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Searching Databases

This help list should provide sufficient assistance to get you safely into the realm of campus databases with some genuine results. It is not an exhaustive look at searching databases but rather tips to get you going. However, the key to any serious research effort is to be thorough and methodogical. Although this document focuses on being the latter, the former is implicit throughout the whole process. Note: For specific references made throughout this document refer to two other handouts: "CD-ROM Databases: Methodology Notes II" and "Final Methodology Notes"

I. Strategy

Simply said, not having a strategy will help to waste your time and energy. Having one will make your efforts worthwhile. Even a simple one is better than nothing. Answering the following questions will help you to formulate this strategy.

A. What are the major components of my project/paper?

Concentrating on major components of your project topic will be the most productive use of your time. Make your effort a 3-5 prong effort ensuring that you find adequate literature to formulate the foundation to your paper and also to reduce the likelihood of fragmented results. Looking at the dimensions of your project in the form of an outline can be useful. However, if you haven't gotten to the outline stage, intuition of what is important might be sufficient to get going. (One note of caution: Don't attempt to cover all "relevant" dimensions. Just pick 3-5 of the most important ones.)

B. What type of information do you need?

The nature of the project that you are concentrating on will likely determine the types of material you will need. If, for example, you are researching local participatory efforts then mainstream literature may not be the best place to concentrate your efforts on. Newsletters and personal interviews of first-hand accounts might therefore yield greater results than say would a book. Use common sense in plotting out what materials to focus on.

Ex's: Books, Government Documents, Journal Literature, Newsletters, Personal Interviews, Statistics, Doctoral dissertations, etc.

C. Can you find sufficient material?

While UCB contains one of the largest concentrations of materials you may still find it difficult to locate the specific information required to analyze and write your paper. Some topics/countries, more than others, have been given far greater attention by "Northern" academics, multilateral organizations, among others. For example, for a country such as Guatemala an abundance of literature may be available, unlike say on Vietnam. If you uncertain whether or not there is sufficient resources, one way would be to ask. Find someone who knows. Ask reference librarians or your professor.

D. Is there sufficient time available?

Another problem which many students encounter is trying to cover more material than can be thoroughly treated before your paper is due. Again, focusing on primary dimensions and also using an outline, no matter how rough it may be, can help yield consistent, good results.

II. Key Terms

Before sitting down in front of a terminal or a computer to begin searching, compose a list of key terms you will use to formulate search word phrases. Without doing this your searches may end up being far too broad and resulting in thousands of entries. Another typical result would be to find little or nothing.

A. Formulate a list of key terms to be used for searching

If you have trouble coming up with more than one or two key terms then seek out other sources. Some source material(s) exist primarily to act as a beginning place for research. For ideas on what terms to start with, examine any of the following:

1.The Library of Congress Subject Catalog (LCSC) - [See "Final Methodology Notes" Section III.A., Primary Bibliographies, a.]

2. Key articles that you already have.

3. Subject Encyclopedias - [See "Final Methodology Notes" Section III.A., Subject Encyclopedias]

B. Maintain a working/growing list

As you make progress and find literature keep in mind terms that may reoccur. Add these to your key terms list to help you intensify your searches. Some of these additional terms may be more important than those which you started with. In this case start using them right away. On the other hand, some terms are more productive in refining your research efforts later on down the road. Nevertheless, keep track of all relevant terms.

III. Sources

There are many places to begin. One good thing about this is you are likely to find something no matter where you start. However, the key point is to utilize your time most productively and efficiently.

A. Melvyl vs Gladis

Two major databases are available on campus, Melvyl and Gladis. Gladis is strictly dedicated to holdings of U.C. Berkeley. Melvyl on the other hand spans the holdings for the entire U.C. system, including all of what Gladis holds and more. Melvyl is updated regularly with changes directly from Gladis. So only minor differences are to be expected. While Gladis can often be useful, Melvyl is the place to begin. Melvyl has a built in flexibility and forgiveness of inexact or incomplete search phrases. Furthermore, it also houses some indexes which don't exist at all in Gladis, such as those for periodical contents.

B. Books vs Periodicals

In the past books have been the dominant literature source used. In the recent past, a large amount of periodical information has flooded the scene. Recent technological advances have advanced periodical literature to the limelight in detailing and analyzing current events. For books, it usually takes many months, even years (if at all), to publish on the same topical event. In that time, subsequent findings may have come forth and are likely reported in up-to-date professional journals and the like. Therefore, start by examining periodical literature first. However, the importance of books should not be understated. The level of information and analysis found with books is generally more extensive and therefore should not be overlooked.

There is one major problem which plagues a primary reliance on periodical literature - a significant proportion of periodical contents are not indexed in any single computerized database. In fact there are many different periodical sources/indexes. A few exist right on Melvyl: MAGS, CC, etc. This translates into an overlap between periodical indexes. This means you may find the same entry in two different indexes. For the time being one just has to live with this fact.

C. Other Sources

To supplement the periodical indexes available from any library catalog terminal there are two other sources you should pay attention to. These are CD-ROM databases and printed indexes.

1. CD-ROM Databases

Mini databases are scattered throughout campus libraries on individual computers. These databases are often referred to as CD-ROM databases. Each CD-ROM gives particular attention to one field or several directly related fields of study. Each individual computer may have several CD-ROM databases housed there. Each represents an excellent concentration of periodical content listings for their respective fields of study. [See CD-ROM Databases: Methodology Notes II for a selected listing.]

a. Searching

The procedure to conduct a search is extremely easy. Easy to follow instructions are always found somewhere on the screen. First, you may be asked to select which CD-ROM database you want to begin searching. Follow the few prompts you are asked. Then, once you have reached the FIND prompt, begin by entering broad terms. The number of listings matching your request are shown on the screen. If this results in too many then modify your search term by adding an additional term separated by AND.

b. Results

Listings that you want to note can be "marked", "flagged" or "tagged" by the program. This means that you can go on to other listings but still easily identify those you've selected as relevant. Once you have gone through the results of your find request you can either print what you have marked or else copy them over to a floppy diskette that you need to bring with you. Instructions for both are available on screen menus under PRINT or DOWNLOAD options.

2. Printed Indexes

If you have little success from Melvyl and CD-ROM databases, or you just want to expand your findings, then there are a number of printed indexes that can be very helpful. You could begin by examining which indexes to look at. Do this by looking at periodical index guides. [See "Final Methodology Notes" Section III.B., Guides To Periodical Indexes] Or, begin by using one of those from a selected list. [See "Final Methodology Notes" Section III.B., A Selected List of Periodical Indexes and Abstracting Services] Most reference material such as these are found in the Reference Room of Doe Library (Main).

IV. Searching On Melvyl

Here are a few basic command tips which will greatly improve your search effort. Begin by using a Melvyl dedicated terminal or by starting Melvyl (m) from the menu options of dual Melvyl-Gladis terminals.

A. Selecting an index

The two indexes on Melvyl to pay particular attention to are MAGS (articles to 1,500 indexed magazines and journals) and CC (Current Contents to 6,500 scholarly journals). To start or switch to one or the other just type in => MAGS (or) CC. mags

B. Limiting Terms

A few terms/commands can be used to limit the type of results your FIND requests will flush out. This reduces the amount of unwanted or useless listings within your search results. Typically those that you would want to use deal with campus location, language of the literature, and published dates. To begin with merely set the library (i.e. campus) location. Later on you can include other limiting terms.

set lib ucb

Because Melvyl comprises all of the holdings for the U.C. campuses you should begin by limiting the results to U.C. Berkeley.

set lang english

U.C. Berkeley does contain holdings in other languages. If you only speak/read english then this may be important. For those fluent in the local language, this limiting command is probably unnecessary.

set date 1991-1994

Each index will allow you to limit the article dates to specific time windows. This limiting command is generally not useful unless you are searching for specific literature sources. For more information on other variations of this command, type in => exp set date.

Note: Limiting terms apply ONLY to the index you were in when you initiated the limitation. Once you have switched to another index, merely enter the limiting command again.

C. Search Requests

1. Constructing Search Requests (Queries)

The basic search request/query has the following structure:

find [subindex] [search words]

The letter f can be abbreviated for the word find. Also to get help on any command or concept enter:

e [command] (or) [concept]

2. Subindex codes

kw (Key Word) By far the most wide reaching. This will examine the title, subject, abstract, and some notes fields.

tw (Title Word) Searches only words in the title and subtitle of articles.

jo (Journal) Searches in the serial or journal title.

au (Author) Searches for personal author name. The best method of constructing a name is in the form of: [Last name], [First name or Initial]. su (Subject) Searches in subject and cross-reference headings assigned to the article.

3. Displaying results

Type display (or d) to see the results of your FIND request that retrieves some article citations. By default listings (citations) are displayed in the Short format. The Short format includes the authors, title, issue and page numbers of the journal where the article appears. To see only selected citations enter the numeric range or individual citation numbers after the display command.

Ex: d 7 8 10-15

D. Intensifying/Sharpening Search Results

There are a few methods to refine your search results or to combine multiple "find" queries into one step.

and -

Used to combine different criteria. Use this to restrict/reduce the number of listings retrieved.

Ex: f kw honduras agriculture and au stonich, susan

or -

Used to broaden or to combine separate but queries which would likely yield smaller results.

Ex: f tw mexico free trade or tw mexico agriculture

# -

THIS IS VERY USEFUL! Use this to truncate key terms which could have any variety of suffixes. There must be at least three characters of the root word to use this option. For example: To find any variation on Somalia such as Somalia, Somali, Somalis, Somalian, etc. truncate Somalia at the point where the root word is the same for all.

Ex: f kw somali# nomad#

E. More On Search Results

There are a few other tips to make the whole experience more pleasant. Each one has to do with either selecting or manipulating citations that you want to take note of. Once you have learned to combine these database search tips you will be able to produce faster and more complete results.

1. More Displaying Tips

Besides the Short format there are three other useful formats: Long, Review and field display.

d long The Long format displays every field including location except for abstract and text fields.

d rev The Review format displays each listing in a three line review. This is extremely useful when the number of citations are numerous and you haven't found a way to narrow your search down more.

d [field code] This display format allows you complete flexibility in what you want displayed. Any of the following, and more, can be used individually or in combination: au (Author), ti (Title), jo (Journal), loc (Library location), su (Subject heading).

Ex's: d 6-10 rev d 4 long d 4-9 su

2. Saving Citations

It is nearly impossible to find a terminal on campus that you can directly print Melvyl findings. One option is to save individual citations (or entire searches) as you work through search results to "Lists." Once you have finished your search session you can either download them to your computer or send the list to an email account. All results are done in one step. Another advantage is that if you can switch from say MAGS to CC and those saved citations are still there...saved.

Citations can only be "saved" from the current search result your working with. To save a citation type in save [citation number] (or) [numeric range].

Ex: save 4 6-11

To display the citations you have saved simply insert the word list immediately following the display command.

Ex's: d list

d list 1 2

3.Texts/Abstracts

Within the MAGS index citation abstracts and complete texts are often available for screen viewing. If one or both are available the citation will indicate this with Long or Short display formats. To view either use the field display format code after the display command.

Ex's: d 6 abs d 6 text

4. Downloading Lists

If you are working from a computer (i.e. not a terminal) then you may be able to capture to screen citations saved in your "list." Both Macs and IBMs have utilities with which to do this. For the Mac the menu option is often called "Save Stream." For the IBM look for something called "Save Text." Consult the software instructions for your own computer.

To release the contents from your "list" in a steady stream add continuous to the end of your display list command. This will remove the "Next Screen" prompts and display continuously screen after screen each citation without pause. The following example will display all the contents of your "list" at U.C. Berkeley library locations in one continuous stream (where loc ucb affirms your desire for U.C. Berkeley locations only).

Ex: d list loc ucb abs continuous

5. Sending to E-mail

If you have an email account you can send the contents of your "list" directly to that account as though it were mail. For large findings, the contents will be subdivided into smaller email packets. For the proper command structure of sending results refer to on-line help => e mail

F. Quick Example

mags

set lib ucb

set lang english

f kw costa rica ecotourism

d rev s

ave 2-3

d list

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