Slide 1
This short module on ProQuest Dialog™ demonstrates where you can find search tips and help.
Slide 2
ProQuest Dialog is very easy to search. Even so, online help abounds. A context-sensitive Help link appears at the top right corner of each screen. The middle of the opening screen provides "Search the online help," which opens to an overview of ProQuest and Dialog and basic information about navigating ProQuest Dialog.
Slide 3
When we clicked Help at the top of the screen, the ProQuest Dialog Help opened to Basic Search. Basic Search is highlighted in the table of contents in the left panel. Scroll down on the right to browse topics and get information. ProQuest Dialog Help also has a Search feature, which we'll address later.
Slide 4
We have entered the Energy & Environment subject category. We'll try a quick search on renewable or sustainable energy. The top bar tells us we are searching 10 databases, which are described below the search query bar. You can scroll down and learn about the databases in the Energy & Environment category.
Slide 5
This is the results page. As you can see ProQuest Dialog found close to 158,000 results. Below the results number, ProQuest Dialog presents suggested subjects powered by ProQuest Smart Search. We could easily click one of these links to get focused articles about a topic. On the right panel, we have options to Sort by relevance or by publication date in ascending or descending order. ProQuest Dialog presents ways to narrow the search, by source type, by journal, by document type, keywords and more, and the choices are ranked in descending order. Let's click Search tips, to the right of the query box.
Slide 6
Now Search tips are highlighted and we can browse through to get assistance, for example on some basics, operators and options for limiting our search.
Slide 7
Scrolling down we find information on entering keywords and learn that AND is assumed when multiple terms are entered. We learn how to specify exact phrases by using quotation marks around the terms.
Slide 8
And scrolling further down we get help on using Boolean and proximity connectors.
Slide 9
Alternatively, from the results page when we click Help at the top right corner, ProQuest Dialog opens the help text to Basic Search Results and we can scroll down the text for information.
Slide 10
We can learn how to sort our results and read about qualifiers in the right-side column.
Slide 11
Let's take a look at the Advanced Search screen. Query boxes appear where you can enter search terms. There are many Search helps in this screen. Click a question mark for a description of scholarly journals. Clear all and check source types you wish, or Select all. Do the same for Document type and Language. Links to Help and to Search tips appear on the right, and a list of additional subjects appear to the right.
Slide 12
When we click Help at the top right, the section on Advanced Search opens.
Slide 13
Scrolling down the Advanced Search page we find a list of databases that we can choose to select all or clear all and check off the boxes for those we wish. The "I" icon provides a description for each database.
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We can use drop-down menus next to the search query boxes if we wish to qualify to a field. We want additional information on field searching. We'll click Search tips in the right panel.
Slide 15
In Search Tips, we have scrolled down to the section on finding documents using search fields, such as authors, journal titles, dates and more. Let's click Search to find out what field to use for Conference Title.
Slide 16
Let's enter the keyword conference in the search box, and click Search.
Slide 17
Command Line Search seems like the most logical place. Let's click it.
Slide 18
We scrolled down to find field names and codes. Ah, here it is: the field to use for conference title is CFTI.
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The Search Tips told us that the way to search on a title is to put the field code first followed by the search query within parentheses.
Slide 20
As we become more aware of the Table of Contents we discover that Field codes appears under Resources.
Slide 21
ProQuest Dialog returns our results.
Slide 22
We've clicked a title to see a citation/abstract. This abstract is about a paper delivered at a conference. Scroll down to get the conference title.
Slide 23
There it is: International Conference on the Progress in Applied Surface, Interface, and Thin Film Science — Solar Renewable Energy News Two. It took place November 11-15, 2009 in Florence, Italy.
Slide 24
While straightforward and intuitive, ProQuest Dialog provides a multitude of help options throughout the interface. End-users and advanced searchers alike can point and click to a number of reference points on each search page. These include Help at the top right, Search Tips, Smart searching terms, easy-to-understand qualifiers and sorting options, and database descriptions.
Be sure to visit the ProQuest Dialog Customer Information page to learn about the content and features of this new service.
Slide 25
Thank you for taking the ProQuest Dialog at a Glance module on finding online helps and search tips. Press the Searching tab on the ProQuest Dialog Customer Information page for more search aids and training options.