OneSearch FAQ

General	Search results	Problems/failed searches	Export
What is OneSearch?	How are the results sorted?	Some of the databases returned "0" results. Is there a problem?	How do I e-mail, print or save some of the citations from my search?
Who can use OneSearch?	How do I work with my search results?	What does the symbol mean?	Should I export/save “as HTML” or “as Plain Text?”
	Why doesn't the “More options”/"Article Linker" link always appear?	What does it mean when my search "times out"?
Searching	What are “Clustered Results?”	New or refined search	Help and problem reporting
How many databases can I search at a time?	How can I see the results from a particular database?	How do I modify my search?	Still need help? Ask a librarian!
How do I know which databases will be searched when I choose a subject?	What does “Get more results” mean?	How do I start a new search?	Report a problem
Search tips (operators, phrase searching, truncation, filed searching, etc)	Why do I sometimes see the “Duplicate Results” link?

What is OneSearch?
OneSearch is a powerful search tool that allows you to search for books and journals via the UC Libraries online catalog and online research databases simultaneously. OneSearch saves you valuable time and allows you to determine what databases to use for further research.

Please note that OneSearch does NOT search all databases UC subscribes to. It does not include non Web-based databases, ones that are available on CD-ROM, and/or require access from dedicated workstations such as SciFinder Scholar and many others. In addition, some UC databases are not included in OneSearch at this time as the current technology behind the search tool will not work with all databases. More databases will be added as the technology permits. To access a complete list of the searchable databases, see the Article Databases page.

Who can use OneSearch?
OneSearch is restricted to UC faculty, staff, and currently enrolled students. Patrons coming from an off-campus location through a commercial Internet service provider will need to provide their UC ID number and last name.

Searching

How many databases can I search at a time?
You may search a number of databases grouped together by subject, or select databases by title. There is no limit on the number of databases or subject groups you can search at a time, but selecting too many subject groups may slow down your search.

How do I know which databases will be searched when I choose a subject?
Click on the subject name to get a list of included databases.

Search tips

Use quotation marks to indicate that you want to search for words as a phrase, i.e. together and this exact order, for example, “stock market.”
Use AND (for combining concepts), OR (for synonyms, related terms or spelling variants), and NOT (for excluding terms). When you combine different connectors, please remember to use parentheses to specify which terms should be processed first.
For example, the statement (cats OR felines) and behavior will find the records that have "cats" or "felines" first and then will combine the result with the other concept, "behavior".
Using truncation characters is NOT recommended, because databases differ in the way they support truncation and the syntax they use.
Use the drop-down menu to specify in what field (keyword, title, author, etc.) the search term(s) should appear.
Tip: for personal authors enter only last name as different databases follow different formats.
In Advanced Search you can combine terms that appear in different fields and limit results by year.
Note: if you are combining different connectors (AND and NOT) it is best NOT to select them from the drop-down menus, but rather type the statement in a single line using parentheses, because this allows you to specify which terms will be processed first. Otherwise, you may not be getting the results you expect.
Once you identify which databases have the best and most relevant results, link directly to the databases and search them using their own interface as this allows for more precise searching.

Search Results

How are the results sorted?
By default, results are sorted by publication date. Other sorting options can be chosen via the blue menu bar: title, author, database.

How do I work with my search results?

Clicking on the article title will take you to the record in a particular database. Article full text may be attached or linked to the article.
Clicking on the database title will take you to the search page of the database in which the article was found. You can search the database search using its own interface as this allows for more precise searching.
Some search results will return with a link to an abstract, a summary of the content of a citation. Click “Show abstract” to get an idea of what the article will cover before actually jumping to it. Clicking on the link again to hide the abstract.
Some search results will include the “More options”/”UC ArticleLinker" link. Clicking on this link will take you to a page that will show you if the article is available online and provide other options if it is not.

Why doesn't the “More options”/"Article Linker" link always appear?
If the source of the citation is Library Catalog, this means that your result is not an article, but rather a different format, mostly likely a book. Click on the title in the citation to display a record for this item in the library catalog.

With regard to articles, the “More options”/”UC ArticleLinker” link will only appear on the results that have enough information to create the link. If the link is not available, you should do a Journal search to determine if UC has the volume and issue you need. If the required issue is not available, you can request the article by Interlibrary Loan.

What are “Clustered Results?”
By default, Clustered Results (in the top left-hand corner of the results screen) present search results as categories. This allows you to decide which results are most appropriate for your purposes. Clustering can also help you refine your search. You may view your results clustered by date, journals, or author by clicking on those options.

How can I see the results from a particular database?
Click on the "Show Databases" link in the blue menu bar just above the results list. Then click on the database title or number of results next to the title. This will put the results from this database at top of your results list.

What does “Get more results” mean?
To get results for your search fast, results are returned in small batches. When you click on the “Get More Results” link, the search will run again and get the next batch of results from the providers.

Why do I sometimes see the “Duplicate Results” link?
When a search finds duplicate results, you will see a "Duplicate Records" link. Only one record will be shown with a link to the others. When you click on the Duplicate Records link, you will see a new page with all of the duplicate results listed.

Problems/failed searches

Some of the databases returned "0" results. Is there a problem?
(You can see results from individual databases if you click the "Show Databases" link in just above the results list).

If a database does not have records that meet your search criteria, the database title will be black and not hyperlinked and there will be (0) for the number of results.

What does the symbol mean?

is an error message symbol. Click on it to get an explanation why the search failed. For example, if a certain search type in the OneSearch drop-down menu (e.g. "full text" or “abstract”) is not supported by a particular database, the database title will be black and not hyperlinked and there will be an error message symbol i next to it. If you click the error message symbol, the following text will be displayed: “Search type(s) not supported.”

What does it mean when my search "times out"?
Search queries sent to databases via OneSearch will time out if a particular database doesn't complete the search and send the results back to OneSearch within a prescribed period of time. This time period varies by resource, but it's generally about 30 seconds. So, for example, if OneSearch sends a query to EBSCO's (vendor of Academic Search Premier and other databases) server and their server doesn't respond within about 30 seconds, the OneSearch interface will display the message 'source connection timed out' or 'source connection failed to respond' next to the resource name on the results page.

New or refined search

How do I modify my search?
Click the "Refine Search" link at the top of the page, above your clustered results. This will take you back to your original search query where you can edit and run the search again.

How do I start a new search?
Click the "Refine Search" link at the top of the page, above your clustered results. This will take you to a fresh search page to start a new query.

E-mailing, Exporting & Saving Your Search Results

How do I e-mail, print or save some of the citations from my search?
Select the articles you would like to print/save by clicking in the box to the left of the record. After you do that, the “E-mail” and “Export/Save” links above your search results will become activated. Click the appropriate link and make selections in the box. On the exported records screen, click “Save records” to save, or click the browser printer icon or “File – Print” to print.

Please note that as you return to the results screen the records are still selected. If you continue to the next pages of results, the selected records will accumulate.
If you have some records selected and click “Refine Search” or “New Search,” the following message will be displayed: “All records selected for exporting will be lost if you refine your search/conduct a new search before having chosen an export option. Are you sure you want to continue?”

Should I export/save “as HTML” or “as Plain Text?”
”As HTML” is recommended for saving and e-mailing.
”As Plain Text” is recommended for printing.

Help/Problem Reporting

Still need help? Ask a librarian!

Submit a question or problem

Modified from Babson College Library OneSearch FAQ http://www3.babson.edu/Library/electronic_resources/centralsearchfaq.cfm#icon
and SerialsSolutions 360 Search Help http://aj2vr6xy7z.cs.serialssolutions.com/csStatic/html/helpPages/clustering.html