FirstSearch Intermediate
Training
This training session was provided in July 2004 by Tom
Peters (tpeters@tapinformation.com)
on behalf of the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center (www.mitbc.org) and the InfoEyes
Project (www.infoeyes.org), a
multi-state online reference and training service for the blind and visually
impaired.
This intermediate session builds on the Beginning FirstSearch session offered in June 2004. The outline for the beginning session is
available online at http://www.tapinformation.com/firstsearchintro.htm.
Brief Review of iVocalize
training software from Talking Communities
Making an Audio Recording
If you wish to record today’s session for later playback, simultaneously
press the Alt and R keys on your keyboard.
This will open a “Save As” dialogue box.
The cursor already should be positioned in the input box for a file
name. Type in the name you wish to give
this file, then press the Enter key on your keyboard.
The file will be saved in the Windows Media Audio file format. WMA files can be played back in many of the
free media software programs, such as Windows Media Player, Real Player, and
Music Match Jukebox.
Please note that you need version nine of the Windows Media Player software
to be able to make an audio recording of a discussion in an iVocalize
room.
Text Chat
Simultaneous press ALT and T to move your
cursor into the text chat input box. When you have finished typing your text message, simply press
Return to send your message to everyone in the room.
Voice over IP
If you have a microphone connected to your
computer, you can speak over the Internet by pressing and holding the Control
key.
Remember to release the Control key when you have finished speaking.
Only one person can speak at once. If you press and hold the Control key while
someone else is speaking, when it is your turn to speak you will hear a little
beep.
Brief Review of FirstSearch
Background Information
FirstSearch is a cluster of approximately 75 proprietary
databases. Most of the databases include
citations to books or journal articles, and many include some full text.
Recall that databases are comprised
of records, and records are comprised of fields. The fields contain the actual data, which may
be alphabetical (for example, author names, article titles, abstracts)
or numerical (for example, years, volume numbers). When you search a database, you often search
the indexes to one or more fields, and you receive in return a brief description
of the records that matched your search argument.
FirstSearch is a service offered by OCLC. OCLC creates and maintains some of the
databases, but most are managed by other companies and organizations.
Through August 2004, the InfoEyes project has trial access to the following FirstSearch databases:
ABI
INFORM: Over 2.4 million citations to articles
on business and management from over 2000 sources. Includes some full text
from approximately 800 sources.
ArticleFirst: an index to over 15 million articles from over
15,000 journals. Includes
some full text.
Book
Review: reviews of current
English-language fiction and nonfiction books.
Includes reviews for approximately 7,000 titles per year.
ERIC: journal articles and reports from the field
of education.
FactSearch: Facts and statistics on topics of current
interest
General
Science Abstracts:
MEDLINE: Professional literature and studies from all
aspects of medicine, including nursing and dentistry.
Periodical
Abstracts: Over 3.3 million records from
over 2,000 academic and general interest periodicals.
Readers
Guide Abstracts: Over 1.1 million
records from approximately 300 popular magazines.
SIRS
Researcher: Covers political, economic,
social, and scientific issues. Contains records for articles selected from national and
international newspapers, magazines, journals, and government publications
WorldCat: A combined
catalog for many libraries worldwide. Contains over 52 million cataloging records for books, sound recordings,
manuscripts, etc.
Many public libraries offer access to numerous FirstSearch databases.
You may want to inquire what’s available from your local public
library. Many libraries offer access to FirstSearch from home, work, etc.
Some states also have statewide agreements that provide all
citizens access to selected FirstSearch
databases. Your local library can
provide more information by any statewide agreements.
Logon to FirstSearch:
Start your browser software (for example, Internet Explorer, Netscape)
There are two input boxes on the screen.
The first is labeled “Authorization”
The authorization number for the InfoEyes trial
access that runs through August 2004 is 100274426.
Tab down to the second input box, which is labeled “Password”
The password for the InfoEyes trial access is
RAG2GREET. Capitalization does not
matter.
After you enter the password, press the Enter key
You are now at the FirstSearch homepage.
FirstSearch
Advanced Search Interface
On the FirstSearch homepage, tab down to a
drop-down menu labeled “Jump to Advanced Search”. The databases available to search are
listed. The databases produced by OCLC
are listed first (for example, Article First and World Cat), then the entire
list of databases available for the authorization code were are listed in
alphabetical order using the abbreviated database names. Tab down to the database you want to search
and press Enter.
The FirstSearch Advanced Search input screen
appears. Like most FirstSearch
screens, it contains many folder tabs, hotlinks, input boxes, and drop down
menus.
Both at the top and bottom of the main set if search input boxes are two
hot buttons: Search and Clear. The search button executes the search in the
database selected using the search parameters you have input. The clear button clears all the input boxes
and returns you to a clean input page.
The first drop down menu indicates the database you selected to search on
the previous screen. The interface
offers you the opportunity to select a different database to search.
The next eight input boxes and drop down menus allow you to construct a
three-part Boolean search argument.
First, you input the first term you want to search, then
you select the field within the record you want to search. Next, you select from one of three Boolean
operators you want to use to compare the results of the first part of your
Boolean search argument with the second.
The three Boolean operators are and, or, and not. The and operator
means that both the first and second parts of your search argument must be
present in a record for it to be included in the search results. The or operator
means that if either the first or the second parts of your search argument are
included in a record, that record will be included in the search results. The not operator is used to exclude records
that contains words or phrases that are not of interest to you.
Then you select the second part of your Boolean search argument, which
again includes the words you seek and the fields to search.
Then, if you wish, you may select another Boolean operator and input a
third part to your Boolean search argument.
The next series of input boxes enable you to limit your search in various
ways.
To limit by a range of years, move your cursor into that input box and type
in the four digits of the beginning year, followed by a hyphen, followed by the
four digits of the ending year.
To limit your search to a particular type of article, tab through the types
of articles listed in the drop down menu, then select the one of particular
interest to you.
To limit your search to only retrieve full-text articles and documents,
click on the box next to the full-text option.
You also may limit your search to specific libraries by entering the three
or four letter codes assigned by OCLC.
You also can rank you search results by date (reverse chronological order)
or by relevance.
Note: In addition to basic and
advanced search interfaces, FirstSearch also offers
an expert search interface.
Working With Search
Results
The Sort button on the summary results page offers a wide variety of
options
You may sort the results by up to four parameters (for example, author,
date, title, or number of libraries that hold the item) in either ascending or
descending order.
You can select the number of summary records to display on each page (for
example, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100).
You can input an email address that will be used as a default.
You can turn javascript and framed links
off.
When you are on a screen of summary records, you can tab to and click on
the button labeled “related subjects” to access a unified list of all of the
subject headings (also called descriptors) that have been assigned to the
records you have retrieved with your search.
Each summary record has a box next to it.
You can click on these boxes to select records for further examination,
emailing, etc.
When examining a summary record display, it is possible to directly export
the records (or just the selected records) to a text file on your
computer. To do this, tab to and click
on the hotlink labeled “export”. You
will be taken to a screen containing several option buttons. By default, the summary records will be
exported in EndNote format. EndNote is a
popular citation management software program.
If you want to export the summary records as a simple text file, tab
down to the text file option and click on that bullet. Then tab down to the export button and follow
the dialogue boxes presented by your computer’s operating system in order to
save the exported information as a simple text file.
Questions and Discussion
Exiting FirstSearch
and the iVocalize training room
To exit FirstSearch, click on the Exit hotlink in
the upper right area of the screen.
Alternatively, because all FirstSearch
searching is done within your standard browser software, you may simply browse
to another URL or close the browser software completely.
To leave the iVocalize online meeting room, simultaneously
press the Alt and the F4 keys.