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ProQuest Quest Directions:
Please carefully follow the directions below to explore
some of the capabilities of the ProQuest database. 1.
First,
pick any topic you can think of (be sure you can spell it correctly) to
perform a Full Text ProQuest search of that topic (Example: I chose the topic
transportation). Write the name of your topic here:
___________________. 2.
Go to
the SCC Library Homepage and under Library
Databases (Databases A to Z), find and click on the ProQuest database. 3.
If you
are off campus, you will need to enter your Student I.D. Number as your
Identification Number. 4.
Once
you are in the database, type the name of your topic in the subject strip
(make sure it’s spelled properly). Be sure the “Full Text” box below the
strip is checked, and click the magnifying glass icon to the right of the
strip. 5.
How
many “hits” did you get? (I got 215,670 hits with earthquakes.) Write the
number of hits your topic yielded here: _________________________. 6.
Briefly
browse some of the periodical titles your search turned up. While browsing
these, locate two key words that
have to do with your topic. Key words I found while browsing periodical
titles about earthquakes were tsunami and nuclear. Please write
your two key words here: ____________
and _____________. 7.
Now do
a Full Text Advanced Search of your topic. Here’s how:
click on “Advanced search” below the subject strip. When the screen changes, type the name of
your topic in the top blank (if it’s not already there). In the second blank, type your first key
word and click Search. How many hits did this search yield? (adding tsunami to my search yielded 35,326 results). Please write the number of hits here:
_______________ 8.
Click
“Advanced search” to return to the Advanced
Search screen. Now, type your
topic in the first blank, your first key word in the blank below it,
and your second key word in the blank below it (the third blank). Click Search. How many “hits” did this search turn
up? __________________ (I had 10,847 results when I used both tsunami and nuclear.) 9.
Please
select a second topic unrelated to the first and repeat the above steps. Please write the name of your new topic and
the related two key words in the blanks below: New
search topic ______________ Keyword #1 ________________Keyword
#2____________________ 10.
How
many hits did you get searching only with the new topic’s name?
_____________________ 11.
How
many hits did you get searching with the new topic and first key word?
____________________ 12.
How
many hits with the new topic, the first and the second key words?
__________________________ 13.
Click
“Advanced search” to return to the Advanced
Search screen. Type in a new topic
and one or two keywords. Before searching, look toward the right side of the
screen under the “Narrow results by” and click on the box to the left of
“Source type.” Then, under “Source
type,” click on “Magazines.” If all
has gone well, you should now be looking at a list of only full-text magazine
articles indexed by ProQuest. I now have 659 results. What do you notice about the date of the
first magazine entry on your list?
Scroll down a bit to see how the dates change. 14.
Now go
back to the list under “Narrow results by” (on the right side of the screen)
and click on “Person.” A box should
appear with a list of people’s names to check. Check three or four names at random and
then click “Apply.” What effect did
that have on your list of full-text magazine articles? ·
The
good news is that most electronic databases work in essentially the same
way. The goal is to become very comfortable and proficient using any
database. ·
It is
difficult to overstate how powerful a research tool ProQuest is and how often you
will likely need to refer to it to complete assignments as you move through
college and graduate school. ·
Please return to the library homepage
and repeat this ProQuest
exercise once more with new terms. Try
different “Narrow results by” as well. |
