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Advanced Search Tips

Search Procedures

The advanced search is used to search specific fields, including a specific title, author, keyword, year, media type, or language. Title, author, and description/keywords can be searched four ways:

• All words: All searched words must appear in that field, not necessarily in any particular order.
• At least 1 word: Only one of the search terms entered must appear.
• Exact phrase: The exact words must appear in the exact order (e.g., fetal alcohol syndrome).
• Without the words: NONE of the searched words appear.

Options are indicated by a row of radio buttons after the field name.

Note: Capitalization of words or names is not necessary.

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Rules for Each Field

• Title: Searches words that appear in the title only. For example, searching on "alcohol pregnant" will return items where both words appear in the TITLE. You can truncate "pregnant" to "pregnan" for returns with pregnant, pregnancy, etc., in the title. "Alcohol" will also return alcoholism, alcoholic, etc.



• Author: Searches authors’ LAST names and last names only. For example, if you’re looking for an article by Ann Streissguth, enter "streissguth" in the author field. If you are searching for a common last name such as Smith and you know the author’s first name is George, try searching for "Smith, G."

  

  You can also use author search to find articles with two or more authors. For example, the search below will find articles where BOTH Streissguth AND Darby are listed as authors. If you select the "at least 1 word" along with Streissguth AND Darby you will find articles where the author is either Streissguth OR Darby.



• Description/Keywords: Searches words that appear in the description/keywords fields. Entering more words further limits your search.



• 4-Digit-Year: Limits your returns to a single year. The default is all years. The year must be entered in 4-digit format, e.g., 2004, and you can only search a single year. There is no way to search a range of years.

  

  Note: The database contains information no earlier than 1965.


• Results per Page: A drop-down box controls the number of returns per page. The default is 10 per page but you can change it to display 20, 30, 50, or 100 returns per page.



• Media Type: Allows you to search by type of publication (e.g., journal articles, audio cassettes, books). ALL media types is the default.

  

  Note: For PC, hold down the <Ctrl> key to select multiple media types. For MAC users, hold down the <Command> key to select multiple media types.

  

  Note: If you do not select any Media Type, documents of all media types will be retrieved.
  
  
  Note: Resources are designated with a "Web-Based" Media Type if the Internet is the primary form of publication for the document and it is ONLY available on the Web. Web-based items include a range of information, such as news stories, Web sites, and personal testimonies.


• Category: Allows you to search for specific types of information by assigned category (e.g., case studies, characteristics, cultural issues, curricula, epidemiology, fact sheets). ALL categories is the default.



• Language: Limits your search by the published language (e.g., German, Italian, Japanese). English is the default. You can highlight multiple languages. For example, if you select "English" and "Spanish," your search will return items published in English or Spanish.

  

  Note: For PC, hold down the <Ctrl> key to select multiple languages. For MAC users, hold down the <Command> key to select multiple languages.

Entering text in multiple boxes searches across fields. For example, if you search "Streissguth" in the Author field and "Alcohol" in the Title field, you will retrieve all items by Streissguth where the word alcohol, alcoholic, alcoholism, etc. appears somewhere in the title.

After a search is complete, if you would like to do a new search, click on the NEW SEARCH text link to clear your search results.

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Viewing and Printing Results

You can print your search results directly from the Web page.

If you click on the PRINTER FRIENDLY text link, you get a simplified page for printing, with fewer formatting elements.

If you have many returns, the results set will return on multiple pages. Click on the NEXT or PREVIOUS buttons to view pages. You can also click SHOW ALL to open a separate window and display all search results alphabetized by title.

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Use of Abbreviations

In the keywords, abbreviations of national organizations and Federal agencies are linked to the full name, so you can search with the full name or abbreviation to find the same results.

Journal abbreviations are used in the Journal Title field of scientific journal article records. To find abbreviations for journal titles, use the National Library of Medicine journals database: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=journals.

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Function/Category Types: Search by Purpose

All materials are assigned a category based on the descriptions below. Categories describe a resource's usefulness, purpose, context for use, or general content.

To search by Category, select from the Category drop-down list.

Categories include:

Case Studies: Real-life examples of someone else's experiences. For example, a health case study is a story of someone's health event, recorded in sufficient detail to be useful to others as a learning tool.

Characteristics (with a primary focus on features): Major defining characteristics, structural/biochemical features, facial features, neurological/neurodevelopmental features, cognitive features, and behavioral features.

Children's Literature/Comic Book: A resource or publication written for children. This can be any form of media. A few purposes are to entertain, inform, and teach.

Conference Proceedings: Proceedings from a conference or meeting. Usually will contain speaker bios and brief descriptions of the workshops given.

Cost: Items that that look at the annual and lifetime costs associated with alcohol use during pregnancy and treatment of individuals with FASD.

Cultural Issues: Discussion and research highlighting FASD issues in non-American populations as well as issues related to a specific cultural group in the United States.

Curricula: A set of materials with goals and objectives describing what students should learn. The actual material the educator tries to convey.

Epidemiology: Items focusing primarily on FASD prevalence rates.

Etiology: Information about the biochemical mechanism of teratogenesis, the association between pregnancy drinking levels and FASD (primary focus on drinking levels), and other risk factors associated with alcohol-related birth injuries.

Fact Sheets: Pamphlets or one-page documents, including Web-based items.

Game: A game used to assist with teaching or learning.

Interventions: Items that include various forms of interventions for individuals with FASD, including discussion articles, descriptive articles, and research reports.

Monograph/Report/Article: Often long pieces focusing on a single topic. Monographs and reports often contain various chapters by different authors. This category also includes anthologies, groups of essays that focus on a specific topic.

Parenting Materials: How-to guides and other information to assist parents and other caregivers.

Policy: Items with discussion of legislation, gaps in services, Federal benefits, State focus on pregnancy drinking and FASD, and other issues.

Practice/Clinician Guide: A resource or publication used as a guide for medical, health, and other professionals such as corrections officers and social workers. The guide is generally in a "how to" format that provides information necessary to use a practice to achieve a desired outcome. An example would be a CD-ROM that gives details and examples on how to diagnose FAS. Another example is "Tools for Success," a practice guide for people in corrections.

Prevention: General prevention discussion and information relating to universal prevention, public awareness campaigns, women of childbearing age (particularly those who drink), alcohol use screening, brief intervention, women with alcohol and drug problems (particularly those who have given birth to children with FASD), assessment of alcohol problems, and treatment of alcohol and drug problems.

Reference Books: Specific information on a subject or can refer to where specific information can be found. Not meant to be read from cover to cover.

Resource Guide: Listings of where an individual can find resources or providers. Examples would include a book listing doctors experienced in diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders or a book with a list of print resources on FASD.

Screening and Diagnostic: Methods and guides associated with various forms of screening and diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Teaching Tools: Resource/publication that will assist in teaching a subject. Generally used to educate both in a classroom environment and community or other public education setting.

Terminology: Various terms and words related to FASD.

Tips for Educators: Materials for educators. The purpose is not to assist with teaching the material but to provide teaching methods. It includes information such as classroom setup and learning environments. It should not be confused with a teaching tool, which helps with teaching specific content.

Training Manual: Used to train individuals on a specific topic or subject matter. Describes the steps that will be used to conduct a training and the specific topic areas to be covered.

Visual Aids: Anything used to visually assist with learning, such as graphs, charts, or diagrams.

Women's Drinking Epidemiology: Includes alcohol use rates among pregnant women and women of childbearing age, causal factors in women's drinking, consequences of women's drinking, and consequences of problem drinking for the general population.

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Last Updated: 4/21/2006