Health Reference Center Academic

Printable version

Introduction | Accessing | Searching | Search Results | Managing Search Results | Search Tips | Additional Features

Introduction

Health Reference Center, an InfoTrac database, contains articles on fitness, pregnancy, medicine, nutrition, diseases, public health, occupational health & safety, alcohol and drug abuse, HMOs, prescription drugs, health and wellness research, etc. This database provides selected full text, including the full text of six medical reference books. Health Reference Center contains publications from 1994 to present, with monthly updates

Accessing

This database may be accessed from the Databases page of the Electronic Resources section of the NSU Alvin Sherman Library website. For more on how to access databases visit http://www.nova.edu/library/dils/lessons/electroniclibrary/

Searching

To construct a search in Health Reference Center type search terms in the entry box(es) Type search terms in entry boxes. Modify searches in Health Reference Center 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, etc. Using Boolean operators to modify a search in Health Reference Center.

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 search results in Health Reference Center click on View to see the results–near the top of the screen Click on View to display the results list in Health Reference Center. The results list will include citations for items that matched your search availability information of full text, abstract, citation only Search results list in Health Reference Center. Records To view a record (article) click on the link that appears below a citation: View….to show the full citation a list of subject headings assigned to the record abstract and/or full-text will only be available when indicated by the “view” link Record in InfoTrac Web. The information in the record, especially the title of the item, subject headings and the abstract–if available–will help you determine if you need the item. Subject headings in InfoTrac Web.

Managing Search Results

Databases typically allow you to manage your search results by marking or tagging records to select only the records that you want from your search results from later printing, emailing and/or saving printing the search results list and/or specific records emailing the search results list and/or specific records to your email address saving the 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 multiple 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 Marking records in InfoTrac Web. To view your list of marked records click on View mark list on the left side of the screen Marked list in InfoTrac Web. You may then email or print the items you have selected – if available, full-text can be printed or emailed. Printing To print a record, including full-text if available click on the Print button–on the left side of the screen select Browser Print or Acrobat Reader format, if different article formats are available Browser Print will print an html version of the article the item will be automatically reformatted and the Print dialog box will appear click OK click your Internet browser’s back arrow to return to your search results Acrobat Reader will print a pdf version of the article use the print icon in the Acrobat Reader software Select a print format. 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. Email box in InfoTrac Web. 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 File, Save As. Use a word processing or text editor program to open your file.

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: phrase or proximity searching field searching date document and/or publication type Boolean operators plurals and truncation One useful tip when searching any electronic database is to leave out articles, prepositions, and very abstract or general terms–they confuse the database's search engine. For example, if the paper is on "The Impact of Mainstreaming Students in Math Classes,” use the most precise terms like mainstreaming and mathematics and skip impact, the, of, and in. 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 Phrase searching in InfoTrac Web. 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 Field searching in InfoTracWeb. 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- ) Limiting by date in InfoTrac Web. Publication type InfoTrac Web does not allow searches to be limited to specific document types, however searches may be limited to refereed (peer-reviewed) or scholarly publications go to the Limit type to section use the refereed publications check box to limit your search Limiting to refereed publications in InfoTrac Web. Boolean operators The Boolean operators, AND, OR, and NOT, can be used to modify a search click on the pull-down arrow to the right of the text entry box 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 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 Truncating search terms in InfoTrac Web.

Additional Features

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 Select the Subject Search mode. 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 genzyme (company name) shoes (subject) fish farms   (industry) Malaysia (location) alan bond (person) Subject searching in InfoTrac Web. If a Subject Guide search fails, InfoTrac automatically performs a Keyword search for the word(s) in the entry spaces. Keyword Searching 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 Select the Keyword Search mode. 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 may include Boolean operators, if needed.. Keyword searches often provide less precise results than using various combinations of field searching in the Advanced Search. 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 InfoMark in InfoTrac Web. For InfoMarks to work, your Internet browser must be set to accept cookies.