Database of the Month: The New ProQuest Platform

This month ProQuest is debuting a new platform for the 30+ ProQuest databases to which the Bentley Library subscribes.   This new platform allows the Bentley Library to create unique subject specific databases that best reflect the research needs of the Bentley community.  Databases such as the Worldwide Political Science Abstracts have also been moved to ProQuest from the CSA platform,  allowing users to search more resources with a common platform.

ProQuest allows users to take advantage of a basic and an advanced search screen to find information.  The basic search will look for the the users terms in the text of a document then in the bibliographic record.   Users can add the “and” operator to narrow a search, or the “or” operator to expand a search or to include synonyms in a search.    The basic search includes limiters to search for only full-text documents or scholarly resources.

The ProQuest advanced search feature allows users to create more complex searches across a variety of databases.  Users can search multiple indexes (author, title, text, NAICS code, subject, etc.) and limit to source type (books, magazines, dissertations, blogs), document type (article, case study, conference paper, market report, table of contents, etc.), document feature (chart, photograph, tables), and language.

Results returned on the new ProQuest platform can be narrowed and sorted by a number of options.  Popular options for sorting results include “Relevance”, “Date (oldest first)”, and Date (newest first)”.  The “Sort results by” feature is located on the right-hand side of the results screen.  Search results can be narrowed by using ProQuest facets that include source type, document type, title, subject, keyword, and seven other limiters.  Multiple limiters can be employed to narrow search results.

Just above the search results, ProQuest provides links to suggested subjects derived from their “Smart Search”  product.  Smart Search provides additional article content for users from across the ProQuest platform.

Using the check box beside each returned document allows users to organize documents for export or to create a works cited page or a bibliography.  After marking documents users can click on the “Cite this” link to format citations in APA, MLA, Chicago, and other popular manuscript styles.  Marked documents can also be added to a RefWorks or EndNote database.

In the coming months look for ProQuest to provide support for mobile devices.  To start using the new ProQuest platform visit the Bentley Library’s “Find Article/Databases” page today.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please contact the Reference Desk.  If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.

Database of the Month: LexisNexis Academic

The LexisNexis Academic database has a new and improved user interface.   LexisNexis Academic provides regional, national and international full-text content from over 10,000 news, legal and business sources.  The new Easy Search interface is divided into six subject areas so users can efficiently search  LexisNexis Academic content.   The LexisNexis Power Search still provides users with the option to use the search types “terms and connectors” or “natural language”.

The Search the News section allows users to search local, regional, national and international news sources from 1980 to the present.  Users can limit by source type, such as newspapers, magazine and even blogs or they can limit by a publication’s name.

Look up a Legal  Case provides access to U.S. and state cases by citation (163 U.S. 537), parties (Furman v. Georgia), or topic (equal opportunity). Users can click on the Cases link to help refine a search for a case and theLandmark Cases link to find a list of important U.S. cases.

Under Get Company Info users will find access to information on over 43,000,000 companies.  Basic company information can be found by search for a company name or ticker symbol.   More complete company information can be found by clicking on the Company Dossier and Company Profile links.

The Research Countries section allows users to find political and economic information about a specific country.  Country information can be searched by country name and limited by source.

With the Research People section users can research public figures. Enter at least a last name in the input boxes provided.  To find general information about the public figure, select “Biographies” from the source drop-down box. To see recent news stories that include a person select “Recent News Stories.”

Finally, the Combined Search feature is useful for searching a particular topic over different types of content.  Searches can be limited by date (with the system default set for “previous 2 years”) while content type searched can be expanded to include news, legal cases, SEC filings, company profiles and law reviews.

Connect to this database

Please visit the new LexisNexis Academic interface here.  A complete listing of the Bentley Library’s databases is available on our Databases page.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please contact the Reference Desk.  If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.