print this page  
 Search Guide

SEARCHING TECHNIQUES

1. Search using your own words/terms

Finding words and phrases
Finding a date
Range searches
Reset button
Submit button

2. Select terms from drop-down menus

3. Use 'Browse Terms' buttons

SEARCHING ON PARTICULAR FIELDS

Quick search
Advanced search
Keyword
Title
Personal author
Organisation
Subject
Year/s
Document type
Subject country
Online documents

Country/State search from left menu
Organisation search from left menu
Journal title search from left menu
Obtaining documents
Displaying search results
Using folders
Saving / Exporting search results
Troubleshooting

SEARCHING TECHNIQUES

There are 3 ways of searching the research bank:

1. Search using your own words / terms

  1. Type words that must appear in the field(s) being searched
  2. Click the Search button
  3. Records that meet your criteria are displayed as a report

Finding words and phrases

Type the word(s) you want to find (computer software research). Additional options:

To find Type Example
variations of a word (computer, computing, computation) the beginning of the word followed by * comput*
words together, in order a phrase within quotes "computer software"
either word (or both) OR between the words computer OR software
both words, anywhere the words separated by a space computer software
one word but not another word space-hyphen immediately before the word to exclude computer -software
words near each other
(within a specified number of words)		 wN between the words,
where N is the number of words		 computer w5 software
words near each other in order
(preceding within a specified number of words)		 pN between the words,
where N is the number of words		 computer p5 software

The query is evaluated in left-to-right order. For example, red white OR blue finds items that contain "red" and "white", as well as items that contain "blue". Use parentheses to control evaluation order: For example, red (white OR blue) finds items that contain "red" and "white", as well as items that contain "red" and "blue".

Finding a Date

Type a full or partial date in any acceptable format. See some examples below. If there are spaces or slashes within the date, enclose it in quotes.

31-Dec-2006
"Dec 31, 2006"
2006-December
"December 2006"
"12/21/2006"

Range searches

To find all dates or numbers within a specified range, separate the dates or numbers with a colon (no spaces). If partial dates are used, the range includes all dates from the beginning of the first date to the end of the second. Examples:

1997:1998 returns all dates from Jan. 1, 1997 through Dec. 31, 1998 (inclusive)
"March 2005":"April 2005" returns all dates from March 1, 2005 through April 30, 2005 (inclusive)

Note that the second example above will not work in a query box that also searches text fields, because the first term, while chronologically before the second, is alphabetically AFTER the second, and will trigger an error. In this situation, use a numeric date format with the year appearing first, for example:

   2005-03:2005-04

Reset button

To clear query criteria, click the Reset button on the search screen.

Submit Query button

To start your search, click the Submit Query button.

2. Select terms from drop down menus

Some fields have an arrow at end of field:

  1. Click on arrow to display a list of terms to choose from
  2. Click on one term (you can only search on one term from the list at a time) to enter it into the search box
  3. Click on the Search button to start your search

3. Use Browse Terms buttons

To make searching the textbase easier, you can use the "Browse Terms" buttons to add index entries into boxes on the Web query page.

The "Browse Terms" button shows the Term or Word index for the first field searched by the box. Entries in the "Browse Terms" browser are actual indexed entries from the textbase for that field. If a box contains more than one field, you can select the field whose index you want to see from the drop-down list.

If a field in the search box has both a Term and Word index, you can specify which you want to view by selecting the Terms List or Words List option button.

  1. Scroll through the list of choices, or type one or more characters in the Find box and click the Find button if one is available
     
  2. Select one or more items from the list, then click the appropriate button:
     
    1. Add. Adds the selected entry into the selected box on the page. If the box already contains information, the entry is added as a new entry at the end of the field
       
    2. Replace All. Replaces any content in the selected box on the edit page with the selected entry

  3. Click Close to exit  Browse Terms

NOTE: The default action is to combine multiple pasted search terms with OR. This is normally what you want to happen. If you would like all the pasted terms to be present in your search, simply delete the word OR from the search box.

SEARCHING ON PARTICULAR FIELDS

[top]

Quick search

An empty box embedded in the banner at top of screen. Searches on the following fields : Title, Personal author, Organisation, Subject, Subject country, Year, Document type, Publisher, Abstract, Journal title, Notes, ISBN and ISSN.

See Search using your own words/terms

Advanced search

Allows you to search on just one field or a combination of fields, using the AND / OR / NOT drop-down options to combine fields.

Keyword

Searches on the same fields as Quick search : Title, Personal author, Organisation, Subject, Subject country, Year, Document type, Publisher, Abstract, Journal title, Notes, ISBN and ISSN.

See Search using your own words/terms

Title

Searches on Title field. Option here of Search using your own words/terms or Use 'Browse Terms' buttons

Personal author

Searches for personal authors of documents

In earlier records authors have been listed with first name initials only, rather than full first names. E.g. “Smith J”, rather than “Smith John”. Therefore best option is to use * to find all publications by that author. Also, because this is a phrase search, enclose term in inverted commas, i.e. “Smith J*”. Option here of Search using your own words/terms or Use 'Browse Terms' buttons

Organisation

This field searches on Author (where author is a corporate body). In many cases the corporate author will also be the publisher.

Option here of Search using your own words/terms or Use 'Browse Terms' buttons

Subject

Searches for subject matter of documents. Option here of Search using your own words/terms or Use 'Browse Terms' buttons

Year/s

Searches for the year of publication. If searching using your own words, see Finding a date and Range searches
Use 'Browse Terms' buttons is also an option here.

Document type

Searches for the category of publication, e.g. journal article, government report.

See Select terms from drop-down menus

Subject country

Searches for the geographic area a document is about. Please note this does not necessarily coincide with the country from which the document originated.

Searches for geographic areas larger than countries will not locate documents from their individual countries. E.g. a search for Africa will identify documents about Africa in general. To find documents dealing specifically with, for example, Botswana or South Africa, you need to search on these areas. See Select terms from drop-down menus

Online Documents

To limit your results to online documents only, tick the ‘Online documents only’ box at foot of screen.

Country/state search from left menu

Some canned searches that provide a quick way to search for documents about particular geographic areas : states of Australia, countries, larger geographic areas.

Organisation search from left menu

3 options available here:

  1. Enter your own search terms into box provided
  2. Or, browse through a complete list of organisations (authors that are corporate bodies) and select the one you want
  3. Or, click on one of the canned searches to organisations with many publications in the research bank

Journal title search from left menu

Searches for all the articles in the research bank from a particular journal. Either enter your own search terms into box provided, or, browse through a complete list of journal titles.

You can also combine your journal title search with a keyword search.

Obtaining documents

[top]

Documents in the research bank are available in a variety of ways:

Many can be downloaded at no cost from the publisher website. In this case a hyperlink View full text online free of charge is included in the record for the item. (Sometimes free access will only be available to members of subscribing institutions that have enabled online access via IP address recognition or password.)

Other articles can be purchased from online vendors, including the Complete Article Service of ACER's Cunningham Library, or directly from the publisher. In these cases a hyperlink Purchase or access document from publisher/vendor is included in the record for the item.

Most documents not available online can be obtained from the Document Supply Service of ACER's Cunningham Library. Please discuss with your librarian or contact dss@acer.edu.au at Cunningham Library. Also, the Cunningham Library offers individual and institutional Membership Services suitable for those working in distance education.

Theses, unless available electronically, can only be obtained from the awarding institution. Please contact the university to discuss access options. Your own institutional library may assist you in obtaining a copy.

Displaying search results

[top]

Use the ‘Choose display format’ drop-down menu at the top of screen to sort your results. The default display is by year (most recent first) and then, alphabetically by title. You can choose to sort results in Year, Title or Author order. You can also choose to view records in full rather than in brief format.

The personal authors and subjects listed in the record are live links to other records in the research bank by those authors, and on those subjects.

Using folders

[top]

Click on the ‘Add to folder’ button adjacent to each record you want to save.

To view the contents of your folder, click on the ‘View folder’ icon at top of screen. Records will be displayed and can be removed from your folder using the ‘Remove’ button adjacent to each record.

To delete a folder, click on the ‘Clear folder’ button at the top of the screen.

Saving / exporting search results

[top]
  1. View the contents of your folder.
  2. Use the buttons across the top of screen to email the records, save them as a PDF document, print, or export them to EndNote.

Troubleshooting

[top]

If you are having trouble with a search, some of the most common problems are listed below. If you do not find an answer to your problem here, see WEB_MSG.HTM, which lists error messages in alphabetical order.

You see a message "Unable to recognize as a correctly formed query."

The program cannot understand the search criteria. Possible problems include:

  1. Typographical errors
  2. Mismatched quotes or parentheses
  3. Misuse of significant punctuation, such as " - " before a word to exclude instead of " -" (note the extra space in the first example), or spaces around the colon in a range search

If you cannot determine what caused the error, try a simpler search (for example, just a few words in a box) to see if it works. If even simple searches do not work, contact the Webmaster for the site.

You see a message like "Range operation is incorrect because 'may-2006' is not less than 'jun-2006'. "

A range search is performed between two terms separated by a colon. If you are not attempting to do a range search, omit the colon or surround the term with quotes. Example:

  "https://amazon.com"

This message may also appear if you entered a date range search in a box that also searches text fields, and while the first date may precede the second chronologically, it does not precede it alphabetically. Use a numeric format instead. Examples:

  05-2006:06-2006
  2005-12:2006-0

Back to Top