Skyline College Information
Competency Modules
HOW TO USE THE POWERSEARCH
PERIODICAL DATABASES
IN ADVANCED SEARCH MODE
1. The Gale PowerSearch databases
are a set of large general periodical databases that include magazines,
journals and newspapers covering all subject areas. To access the Gale PowerSearch databases,
click here (a new window will open, and this page will
still be accessible by clicking on the tab for this page at the bottom of your
screen).
1a. If you are accessing one of the above databases
from off campus, enter your library card number from your PLAN library card
(Peninsula Library System) in the entry box.
2. Once you're connected, you will be at the starting
point for doing a basic "Keyword" search.
From this initial search page, click on "Advanced
Search."
The "Advanced Search"
link on PowerSearch is on the navigation bar
near the top of the page.
3. On the "Advanced Search" page, click
in the first search box and type the search word(s) for the first
concept related to your topic. Type an OR between synonymous or
related words for the same concept. Use an * (truncation symbol) to
search for multiple words with the same root.
Example:
illegal immigration OR illegal aliens OR undocumented workers
Notice that the Boolean logical operators at the
end of the first and second lines are preset to "AND". Leave
these on
-
Click in the second search box and type the search word(s)
for the second concept related to your topic. Type an OR between
synonymous words for the same concept. Use an * (truncation symbol)
to search for multiple words with the same root.
Example:
econom*
-
If you have a third concept, click in the third search box, and type
the search word(s) for the third concept related to your topic. Type an OR
between synonymous words for the same concept. Use an * (truncation
symbol) to search for multiple words with the same root.
Example:
Click here to see an example of an
Advanced Search in the Gale PowerSearch databases.
4. Notice the “Index” (or “field”) selection box to the left of each search entry box. This selection controls which part of each record will be searched. Each database pre-selects different fields.
You
may want to leave the field as pre-selected ("keyword") for
each line, or you may want to change the fields, based on the following
explanation:
The
most precise (and limited) field is usually the "subject"
field which just searches for your search words in the subject headings. The
least precise (most unlimited) field is the "full-text" field,
which searches for your search words in the complete full-text of every article
(but excludes articles that do not include full text on the database.) The
"keyword" field is less precise than the "subject
field" and more precise than the "full-text" field because it
searches a combination of the subject heading, the abstract and the citation of
every record.
5. Click the Search button to start your search.
Note: Your searches will be
limited to only those articles that include the full text (i.e. every
word in the article) in the database. To broaden your search to include articles that contain only an abstract
(article summary) or citation (basic author, title, publication & date
information), follow these steps:
· click on the check mark for the limit to: to documents with full text to deselect that limit
6. Click on different tabs to select different types of articles. Articles in the list of results are organized
into broad categories, identified by tabs
at the top of the list:
· Magazine articles
· Academic journal articles
· Book articles (articles from
reference books and other books)
· News articles (articles from
newspapers or news services)
· Multimedia – photos,
maps, pictures, etc.
Click
on any tab to see the list for the given category. If the tab is grayed out, no materials are
available for that category for the specific search.
“Additional Databases” allows you to
run the same search in other databases available through Skyline Library’s
account with the Thomson Gale company.
Click
on any tab to see the list for the given category. If the tab is grayed out, no materials are
available for that category for the specific search.
“Additional Databases” allows you to
run the same search in other databases available through Skyline Library’s
account with the Thomson Gale company.
The
citations are listed chronologically
with the most recent article first, 20 citations to a page.
Articles
that include the full text in the
database have either a "Full-text" and/or "n
full pages PDF" link at the bottom of the citation.
[If
you have deselected the limit to full-text articles only (see #2 above),
citations that have either an "Abstract" (a short summary of
the article) or "Citation" link do not include the full
text of the article. If an article's full text is not included in the database,
you will need to find out whether Skyline or another local library carries the
periodical. Skyline Library’s Periodical
Holdings page allows you to search any periodical title to see if it is
available at Skyline or any other local library.]
The
type of article (e.g., brief
article, book review, editorial, cover story, sound recording review, etc.) is
indicated at the right of each citation.
You may narrow your search to just articles of a specific type (e.g.
“Cover Story”) by clicking on an article type on the left side of the results
page.
You
may also narrow your search by Publication
Title or Subjects by using the
pull down menu below “Narrow Results:”
on the left column. When you select
When
you select Subjects Terms, subject
headings relevant to your search appear in the sidebar on the left side of the
page for certain types of searches. These hyperlinked terms can help you expand
or narrow your search, or take it in a different, but related direction. Each
time you click on a term, a new search is performed based on the term you selected,
with results displayed to the right
The
basic elements of a citation are described below the following example:
·
Article title: Too much of nothing: the US
continues to push an insane climate policy
·
Brief description of the
article (not part of the article title): global
warming
· Author: Tom Athanasiou
·
Name of the periodical: Earth Island Journal
·
Volume number: 20
·
Issue number: 4
·
Date of publication: Winter 2006
·
Beginning page of the article: 46
·
Number of pages of the article: 2
·
Name of the specific database the article is found in: Expanded Academic ASAP
To see the full record page (complete article information, including
abstract and full text, if available) for any article, click on the title
of the article.
Viewing, printing, emailing articles & finding related articles
The
full record page for an article is shown below.
To print an article, click on "Print" in
the “Tools” box to the right of the
article citation.
To e-mail an article, click on "E-mail" in the “Tools” box to the right of the article
citation.
To return to the Results (Citations) page,
click on the "Results"
link at the top of the article page.
When
you find an article on your topic, look at the "Related Subjects" at the
left side of the article (as shown above) to view subject headings that
describe that article.
- If any of the listed subjects is particularly relevant to your topic, click
on that subject to list all other articles in the database that are on the same
subject.
Subject links include: general subject headings, e.g. Air Pollution in the example below (with larger numbers
of articles on broader subjects) and
subject
sub-headings, e.g. -- Research in the example below (with smaller numbers of
articles related to the specific sub-heading.)
Other databases:
After
using the general Gale PowerSearch databases for searching
all subject areas, other databases may be used for more subject-specific
searches:
· For a historical topic, try the JSTOR-
Scholarly journals archives database or the History Resource Center database*
· For a health-related topic, try the Health
& Wellness Resource Center*
· For a business-related topic, try the Business
and Company Resource Center*
· For a literature-related topic, try the Literature
Resource Center*
· For a psychology or social science topic, try the Proquest
Psychology Journals database
· For a biology or life science topic, try the Proquest Biology
Journals database
* These databases may be searched from within the Gale PowerSearch
databases. Click on the Additional Databases tab
to search these other Gale databases.
Notes:
On
History Resource Center, Business & Company Resource Center or
Literature Resource Center, the “Advanced
Search” link is in the center under "Other Searches"; on
To
find periodical articles in Gale databases other than PowerSearch,
select the tab for:
- "Magazines & Journals" (in
- "Periodicals" (in
- "News/Magazines" (in
- "Literary Criticism, Articles & Work Overviews" (in
last revised: 8-21-08 by
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