Online Library

Multi-Database Search Tutorial

Multi-Database Search is a meta-search engine that allows you to seamlessly search multiple library research databases at the same time. Your Empire State College login is required to access this tool.

ACCESS:

Before You Begin
If you are unfamiliar with accessing the college's research databases or entering your college login, review the "Access" quick start tutorial.

  1. Go to library's home page at www.esc.edu/library.
  2. Use the Multidisciplinary search box directly on the home page or click on "Search by Subject" in the middle column, in the "Multi-Database Search" section.
  3. Enter your college login and password.

SEARCH:

The default search is the Basic Search by Subject. To search, select one or more subject categories, type in keywords that describe your topic and click "Search."

Search Tips

  • If you are unclear on what subject(s) to use, start with the default "Multidisciplinary" collection - these resources contain lots of full-text material covering almost any topic.
  • Use double quotes to search for an exact phrase ["nuclear energy"]
  • Use AND, OR and NOT between keywords:
    • education AND civics [finds BOTH words in the same record]
    • "tom sawyer" OR huckleberry [finds EITHER the phrase or the word]
    • education NOT elementary [finds any item containing "education" except those that also contain "elementary"]
  • The more subject categories or databases you select, the longer it will take to get results. Large searches can take a while to complete.
  • Databases that do not have a check box next to them are not available for searching in this interface. Click the database title to go directly to that database.
  • Some search options that are available within a database may not be available through the Multi-Database interface (such as limiting to peer-reviewed journals). Search a database directly to use such advanced features.
  • Full-text is displayed in a new browser window - if you have pop-up blocker software, you may need to disable it.
  • You can access this tutorial at any time from any page in the Multi-Database Search by clicking the "Search Tips" or "Help" link in the top right corner.

Search by Subject
  1. Select one or more database subject collections by clicking in the adjacent check box. You must select at least one subject.
  2. You can see what databases are included in each subject by clicking on the Subject title.
  3. Type in your search keywords
  4. Click the "Search" button

Basic Search - Search by Subject page


Search by Database
If you'd like to search specific databases, choose this option. The default will list all available databases.
  1. Select one or more databases by clicking in the adjacent check box. You must select at least one database.
  2. You can go directly to a database's own search page by clicking on the Database title.
  3. Type in your search keywords
  4. Click the "Search" button

Search by Database page

Note: those databases listed without a check box are not available for searching within the Multi-Database Search. To search those databases, click on the database title to go directly to that database's search page.

Advanced Search
The Advanced Search interface works the same as the Basic Search, with some added functionality:
  • Four search boxes with AND, OR or NOT options between each
  • Choose what field(s) to search (keyword, author, full-text, title, etc.)
  • Search by Year: to search for the specific year the item was published. Note: this only searches one single year (e.g., 2005) - you cannot enter in a date range.

RESULTS:

Results Display
Once the search is completed, you'll see something like this in the middle of the results page (see below for explanations of the red numbered areas):

Main results display
  1. Sort by: the default is to sort by date - newest results first. You can also sort by title, author or source (database or e-Book collection)
  2. Filter by Full Text: limit results to those available in full-text online
  3. Search summary:
    • Results returned: shows you how many results your search returned.**
    • Contains: shows what you searched for.
    • **Total: the number of records "returned" is often less than the "total" number of records. This is because the number returned reflects the combined records displayed on the first results page of each database selected (which differs by database). When you reach the last page of returned results, you can see more of the total results by clicking on the "Next Results" link to the right of the results page navigation links.
    • Show summary: Click this link to see a list of how many results came from each database selected. This link will change to "Hide Summary" when you display the summary.
  4. Results navigation: results are returned in batches of 25. To view results pages beyond the first, use the numbered links just above the first result display. You will see a "Next Results" link to the right when you get to the last page of returned results.
    results page navigation options for next results
  5. E-mail / Export Options: Just above the results display are options to select records and to either e-mail, export or save them to your computer. You can export/save them to a file format compatible with EndNote, RefWorks or other formats to fit your needs. Note that these functions will only e-mail/save/export the citations and not the full-text of the selected items.
  6. Record Citation / Abstract: each result displays available citation information (title, author, journal or publisher, date, etc.) as well as options for getting the full text and or abstract, if available. To view the full record from the source database, including full-text if available, click on the title. If an abstract is available, you'll see the "Show Abstract" link and can read the abstract within the results page.
    Results page showing citation and access options


New / Refine Search and Clustered Results
On the left side of the results page you'll see options for refining or beginning a new search as well as the display of what are called "Clustered Results." These clusters are an easy way to narrow your results to a topic that most closely fits your needs. These are machine-generated categories or topics that your results fit into. The categories with the most results are listed at the top. Click on a heading to see those specific results.

Clustered Results display
  • Refine Search: takes you to your original search where you can edit it and run it again.
  • New Search: takes you to the refreshed search page to start a new search from scratch.
  • Sort Clusters: you can group your results into clusters of topics (default), dates of publication, sources (journal or publisher) or author.
  • Clustered Results List: the display shows how many returned results fall under each category. Click on a category link to view those results.
You can also use the Cluster headings to refine your search and find more appropriate keywords to search on.


Full-text Access
To access the full-text of an item, if available, simply click on the title in the results. This will display the record from the source database in a new browser window. Note that you may need to disable any pop-up blocker software or adjust its settings to allow these windows.

For more help/details:
  1. Ask-a-Librarian
  2. View the SerialsSolutions full help page on this product.