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Multi-Search is an electronic gateway that enables you to
- Search for journal articles in Library databases using a single interface.
- Search individual databases or several databases together.
- Search databases and the Library Catalogue at the same time.
- Search for electronic journals available through the Library.
- Find the full text of articles.
- Save lists of your favourite databases, journals, searches and articles.
- E-mail articles and download them to EndNote.
Logging In
To use Multi-Search you need to log in with your Unitec username and password.
Quick Search
Quick Search is the first option that you see when you use Multi-Search.
In Quick Search you can carry out a search using a pre-selected
group of databases. Type your keywords into the search boxes,
click the button for
the subject you want to search and click on "Go".
To see what databases are included in your search, click on the name of the Quick Set you want to use.
If you want to include the Library Catalogue in your search, leave the "General" button
selected.
Search Tips
- If you type more than one keyword, the search will look for items that contain all of your keywords.
- To search for different endings of a word use the truncation symbol ? - searching for garden? will find gardens, gardener, gardening, etc.
- You can also use ? to replace a single letter - organi?ation will find organisation or organization.
- If you want to search for a phrase, put it in speech marks - "john key" for example. Otherwise your search will
produce results
that use the words by themselves.
Quick Search Results
To save time, Quick Search only retrieves the first thirty results from each database it is searching. If you want to get more
results, click on "retrieve more".
Click on the plus sign to save an article to My Research Folders.
If there is a Full Text icon next to the article you can click on
it to read the article online.
Custom Search
With Custom Search you can choose which databases you want to include in your search.
You can also see all the available databases, including those
that can't be searched with Multi-Search.
First choose a search category from the drop-down menu on the left. Sometimes you also have the option of narrowing the selection further
by choosing a sub category. Then select the databases you want to search by ticking the boxes next to the names of the databases and type your
keywords into the search boxes.
Some databases, for example NewzText Plus, have no tick-boxes because they are unable to be searched using Multi-Search. To search
one of these databases click on the title of the database and search it using its own interface.
If you want to create your own personal collection of databases to search you can do so by clicking on the plus sign for the databases you want.
This saves the selected databases to your personal database set.
Custom Search Results
Unlike Quick Search, Custom Search delivers all the results that it finds. Consequently it may take longer to get
results from Custom Search than from Quick Search. The results screen looks the same, except that there is no "retrieve more" link.
Article Record
To get more information on an article, click on its title to see the full record.
You can see the full citation for the article together with its subject headings. There are options to email the article, to download it to EndNote,
and to save it to your list of favourite articles.
Sometimes you can also read the full text of the article in Multi-Search, without having to click on the
Full Text link, but you need to be careful.
Articles that are too long will be truncated, so you'll only
see part of them. It's safer to always click on the link to get the full article.
Saving Searches
Go to Custom Search and then click on "Previous Searches" to view all the searches you have carried out this session.
 To save a search so that you
can carry it out again at another time, click on the plus sign next to it.
Searching a Single Database
If you only want to search one database by itself, click on "Find Database". You can search for the database by name or
select it from the alphabetical list.
The "Find Database" screen replaces the old "Databases A-Z" list.
Find e-journal
To look for a particular electronic journal, click on "Find e-journal" and type the name of the journal
into the search box.
You can add your favourite journals to your list.
My Research Folders
My Research Folders is where you keep your saved journal articles, saved searches and your personal selection of
journals and databases. It is divided into four sections:
My Articles is where you keep the articles you have selected. You can sort them into folders and select articles to email or download to EndNote.
My Databases/Sets allows you to create personal sets of databases that you can search.
Databases you have selected are initally stored in the Clipboard. To put them into a
personal set, first click on the icon to create a set,
then click on the arrow next to the database in the Clipboard.
Sets that you have created will display as options in the Quick Search and Custom Search screens.
My e-Journals stores your favourite journals.
My Saved Searches allows you to run the same search on a regular basis.
Click on the bell icon next to the search and choose how often you want the search to be run.
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