General Business File ASAP

Introduction

The General BusinessFile database contains articles from business, economic, management, trade, and industry publications. The database includes

profiles on public and private companies
standard codes and industry descriptions
investment reports and forecasts for US and international companies and industries prepared by Wall Street and international brokerage firms

Accessing

This database may be accessed from the Electronic Resources Section of the Alvin Sherman Library website.

Searching

When you open any database in InfoTrac Web the screen defaults to the Advanced Search mode. To choose one of the other types of search modes, click on Subject Guide, Keyword Search or Advanced Search on the left side of the screen.

To construct an Advanced Search

type your search term(s) in the entry box

click on Search to obtain a list of records

Consult the Search Tips for additional information on modifying your searches.)

The Keyword Search lets you retrieve subjects, combinations of terms, or company profiles that contain the keywords you enter. Use the keyword approach when combining terms with Boolean operators.

To access and search using the Keyword Search

click on Keyword Search–on the left side of the search screen
click in the entry box
enter search terms
select where terms should appear: in article title, citation, abstract, or in the entire article content
click on the Search button

Here are examples of some words you might use in a Keyword Search

former Soviet Union	(topic not in Subject Guide)
Diet Coke	(product name)
TV violence and children	(topic combination)
megatrends	(book title)
Paris Match	(non-U.S. company)
wheat and Kansas	(topic combination)

Keyword searches often provide less precise results than using various combinations of field searching in the Advanced Search.

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

To view your results:

-- look above the Advanced Search Box
-- click on View–below the search terms

Number of matching citations in General BusinessFile ASAP.

Sample search results in General BusinessFile ASAP.

Records

To view a record (article):

Click on the icon to the left of the citation. This will show the full citation, and the next level of choices
select Acrobat Reader or PostScript, located at the bottom of the citation page. NOTE: 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.

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 “mark” feature allows you to select records from within your search results. By marking items, you can print or email records at one time.

To mark a record

in the list of citations, click in the check box to the left of a citation
in a record, click in the check box labeled Mark, to the left of the journal/source name

To view your list of marked records

click on View mark list on the left side of the screen

Printing

To print a record, including full-text if available

scroll to bottom of the page
from the options below, select (Adobe Reader) or (PostScript). The document will be automatically reformatted for printing.
click your Internet browser’s back arrow to return to your search results

Emailing

To email a record, including full-text–no graphics or images–if available

click on the Email link–on the left side of the screen
enter an email address
click Submit Email Request

Use your complete email address and include a note about what you are sending in the comment box.

Saving

To save a record

click on the print button–on the left side of the screen
the item will be automatically reformatted and the Print dialog box will appear
click Cancel
click File on your browser’s tool bar
click Save As
type your file name in the File name dialog box
in the save as type dialog box, click on the down arrow and change to Plain text
click on the Save button
click your Internet browser’s back arrow to return to your search results

Use a word processing or text editor program to open your file.

Saving Page Locations

An InfoMark at the top of any page indicates that the URL of the page persists even when the session is over. Persistent URLs can be bookmarked for future reference or copied into an electronic mail message or onto a Web page.

To create an InfoMark:

-- make sure that the InfoMark symbol is at the top of the page
-- use your Internet browser to add the page as a bookmark or favorite
-- for InfoMarks to work, your Internet browser must be set to accept cookies.

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

Modify searches in the General Business File database by using one or more of the following

enter multiple search terms or concepts
combine terms using Boolean operators
limit search terms using field searching
refine searches with limiters, such as date, full text, publication type, language, etc.

Modifying a search in General Business File.

Phrase or proximity searching

In InfoTrac Web, there are two ways to search for a phrase

put the phrase in double quotes, such as
“higher education”
“curriculum development”

use the letter w1 to search for two words as a phrase
higher w1 education
curriculum w1 development

Field searching

To limit your search to a specific field (index) in the record:

click on the pull-down arrow–to the right of the box that says “Key Word (ke)”
scroll to the field to limit your search to
click on the field’s name

Date

To limit a search to specific years do one of the following:

go to the Limit the current search section below the entry boxes and then click in the appropriate check box(es)
use a field (index ) search for date and then type a date (like 2001, May 2001 or 5/15/2001) or a range of dates (like 1990-1999 or January 2000-June 2000) or from a specific year until the current year ( like 1995- )

Document type

This database allows you to limit your searches by specific document types

go to the Limit the current search section
check the full-text articles box to limit your search
check the refereed publications box to limit your search

Boolean operators

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 InfoTrac Web databases to locate plural forms, truncate search terms, or replace characters:

!	Regular plurals. school! retrieves both school and schools
*	Any number of characters at the end of a word. leader* retrieves leader, leaders, leadership
?	One character. defen?e retrieves both defense and defence

Subject Guide Search

A subject guide search allows you to search the database for a list of subject headings containing your entry. The subject headings that appear when you perform a Subject Guide search may include the names of companies, people, industries, and locations.

To access and search the Subject Guide

click on Subject Guide–on the left side of the search screen
click in the entry box
enter search terms
click on the Search button

For the best results in a Subject Guide search, limit search expressions to one or two words. Here are examples of some words you might use in a Subject Guide search

enzyme	(company name)
shoes	(subject)
fish farms	(industry)
Malaysia	(location)
alan bond	(person)