FirstSearch Introductory
Training
This training session was provided in June 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.
Introduction to iVocalize
software
IVocalize is the software program we will use
today.
There are keystroke commands for every function.
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
The text chat input box is located in the
left center area of the screen. To move
your cursor into the text chat input box, simultaneously press the ALT and T
keys. Then type your message and press
the ENTER key.
You can send your text chat to everyone in
the room, or to a specific individual.
Use the drop-down menu immediately above the text chat input box to do
that.
Transmitted text chat messages appear in the
box in the upper left corner of the screen.
The most recent message is at the bottom of the list of messages.
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.
Synchronized Browsing
During today’s session we will use a feature
called synchronized browsing. Wherever I
go on the web with my browser, your browser will go there too.
[Inform people using JAWS or WindowEyes how to manage the TTS reading of the websites we
will visit.]
Saving the Text Chat File
To save the contents of the text chat messages into a file, simultaneously
press the Alt and Z keys. A “save as”
dialogue window will open up, with a default file name already suggested by the
software. Simply press the Enter key on
your keyboard to accept the default file name.
If you want to give the file a different name, type it and press the
Enter key on your keyboard.
The saved file is a simple text file.
Any word processing software or text editor should be able to open the
file.
Using JAWS, WindowEyes
and Other Screen Reader Software
[This is a good place to provide some basic information about using screen
reader software in conjunction with FirstSearch.]
Overview of FirstSearch
FirstSearch is a cluster of approximately 75 proprietary
databases. Some databases include
citations to books or journal articles, while others are full-text
databases.
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.
FirstSearch’s
Strengths and Weaknesses:
Limited Scope: Unlike
the web, which contains billions of documents on almost every conceivable
topic, most databases contain a limited number of records on articles, books,
and other documents in a particular subject area. Therefore, choosing the right database to
search can be crucial to finding the information you want and need. Often it is better to search several
databases.
While the web often seems to operate on the assumption that
printed information does not exist, proprietary databases often point the user
back to printed documents.
FirstSearch
contains different types of databases with different record structures. Most of the databases are indexes to
periodicals, but some are online reference books, such as almanacs and
encyclopedias, while others are like online card catalogs for books.
FirstSearch Basics
Start your browser software (for example, Internet Explorer, Netscape)
Type this URL into the URL box on your
browser screen.
Description of the FirstSearch logon screen:
The first thing you may encounter when using screen
reader software is a logo that states “OCLC FirstSearch”.
Then there is a phrase announcing that this
is the FirstSearch logon screen.
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
Note: The logon screen also contains
approximately 8 hotlinks to background information about terms and conditions,
news about Firstsearch, etc.
Description of the FirstSearch Default Search Homepage
Unfortunately, the homepage contains many tabs, hotlinks, drop down menus,
etc.
The good news is that your cursor is already positioned in the search input
box.
Each screen in FirstSearch is divided into three areas:
The navigation menu
provides links to screens and navigational commands;
The control panel
displays buttons for FirstSearch features and the
current status of your search;
The main dialogue area
is the action area for selecting databases, searching, and working with results.
Each screen contains a hotlink
to help. When you click on the link, a
separate popup window opens.
Note that the default
search homepage also allows the user to jump to the advanced search
interface. This feature will be
explained and explored in the upcoming intermediate FirstSearch
sessions.
Basic Search Strategies
If your cursor is not already positioned in
the search input box, move it there.
Input the unique keywords for the topic you
are investigating.
Try
to choose keywords that are specific to your topic of interest, relatively
unique words, and likely to appear on records on your topic.
Example: digital talking books
Boolean Operators: The three basic Boolean search operators are
“and” “or” and “not”. When two or more
words are “anded” in a search argument,
that means that all the words must be present in the page or document in
order to be retrieved. When you enter
two or more words into the default FirstSearch search
input box, the “and” operator is implied.
In other words, FirstSearch will find all the records
that contain all of the words you typed into the box.
Phrases:
Put quotation marks around phrases to search for web pages and documents
containing the entire phrase exactly as you input it.
Common Words:
Do not use common words, single digit numbers, etc.
Capitalization: Capitalization does not matter when searching
FirstSearch.
Selecting a database or subject area to
search
One basic difference between Google and FirstSearch is that, while Google
attempts to index the entire web as one undifferentiated mass of information, FirstSearch is a cluster of databases.
Even in the most basic search of FirstSearch, you
need to select a topic or database to search.
There is a drop down menu for this.
The topics are listed first, followed by the actual databases.
Note: If you input a search query
without specifying a database to search, FirstSearch
will automatically run the search against the databases that have been
identified as general interest databases.
The results page from this type of unspecified search will list the
databases and the approximate number of hits your search produced in each
database. You then can tick on the
database you wish to search and re-enter your search in that database.
Display Results
The default results display lists ten brief citations per screen. Recent articles are listed first. The title of
the article or other document is a hotlink to more information about that
article. The brief citation also
includes the author or authors of the article, as well as the source in which
it appeared.
If you click on one of the hotlinked titles, you
will be taken to a screen containing more information about the article or
other document. Often an abstract of the
document will be included, as well as the subject headings (also known as
descriptors) that were assigned to that document. These subject headings are hotlinked, so you can quickly find other articles on that
subject.
Full Text Access
If the full text of the article is available, at the end of the brief
citation there will be a hotlink for viewing the full text. The hotlink description will tell you which
file format the full text is in, such as HTML or PDF.
You can print or email the full text article. To print, simply click on the print button
located at the top and bottom of the full text article. To email the article, click on the email
button located at the top and bottom of the article.
When you choose the mail option, a new screen appears with a web form
containing several fields. Fortunately,
the cursor already is located in the box where you would input the email
address, and the rest of the input boxes are optional. By default, the full text will be sent as
plain text with lines 72 characters per line.
Refining a Search that is Too Broad
If your initial search on your
topic yielded too many results, or produced a high percentage of citations that
are not really about your subject, FirstSearch offers
several ways to refine your search and improve the results. Here are four basic techniques:
Because the words you enter are “anded”, adding more terms to your search argument should
produce smaller, better results.
You can limit your initial search
result set by year, assigned subject headings, or author.
You can make a mid-search switch
over to the advanced search interface, which enables you to limit your search
results using other Boolean operators, year limits, article types (for example,
feature articles, interviews, book reviews), etc. You even can limit your search to articles
for which the full text is available from within FirstSearch.
You can choose to rank your results
by relevance. Remember that a Google search automatically performed a relevance-ranked
display of the results.
To access these four means of refining
your search, click on the “refine your search results” link located on the
summary results screen.
Hint: Another way to refine your search is to find
a record for an item on your topic, pull up the full record for that item, then
click on the assigned subject heading or descriptor that best describes your
area of interest.
Questions and Discussion
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.