncation can be used within quotation marks

“UNIVERSAL DESIGN*” =>

UNIVERSAL DESIGNUNIVERSAL DESIGNSUNIVERSAL DESIGNING

Truncation and Wildcards

Can I use truncation to find word variations? • Right, middle and left truncation are now all available!

- Any combination can be used

• Use * to retrieve 0-10 characters

- Use [*n] or $n to limit to a maximum number of characters (0-125)

- * can be used to replace a space

• Use ? to replace a specific number of characters

- Use to retrieve the exact number of characters

- ? cannot be used to replace a space

Truncation and Wildcards

Left and Right Truncation Examples• *TOXIC* – retrieves 0-10 characters at the beginning and/or end of a word

TOXIC, TOXICOLOGY, CYTOTOXICITY, INTOXICATED

• MONO[*15] or MONO$15 – retrieves up to fifteen trailing characters

MONORAIL, MONOTONOUS, MONOMETHYLARSONOUS

• ?????DERM – retrieves exactly leading characters

PACHYDERM but not EPIDERM, ECHINODERM,

Truncation and Wildcards

Internal Truncation Examples• TO?IC retrieves exactly one character in the middle of a word

TOXIC, TOPIC, TONIC

• TO*IC retrieves 0-10 characters in the middle of a word

TOXIC, TOURISTIC, TORNOGRAPHIC

TIP! Use internal truncation with caution to avoid false hits.

• SUL[*2]UR retrieves up to two characters in the middle of a word

SULFUR, SULPHUR

Additional Search Tools

Additional Tools for Advanced Searching • Searching multiple terms and phrases

• Boolean / logical operators

• Proximity connectors

• Nesting

• Field indexing

• Look Up feature

Boolean Operators

Can I use Boolean (logical) operators?

AND Both / all terms must be present

OR Either term must be present

NOT Eliminates hits on the term after NOT operator

NOTE: AND is implied between terms separated by a space

CANCER RESEARCH = CANCER AND RESEARCH

Proximity Connectors

What proximity connectors are available? PRE/# => Exact order of termsP/#

• PRE/0 retrieves terms as a phrase but allows word variations

CANCER P/0 RESEARCH => Exact phrase, term variations

“CANCER RESEARCH” => Exact phrase, no term variations

• PRE/5 or P/5 allows up to 5 words to occur between search terms

CANCER PRE/5 RESEARCH => Up to 5 words between

Proximity Connectors

How should a search a hyphenated word?

TIP! A hyphen linking terms is equivalent to PRE/0 between terms

ULTRA-VIOLET is equivalent to ULTRA P/0 VIOLET

And will retrieve:

ULTRA-VIOLETULTRA VIOLETULTRA-VIOLETSULTRA VIOLETS

Recommended search to retrieve all variations:

ULTRAVIOLET OR ULTRA-VIOLET

ULTRAVIOLET OR ULTRA P/0 VIOLET

Proximity Connectors

What proximity connectors are available? NEAR/# => Any order of termsN/#

• NEAR/0 retrieves terms as a phrase (in any order) and allows word variations

CANCER NEAR/0 RESEARCH => Any order, term variations retrieved

• NEAR/25 or N/25 allows up to 25 words to occur between search terms

CANCER N/25 RESEARCH => Any order, up to 25 words between

Proximity Connectors

What proximity connectors are available?

LNK => Used to ink headings with subheadings or qualifiers inbiomedical databases

NOTE: LNK has numerous other database-specific applications.

EMB.EXACT(“ABDOMINAL CANCER” LNK “DIAGNOSIS”)

Searching Words and Terms

Are there words that aren’t searchable on ProQuest Dialog? • All words are searchable as free text terms on ProQuest Dialog including

AN, BY, FOR, FROM, OF, THE, TO, WITH

• TIP! ProQuest Dialog Boolean/Logical operators (AND, OR, NOT) and proximity connectors (PRE, NEAR, LNK) are searchable as words when enclosed in quotation marks

“AND” “PRE”

“OR” “NEAR”

“NOT” “LNK”

Nesting

Can I use nesting (parentheses) to group terms? • Yes, multiple layers of parentheses can be used

• Use parentheses to “nest” terms or change the order or processing

• Especially important when multiple operators are used!

((STRUCTURAL OR URBAN) NEAR/5 DESIGN) AND ((FLOOD OR LANDSLIDE) NOT (EARTHQUAKE OR TSUNAMI))

Field Indexing

Can I limit my search to specific fields? • Field codes are available

• Some standard fields are indexed in all databases

TI Title

AB Abstract

AU Author

PUB Publication Title

DTYPE Document Type

• Each database also has unique field codes based on data available and indexing

EMB Emtree subject headings (EMBASE)

Field Indexing

What is the syntax for limiting by field codes? • List the field code(s) first and enclose terms in parentheses

• “Stack” multiple field codes with commas

TI (CANCER RESEARCH)

TI,AB (AGRICULTUR* NEAR/3 FERTILIZ*)

PUB(“JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS”)

NOTE: Also retrieves

The Journal of Economics

Journal of Economics and Industry

PUB.EXACT(“JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS”)

Field Indexing

How can I identify the field codes available for each database? • Consult the list of standard fields in ProQuest help

• Other fields are database-specific

• Start with the drop-down menu in Advanced Search

• Field codes for major files listed in online HELP

• Consult the Database ProSheets (http://www.dialog.com/prosheets)

Look-Up Feature

How can I browse field indexes? • Key fields include a “Look Up” feature

• Most databases include

Look Up Authors

Look Up Classification Codes

Look Up Publications

Look Up Subjects

• Other Look Ups are database specific

• Choose “Contains” (scan across) or “Begins with” (first words only)

• Browse and choose from an index list generated from your search term(s)

Look-up Feature

Look-up Feature

Look-up Feature

Look-up Feature

Support and Training Resources

• Customer SupportSteven.zhou@proquest.com Tel:86-21-63526707

• Product Information Page http://www.dialog.com/proquestdialog/

• Support & Training Page http://support.dialog.com/training/proquestdialog/

• Database ProSheetshttp://www.dialog.com/prosheets/