PsycINFO Database Guide

Start

Smart Text

Viewing/Printing/Folders

Account

Boolean/Advanced Searches

Thesaurus

Visual

Start

Locating  PsycINFO on the Fogler Web Page
1. From the Fogler Library web page go to the link "Search in a Database" under the heading Articles on your topic.
2. Under the Databases A-Z list click on  P.
3. Then click on the link for PsycINFO.

Accessing PsycINFO Remotely
1. Enter your name and the number on the back of your Maine card to access PsycINFO from non-campus computers.
2. Your Maine card needs to be activated. If you have not checked out a book since the fall, you will need to have your Maine card activated at the circulation desk.

Smart Text Searching
1. To search the way you normally do online (e.g. Google) enter terms into the search box. Then click in from of Smart Text Searching under Search Modes.
2. Your search will return results that  are sorted by relevancy.

Setting Limits
You can place a number of limits on your search, including peer reviewed. When you place a limit on your search you will not see any records that do not match your limits

Narrow Results by Subject Thesaurus
You can narrow the results within your results by clicking on a term in the Subject: Thesaurus Term box on the left of  the search results. Below are the subject terms returned for the keywords knee injury .

Viewing/Printing/Folders

Opening Full Text Documents
	This link opens pdf journal articles.  The articles have the same format as print journals.
	This link opens html journal articles.  These articles have been recoded using html and do not have the same format as the print journal.
	This button implements a process that connects the database to the journals in URSUS.  This will connect to full text articles if URSUS has access to an online journal either through a subscription or through another database. If no online source can be found, then print resources or interlibrary loan are available.

Printing or Emailing a PDF Document
1. If you article has is a pdf  document you will see icons above article
2. Click on the icon of a printer to print the article.
Do NOT go to the file menu and click on print. If you do this, you will not print the article.
3. To email a copy of the article, click on the icon of an envelope.  Select the option of sending a copy, since the link will not work once you have left PsycINFO.

Printing or Emailing an HTML Document
1. If you article is an html document you will icons above the article.
2. Click on the icon of the printer to print, the icon the the envelope to save and the icon of the disk to save.

Locating SPORTDiscuss Journal Articles  in Fogler
1. Fogler Library has a complete collection for all ED documents that are available on microfiche prior to 2003.  They are filed by ED number. Ask for assistance in the Microform area.
2. The journals are shelved in alphabetic order unless otherwise noted in URSUS. Floor 1 contains  A -- Chemical Society Journal Floor 1b contains  Chemical Society Proceedings -- Journal of Reprints for Anti-Trust Law and Economics Floor 2 contains  Journal of Reproduction and Fertility -- Physical Review Floor 2b contains  Physical Review A -- Zygon
3. If Fogler does not have access to an item either online or in print you can request it through interlibrary loan.

Saving in a Temporary Folder
Note: Documents in a temporary folder . See the  EBSCOhost account. section for instructions on how to save permanently to a folder.
1. Click on the icon of a folder located  beneath the citation information.
2. Click on the link at the top of the screen to save all of the items in a search.

Viewing Items in Folder
1. Click on the link Folder View in the upper right area of your computer screen to see items in folder.
2. There are two ways to remove items from the folder. Either click on the icon of the folder below the citation in the results section, or click on the X in the Folder has items area.
3. Once you are in the folder area, you may email, save, print,  or export your items.

Search History
1. SPORTDiscus automatically makes a temporary file running your searches. This file will not remain if you close out of the database.
2. Click on the link  Search History/Alerts to see your search history.  You can also also revise a previous search.

EBSCOhost Accounts

EBSCOhost Account
1. In order to save a search, save items permanently in a folder or create a web alert on the EBSCOhost server, you must sign up for an EBSCO host account. There is a link at the top of the page called "Sign Into My EBSCOhost" which leads to an area where you can sign in or create a new account.
2. Click on the "I'm a new user" link to establish a free account.
3. Click on the link "Search History/Alerts" link to save your search.
4. Then choose the Save/Searches Alert link.  To retrieve saved searches or alerts click on the appropriate link.
5. Select either a permanent or temporary Save or an Alert. An alert can be run daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly

Boolean/Phrase and Advanced Searches

Entering Your Search Terms
1.   If  use multiple your terms that do not occur together in the record,  the search will default to Smart Search.
2. Use  AND to look search for more than one term using Boolean/Phrase searching.
3. Use OR to search for synonyms. Matching records will contain either of your terms. Example: children OR adolescents
4. Use NOT to eliminate certain aspects of a term. Example: aggression NOT Internet
5. Put ( ) around terms to make a complex search. Example (children OR adolescents) AND cognition
6. Use * to truncate words so that you can capture both the singular and the plural. Example: child*

Advanced Search

Unless you are know a specific field you wish to search, such as author,  you should use the default fields.

Sorting Results for Boolean/Phrase and Advanced Search
1. The default sort for Boolean/Phrase Search and Advanced Search is  listing is by date. This can be changed to author, source (journal), or relevance.
2. Results can also be listed by author, source, or relevance.

Thesaurus

Difficult searches may benefit from using the thesaurus which provides information on subject terms in the database

2. Look for descriptors by entering your search term into the box and then clicking on the Browse button. The default setting is to see descriptors Term Begins With. You can also select Term Contains or Relevancy Ranked.

3. Click on the terms to find the scope note and broader, related, or narrower terms.

Visual Search

Enter Your Search Term
1. Click on the link for visual search beneath the basic or advanced search box.
2. Your results will come in a visual map organized by topics. Each column contains more topics so that the results become more refined.
3. Once you have clicked on a  green result box a Collect Articles box will appear on the right hand side of the screen.
4. To print, email, or save the abstract, click on the link Add to Folder.  Click on the More link at the bottom of the abstract to see full text.

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Created by: Cynthia Crosser | Revised: 12/26/2012