The FirstSearch Service

Easy-to-use access to a variety of online databases

Now, in one easy-to-use system, FirstSearch provides access to a growing list of popular up-to-date, online databases.

FirstSearch contains references to items such as:

• Books, sound recordings, videocassettes, musical scores, archives , manuscripts, computer files, maps, audiovisuals, and other sources
• Journal and magazine articles
• Facts and statistics
• Directory information, such as addresses and phone numbers for business organizations

In addition to providing citations, many databases indicate which libraries have the item you need. Simply type LIB to get a list of the libraries and their locations. For some databases, you may get the full text of a document online or have it emailed to you.

The cornerstone database is WorldCat™ (the OCLC® database ), containing over 32 million records from 20,000 libraries worldwide.

Other databases span a broad spectrum of subjects, like education, science, consumer information, public affairs, etc. They are updated regularly, some as often as daily or weekly, so you get the most up-to-date information. Note that databases considered not relevant to ST ScI have been blocked, but if you have used a FirstSearch database elsewhere and believe it to be relevant to your work here, talk to the Librarian.

NOTE: The keystroke(s) to perform an operation are underscored .

How to use FirstSearch in a few quick steps

The FirstSearch® service is easy to use. Simply follow the on-screen menus. Before searching online you may want to do preliminary research to narrow your topic and make a list of words or phrases (subjects, titles, names, a uthors, etc.) you wish to search.

How to find information

Information about databases is available in several places:

• Type Help for an online list of help topics, database scope and coverage.
• Consult the FirstSearch Databases notebook available in the Library.
• Ask a Library staff member.

Action / Description

Wordlist

Check your search words and phrases in the online FirstSearch Wordlist to find the number of records in which they appear and to find t he precise word or phrase to search. For example: to look up the author "Stockman", type w au:stockman . To find records that include the phrase "freedom of speech" as a subject heading, type w sh=freedom of speech.

NOTE: Checking Wordlist does not count as a search.

What is a search?

Each of the following actions are considered a search whether or not records are retrieved :

• Sending a search word(s) or phrase
• Sending an identical search in different databases counts as a search in each database
• Adding a search word(s) to the previous search
• Reusing the previous search with different search limits (such as year , type, etc.)

NOTE: Activities not counted as searches include logging on, viewing records, browsing in a Wordlist, viewing Limit, using Help , using Print, or searches containing at least one search term or phrase that does not appear in the database.

For more efficient searching

Help

Use the Help action before searching to get information about types of searches (labels) you can use. For example: type h WorldCat labels.

+

To expand your search to include plurals ("s" or "es" only) and/or possessives, add a plus sign ( + ) after the singular form of the word, e.g., soccer coach + To see which types of searches can be used with " +," check the FirstSearch Databases notebook or check online help by typing h labels

Limit

Use the Limit action before you begin searching to limit your search in meaningful ways and to conserve your searches. (NOTE: When a search is reentered with new limits, it is counted as another search.)

And

Combine terms using AND in a single search to conserve your searches. For example, to find records with both civil war and s tone river as subjects, type s civil war and stone river

OR

Combine terms using up to two "OR" statements in your search. Records retrieved will contain one, two, or all three terms.

How to locate materials

If our library has the item, the information will be listed at the top of each record as a three-character symbol; you'll find other library locations listed under the LIB action.

• If the item is a journal article, the holdings are for libraries that subscribe to the journal.
• If our library does not appear in the list of holding libraries, we may still own the item. Check our catalog or ask a Library staff member.
• To view the ASCII full-text article online from a full-record display screen, choose the text action. If full text is available for that item, the first choice on the text delivery screen will be view or e-mail. Choose "1" and the next screen lists the supplier and price. Choose that option again to view, print, download, or e-mail th e full-text article

.

Use the E-mail (e) action to e-mail records to your electronic ad dress.

For more information