CHAPTER 26

SEARCH DATABASES
COMINDEX
ComIndex is an electronic index to the literature of the Communication discipline. It is produced by the
Communication Institute for Online Scholarship (CIOS). Dr. Sapolsky maintains a current version of the
index on a computer in 421 DIF. Students are welcome to use ComIndex to search bibliographic
information for approximately 31,500 articles in 70 journals and annuals.
The index is limited to providing the author, title and journal information for articles. It does not provide an
abstract or text of the article. Searching ComIndex provides the user with a listing of articles. The user
must then locate the articles in a library or from other sources.
To use COMINDEX
1.

ComIndex is a DOS program. To start the program:

2.

Get to the DOS prompt. In WIN2000:

Click on START PROGRAMS ACCESSORIES COMMAND PROMPT

3.

You must change to the subdirectory (folder) containing ComIndex: Type

CD \Comindex

[then press the Enter key]

NOTE: The directory path may be different from the one shown above -- see your instructor.
4.

To initiate the program type

CI

[then press the Enter key]

5.

"Press any key to continue" three times until you get to the screen labeled "Range Selection"

Choosing Journals
The first step is to choose the journals or journals that you wish to search:
1.

Select All Journals (Global Search): This is the default setting. If you press the Enter key you will
be able to search all journals in the ComIndex database. Normally, this is what you will choose.
To move to any of the other selections, press the key to highlight the selection.

2.

Select One Journal or a Group of Journals: This feature allows the user to choose one or more
journals for a search. No doubt, many of the journals and annuals in the database will not be of
interest in a particular search. This features allows the user to exclude such journals. Press the
Enter key to move to the selection list. The user uses the key to advance through the list of
journals. Pressing the F3 key selects a journal for searching. If you press Enter, information about
the highlighted journal appears (what issues are included in the database, etc). Press F2 to finish
the selection process. The Search Specification screen will then appear.

3.

Define Custom Journal Set: This feature provides the user with a means of selecting a
"personalized" set of journals to be searched. The custom journal set may be saved and used
again at a later time. For instance, you could create a custom set that contains only those
journals contained in FSU's Strozier Library. Press the Enter key to move to the selection list.
Press the F3 key to select a journal for the list. You can press the F2 key to save the custom set
for later use. Pressing the F2 returns the user to the Range Selection screen.

4.

Search Custom Journal Set: As the name implies, choosing this option allows you to search the
journals in a custom set.

NOTE: In this and many other screens, press F1 for HELP.

Search Specification
Using the default of all journals (or using a set of journals you define), the next step is to identify key
information for the search.
1.

By Author: Search by last name of an author. This is the default. Pressing the Enter key moves
you to the Search String box. Type in the last name. In the case of common names (such as
"Jones"), you can add the first initial to narrow the search. For example: "Jones,D" (don't use
spaces or a period after the initial).
To Initiate Search: Press the F2 key. The Brief List screen will appear with the results of the
search.
To Obtain Bibliographic Information: For the first highlighted entry, simply press the Enter key.
To move to the next entry, press the key.
Also see "co-occurrence" below.

2.

By Title: Search by a word that appears in the title of an article. If the Author Search Key is
highlighted, press the key to highlight "By Title." When "By Title" is highlighted, press the
Enter key to move to the Search String box. Type a word for the search and then press the F2 to
initiate the search.

3.

By Keywords: ComIndex uses a "keyword" format. The database contains a set of "significant"
words or "keywords." The word you search on is matched against the keyword list. The matching
process starts at the left-most character in the word (or name) and proceeds to the right. Thus,
always type the first characters inn a name or title word; if you type a fragment of a word, be sure
it is the first part of a word.
You can view the database keyword list by pressing F4 while in the Search Specification screen.
Assuming you are searching By Title, pressing F4 will produce a pop-up box with title keywords.
This is an extensive listing. To find a term in the pop-up box, begin typing the term. The letters will
appear in the box to the left of the keyword display. When enough letters are entered to isolate a
specific keyword, it will be highlighted in the pop-up box. The number to the right indicates the
number of articles (in the journal set you have selected) that contain the keyword.
Example: Bring up the Title Keyword Dictionary (in the Search Specification Screen select to
search by title; then press the F4 key). Find if the term "humor" is in the keyword list. With the
keyword "humor" highlighted, if you now press the Enter key you will return to the Search
Specification Screen with the word "humor" in the Search String line. Press F2 to initiate the
search. You will find that there are 69 "hits" -- 69 titles in the Brief List screen.
Co-occurrence: If you return to the keyword list, you will notice that there is a right facing arrow
() to the right of the word "humor." This indicates that "co-occurrence" or co-author links are
available for that term. Press the F4 key to see the linked terms and the frequency with which
such links occur in the literature. The creators of ComIndex state:
"Co-occurrence provides an interesting view of terms (or authors) that tend to appear together in
the literature and can help you to uncover conceptual linkages between theoretical ideas. In the
case of title keywords, co-occurrence links can help you refine a search on a global term, such as
"television", that on its own would produce a huge search result. Using co-occurrence it is
possible to review the conceptual contexts in which television has been examined in the
discipline's literature and produce a more finely targeted search result.
In the case of links between authors, the co-occurrence links specify co-authorship patterns."
In the "humor" example, you will notice that the first term in the co-occurrence list is "audience"

with two instances. If you press the Enter key, the Search String line now reads "humor and
audience." Pressing F2 leads to a brief list of two articles with the terms humor and audience in
the title.
Boolean Search: This last example, "humor and audience" leads to the search strategy known
as
"Boolean Search Logic." Boolean searches are done by combining search terms using the logical
operators "and", "or" and "not".
One way to conduct Boolean searches is to enter the terms in the Search String line such as
"violence and television." A search of these terms would return all articles with both words in the
title. A search for "violence not television" would yield article titles with the word "violence" but not
the word "television."
A second approach to Boolean searches is to use the "Search Type" portion of the Search
Specification screen. The Search Type area does not become active until a search has been
done and you return to the Search Specification screen. When active, this area has three
choices:
a. New search: Discard previous search and start over.
b. Add to the existing search list: equivalent of "or" logic.
c. Narrow existing search list: equivalent of "and" logic.
d. Exclude from existing search list: delete items from previous search.
Wildcard Character: Use an asterisk (*) to search for all words that begin with a set of letters.
For example, if you type "motiv*", the search will yield all titles with words such as motivation,
motivational, motive, and motives. Be careful, you can also generate unwanted terms by using
the wildcard character.
4.

By Year: Search database by the year of publication. This can be useful if you want to limit the
search to a specific year or years. Typically, you might search by year and then use the "Search
Type" to narrow the search to authors or titles within the year or years.

Displaying, Printing and Saving Search Results:

1.

Displaying Results of a Search

Once a search has been initiated (using the F2 key), the user is advanced to the "Brief List"
screen. This shows the results of the search. The first entry in the list is highlighted. If you press
the Enter key at this point, the "Full Display" for that entry is shown. Press the escape ("esc") to
return to the Brief List screen.
Changing the Order of Entries in the Brief List: In the upper left corner of the screen you will
notice "Sort Order: .". This indicates the order in which entries are currently appear. Pressing
the F4 key will change the sort order. Choices are (a) Journal and Year, (b) Author, and (c) Year.
Also, pressing the F3 key toggles the leading information on each listing from "authors" to "year."
Deleting Entries in the Brief List: You can delete an entry from the listing by highlighting it (scroll
to the entry using the key) and then pressing the "Del" key.

2.

Printing: A Brief List of up to 400 entries can be printed by pressing the F2 key. The full reference
for each entry will be printed. A individual Full Display can be printed by pressing the F2 key.

3.

Saving Search Results: A brief list can be saved ("Print to File") by pressing the F5 key. You will
be prompted for a file name. If you wish to save to a floppy disk, type: a:\filename. Be sure you
have a virus-free, formatted disk in the A: drive.

 LEXIS-NEXIS
LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe is a reference tool that provides users with access to magazines,
newspapers, newsletters, and other materials spanning many disciplines. Here's how LEXIS-NEXIS
Academic Universe describes itself:
"LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe - simply said, there's more information in this computer-based
electronic resource for term papers and the like than in all the files of all the Web sites on the Internet
combined. This powerful information service has more than a billion documents and thousands of
sources. In addition to constantly updated, full-text documents from thousands of general-interest wire
services, newspapers and magazines from around the world, "Universe" provides access to the full text of
company profiles and financial reports, government transcripts, trade journals, radio and television
program transcripts and academic and legal sources. All of this is free, user-friendly and easily accessible
for every student, faculty and staff member. Florida State tested this service and became the first
university to use it. Now many other universities are signing on to the service."
What LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe is not: It is not a substitute for scholarly sources: academic
journals and books. When you are engaged in a literature search for a term paper, thesis, convention
paper, dissertation, etc., LEXIS-NEXIS Universe will provide minimal basic research findings.
Below is a step-by-step guide to accessing LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Go to the FSU homepage: http://www.fsu.edu

Click on Academic Resources
Click on Database Services
Click on Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe

The Lexis Nexis Academic Universe home page provides five areas for research:
NEWS:
BUSINESS:
LEGAL RESEARCH:
MEDICAL:
REFERENCE:

HOME PAGE
Search the full text of todays news or search back more than 20 years.
Retrieve full text company news and financial information.
Search full text federal, state and international legal materials.
Find full text and abstracted medical and health information.
Search general reference sources.

You will probably use the first source, News more often than the other choices. We will use the News
source for our example. Click on News. Within the News area there are nine subcategories:
NEWS PAGE
U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, newsletters and journals.
News articles updated throughout the day.
Newspaper, wire and transcript articles from a state and selected articles about each
state.
World News:
News from U.S. and international sources.
Wires:
Wire service reports.
Transcripts:
Television and radio news broadcasts.
Arts & Sports:
Reviews, entertainment and sports events.
Campus:
Chronicle of Higher Education and student newspapers.
Foreign Language: News from Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian and German sources.
General News:
Todays News:
U.S. News:

Click on General News to follow our example:

GENERAL NEWS
You are now on a search page. You must enter information to shape the search. The following
information must be provided.

BASIC SEARCH
Keyword
Keyword search the headline, lead paragraph(s), and indexing terms of articles. Phrases do not require
quotation marks.
Narrow search with additional terms
Used to limit the search by specifying additional terms or phrases that must appear in the full text.
NOTE: Only articles that match all the criteria you enter will be found (all the terms listed under Keyword
and under Narrow search.
Source
You may pick one of five General News sources:
Major Newspapers
Magazines and journals
Newsletters
Abstracts
Time Incorporated Publications
To the right of the Source pulldown menu you can click to see the Source List. For example, if the source
is Magazines and journals, the source list will show which periodicals are included.
Date
The user can specify the time period for the search. The options are (a) a pulldown menu containing
specific time increments or (b) identifying a beginning and ending point. Most date formats are supported.
Examples: 07/24/97, Jul 24, 1997, 07/97, July, 1997, 1997
To specify a specific day, select the custom date range option and enter the same date in both the From
and To fields. Example: From: Aug 3, 1997 To: 08/03/97
To search all documents published on or after a specific date, enter that date in the From field and leave
the To field blank. Example: From: July 5, 1996 To:
searches all documents published on or after July
5, 1996.
And, to search all documents published on or before a specific date, enter that date in the To field and
leave the From field blank. Example: From:
To: 9/15/96 searches all documents published on or
before September 15, 1996.
Note: If you do not enter a specific day or month, the first day of the month/year you entered is assumed
when placed in the From field and the last day of the month/year is assumed when placed in the To field.
Example: From: 1995 To: 8/96 searches documents published on or between January 1, 1995 and August
31, 1996.
When all specifications for a search have been set, click on Search to find articles of interest.
MORE OPTIONS
Choosing More Options allows the user to use additional search features. They include:
Search for:

Enter a term or phrase you wish to search on in the Search for text box. You do not need to enclose
phrases within quotations marks.

Search in:
Indicate what part of the document you wish to search. The choices include:
Headline: Headline or title of an article
Headline and Lead Paragraph(s): The headline and first paragraph(s) of the article
Full Text: The entire article
Caption: The description of any graphics accompanying the article
Author: The writer of the article. You can enter an author's full name or last name only. If you are having
difficulty retrieving articles searching for a full name, use a w/3 [within three words of] connector
between the first name and last name.
Search Connectors
You can use connectors to establish logical relationships between words and concepts. Connectors
include:
and: Words or phrases must all appear in the same document or field, no matter how close or far apart.
Example: doctor AND malpractice finds documents with both doctor and malpractice
or: Links synonyms, alternative forms of expression, acronyms, and so on.
Example: doctor OR physician finds either doctor or physician.
and not: Excludes documents that contain the word or phrase following it. Use this connector with
caution because it can exclude relevant documents. If you use this connector, always use it at the end of
your search. Example: doctor AND NOT malpractice finds the word doctor anywhere in the document,
but the word malpractice cannot appear anywhere in the same document.
w/n: Links search words and phrases to create concepts.You can choose within 5, 10 or 25 words. W/n
does not specify a word order.
Example: doctor w/5 malpractice finds doctor within 5 or fewer words of malpractice, regardless of which
word appears first.
w/paragraph: Looks for documents with search words in the same paragraph.
Example: doctor w/paragraph malpractice finds doctor in the same paragraph as malpractice
w/sentence: Looks for documents with search words in the same sentence.
Example: doctor w/sentence malpractice finds doctor in the same sentence as malpractice.
Note: If you select any within (w/) connector, you should search the full text. Otherwise, you will get
incorrect results. Also, the w/paragraph and w/sentence connectors may not be combined with the w/n
connector.
Search this title
Another feature of the additional search options is the ability to limit your search to documents from a
specific publication. Use the Source List link for a listing of sources available for this search.
Example: New York Times
NOTE: Thus far we have looked at Academic Universe. Lexis-Nexis also offers a Statistical Universe
which provides access an index to over 100,000 statistical publications and the most popular U.S.
government reference book.
Exercise 12

1.

Choose a topic to search on Lexis-Nexis. Make it narrow enough to allow for a highly specific
search.

2.

Select a source for the search. For example, General News -- Magazines and Journals.

3.

Identify key search terms.

4.

Conduct the search. If you arrive a too many hits, narrow (focus) your search.

5.

Send the following to your instructor as an attachment: (a) the topic, (b) the source, and (c) two of
the best articles found in the search.