PapersFirst

Printable version

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

Introduction

PapersFirst, a FirstSearch database, provides access to over 580,000 individual papers presented at conferences worldwide. PapersFirst is a major research aid covering every congress, symposium, exposition, workshop, and meeting added to The British Library Document Supply Centre's vast proceedings collection since October 1993. The database is updated on a monthly basis.

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

After selecting advanced search type your search term(s) in the first Search for box click on Search to obtain a list of records Entering search term(s) in PapersFirst.

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 A list of search results matching your search terms will be displayed. The Search Results page shows citations for items that matched your search from the selected database(s) selected Web sites may be included in some databases links to view an item’s record and to information about locating an item Sample search results screen in PapersFirst. Records To view a record click on the title of a citation in the search results to view the full record The information in the record, especially the title of the item and the abstract (summary) of the item will help you determine if you need the item. The detailed record will help you to determine will allow you to save, print, or export a citation. Also, from this Deailed Record view it is easy to see the additional details concerning the document such as the ISBN number.

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, email or save multiple records at one time. To mark a record in the Search Results or from the Detailed View, click in the check box next to or above a title PapersFirst allows you to send a list of marked records via either the Save, Print, or Email Records button. Enjoy easy managent of your search results in this database. Printing To print records Mark your records first. Then proceed. click on the Print button in the grey horizontal menu bar then in your computer's dialog print box click the Print button which appears Emailing To email records: click on the Email Records button in the grey menu bar mark records using the check boxes if you only want to email specific recordss enter your complete email address in the To e-mail address: box enter a complete email address in the Sender e-mail address: box–you can use the same one as in the “To” box click the Send button click the return button in your browser to return to your search results Use your complete email address and include a note about what you are sending in the comment box. Saving To save records click on the Export Records button in the grey menu bar then click on continue and then click save file select a location to save your results to change the default file name to a more useful file name with a .txt ending–such as research.txt click the Save button click the return button in your browser to return to your search results Use a word processing 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 PapersFirst, there are two ways to search for a phrase put the phrase in double quotes, such as “higher education” “curriculum development” use the letter w to search for two words as a phrase higher w education curriculum w development Field searching To limit your search to a specific field in the record use the pull-down arrow–to the right of each text entry box scroll to the field to limit your search to click on the field’s name Date To limit a search to specific years go to the date range section of the screen–below the entry boxes select the desired years–and months, if needed–using the pull down arrows 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 in PapersFirst databases to locate plural forms, truncate search terms, or replace characters: OR Plural forms. school OR schools retrieves both forms of the word * Any number of characters at the end of a word. leader* retrieves leader, leaders, leadership + look for a plural word ending in -s or -es # Alternative spellings–single character. Each ? equals one character. behavi#r retrieves both behaviour and behavior