User's Guide to NC LIVE
1. Go to NC LIVE at http://www.nclive.org (available
as a link from the Gardner-Webb University Web page http://www.gardner-webb.edu/library ).
2. Electronic Resources are databases that can be accessed by clicking
on the Full-text, Alphabetic, Subject, or Other icons.
3. The Alphabetic icon links a list of all databases in alphabetical
order.
4. Subject Access has links to groups of databases organized by categories
such as Business; Education and Psychology; Medical and Health Resources;
and so on.
5. Full-text has links to the databases that include whole articles
rather than citations only.
6. The "Other" icon allows users to see a list of full text journals
that are available in all NC LIVE databases. This option is a
directory of every database that has the full text of a particular
journal. This list can be browsed or searched.
For example, click on Search Full text journals by keyword
Then type in the name of a journal, such as Journal of Family
Nursing. NC LIVE will display the following:
Results for "JOURNAL OF FAMILY NURSING":
Journal of Family Nursing from Academic Search Elite
via EBSCOhost
Coverage: January 1, 1995 - present
This means articles from this journal can be found in the database Academic
Search Elite, which can be accessed by clicking on the name of the journal,
or via the Alphabetic or Subject Access.
7. When clicking on a particular database, you may be taken directly
to that database, or you may see a list of all the databases available
from that particular vendor. If so, simply click on the name of
the desired database a second time.
8. Each database will have a search engine that will allow you to
do a subject search. In addition, each database will allow you to print
or email the results. Records, which may be citations or full- text
articles, can be emailed or printed individually, or marked to be sent
in groups.
9. If an article is not available full text, be sure to check GWU
Library’s A-to-Z
Holdings List to see if the library
has that journal in its collection. If not available on-line or in
the library, articles can be ordered by Interlibrary Loan. Please ask
at the Reference Desk for help.
10. Every database in NC LIVE has a help button,
which will link you to information on the features of that particular
database. Using "help" can give you a great deal of information about
effectively searching a database.
Online Searching
You have probably had the frustration of typing words into a search engine
and getting back thousands of hits that have nothing to do with the topic
that you're looking for.
One of the most difficult parts of online searching is to figure out
the search terms that will allow you to find the information that you
want without a lot of useless hits. Coming up with such terms, and
then using them effectively, is known as constructing a
search strategy . Constructing a good search strategy
can save you a lot of time and effort, make your searches more precise,
and minimize the amount of irrelevant information that you retrieve.
There are several concepts that you need to know in order to construct
a good search string. Let's start with the basics of keyword searching.
Keyword (Boolean) searching
Different electronic databases, such as Internet search engines, library
Web catalogs, and electronic indexes all have something in common: they
all use some variation of keyword searching. This is also known as Boolean
searching. Boolean logic allows you to combine terms with
one or more search operators These words are sometimes called logical
operators, because they establish logical relationships between words.
You can use Boolean searching to either narrow or expand your search.
There are three basic search operators. Keep in mind different databases or
search engines may have different variations on these operators, but the principles
of Boolean searching remain the same. The three are:
And: This search operator combines terms so that each hit
has both terms, and so has the effect of narrowing your search. An example
would be: apples and oranges will find articles that have
both the words "apples" and "oranges." Result: fewer hits.
Or: This search operator combines search terms, so that each
hit includes at least one of the terms, and so has the effect of broadening
a search. It is a good operator to use when you have synonyms. For example:
company or corporation will find articles that have either "company" or "corporation," or
both. Result: more hits.
Not: This search operator excludes a term, so that none of
the results will contain it. This has the effect of narrowing the search. Example:
persian gulf not war will find articles about the "Persian
Gulf" region, but not ones that refer to the Gulf "War." Result: fewer hits.
Most databases and search engines have a help link that has
more information on searching, including which operators are used, as well
as searching tips. It is always a good idea to read this "how to search" information
before you start searching.
Other searching concepts: the following are other tools to
aid you in your searching. Remember to check the database's help screens for
specific information on searching that particular database.
Wildcards
A wildcard character is one that takes the place of one or more characters in
a search term, and can be used to find variations on that word. The wildcard
character can vary from database to database, but is most often a question mark, "?".
For example, typing ca?e will find words such as café,
cage, cake, cape, care, etc.
Truncation
Truncation is attaching a wildcard character to a word, or root of a word,
which will search for all the variations of that word. A truncation character
is usually different from a wildcard character, and is most often
an asterisk, "*". For example, typing hist* will find variations
such as histology, historian, historic, historical, history, etc.
Proximity searching
Proximity searching is a type of keyword searching in which you specify how close
two keywords will be to each other. Proximity searching is a very powerful tool,
and can enable you to get more precise results. The most common proximity operators
are:
Near (N#): will find search terms with a specified number
of words to each other, regardless of the order in which they appear. For example, president
N5 congress will find articles with phrases like "Congress will investigate
the President" or "the President met with members of Congress."
Within (W#): Within is similar to near, and will find search
terms within a specified number of words. Usually, however, "within" finds
words in the order in which you typed them. For example, typing " microsoft
W5 justice department" will find, "Microsoft is being investigated
by the Justice Department," but won't find "the Justice Department is investigating
Microsoft."
Advanced searching
Most databases will have an advanced search option. The advanced search will
help you build a search by giving you a framework to work with. You can type
in your search terms, then choose the search operators using a drop-down menu.
Advanced searching will also allow you to select which field each term will search--such
as author, title, subject, or something else. This makes it a very powerful search
tool. For a good example, see either the EBSCOhost or ProQuest databases
in NC LIVE.
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