E-MAIL ORIENTATION TO LIBRARY RESOURCES WebSPIRS Periodical Indexes ********************************** Description: WebSPIRS, a Silverplatter product, is a multidisciplinary database which allows simultaneous searching of about fifteen databases. These databases or indexes include citations to journal articles, some government documents, and some books or book chapters. Most citations include an abstract of the article, and some include the full text. The databases available through the WebSPIRS interface currently include: AGRICOLA, Biological Abstracts, CINAHL (nursing), Dissertation Abstracts, The ERIC Database, GeoRef, the Mental Measurements Yearbook, MEDLINE, SERFILE(a subset of Medline), MLA Bibliography(Literature and Language), PAIS International(Public Affairs), PsycINFO, The Philosopher's Index, Social Work Abstracts, NASW Clinical Register, Zoological Record. The dates of coverage may vary with the database. ********************************** Access: On Campus WebSPIRS is available from the library's home page at http://www.lib.lsu.edu. Click on "Indexes and Databases" menu and there is a link to WebSPIRS on the following page under "Frequently Used Databases." Off Campus You can access WebSPIRS off campus in the same way as on, except that you will need to use the "Off Campus Access" link and enter your TigerCard ID number and your PIN after you click on the link. Once you have accessed WebSPIRS, the initial screen displays a list of available databases with check boxes. Click check boxes to select the databases you wish to search. You can choose as many as you wish, but remember that the more you choose, the slower your search will be. If you are not sure which database(s) should be chosen for your search, you can click "Suggest Databases" and then enter your subject term(s). The system will suggest database(s) for you. After selecting the databases you wish to search, click on the "Start Searching" button at the right top of the screen. The search screen will appear, and you are ready to begin your search. ********************************** General Search Techniques: There are several links on the WebSPIRS screen that will help you navigate in the WebSPIRS environment. -- The "Database Guide" link provides information about the databases you've chosen to search, such as coverage, what parts of the records in the database can be searched, and other valuable information. Different databases have different fields, which you can see through the "Database Guide" button. -- The "Help" link gives you access to WebSPIRS' online help files. -- The "Logout" link closes your WebSPIRS session at any time. -- The green "Change" link will take you back to the database selection screen so that you can choose more or fewer databases to search. -- The "Thesaurus" tab helps you to see equivalent term of your search term in the database thesaurus, which may help you to do more accurate search. (NOTE: The Thesaurus is available only if you are searching a single database, database family, or multiple databases that share the same thesaurus.) -- The "Index" tab takes you to a list of terms used in WebSPIRS (such as journal titles or subject headings) and allows you to browse or search the list for terms to use in your searches. The "Index" option is especially useful if you wish to retrieve citations to articles from a particular journal. -- The "Search History" tab will show all the search results that you have marked in your search process. -- The "How do I?" a drop-down list includes some frequently asked questions about the step you are in. -- The "Change Display" button allows you to set the display format of the search screen or the search results. ********************************** Entering a Search On the right of the box in which you will type your search are buttons for setting search limitations. You can choose some limitations by check boxes before them. By default, "Words Anywhere" is selected, but you can enter author, title, and subject searches (to find a list of subject headings, use the "Index" button). Furthermore, WebSPIRS searches for articles in any language by default; to limit your search to English, you must check it. Remember that all your subsequent searches, after you have set limits, will also have the limits set until you click the "Clear" or "change" button. Type in your search terms in the box and hit the "Search" button. Use Boolean connectors such as And, Or, and Not to combine search terms. Advanced Search The "Advanced" tab will bring you to the advanced search screen. The advanced search allows you to combine search terms and specific fields simultaneously. In each term entry box, you can also use Boolean operators, parentheses and wildcards (such as "?" mark for right handed use of truncation, the "*" to replace character(s)). In addition, you can set up other search limits (click on the "change" button) to further narrow down your search. Other Useful Search Methods Different databases have different fields, which you can see through the "Database Guide" link. To look for articles in a particular journal, type its name in with dashes instead of spaces. For example, American Libraries would be typed like this: American-Libraries If you need to know if a specific journal is indexed in a particular database, use the "Index" button. Type the journal title in as instructed above and hit "Go to Term" button. If the title appears below, it's indexed. Besides the above JN (journal name) index, each database has an index of search terms. Hit "Index to Search", you will have a drop-down list of various indexes, in addition the "General Index", different databases have separate indexes for certain fields, such as "Language" or "Publication year". You can choose the index name, typing your search term in the "term" entry box and then hit "Go to Term" to see the indexical information of your interested term. ********************************* Saving Citations to Disk To save citations, click the floppy disk icon at the right top of the Results list. You can save citations that you mark, or save all of the citations. You can also save your search strategies. They can be opened and read in any text editor or word processor. Printing Citations To print citations, click the printer icon at the right top of the results list and follow the directions. Emailing Citations WebSPIRS also offers you the option of emailing citations to yourself in text format. Click on the mail icon. ******************************** For more information, go to the help pages while searching any WebSpirs database. This e-struction messages was written by Yue Su, a masters candidate in the School of Library and Information Science.