Using FirstSearch

This general guide will help you with all the FirstSearch databases including Basic Biosis, BioDigest, Contemporary Women's Issues, Dissertation Abstracts Online, EconLit, Geobase, GPO, PAIS, and Worldcat.

DESCRIPTION | RECORDS | SEARCHING (Accessing FirstSearch, Selecting a Database, Basic Searching) | LIMITING | VIEWING | PRINTING | SAVING | E-MAILING | SEARCH

DESCRIPTION

FirstSearch is an online information system that provides access to a variety of general and subject databases. FirstSearch databases can be accessed individually by clicking on the direct links off the Pace Library database list. To see a list of all of the available FirstSearch databases, click on the link to FirstSearch from the general database list.

RECORDS

Sample FirstSearch Record:

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SEARCHING

Accessing FirstSearch

1. Go to the Pace University Library homepage at http://library.pace.edu.
2. Click on Articles via Databases.
3. From the Complete database listing menu, select FirstSearch. (This will bring you to a page of information about this group of databases).
4. From this description page, you can click on Connect to Database or on the name FirstSearch to access all available FirstSearch Databases.

Selecting a Database

You can use the Suggest a Database feature (the default when you first enter FirstSearch) to help you decide which FirstSearch database(s) to search:

1. Type your search terms (general terms work best) into the Search for box.

2. Use the drop-down menu to select the topic or database that best matches your research topic:

   

3. FirstSearch returns with an estimated number of results on your search terms in each of the databases in the topic area that you selected.  This should help you decide which database to run your search in.

   

4. Click in the box next to the name of the database you want to run your search in, and click on the Select button, or click on the name of the database you would like to search. Click on the Info button for more information on a database.
5. On the next screen, click on the Search button to actually run the search in the database you selected.

To see all FirstSearch databases in a certain topic area:

1. Click on List Databases by Topic on the menu at the top of the screen.
2. Use the drop-down menu to select a search topic area that best matches your topic, and click on the Search button.
3. Click in the box next to your selected database, and click on the Select button, or click on the name of the database.
4. Run your search.

To see all available FirstSearch databases at once:

1. Click on List All Databases from the menu at the top the screen.
2. Click in the box next to your selected database, and click on the Select button, or click on the name of the database.
3. Run your search.

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Basic Searching

To conduct a basic search:

1. Type a word or words describing your topic into the search box provided.  FirstSearch defaults to a Keyword search in basic search mode.  In most FirstSearch databases a keyword search includes words from the titles, subject headings, some note fields, and abstracts where applicable. To change the kind of search you do, click in the circle next to your desired search type.
2. Click on the Search button.

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LIMITING

Choose search limits from onscreen options and drop-down menus specific to your selected database before running your search. The number and type of pre-search limit options available will vary by database.

To limit search results after running a search:
1. Click on the Limit icon on the options bar above your search results.
2. Select a term or choice from one of the categories displayed. Limiters are specific to the current database and availability of these items will vary by database.
3. Click on the + sign to display the available terms (authors, subject headings, etc.) for a limit category.
4. Click on the Search button to run your search again with chosen limits.
HINT: Combine limits in different categories to narrow your search to a precisely defined set of results

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VIEWING

Once you have run your search, your results will appear as a list of brief citations:

• Click on the title of an article to see the full record. 

• Although full text articles are not available within the Firstsearch database, the holdings of the Pace University Library can be searched automatically by clicking on Search the catalog at Pace University Library.

• Use the Previous and Next to page through your search results.

• Click on Sort (where available) to change the way your results are displayed. 

• Click on Related Subjects (where available) to see subject headings that appear among your search results.

• Click on Related Authors (where available) to see the names of authors who appear among your search results.

• Click in the checkbox to the left of an article title to mark that article's record for printing, saving or E-mailing.

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PRINTING

To print, save or E-mail records you must first mark the records you are interested in by clicking in the box next to the record.  You can mark up to 100 records at a time.  Once you have marked your records:

1. Click on Marked Records under Results at the top of the screen.
2. Click on Detailed/Brief to change the record view (if only the brief record is displayed, only the brief record will be printed).
3. Click on the Print icon in the options bar near the top of the screen to format marked records for printing.
4. Use your browser's Print command to send formatted records to the printer.

SAVING

To save marked records once you have displayed them (Note: If only the brief record is displayed, only the brief record will be saved):

1. You must format marked records before saving. To do so, click on the Print icon in the options bar near the top of the screen (there is no Save icon!)
2. Insert a disk into the a:\ drive
3. Click on File
4. Click on Save As…
5. The system will automatically save the results to the a:\ drive. You must specify a filename ending in .txt (save as text format).

E-MAILING

To E-mail marked records once you have displayed them (If only the brief record is displayed, only the brief record will be E-mailed.):

1. Click on the E-mail icon in the options bar near the top of your screen.
2. Type in the E-mail address to send records to.
3. Select Brief or Detailed record display.
4. Select Plain-Text or HTML format.
5. Click on the Send button.

SEARCH THIS DATABASE

Begin searching FirstSearch.

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Still Need Help?  Ask a Librarian!

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