Dialog Techniques: OneSearch

Scope

• OneSearch categories consist of a group of databases, each of which contains a substantial amount of information about a particular broad subject.
• Look in the Dialog Database Catalog for the list of categories and subcategories.
• You can also find these at:
  • Alphabetical List of OneSearch Categories
    • http://library.dialog.com/dbcat/alpha_cats.html
  • Databases by OneSearch Group/Category
    • http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/blo.html
• OneSearch categories enable the searching of multiple databases while only entering search terms once.
• Note: Individual databases may be in many different OneSearch categories

Usage

• In DialogWeb, you can select to search various categories by starting with the Databases search mode.
  • Starting from the broadest categories, select the subcategories until you reach the level of specificity you want.
  • When you reach a bottom-level category, you are given the opportunity to:
    • Select all databases by clicking on the "Select All" button
    • Clear the selections.
    • Select specific databases by checking the check boxes by each database number and name.
• In DialogClassic and the text-based (telnet) interface, you can search a OneSearch group of databases by using the begin "b" command followed by the name of the OneSearch category.

Hierarchy of OneSearch Groups/Categories

• There are comprehensive, broad, and narrower OneSearch categories.
• The broad categories each contain many sub-categories, which, in turn, contain several narrower, more specific categories (or collections of databases). This can be seen when you select "Databases" when searching via the DialogWeb interface.
• The hierarchy is as follows:

  OneSearch Level	Example Categories
  	DialogClassic & Telnet	DialogWeb Equivalent
  Search Everything	all (considered at SuperCategory)	Click on all databases bullet.
  OneSearch SuperCategories	allbusiness	business
  		Industries and Markets
  		Industry News
  OneSearch Categories	BIOBUS Biosciences and Biotechnology Industry	BIOBUS Biosciences and Biotechnology Industry News
  Individual Databases: Example	Current Biotechnology Abstracts (File 358)	Current Biotechnology Abstracts (File 358)

  .

Using OneSearch via DialogWeb

1. Login to DialogWeb.
2. Click on Go To Command Search
3. Click on Databases
4. Pick a category relevant to your search.
5. Enter your search.
   • NOTE: Do not use Search Steps ( ss ). It is not relevant here.
   • A list of databases containing the search terms as you entered them will be returned.
6. Click on the Sort Results button to automatically rank the databases by the number of hits.
7. Check the Check Boxes to the left of the databases you want to search.
8. Click on the Begin Databases button
   • This will bring up a window with 2 frames.
   • In the bottom frame, the Begin command ( b )will be entered followed by the numbers of the databases that you select.
9. Click on the Submit button to the right of the entry field.

Using OneSearch via Telnet

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• Begin Files
  • Format
    • b file#, file#, file# up to 60 files
    • b OneSearch Category
  • Examples
    • b 146,275,607-609
    • b medicine,85

To: LT65 INDEX	To: GREENSHEET	To:	To: TOP OF PAGE:
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