PSYCINFO GETTING STARTED SEARCHING. A step-by-step guide. Library

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1 Library PSYCINFO A step-by-step guide This guide will take you through the basics of searching the PsycINFO database and saving the references that you find. The database covers psychology and the psychological aspects of related disciplines such as education, psychiatry, linguistics, sociology, and medicine. It includes links to the full-text of articles included in the PsycArticles e-journals package. Background information about PsycINFO is available on the Library website at: GETTING STARTED 1. Open your web browser. 2. Go to the Library s home page at 3. Click on the Databases a-z list link in the E-resources section of the home page. 4. Use the A-Z list to find PsycINFO and connect to it. 5. Enter your University username and password and click on Log in. 6. A list of available databases will be displayed, including several entries for PsycINFO covering different date ranges. Click on the blue link next to the date range you want (for this worksheet the date segment selected was ) For more information about the institutional login see: SEARCHING There are several different ways to search PsycINFO, The option automatically selected is Advanced Search. This allows you to search by subject, author, title or journal name. 1. To search for a subject, you can enter your search words in the search box so, for this example, type the phrase group prejudice in the search box and uncheck the box to the left of Map Term to Subject Heading 2. Click on the button to run the search. October 2018 Page 1

2 SEARCH RESULTS The results of your search are displayed a few at a time (the default is 10). To the left of the results list is the total number of records retrieved by your search (in this case over 40) 1. You can move through these brief records using the scroll bar on the right-hand-side of the screen. To view other batches of results use the Previous and Next buttons at the top or bottom of the list of results. 2. Initially, brief records for your search results are displayed, these detail the author, title and source of the publication. To display the abstract for a record, click on the link below the record or click on the Abstract Reference link on the right-hand-side of the record. The Complete Reference link, underneath the Abstract Reference link, gives extended information including the subject headings 3. Click on the Back to Search Results link at the top of the screen to go back to the list of brief records 4. If the full text of the article is available in PsycArticles there will be a PDF icon in the brief record. If this is not available you can use the link to find out whether we have a copy of the journal and article, and whether we have access to an online version. SELECTING RECORDS TO KEEP It is possible to select some (or all) of the references you have found for future reference. To select individual records: View the search results in the list format or the individual record format. Click in the box to the left of the result number to select it To select all the records in a set of search results, click in the box to the left of Range at the top of the results list. University of Reading

3 SAVING YOUR RESULTS Once you have selected the records you want to keep, you can choose to print, save, or export your results to reference management software such as EndNote. Printing 1. Click on the Print icon at the top of the list of results. 2. Choose which Fields, i.e. parts of the record, you want to keep. 3. You can select a Citation style e.g. APA, by using the drop down menu or leave as Ovid Citation. 4. Check the box next to Search History if you want to include the details of your search terms. 5. Click on Print Preview on the right-hand-side of the box. 6. Use the Print button on your web browser to print the records. 7. Click on Close to return to your list of search results. Saving 1. Click on the Export icon at the top of the list of results. 2. Select the type of file to save your results to - the default is Microsoft Word 3. Choose which Fields, i.e. parts of the record, you want to keep - the default is the Brief record (listed as the Citation) 4. You can select a Citation style e.g. APA, by using the drop down menu or leave as Ovid Citation. 5. Uncheck the box next to Include URL if you do not want to include the weblink to the PsycINFO record for the article 6. Check the box next to Search History if you want to include the details of your search terms. 7. Click on Export 8. You will be prompted to choose whether to open or save the file. Click on Save (as). 9. Choose where you want to save your file and change the filename to something that you will recognise. This file can then be opened in Microsoft Word. 10. Click on Close once Download complete box appears. 1. Click on the icon at the top of the list of results 2. Type in your complete address in the To: box NB Check that you have typed in your address correctly as the system will not check that the has been successful You can change the Subject line and Message if you want to. 3. Choose which Fields, i.e. parts of the record, you want to keep. 4. You can select a Citation style e.g. APA, by using the drop down menu or leave as Ovid Citation. 5. Uncheck the box next to Include URL if you do not want to include the weblink to the PsycINFO record for the article. 6. Check the box next to Search History if you want to include your search terms 7. Click on Send University of Reading

4 Exporting your results into EndNote 1. Click on the Export icon at the top of the list of results. 2. Select EndNote in the Format box 3. Choose which Fields, i.e. parts of the record, you want to keep - the default is the Brief record (listed as the Citation) 4. Uncheck the box next to Include URL if you do not want to include the weblink to the PsycINFO record for the article. 5. Click on Export 6. You will be prompted to choose whether to open or save the file. Click on Open with. 7. EndNote will open automatically and download the references. NB If you have more than one EndNote Library you will need to open the Library in EndNote first if it is not the last Library you used. For further information on EndNote see the Endnote guides 8. Close EndNote once the references have been downloaded to return to the list of results. SEARCH TIPS Including synonyms and similar concepts in your searches When preparing a search for information you need to think about alternative words that the authors of articles on your topic might have used to describe it - these need to be included in your search. In our previous search for information on group prejudice we could include the following alternative words: Concept 1 group or groups and Concept 2 prejudice or stereotypes Search operators There are three basic search operators - these allow you to combine your search words in different ways to narrow or broaden your search. The operators are: AND - use to combine different concepts, for example group and stereotypes OR - use to include synonyms in your search, for example prejudice or stereotypes NOT - use to exclude words from your search, for example prejudice not racism Different word endings and alternative spellings It is possible to substitute letters with a symbol to pick up different word endings and alternative spellings. Use the truncation symbol ($ or *) to substitute for zero or more characters at the end of a word, e.g. group$ includes group or groups or groupings Use the wildcard symbol (?) to substitute for one character or none in the middle of a word, this is particularly useful for covering English and American spellings e.g. colo?r retrieves both colour and color. University of Reading

5 NB You can avoid the need to think about synonyms, different word endings and alternative spellings if you search using the subject headings - see page 6 of this guide Constructing a complicated search Use parentheses (brackets) to avoid ambiguity in complex search requests. For example, suppose you want to retrieve records that discuss group prejudice or stereotypes. If you search for group$ and (prejudice or stereotype$), you will retrieve records that discuss prejudice or stereotypes in groups, which is what you intended. If you search for group$ and prejudice or stereotype$, you will retrieve records that discuss prejudice and groups (or a group), and records that discuss stereotype or stereotypes, but not necessarily records that discuss groups and stereotypes Selecting date ranges Click on the Change link above the search box to return to the database selection screen and choose a different date range to search. Once you have selected the new date range the system will automatically re-run the searches you have previously done in the new date range. COMBINING SEARCHES You can also combine searches if, for example, you find too many or too few records - by reusing searches you have already done. When you perform several searches, you can display the terms used and the number of results (records retrieved) by clicking on Search History towards the top of the screen. Carry out some more searches so that there is more than one to display in the search history. You can carry out the ones in the following screen shot if you can t think of your own. To combine the searches: 1. Click on the boxes next to the searches you want to reuse 2. Click on the AND or OR button to combine your searches in the way you require University of Reading

6 SEARCHING USING SUBJECT HEADINGS Subject headings are assigned to each record to describe the subject content of the record. They are applied consistently which means that once you have identified the correct subject heading(s) you do not need to think about synonyms, different word endings or alternative spellings e.g. an article on cognition will have the subject heading cognition even if the title of the article includes words such as cognitive, awareness, judgment, perceiving, reasoning or conceiving. 1. Check the box next to Map Term to Subject Heading (located below the Search box) 2. Type in the term you want in the search box e.g. language and click on Search 3. The Mapping Display box will open with a list of the subject headings that include the word you have typed in. Each subject heading is in blue. To get information about a subject heading: 1. Click on the icon on the right-hand-side of the screen for any term e.g. Language Development 2. The Scope Note page will open which includes a description of the subject heading and any related subject headings. In the example of language development, we see that if we are interested in how the sounds of speech are produced rather then the learning of the meaning of speech, we should search using the subject heading Speech Development. 3. Click on Previous Page to return to the list of subject headings. To select subject headings: 1. The nearest heading to the one you typed in is automatically checked. You can change the selected heading by unchecking it and selecting another heading or headings. 2. If none of the subject headings are appropriate you can select to search on the keyword you originally typed in by checking it at the bottom of the list - language.mp. search as Keyword Each subject heading has two other options linked with it - Auto Explode and Focus. University of Reading

7 Auto explode Checking the box under Auto Explode will include any more specific subject headings to the one selected e.g. for the heading Language, using Auto Explode will include subject headings such as dialect, rhetoric and vocabulary. To decide if you want to Auto Explode the subject heading: 1. Click on the subject heading e.g. Language Development 2. The Thesaurus page will open giving a list of the more specific subject headings (headed Narrower Terms). These are subject headings that will be included if you check Auto Explode. This page also lists any more general subject headings (headed Broader Terms) and other subject headings that may be appropriate to your search (headed Related Terms) Focus Checking the box under Focus will restrict your search to those records where the selected subject heading is the main point of the article. 1. Check the boxes for [Auto]Explode and Focus for Language Development 2. Click on the Continue button at the top of the screen. FINISHING YOUR SEARCH Click on the Logoff link at the top of the screen If you are using an IT machine, remember to log out before leaving. University of Reading