Advanced search

Searching

To construct an Advanced Search

• set the first field box to Keywords using the drop down menu
• enter your term(s) in the box(es) provided and set the appropriate fields
• click on Search to obtain a list of records
• the records will be displayed automatically

Search menu.

Search Results

Search results will vary. If you get:

• No records matched your search, then check your spelling or the fields you searched in.
• Too many, then go back and limit your search. Sometimes a search needs to be modified with: additional search words, searching only a specific field, adding date limitations, or type of materials.
• Too few, then go back and expand your search. Consider synonyms for your search words or concepts. Try to use professional language or terminology.
• Irrelevant results, then try new search terms. Consider synonyms or related concepts. Identify and search using descriptors. Try a different database.

Results lists

The Search Results list displays items that matched your search terms. The Search Results shows

• citations for items that matched your search
• most articles are available fulltext
• click on the title of the article to view the full record, including the abstract
• click on View HTML or View PDF to view the full-text of the article

Search results

Records

From the record view; to view a document in a specific format:

• click on View HTML or View PDF.
  

Article record

The information in the record, especially the title of the item and the abstract (if available) will help you determine if you need the item.

For articles available in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat Reader software must be installed on the computer to view the document. Acrobat Reader allows the article to be viewed and printed exactly as it appeared in the original publication. This is free software, but is unsupported by NSU. It can be downloaded at adobe.com

Managing Search Results

Databases typically allow you to manage your search results by utilizing the option below:

• printing your search results list and/or specific records
• saving your search results list and/or specific records–some databases may allow you to save your file for export into commercial bibliographic citation manager software, such as EndNote or ProCite

Not all search management features are available in all databases.

Marking

The “marking” feature allows you to select records from within your search results. By marking items, you can create a list of records allowing you to print, email or save multiple records at one time. In order to create a Marked List in Emerald, you must register and create a profile.

To register and create a profile

• select the"Register" link located in the top-right corner of the page
• complete the form and select "student" as your job title from the "Job Title" drop-down menu
• do not select any "checkboxes" indicated in the "Member Area" of the form
• select the Submit button
• a confirmation email will be sent, but you will be registered immediately

To create a Marked List

• Login into My Profile in the left-hand menu with the useranme and passwood created during register





• select a category from the "View results for" tab





• to mark a record
  • from the Results list
    • click the checkbox to the left of the item(s) desired

    
    

  • from a record
    • select the "Add to" session and select "GO"

  
  Marking Items.

  To view your list of marked records

  • click on Marked List
  • under "Session list", select publication type (Journals, Books, Bibliographic database, or Site pages)select the desired "marked list" and select go
  • click on the title link from the list
  • click on view HTML or view PDF to retreive the document.

  
  Selecting marked list view, print, or download

  Printing

  Full-text articles may only be printed from the open document. To print the article

  • for an HTML article click on your browser's print icon
  • for a PDF file click on the print icon within the Adobe Reader window
  
  

  Emailing

  Full-text articles may not be emailed from Emerald. Only Marked Lists items can be emailed and will include abstracts only, not the full-text.

  
  

  Saving

  To save a document

  • click on "view PDF" to open the document
  • select the Save icon to save the document to computer or personal drive

  Search Tips

  Use advanced search features to modify a search to obtain more successful search results. You can combine advanced search features to modify and improve your search. Advanced search features often include:

  • date
  • document and/or publication type and
  • Boolean operators
  
  

  Phrase or proximity searching

  In Emerald

  • put the phrase in double quotes, such as:
    "world wide web"
    "Javascripting as a programming language"
  • or click the checkbox for Phrase

   

  Field searching

  To limit your search to a specific field in the record

  • select the appropriate field from the drop-down menu in the Advanced Search screen
    • "All Fields" is the default

  
  Field searching

  Date

  To limit a search to specific year use the advanced search screeen option

  • go to the Limit the search to: section of the screen
  • at Items published between, select the desired years: i.e. 2000 and 2005

  
  Select the desired years in this area.

  Document type

  Emerald refers to document type as "Style". All articles within the Emerald Database are classified by style. The document types or styles within Emerald are

  • case study
  • Conceptual paper
  • General review
  • Literarture review
  • Research paper
  • Technical paper
  • Viewpoint

  To search by document type or style

  • click on the down arrow to the right of All Styles
  • select the desired Style
    

  
  Emerald Fulltext "Style" menu with "All Styles" selected.

  Boolean operators

  The Boolean operators, AND, OR, and AND NOT, can be used to modify a search

  • click on the pull down arrow
  • click on the Boolean operator to use

  Use AND to narrow a search. AND looks for both terms in the same record.
  leadership and vision; mainstreaming and science

  Use OR to broaden a search. OR looks for either term in the same record.
  mainstreaming or inclusion; elementary education or secondary education

  Use NOT to eliminate records with a certain term.
  Saturn not car; Venus not planet

  Plurals

  Use the following symbols in Emerald to locate plural forms, truncate search terms, or replace characters:

  " "	"information managment in large corporations" Using the quotation marks retrieves only instances where the characters between the quotation marks are exactly matched.
  ( )	(computers or laptops) and technology The search engine will evaluate the expression inside the parentheses before combining any boolean operators outside the parentheses.
  *	The asterisk is a standard wildcard. Any instance of a word followed by the asterisk will retrieve the root word plus any variations. As an example, comput* will retrieve computer, computers, and computing.

   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Additional Features

  
  

  Shortcut to periodicals

  Users of Emerald may already know what journal, newspaper or magazine they want. A quick way to access a periodical title without redoing a search is to use the Browse feature.

  The Browse feature has not yet been implemented in the new Emerald interface. This section will be updated once it has been implemented.

  Sort & limit

  Make sure to limit to only the publications available in the Alvin Sherman Library, make sure "My subscribed content" radio button is enabled:

  

  ---

  Maintained by the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center
  Nova Southeastern University :: Copyright © 2004-2005
  Last updated: 02/13/2009