Help Information: Search Tips |
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Record Structure | Basic Search | Guided Search |
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Structure of a Record Citation |
The WDIN search engine searches the content of each record held on the site. The record includes the citation information highlighted below in the examples. |
Journal Article Record Example |
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Website Record Example |
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Description of Record Elements |
Title: |
The title of the resource. |
Publisher or Source: |
Indicates the original source or the organization responsible for publishing the item. |
Description: |
Describes the resource and the kind of information it provides. |
Resource Type: |
Specifies the types of materials the resource provides, e.g. News, Maps, Fact Sheets, Issue Overviews, etc. |
Keywords: |
Standardized terms that provide additional information about the resource. These can be used to improve search precision. |
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Basic Search |
Result set too large: |
- Narrow the search by increasing the number of search terms. This expands the search from a very general to a more specific concept.
- Review the first few records from the large set retrieved and select one or two that appear to meet your information needs. Do any of the keywords assigned to the records clarify your original search? If so, re-perform the search using these keywords.
- Try the Guided Search.
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Result set too small: |
- Broaden the search by reducing the number of search terms entered.
- Use more general terms. Terms that are to specific can reduce the number of records returned. (Examples: Use duck instead of mallard duck, or use avian instead of avain botchulism).
- Try the Guided Search.
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Guided Search |
This option provides seven filter categories which can be used alone or in combination with your own terms to improve the precision of your search
- View each category individually by selecting expand [+] symbol. Select the [-] symbol to collapse the list again.
- View or hide all the categories at once by selecting the expand all [+] symbol or collapse all [-] symbol in upper right-hand corner.
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Result set too large: |
- Narrow the search by increasing the number of search terms. This expands the search from a very general to a more specific concept.
- Review the first few records from the large set retrieved and select one or two that appear to meet your information needs. Do any of the keywords assigned to the records clarify your original search? If so, re-do the search with these keywords.
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Result set too small: |
- Broaden the search by reducing the number of search terms entered. You can remove a filter term by clicking the symbol. To remove terms entered by you, simply delete your search terms from the text box.
- Use more general terms. Terms to specific can reduce the number of records returned.
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Description of Categories |
Specific Disease: |
Lists specific diseases to search on, e.g. chronic wasting disease, West Nile virus, or avian influenza. |
Disease Aspects: |
Allows the search to be limited to specific disease aspects, e.g. epidemiology, zoonoses, or virology. |
Disease Agents: |
Lists by causes of disease, e.g. virus, prions, or fungus. |
Disease Types: |
Narrows search by type of disease, e.g. viral disease, bacterial, parasitic, or zoonoses. |
Species Affected: |
Allows the search to be limited by species, e.g. bird, mammal, or reptile. This is useful if interested in searching by diseases that affect a specific species. |
Resource Type: |
Can limit the search to a specific resource type, e.g. proceedings, photographs, maps, or journal articles. |
Technical Level: |
Indicates what technical level to search by: technical (scientific research level), semi-technical (scientific but instructional), and non-technical (created for general public). |
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