Search it! allows you to search numerous databases simultaneously via a single interface. Search it! lets you link through to any available full text documents, making the location and retrieval of useful information quicker and easier.
This helpsheet will introduce you to the basics of Search it! It is best used when you have access to Search it! online.
Note: Not all resources that you have access to via MMU are cross-searchable in Search it!. For those resources that are not cross-searchable in Search it!, simply click on their title to be taken to their native interface, where you can search them as normal.
To access Search it!:
Search it! offers a variety of different search options, catering to users with different levels of expertise:
QuickSearch is the default search mode. It is a fast and simple way to search pre-selected sets of databases known as QuickSets. QuickSets are themed by subject area. The title of a QuickSet tells you what subject area it covers. Quicksets are listed below the search box and a QuickSet can be selected for searching by clicking on the button next to its title. You can perform Simple or Advanced searches in QuickSearch.
Simple: Search any one QuickSet at a time. Select a suitable QuickSet to search and enter your search term(s) in the search box. Next, click on the GO button.
Advanced: To use Advanced QuickSearch, click on the Advanced tab above the search box. You get two search boxes, and with each box you can specify the field (eg title, author, ISBN) you would like your search terms to appear in. You can use the Boolean drop-down menu to broaden or narrow your search (see Boolean Searching, below).
Customised Search offers access to a wider variety of content. This includes resources listed by category such as theses, e-books, patents and standards. To use Customised Search, click on Customised Search in the main navigation bar at the top of the page.
Customised Search is set to search Categories (ie subjects) by default. You can choose a category from the Category drop-down menu. Only one category can be searched at a time. Some categories contain sub categories, which will appear on the Sub Categories list below. You can choose the one you require by clicking on its title or leave it set to ALL to list the databases in all sub categories. Only selected databases will be searched. Click on the tick-box next to a database’s title to select or deselect it (a green tick means that it is selected). You can then enter your search term(s) in the search box and click the GO button.
If a database does not have a tick-box next to it, it cannot be searched within Search it!. You can, however, click on the database’s title to search it using its native interface (ie its own search page).
Note: If a category contains 10 or less databases, they will all be selected by default. If a category contains more than 10 databases, none of them will be selected and you will have to manually select which ones you want to search.
This allows you to locate individual databases. To use Find Database, click Find Database on the top-left of the page.
To browse for a database in an alphabetical index, just click on the letter that corresponds to the first letter of the database you require. This will bring up a list of all databases beginning with that letter. A magnifying glass icon is confirmation that the database can be searched within Search it! Click on the magnifying glass to go to the search screen. If no magnifying glass is displayed, the database is not searchable within Search it! Click on the title of the database to be redirected to the database's own website.
You can search for databases by title if you use the search box to enter your search terms and click the GO button.
Boolean searching is easy. It allows you to combine your search terms using the AND, OR and NOT operators. This enables you to increase or decrease the number of results you get:
AND: Selecting the word AND will narrow your search because you will only find records that contain both your keywords, eg drugs AND prison
OR: Selecting the word OR will broaden your search because you will be provided with results that include at least one of the keywords entered, eg drugs OR alcohol
NOT: Selecting the word NOT will narrow your search because it allows you to exclude an unwanted keyword, eg drug NOT solvent will eliminate any results containing the word solvent.
In Advanced Search you can use the Boolean drop-down box to connect the search terms you enter in the separate search boxes.
Note: For more advanced searches using Boolean operators within a search box it is recommended that you go to individual databases’ native interfaces. This is because they have unique advanced search facilities.
You can substitute one letter in a word with ? to find different spellings of the same word, eg ioni?ation will find both ionisation and ionization. You can also use wildcards to find words with the same stem, eg child? would find child, children, childish, child’s and so on.
This screen shows you the databases being searched and the number of documents found and retrieved from each one.
To view documents found, click on View retrieved, located above the lists of found and retrieved documents. You will be taken to the Results page.
To see results found in resources only viewable outside of Search it! click on Jump. You will be taken to the resource’s native interface.
If you have clicked on View retrieved but would then like to see results found in resources only viewable outside of Search it! click on Search & Link Results in the Table View of your results. You can then click Jump in the pop-up box that appears to be taken to the resource’s native interface.
The default results view is Table, where results are listed 10 at a time and ranked in order of relevance. To change the way your results are ranked, click the drop down menu next to Sort by. To see the complete details for an item, click on its title.
To view the full text of an item, you can:
Or:
When you have found the results you need, you can utilise a series of tools designed to make your research easier:
Within Full View, it is possible to download one record at a time straight into EndNote or EndNote Web. We recommend that you first open your EndNote or EndNote Web library before following these steps:
To exit Search it! click on the Log Out link on the top-right of the screen and then click on Exit in the pop-up box that appears. You can now navigate to another Web page or close your browser.
Search it! has many more features than can be covered here. Please refer to the Search it! help service, which is available at any time by clicking on the Help link on the top-right of the screen.
DJ September 2010