1. ProQuest Platform Basic Search: Getting Started
2019

2. Session Objectives At the end of this session you will be able to:
Perform Basic Searches on the ProQuest Platform
Navigate the results page to successfully refine, discover, and extract meaningful content
Recognize the different document views and corresponding tools for a variety of document formats including full-text, eBooks, and videos
Recall your session search history and selected items

3. Basic Search – More than One Database
This is what the Basic Search screen looks like when you are searching more than one database together on the PQ Platform. This is also sometimes called the search all database page or the combined search page. The Basic Search page will look different when you are searching a single database only. Slide 6 will show you an example.
Find out what databases you’re searching
Your institution's ProQuest subscription can include many databases. The number of databases you are currently searching is displayed at the top of the ProQuest window, like this: Databases (219). Click the link to view the current list and select or deselect databases.
The link to databases also displays below the search box (You are searching 219 databases…)
Limit your search
By default, you will search all Source Types available in your selected databases. If you want to target a specific database, use the Source Type selections at the top of the search box. The list of source types will vary based on your database selections.
Select the Full text checkbox to find only documents that provide the complete full text, versus just a citation or abstract. 
Select the Peer reviewed checkbox to limit your search to research that has been evaluated by people in the same field in order to maintain quality.
Autocomplete -- search term suggestions as you enter your search
If enabled by your administrator, autocomplete provides suggestions from previously successful searches by ProQuest users. The list changes as you type, to match previous searches that start with what you have entered at any point. Click any term in the list to immediately search for that term.
You can click the Turn off auto-complete link to disable search term suggestions for your current ProQuest session.
Enter one or more words and click Search.
What ProQuest does with the words you enter
ProQuest looks for your words (search terms) in all fields—including any available abstract or full text—of all documents in all selected databases.
When you enter more than one word, shale oil for example, ProQuest will look for documents that contain both shale and oil in any field, including any available abstract or full text. Most accounts are set to this default search known as an Anywhere search. You may see that some accounts instead default to search Anywhere except (NOFT).
Search for an exact phrase
Surround your words with quotation marks—“eternal love” or “life after death”—to force ProQuest to look for your words as a phrase only, rather than finding each word separately.
Need help? You’ll find a link to Search tips just below the search button and page specific help via the ? at the top tool bar. Search tips are covered in more detail in the Advanced Search presentation. You can also view our Search tips help file here for more info:

4. Basic Search – More than One Database
The bottom-half of the Basic Search page displays a menu with search tips, help, and a link out to our Basic Search training video.
The bottom-half of the Basic Search page when searching more than one database

5. Basic Search – A Single Database
This is an example of a Basic Search page for a single database. You’ll notice that the main difference when searching one database by itself, is that the source type selections have gone away from the top of the search box. Additionally, the individual database name will be listed on this page. You can still limit to a specific source type by using the filters from the results page, going to the Advanced Search page and selecting the source types, or by entering the source type field code into the search box; STYPE(newspapers) .

6. Results Page
From the Results page you have many options for working within your set of results. Options include:
Sort by - change sort order of your results
Narrow results by – apply filters to refine and narrow your result set
Preview the record for key bibliographic details such as the Abstract and Subjects
View the full record and different full text formats (formats vary)
Use Open URL resolvers/Journal finders (if enabled by the admin) to locate full text that may be located outside of ProQuest
Select records of interest to cite, , print, save, and export to bibliographic managers and other formats by selecting the box next to each record
Save your search strategy and records to My Research
Create an alert to have relevant records ed directly to you after they are added to the databases
Create an RSS feed to retrieve the latest records that match your search strategy
Create a Search link – use this to generate a persistent/durable URL to the search strategy and latest results
Modify your search and search within the current set of results
View your recent searches from the current search session
View your selected items
Select the My Research option to create a personal account to manage your saved records, searches, and alerts/RSS feeds
View Books and Videos that match your search – these suggestions may not appear based on your search strategy and the databases being searched

7. Narrowing Your Search Results
Use the filter menu on the left-hand side of the results page to apply filters to refine and narrow your search. Used filters are kept track of at the top of the list. Click the ‘X’ to remove a filter from your search strategy.
You’ll also find in this section the Sorted by menu to adjust the sort order of your results. Relevance is the default sort order (this can be adjusted by your ProQuest Admin). If you sort by Relevance, ProQuest evaluates your search terms, determines which matching documents are most relevant to your search, and displays your results with the most relevant document first and the least relevant last. You can also sort your results on Publication date, choosing either oldest first, or most recent first.
Narrowing your search results
Document information (indexed terms) — This section includes a list of various relevant document information bits called index fields, such as Publication title, Subject, and Source type. They are presented here as narrowing filters that you can use to help retrieve just the content you want from your current results list. Documents are indexed using these fields, with matching terms found in any given document displayed in the Indexing details section of the document (within the full record). Click any filter to display up to the first five most commonly matched terms in your results list.
If there are more than five matching terms, a More options link displays. Click the link to open a popup that lists all matching terms indexed for that field in the documents that make up your results. Select which terms to include or exclude from your results list.
Note: The exception is Source type, which is open by default and displays five key source types that are not in descending order. If you click the More option, the full list of Source Types will display and this time by descending order).
Click a term to refresh your current results list to show only documents indexed with that term in the corresponding field, like Subject.
Note: The next slide shows a closer look at using one of the filters; the Source type filter.
Date While searching multiple databases: Click any of the default date ranges—Last 12 Months, Last 5 Years, Last 10 Years to immediately filter your results list. Or click Custom Date Range, enter From and To dates, and click Apply to filter your results list. Click X to clear the applied date range shown at the top of the filter panel beneath the heading Applied filters and return to the original date range. While searching a single database, you can drag the tabs at the bottom of the date control and click Update to change the start and end dates of your search. A new search runs, narrowing your results to include only those documents from the selected date range. The date range shown above the control is your current applied date range. Click X to clear the applied date range and return to the original date range. If you’d rather enter a specific date range, click Enter a date range.
See the next slide for a closer look at how to use the filters to narrow by source types.

8. Using Filters – Source Type
After you run a search that has searched all source types (or at least more than one source type), you can use the filters from the results page to narrow down to specific source types. From this menu, you will see other sources types that are part of your results that you can view such as Audio & Video Works, Books, Newspapers, and Reports. This is an easy way to target specific sources. Remember that many ProQuest databases offer a lot more than just journal content!
The next two slides will cover recent enhancements to our results page that highlight the availability of some of our source types; Books and Audio & Video Works.

9. New! Books and Videos that Match Your Search
In addition to locating videos and books from the Results Page filters menu (by choosing the Source Type filter and selecting Audio & Video works or Books), you can now also see video and book recommendations on the Results Page using the new ‘Videos that match your search’ and the ‘Books that match your search’ menu. The recommendations appear from the Results page, just to the right of the first set of results. Click the Show all books link or Show all videos link to see more suggestions.
Keep in mind that the display of these recommendations depend on the databases you have chosen to search (whether or not those source types are covered) and your search strategy/topic. Within the Books section, you may even find Ebook Central eBooks or Academic Video Online (AVON) videos in the Video section (this is based on current subscriptions to these products and the selection of the database from the chosen databases you are searching). We’ll look at an example of a video and an eBook record in a few slides.

10. Results Page and Document View - PDF
Here’s a closer look at how a record displays on the Results page. You’ll notice that each record includes a unique Source type icon to quickly highlight if it’s a book, scholarly journal, dissertation, newspaper, etc. Below each record you’ll see links to open up the full record and view the abstract/indexing details along with the different document formats. If the document includes full-text you can see links to the Full-text and/or PDF version of the full-text (not always available and provided by the publisher). You may also see links to the Cited by list and References. Cited by will tell you how many other PQ resources cited the source and the References will show you the complete list of References used in the document with additional links to the References if they are part of your ProQuest platform collection. Other potential links you will see below each record include Open URL/Journal finder links if the full text is not available through ProQuest (turned on by your PQ admin), dissertation order a copy links and dissertation preview links (only for Dissertation records/Dissertation source type), and Interlibrary Loan links to request a copy of the document from another library (turned on by your PQ admin). To the far right of each record on the Results page you’ll also see the Preview link which will expand the record and display the abstract and other key fields such as Subjects (a way to look at some key fields without fully opening the record and leaving the results page).
The second screenshot shows the Document View for a record that includes Full text - PDF. You’ll notice that the full record displays a series of tabs which allows you to easily toggle between the different document views/formats that are available. When in the PDF view, you’ll see a large Download PDF button on the right-side menu to allow you to quickly take the PDF out of ProQuest and save it. Below that you will also have links to Cite the source (choose from a number of different bibliographic citation styles), , Print, and Save the document. You may also have a Cited by link and Documents with shared references link to view the documents that also used some of the same references as the current document. Each full record will also have a Related Items section with recommendations to other ProQuest documents.

11. Document View – Full Text
The Full text tab within Document View displays the Full-text in html (this means that full-text is displayed within the ProQuest record as shown here). When there is full-text available, it is not always available in PDF format, but likely if you have PDF available, you will also see the Full text tab. This just means that you are likely to see the Full-text tab when you also have the Full text-PDF tab.
The Full text tab view does have some nice features including an option to Translate the Abstract (from English to another language – 13 languages supported) and additionally the Full Text of the document can be translated. If turned on by your PQ admin, you can also use the Read text aloud feature.
Because the particular document we are looking at has the full-text available in PDF format, you’ll notice that the Download PDF button is available from the right-hand menu. If this document did not have PDF, but only HTML based full-text, then that button would instead say Save as PDF.

12. Document View – Abstracts/Details
The Abstract/Details document view displays the bibliographic details of the document. This is also often called the indexing view. You’ll find the Abstract (with translate option if available) and under the Details section of the record will be the indexed fields. Common fields that display in each record include: Subject, Title, Author, Publication title, Publication year/date, Publisher, Place/Country of publication, Source type, Language of publication, Document type, and Document URL. Take note of the Document URL – this is the durable/persistent URL to the record. You can copy this to gain access to the record later on or share with others (such as posting to a course website for required reading).

13. Document View - References
The References document view will only be available if the document references were provided by the author/publisher and loaded into ProQuest. This is more commonly seen in journal article documents and dissertations. The reference list will include links to locate copies of the document (if turned on by your PQ admin), and a link to the full-text if the document is part of your ProQuest collections. This is a great way to find related materials.
The past few slides focused on the document view that will be common across many of our source types such as journal articles, trade journals, and newspapers. The next three slides will take a look at the document view for ebooks and videos.

14. Video Content on ProQuest – Academic Video Online too!
Video content is a growing and key-component of many of the ProQuest databases, and you may find yourself coming across this source type in your results. Some key ProQuest resources that include video content include ProQuest Central, Research Library, and Nursing & Allied Health Database. If you are an Alexander Street Academic Video Online (AVON) customer, your AVON video content is also discoverable through the ProQuest Platform (just be sure that AVON is selected as a database from the ProQuest database list).
Remember that earlier in this presentation we pointed out from the Basic Search page that you can choose the Videos & Audio Source type selection to target video content from that page. We also discussed how you can select the Audio & Video works filter from the Results page to display available video content. And don’t forget about the Videos that match your search menu that may appear on your results page and suggest available videos.
When you come across a video in the Results page, the Source type icon for the record will display a thumb-nail video player (alerting you that this is a video). When you open the record, the Document View contains the video player. Some video publishers will also make transcripts available and options for downloading the video. Like any other record in ProQuest, it comes with a Details section that includes indexing which makes the document discoverable. Video records also include links to Cite, Print, , and Save the record. If the particular video you are viewing doesn’t allow you to download it, all videos will have a Document URL in the Details section that you can copy to have access to the video later on.

15. Ebook Central eBooks on ProQuest
When searching Ebook Central with other ProQuest databases, eBook results are integrated in with the rest of your results. To pull out and view the eBooks, you can select the Books option from the Source type filter. Keep in mind that the Book option will also display non-eBook titles and other book records found outside of Ebook Central. If you only want to view and find available eBooks, you should instead select to search Ebook Central on its own from the Select Database list.
Note – Don’t forget that from the Basic Search page we reviewed how you can select and target a Source type directly. To do this just choose the Books source type selection.
You’ll notice that the Ebook Central ebooks display the colored book jacket in the Source type icon section (alerting you that this is an Ebook Central ebook). When you click the title of an Ebook Central item in your results list, the selected ebook first opens in the ebook details page within the ProQuest platform. From the ebook details page, you can open the book by clicking the Read Online feature, Downloading the book (if available), adding it to your Bookshelf, and reviewing the Book Details such the bibliographic info, and the print and copy limitations.

16. Ebook Central eBooks on ProQuest – Ebook Reader
Once you select the Read Online option from the Ebook Details page, you are taken to the Ebook Reader. This is where the book opens and you begin to actively engage the title within the ProQuest platform. This new page now mirrors the reading experience from the Ebook Central interface and you no longer leave ProQuest to view the eBook.
To the left of the book are four icons that will display the table of contents, allow you to search within the book, view the book details and restrictions (print, copy and download allowances), and track your annotations. To be able to have full use of the Ebook Reader features, it is recommended that you sign-in to your Bookshelf account or create a new one.
The Bookshelf account is a personal account you use with Ebook Central that allows you to save titles, create folders to organize your ebook titles, annotate books, and share your items with other users. Please note that the Bookshelf account is currently separate from the My Research account. In ProQuest, you can use the same Bookshelf account that you created in the Ebook Central interface or you can create a new Bookshelf account within ProQuest.
The top tool bar includes options for downloading the full title (if available, Bookshelf required), downloading chapters/sections, copying text (Bookshelf required), printing (Bookshelf required), adding the book to your Bookshelf, creating a durable URL/persistent link to the book, and citing the book. The annotation features include highlighting, taking notes, and bookmarking the text (Bookshelf account sign-in required for annotating). The last section of the tool bar includes the ability to zoom in and out of the text, adjust the page fit, and page navigation.

17. Selected Items
During a ProQuest session, you can select documents of particular interest and create a list of these documents on the Selected Items page. Such a list in the context of research applications like ProQuest is also called a marked list. Click the checkbox next to each document of interest on your results list.
Click the checkbox labeled Select 1–20 (or 1–10, 1–50, 1–100) above the results list to add all documents on the current results page.
Click the checkbox labeled Add to selected items on the Save menu above a full record/Document View.
Important to know — The contents of the Selected Items page remain only for the duration of your current session. To save documents so that they are available to you whenever you are in ProQuest, you need to have a My Research account (this is covered in the Save, Share, and Organize Your Research presentation).
Accessing the Selected Items page
There are two ways to access the Selected Items page:
Click the Selected items link on the menu above any search results OR click the folder-icon at the top-right of any page.
With checkboxes corresponding to one or more items selected, you can:
Save to My Research, Delete, , Print, Cite, Save/Export
Important to know — If you’ve selected a checkbox corresponding to a document—on either the Search Results or Document View pages—the checkbox will remain selected when you leave that page and then return to it during the same session. If you delete the item from the Selected items page, the checkbox will be deselected for the item when you display either the Search Results or Document View pages. 
For more information on using My Research along with other tools such as Alerts and RSS feeds, please view the Save, Share, and Organize Your Research presentation.

18. Recent Searches
ProQuest records each search that you conduct during your current session. This search history is presented on the Recent Searches page. The page is always available from the folder-icon menu in the bar at the top of the ProQuest window. Once you’ve done at least one search during your session, an additional Recent searches link also displays on the Basic Search page.
Important to know — Your recent searches are not automatically saved beyond your current ProQuest session. To make them available for future sessions, you can Save them to a My Research account (covered in the Save, Share, and Organize Your Research presentation).
On the Recent Searches page, you can:
Review the searches you’ve done in your session. Each listed search is pre-pended with S, standing for set. For example, S1, S2, S3, etc. A set is simply a search and its corresponding results. By default, your searches are listed in descending order, meaning your most recent search is at the top and your first search at the bottom. To reverse the order, click the Set column header.
Combine one or more of your numbered recent searches into a single precise search. You can use the corresponding set numbers (or the original search terms) to combine and rerun searches.
In the table column titled Search, click the link corresponding to a listed search to re-run it and retrieve a current results list. You can also click the results count link to do the same thing.
View the list of databases that were included in the search.
Click the +/- icons to show or hide details about a search, including any narrowing filters or limits (like date ranges) you applied when you ran the search.
Modify a search using the search page (Advanced, Basic, etc.) you used to run it originally. Important to know — When you modify and then re-run a search, you create a new recent search.
Delete selected recent searches.
Save the search strategy to a My Research account (covered in the Save, Share, and Organize presentation).
Show all details - View the list of databases that were included in the search.
Export your current list of recent searches to one of four file formats. For each recent search, the file will show set number, search terms, and the targeted databases.
For additional info on re-running an exported search, see our help file here:
Actions menu
Save search — Save the search to your My Research account. You’re prompted to sign into your account if necessary. Provide a required name for the search, and optional notes.
Delete — Delete the search.
Modify search — Modify a search using the search page you used to run it originally (Basic, Advanced, etc). Important to know — when you modify and then re-run a search, you create a new recent search.
Create alert — Create and schedule an alert. You'll receive s with newly published or historical documents that match your search, as they become available in ProQuest (covered in the Save, Share, and Organize presentation).
Create RSS feed — Create an RSS feed to monitor ProQuest for new matching documents (covered in the Save, Share, and Organize presentation).
Get link — Get the link for a search. When you click Get link, a small popup opens. You can copy and paste the URL to, for example, a browser address bar, a web page, or it to a friend. When you or your friend successfully log in or access ProQuest, the search will retrieve a results list of documents.
For more information on using My Research along with other tools such as Alerts and RSS feeds, please view the Save, Share, and Organize presentation.

19. Summary After reviewing this presentation you should now be able to:
Perform Basic Searches on the ProQuest Platform
Navigate the results page to successfully refine, discover, and extract meaningful content
Recognize the different document views and corresponding tools for a variety of document formats including full-text, eBooks, and videos
Recall your session search history and selected items

20. Additional Resources
ProQuest Platform LibGuide:
Visit the Education Tab within the LibGuide for additional resources and presentations including:
Search Basics: Getting Started
Save, Share, & Organize Your ProQuest Research
Elearning Modules (available soon)
Contact for webinars

21. Include contact information

22. Demo