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Using ERIC via the FirstSearch Interface

  • State your topic in one sentence, e.g., "What research studies have been done recently on gender differences in scholastic achievement?"
  • Identify the main concepts, e.g., "gender differences"; "scholastic achievement"; "research studies".
1. Connect to ERIC using the menus at either http://portal.emich.edu/remote.htm or http://emulibrary.com/
2. In the box following "Search for" type: "gender differences"
The quotes [" "] surrounding the words forces the system to search for the phrase "gender differences". Without the quotes the system defaults to searching for records with both the words "gender" and "differences" but not necessarily adjacent to one another. This would be the Boolean search "gender AND differences"."
3. In the box below type: "scholastic achievement"
4. Click on the Search button.
5. Click on the title of the first item.
Look at the subject headings (major and minor descriptors) used by the indexers.
  • Instead of "gender differences" the phrase "Sex Differences" is used.
  • Instead of "scholastic achievement" the phrase "Academic Achievement" is used.
6. Click on the underlined phrase "Sex Differences".
A new search is started for items indexed with that term.
Note that over 24,000 records were found.
7. On the navigation menu at the left of the screen, under the word Searching, click on the word Advanced.
8. In the box below "Sex Differences" type "academic achievement"
9. Click in the box next to "academic achievement" that says Keyword.
Scroll until you see Descriptors and click on it.
Click on the Search button.
Notice there are over 2,300 records.
10. On the navigation menu at the left of the screen, under the word Searching, click on the word Advanced.
11. To limit your results to research materials, you can use a code assigned by the ERIC indexers that identifies researched-based items.
  • On the line below "Descriptors" click in the box that says Keyword.
  • Scroll until your see Publication Type and click on it.
  • In the blank box to the left of the Publication Type box, type the word research
  • Click on the Search button.
  • Notice that the results are reduced to about 1,600 records.
12. You can limit the results to just journal articles by:
  • Clicking on the word Advanced under the word Searching on the navigation menu at the left of the screen;
  • Clicking in the box to the right of "Document Type" that says "All";
  • Clicking on "Journal (CIJE)";
  • Clicking on the Search button.
  • Notice that the results are reduced to about 800 records.

Building search statements

To search for Use Example Results
subject information any word or words frost many results (common word)
sangfroid few results (rare word)
categories of information index labels su:sleep
ti:once		 subject sleep,
once in titles
exact phrase quotes " " "tunnel vision" tunnel vision
plurals (s,es, 's) plus sign + plant+ plant, plants, plants', plant's, plantes, plantes'
variants or part of a word wildcard *, #, or ? zebu* zebu, zebulon, zebutte
all words AND cold AND zinc cold and zinc
implied AND cold zinc cold and zinc
one or all words OR cold OR zinc cold, zinc, and cold and zinc
one word but not another NOT cold NOT weather cold but not cold weather
words near each other, given order w cold w2 common cold followed within 2 words by common
words near each other, any order n cold n3 common cold and common, within 3 words of each other

Keith Stanger
keith@stanger.com
Last updated: August 16, 2000
This page is located at: http://keithstanger.com/eric_newfs_tut.html

Keith Stanger's Home Port