1. On the World Wide Web, link to http://www.searchbank.com/searchbank/plan_main and enter your Library Card Number from your PLAN library card (Peninsula Library System) in the entry box. (Be sure to click in the box before you type your number.)
2. Select a database from the Database List by clicking on the blue underlined words (e.g. "Academic ASAP".)
3. At the next screen, click on the "PowerTrac" button (near the bottom of the screen) to switch to the "PowerTrac" advanced search mode.
4. Click in the entry box, type in your search terms for your first concept, with OR between each term and then press Enter or click the "Search" button.
Example: illegal immigration OR illegal aliens OR undocumented workers
5. Repeat step 4 for each additional concept.
6. To find citations dealing with both your first concept and your second concept, click in the search box again and type: R1 AND R2, and then press Enter or click the "Search" button. Follow the same procedure to further limit your search by "ANDing" any additional sets you have previously created. For example, if you have three concepts, enter R3 AND R4 to find citations dealing with your first and second concept (R4) and your third concept (R3).
7. To view the citations for any set, highlight that set on the list and then click the "View" button (to the right of the results list).
8. Each citation on the citations list provides basic information about the article (article title, author, name and date of the periodical and the pages of the article) and indicates whether the database includes the full text of the article or just an abstract (summary) of the article. To view the full record for any article, click the blue underlined word "view" for that citation.
Logical Operators: AND OR NOT
Truncation/Wild Cards:
* (matches any number of characters)
(Use * after the word root to find all words beginning with the same root. eg. VEGETA* finds citations referring to "vegetable", "vegetables", "vegetation", "vegetarian", etc.)
? matches one character (eg. WOM?N finds "woman" or "women")
! matches one or no characters (eg. COLO!R finds "color" or "colour")
Field Searching:
To limit search terms to a specific field, type a field label, skip a space, then type the search term(s). For example: JN SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN. Search terms include: journal name (jn), title (ti), subject heading (su), author (au), date (da), or keyword (ke). You can also press the F6 key to display available fields and field labels. Then highlight the desired field to limit to and press Enter.
These materials may be used for educational purposes if you inform and credit the author and cite the source as: LSCI 105 Computerized Research. All commercial rights are reserved. To contact the author, send comments or suggestions to: Eric Brenner at brenner@smcccd.cc.ca.us