University Library > Guides > Using SuperSearch

How to Use SuperSearch

Table of Contents:

Introduction to SuperSearch

SuperSearch allows you to search up to 8 databases/websites in a single search. This means that you can search databases from a variety of vendors in one query. For example, if you have a business topic you can search ABI/Inform (ProQuest), Business Source Elite (EBSCO) and Business Full Text (WilsonWeb) in a single search instead of three separate searches, so it will save you time. It is also possible to search the UW-W library catalog and the WorldCat (FirstSearch) database simultaneously. Other features of SuperSearch allow you to:

  • Search librarian selected databases in a specific field
  • Create your own list of databases to search simultaneously
  • Save and store searches
  • Set saved searches to run automatically and email you with results

Not all of the databases available to UW-W students, faculty and staff are searchable through SuperSearch. Only those databases with a magnifying glass Magnifying glass icon can be searched using SuperSearch. All databases are available in the "native" interface.

QuickSearch & Custom Search

Both QuickSearch and Custom Search allow you to pick a subject area and then search several pre-selected databases/websites simultaneously. Each offers two modes of searching, Simple and Advanced. 

In QuickSearch you can preview which databases will be searched by clicking on the subject name. A window pops up with a listing of them. Find out more about an individual database by clicking on the Information icon next to its name. Use the simple mode to search for a single word or a phrase (quotes are not required around a phrase). Combine terms by using the same search techniques that you use in any of the databases or the library catalog.

Search Techniques

To retrieve records with:

Search for:
various endings of a word, e.g. alcoholic, alcoholism alcohol?
more than one word, not adjacent but related drug and addict? and women
various words having similar concepts drug? or narcotic?
combining terms (women or female?) and (drugs or alcohol?)
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Using the Advanced Search you can limit the search terms to particular parts of the record. Use the dropdown menus to select the particular field to search in. For example, if you know that a person whose last name is Beck writes about depression you could use the advanced search to only look for beck as an author and the depression as a subject.

example of advanced search

Custom Search offers more subject categories than QuickSearch and additional databases in many of the subject categories. Click on the dropdown menu under Subject Category (the default is "general") and select a subject area to highlight it. A subject a list of databases appears. This is the "Core" group of databases selected by the librarian specializing in that subject area. Additional databases can be found by clicking on "More". These databases broaden the possibilities for searching. When a list of databases appears some, or perhaps all, of them will have a check mark in the box beside the database name. If all the boxes are not checked you can add the check mark to make sure all of the core databases are included in the search. If there are particular databases in the list that you would like to eliminate from the search you can click in the box and remove the check. The limit is 8 databases at a time. Some databases will not have a check box. Databases without one cannot be searched at the same time as other databases, but rather are included to increase awareness of the resources. You can search these databases individually by clicking on the database name, which leads to the "native" interface. There you can search and limit just as if you hand chosen the database from the alphabetical list. All the databases have + which allows you to add that database to a personalized list you create for yourself. This option is only available if you have logged in.

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View Results

After a search is completed in QuickSearch the Search Summary (Search Resources in Custom Search) screen displays. It indicates how many items were found in each database searched. There will be two numbers, the number of items found and the number of items retrieved. Clicking on view retrieved (in QuickSearch) or view results (in Custom Search) will bring up the items retrieved. In Custom Search you have the additional option of clicking on view to see the results from a specific database. Often the number items retrieved will be smaller than the number found. In order to view more of the found items click on retrieve more (in QuickSearch) or combine more (in Custom Search) at the top of the results screen.

screenshot of QuickSearch results

There are three ways to view results in QuickSearch & Custom Search:

  • Table View is the default display. It shows the author, title, date of publication and the database in which the article can be found. The default sort is by year, you can change that by clicking on the dropdown menu next to the Sort by box. To get to the next set of records click on <next> at the top of the SuperSearch screen just under the "Sort by" box.
  • Brief View shows fewer records on the page but there is more information. In addition to the author, title, date of publication and database the journal title, volume, issue and page numbers are included.
  • Full View displays one record at a time but includes the abstract and subject headings along with all the information found in the Table and Brief views.

Sometimes only a subset of all the results is shown:

  • To get more records go to the last record and click on Get More
  • New citations will be integrated into the previous results
  • New citations are displayed in bold to separate them from previously retrieved entries
  • To be confident that you have seen all the results type in the number of the last entry, click on the arrow and see if Get More appears at the end of the list of results

You can change the way the results are displayed by logging in and clicking on My Research and then on My Preferences. You can select brief or full view as your default. You can have 20 or 30 results per page displayed at a time.

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Viewing the Article

There are several options for viewing the article. From the Table View or Brief View:

  • Click on the article title
    • Full text will be displayed at the end of the record for some articles
    • The label External sometimes leads to a link to the full text of an article
  • Click on the Find It button button
    • If the article is available from one of our databases there will be a link to the article or to the database
    • If the article is in a journal that we have in print on the first floor of the library there will be a link to the Catalog
    • If we don't have the article in print or online there will be a link to ILLiad to facilitate InterLibrary Loan
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Email or Save Results

Results from a search may be emailed or saved individually by viewing the full view of the record and clicking on the appropriate icon.

To email or save several records at a time:

  • Click on the folder Icon folder icon next to each article. The folder icon will change to include an arrow marked item folder icon. This indicates that the article information has been added to a temporary folder in My Research. There is no limit to the number of articles you can select.
  • Click on My Research in the upper tool bar, that opens My eShelf
  • Place a check mark next to Author to save all the references or check the box next to the article information to save a particular item; click the delete icon next to the article to remove it
  • Click on Selected, located above the word Database and to the left of Previous
  • Click on Save or Send

If you have logged in, your selected records will be available whenever you log into SuperSearch and click on My Research.  If you have not logged in, your selected records will remain available only for as long as you are currently working in SuperSearch.

 

Find Resources

Use this function to find if the library has a particular database or online resource. To find databases in a particular subject enter terms in the title search box and check the radio button for "contains" and the radio button for "unrestricted". For example, you could search for <Biology or Biological> in the Title search and find all databases with either of those words in the database name or description. Clicking on a letter of the alphabet and waiting a few seconds brings up all databases starting with that letter. You may search only one database at a time using "Find Resources. See Create a Custom Set of Databases for instructions on creating and searching your own set of databases. The "native" interface is always available by clicking on the database name.

Find eJournals

Use this link to find all journals to which we have access. Some will be full text online and some will be only in print.

Logging In

It is necessary to log in if you want to use any of the features described under My Research. For instance, to save your search results from one session to the next or to create your own set of databases to search you need to go to the PDS-Patron Directory Services window.

Click on login at the top of any SuperSearch page

  • The User ID is your UW-W email name
  • The Password is your Net-ID password
  • Click on login
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My Research

Within My Research you can:

  • Save the results from a search
  • Create a custom set of databases of your own choosing
  • Save a search query
  • Set up an alert service to be notified when new results have been added to a search of self selected databases

Save the Results from a Search

  • After performing a search you may save articles by clicking on the folder Icon folder icon. The folder icon will change to include an arrow marked item folder icon. This indicates that the article information has added to a temporary folder in My Research. There is no limit to the number of articles you can select.
  • Click on My Research in the upper tool bar
  • Place a check mark next to Author to save all the references or check the box next to the article information to save a particular item
  • Click on the Save As icon Save as icon.
  • A Save As window will appear. Type in a folder (file) name and click Save The article information will be saved to your personal folder in My eShelf and will be accessible any time you are logged into SuperSearch.

Create a Custom Set of Databases of Your Own Choosing

  • Click on Find Resources from the upper toolbar
  • Select the database(s) you'd like to add by clicking on the Add icon sign
  • Click on My Research and then on My Resources in the upper tool bar
  • Click on the Create New Set icon Create new set icon
  • Name your folder and add identifying information if desired. Click on Save
  • Click on the left arrow to move the databases from the clipboard to your named set.
  • Rename your sets by clicking on the update icon update icon : delete databases by clicking on the delete icon

The next time you login your personal set(s) will appear above the library defined QuickSearch sets. If you are using Custom Search your personal sets appear when you use the dropdown menu under "Identify resource" (the default is Subject Categories). Your sets will appear when you highlight My Resources.

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Save a Search Query

  • Select the databases you wish to search and enter your terms
  • After the search results appear, click on Custom Search and then Previous Searches in the upper toolbars
  • Click on the Plus Sign Add icon to save it
  • Click on My Research and then on My History in the upper toolbars. The saved searches from the current session will be listed.
  • Click on the query to re-run the search

Set up an Alert

  • Follow the first four steps listed above
  • Click on the Bell icon Bell icon
    • A Window will appear asking for
      • an Alert name
      • full email address
      • receiving a message if there are no results (yes or no)
      • run this Alert every: (select number of days or use the dropdown menu and change to weeks or months)
      • select the resources to be run (you can deselect specific databases from the set)
      • click on Submit
      • The notification will come to your email with the sender listed as MetaLib User and the subject MetaLib Alert Report

To get to your list of alerts when you first open SuperSearch click on My Research and then on My History. You can edit your Alerts by clicking on the edit Edit icon icon.

Quirks

  • Not all of the library's databases/resources can be searched in SuperSearch. Some databases are "link only" and cannot be searched at the same time as other databases. Clicking on those database names will lead to the "native" interfaces.
  • Limits available in individual databases may not be available in SuperSearch. For example, you can't limit to journal articles in English only. To have access to those limits you must go to the "native" interface.
  • It is not always clear when there are more results in a search than are listed at the top of the results table.
  • Boolean searching (using AND,OR,NOT) doesn't work with all databases.
  • Truncation (using the ? to get endings of words) doesn't work in all databases.
  • It is not fully compatible with screen readers
  • Safari works better than IE (Internet Explorer) for Mac users
  • Supported browsers are I 5.0 or higher (Windows only), Netscape 6 or higher and Mozilla.
  • When searching multiple databases the results are in the order in which they are retrieved. Thus results from databases specific to a subject may not show up in the first set of results.
  • When doing a search for a book in the UW-W library catalog the full record shows the call number in the LC no. field. To find the call number and location of material found in the UW-W catalog click on the link next to the label "Location & call no".
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