Instruction Handout
For the assignment, I gave a 15 minute class presentation on using the ProQuest Interface for database searching. This post is the handout I created for that assignment.
Overview Information
The ProQuest interface is owned by ProQuest LLC, an electronic publisher, which is part of the Cambridge Information Group. This interface provides access to a number of databases, including ABI/INFORM, also produced by ProQuest LLC.
The ABI/INFORM database provides an extensive collection of content types, delivering highly relevant and focused results required for business research. Source content examples are:
- Journals, Periodicals and Newspapers—MIT Sloan Management Review, Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, Journal of Business Ethics, Foreign Affairs, Nations’ Business, Journal of Marketing, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Financial Times, and many hundreds more.
- Major Publishers—including Cambridge University Press, Emerald Group Publishing, Springer Science & Business Media, Palgrave Macmillan, Oxford University Press
- Working Papers—Research the latest in business trends and social science information, and preview scholarly articles with working papers available from SSRN (Social Science Research Network)
- Business Cases—Connect classroom topics with valuable business cases from key business schools such as Ivey, Thunderbird, Idea Group, and Darden
- Annual Reports—Analyze balance sheets and income statements with over 7,000 annual reports covering more than 1,000 leading North American companies
- Country Reports—Track the fast-changing economic, political and market developments around the world with country reports. EIU ViewsWire delivers over 190,000 reports from 195 countries, providing concise analysis of market conditions worldwide
- Dissertations—Access to over 21,000 full-text doctoral dissertations and master’s theses from over 1,000 colleges and universities
- SWOT Analysis—Launch strategic planning initiatives with access to over 1,300 SWOT analysis reports from top-notch resources such as Just, a major publisher of business research, reports and company profiles
- Author Profiles—Locate key information about published authors in author profiles, including affiliations and research topics. E-mail addresses are included in the 125,000 profiles available
The ABI/INFORM database product line available at UIUC includes:
Access the ABI/INFORM database in the ProQuest interface from the UIUC Library Gateway, by clicking on the Online Research Resources (Databases) link. Type in ABI/INFORM into the search box, click enter. Select the entry for ABI/INFORM Complete using the link for 1971-Present in ProQuest ABI-INFORM Complete.
Interface FeaturesAccess Point | Available Information and Guidance |
| Basic | Opens the Basic Search Form page to facilitate simple searching. |
| Advanced | Opens the Advanced Search From page for more advanced searching, offering up to seven search boxes. |
| Topics | Opens Topic Guide facilitating search of topics covered in the database. This feature does accomplish a CV exact search, but does not support searching for multiple terms or editing fields, rather it is only a look up and quick search function on the one topic selected using the ProQuest Smart Search technology. |
| Browse | Lists various available reports and supports searching within them. It does not facilitate a browse function for a CV search of the full content of the database. |
| Publications | Facilitates a search within an alphabetical listing of available publications. Specific issues can be located and reviewed. |
| Help | From Basic Search or Advanced Search pages, click on Help (upper right corner of screen) to see search guidance and how to formulate searches. · Suggested search options with links to additional information. · Detailed Field descriptions. · Select Citation and Abstract search field option to search subject terms, but not Document Text. · Select Citation and Document Text search field option to search within complete text of article. · Advanced Search page also describes search limiters and how to use them. · From Advanced Search page, select More Search Options to offer separate boxes for many of the fields with “look up” links. |
| Search Tips | From Basic Search or Advanced Search pages click on Search Tips in the highlighted “Tools” bar to learn about the following: · Use quotation marks (“”) for exact phrases. · Two-word queries as exact phrase by default, same order. · Three-word queries as words that must appear in proximity to each other by default, probably same order. · Use asterisk (*) for right-handed truncation, find all forms of the word · Use question symbol (?) to replace any single character, either inside a word or the right end of the word. · Use Boolean operators: AND, AND NOT, OR, NOT (unusual usage note: AND = same proximity in ProQuest, for normal AND function use W/DOC) · Use proximity operators: W/#, W/DOC, PRE/# |
| Browse Topics | For CV exact searching, use this tab and select the subjects option. Use either Suggest topics or Look up topics A-Z options to search for terms. Select terms for search by clicking Add to Search. Terms can be narrowed, if desired. Multiple terms can be added using AND, OR or NOT. Each term is added to the Advanced Search Form search boxes and may still be edited. Syntax in the search box uses LSU{term}, which denotes Literal Subject. |
| Thesaurus | For CV word search, use this tab and search subjects from within an alphabetical list. Selection of Broader, Narrower and Related terms and Scope Notes are available. Terms can be added to the search box using AND, OR or AND NOT. The search boxes may still be edited. Syntax in the search box uses SU{term}, which denotes Subject. |
| Recent Searches | Displays the search terms and operators used in previous searches completed in the same session. Search results are also displayed with an option to add the search to a new search. Multiple searches can be combined using AND, OR or AND NOT. The search is added to a search box n the Advanced Search Form and may be edited. |
| Expert Searching | Spaces in a two-word phrase are interpreted as a space within a phrase by default. Otherwise, a space in a three-word phrase is interpreted as AND, unless the phrase is enclosed with quotation marks (“”). Two default search options are “Citation and Document Text” and “Citation and Abstract”. Neither option searches all fields, but only the latter searches subject terms. When “Citation and Document Text” is the selected field, ProQuest searches within the complete text of the article, the citation fields and the abstract. When “Citation and Abstract” is the selected field, ProQuest searches these fields: · Author · Personal Name · Abstract · Product Name · Article Title · Subject Terms · Company Name · Source (Publication title) · Geographical Name Exact CV searching is designated by the syntax LSU{term}, which is generated by adding terms from the Browse Topics tool. Word CV searching is designated by the syntax SU{term}, which is generated by adding terms from the Thesaurus tool. |
Problem
For all examples we’ll be addressing a business student’s assignment to find articles about both sides of the debate over the pros and cons of the US government’s financial bailout of the banking industry in 2008/2009.
Steps for Exact Controlled Vocabulary Searching
Use Exact CV searching to take advantage of standard controlled vocabulary to increase precision of the search. This will focus results on the relevant articles only and find more of them than any other search.
1. Identify distinct concepts in the problem and list synonyms to be used as search terms.
Concepts | Synonym Terms |
1. United States | federal government treasury department legislation |
2. Financial Bailout | bailout TARP – (Troubled Asset Relief Program) investment |
3. Banking Industry | banking industry banks commercial banks |
2. Use the Browse Topics tool and search for each concept’s set of terms. Use OR to add terms into the search boxes.
a. From the Advanced Search Page, clear any previous search terms.
b. Click on Browse Topics, select subjects and suggest topics.
c. Enter first search term from list above (federal government) and click Find Term.
d. Verify that suggested term(s) is relevant and desired for searching. Click Add to Search.
e. Perform step d. for each term listed for the first concept. When adding multiple terms to a search, be sure to use the OR option.
f. When all terms for a concept are added, go to the Advance Search Form and verify that the syntax shows LSU or LCO format in the search boxes. Verify that the search boxes are combined using OR. Verify that default search field shows Citation and Abstract.
g. Limit search by date, or other desired parameters.
h. Perform search by clicking on Search.
i. Repeat steps a-h for each concept’s group of synonym terms.
j. After all searches for concept terms have been completed. Clear previous searches from the search boxes on the Advanced Search page. Click on the Recent Searches tool.
k. Each of the searches by concept will be listed. Add each search to a new search by clicking on the Add to Search button adjacent to each search. Be sure to ad multiple searches using AND this time.
l. The search results will display the search terms and operators.
3. Each article can be selected, reviewed and used in multiple ways, such as emailed, printed, or cited for future usage.
Steps for Word Controlled Vocabulary Searching
Use Word CV searching to take advantage of controlled vocabulary, but less precision is necessary. The search may yield larger results, but may not be as precise. This search strategy is useful when additional articles are desired and a precise search is not required.
1. Identify key words in the synonym terms used for the exact CV search.
2. Use the Thesaurus tool and search for each concept set of terms. Use OR to add terms into the search boxes.
a. From the Advanced Search Page, clear any previous search terms.
b. Click on Thesaurus.
c. Enter first search term from list above (federal government) and click the Enter button.
d. Verify that suggested term(s) is relevant and desired for searching. Determine if broader, narrower or related term is a better choice. Click Add to Search to select the desired term.
e. Perform step d. for each term in the first concept. When adding multiple terms to a search, be sure to use the OR option.
f. When all terms for a concept are added, go to the Advance Search Form and verify that the syntax shows SU or CO format in the search boxes. Verify that the search boxes are combined using OR. Verify that default search field shows Citation and Document Text.
g. Limit search by date, or other desired parameters.
h. Perform search by clicking on Search.
i. Repeat steps a-h for each concept’s group of synonym terms.
j. After all searches for concept terms have been completed. Clear previous searches from the search boxes on the Advanced Search page. Click on the Recent Searches tool.
k. Each of the searches by concept will be listed. Add each search to a new search by clicking on the Add to Search button adjacent to each search. Be sure to ad multiple searches using AND this time.
l. The search results will display the search terms and operators.
3. Each article can be selected, reviewed and used in multiple ways, such as emailed, printed, or cited for future usage.
Steps for Freetext SearchingUse freetext searching when searching a specific topic, word or concept that is unique and may not be found in general controlled vocabulary, such as the name of a specific banking enterprise.
1. Enter the search terms desired into the search box, remembering the rules for two-word and three-word phrases and to use quotation marks if necessary.
2. Search for “Home State Bank” (a term that is not found in the subject topics) combined using AND with the term Illinois to identify the Home State Bank that is located in Illinois.
Steps for Searching a Specific Publication A search may be limited to certain sources or a specific source by an assignment or some other need. It may also be desirable to locate an article written by a specific author. This type of searching can be accomplished in ProQuest using the Publications tool and by searching specific fields.
1. On the Advanced Search page, enter the term “Home State Bank” (including the quotation marks) into the first search box and enter “Illinois” into the second search box.
2. Click search.
3. Results can be selected, reviewed, cited, printed and emailed as desired.
