Undergraduate Research and Mentorship Program

CAS SciFinder offers a powerful "All types" search by default where you can use keywords, substance names, patent numbers, DOIs, and more. In addition to these options, the database can also be searched by drawing a chemical structure.

If you do not want to search across all types of results, select the relevant tab above the search box to focus your results on substances, reactions, references, and suppliers. Note that the search box fields may change and additional tools, such as Advanced Search may appear as different tabs are chosen.

The CAS SciFinder Help and Support provides in depth, step-by-step guides on how to use the platform that are available with or without logging into the platform. Click the name of the individual search types below to go directly to their specific help page.

• Search Substances
• Search Reactions
• Search References
• Search Suppliers

Below the search box, there are additional boxes for Retrosynthetic Analysis, Search CAS Lexicon, and Search CAS Sequences which will bring you to specialized search interfaces. There is additional information on these tools on the Special Features tab or use the links below to visit the CAS SciFinder Help and Support page for each specialized search:

• Retrosynthetic Analysis - Creating a Retrosynthesis Plan
• Search CAS Lexicon - Find References Using CAS Lexicon Builder
• Search CAS Sequences- Search Sequences

Further down the page, the platform displays your recent search history (including what type of search: All, Retrosynthesis, Substances, etc.) so that you rerun or edit your searches.

CAS SciFinder provides a series of support tools that include in depth, step-by-step guides to searching on the platform and using results effectively.

Get started by using the SciFinder Quick Reference Guide - Academic Users or browse and search all of the help resources using the link to CAS SciFinder Help & Support below:

Running a basic search in Credo Reference is similar to searching in Wikipedia. You can use general keywords and phrases in your search and Credo Reference will return results that include some or all of your keywords.

Clicking the "Advanced Search" button below the search box opens up additional options to control what kinds of results your search returns.

Use the provided Advanced Search boxes to refine your search based on the prompts.

In addition, the Advanced Search box includes drop-down menus that will allow you to limit Subjects, Titles, Publication Dates, and Features by checking the appropriate box.

Credo Reference supplies a visual related topics map that can be a great way to explore your topic and see connections that can further your research. Click the links in the map to jump to articles on that topic and generate a new visual topic map.

Click the Hugo Award and a new series of search results will load:

Credo Reference is equipped with a Research Quick Tips tool for help with research, searching, and topic selection to help you make the most of the database. To access the Research Quick Tips area, click on the three-lined "hamburger" menu in the upper-left corner of the screen and choose "Research Quick Tips":

The Research Quick Tips menu has several helpful guides:

Running a basic search in JSTOR is similar to searching in Wikipedia. You can use general keywords and phrases in your search and JSTOR will return results across its full collection that include some or all of your keywords. 

On the results page, the left-side menu can be used to filter your results. Check the "Content I can Access" button to access full-text articles.

Clicking the "Advanced Search" button above the search box opens an new page with additional options to control what kinds of results your search will return.

Use the provided Advanced Search fields, dropdown menus, and material types boxes to refine your search.

JSTOR also provides a Search Help page that provides specific overview of the advanced tools available on the platform. Examples include using Boolean Operators, Truncation, Wildcards, and Proximity searching.

• An Introduction to Searching on JSTOR
• Searching: Boolean Operators
• Searching: Truncation, Wildcards and Proximity
• and many more on the Search Help page

In addition to standard database searching, JSTOR includes several tools that can be used for exploring your topic, discovering resources, and extracting data from the JSTOR collection. Each of these resources can be found in the Tools menu in the upper-right portion of any search page.

• Text Analyzer:

• This feature allows you to upload a document that includes text (an article, your own paper, or even a picture of a page of  a book) and the platform will analyze the text for topics and terms before presenting you with related materials in JSTOR's collection and an adjustable dashboard. This is a tool that can help with document discovery and topic explorations, but remember that this is an accessory to performing your own searches and you should always be wary of machine generated results and be sure to verify any sources that the system suggests.
• The results dashboard has a different appearance form the normal search results page. The search filters for this feature are at the top of the results list in a dropdown menu and includes publication year, content type, and the "Content I can access" checkbox.
• Learn more about Text Analyzer on the about page: https://www.jstor.org/analyze/about

• The JSTOR Understanding series:

• ​​​​​​​The JSTOR Understanding series presents primary resources with passages highlighted to indicate resources in JSTOR that have quoted the passage and provides links to those articles. This tool can be used to explore the scholarly interpretation of primary works, brainstorm topics, and learn about primary resources.

• Data for Research:

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• The Data for Research tool uses Constellate, a JSTOR Labs project, to provide text analysis and text mining access to the JSTOR collection that can be used to create datasets such as term frequency over time and prevalence within a subject.
• This resource also provides built in visualization tools for your data set.

JSTOR offers a full LibGuides site of research guides to help researchers make the most of the platform. These assistance tools can be found in the page footer of any page by clicking the "LibGuides" or "Research Basics" links.

• Recommended guides include the following:
  • How to Use JSTOR
    • Searching JSTOR
  • Research Basics: an open academic research skills course

Mintel offers two types of environments, one for Expert Analysis and one for Consumer Data. Both offer a basic search functionality that is paired with a browse function. Switch between search environments at the top left of the screen on desktop/laptop devices and in the top menu on mobile devices under Mintel Sites.

• Expert Analysis:
  • Basic searches can be filtered by multiple facets such as business sector category, region, trends, and demographics.
  • By default, the system will include all content types in the results list. This can be changed by using the Content Types drop down menu below the search bar.
    • Content Types include:
      • Reports: the most detailed content with analysis of consumer markets paired with datasets.
      • Industry Trends: overviews of trends in specific industries.
      • Expert Insights: topical articles with expert analysis.
      • Observations: quick reads about developments in various markets.
      • Upcoming Reports: Mintel's reports are delivered on specific schedules and this filter can be used to anticipate upcoming reports that you may want to consult or use to update your research.

• Consumer Data:
  • This search environment focuses specifically on the platforms databooks which include consumer survey data in an interactive, downloadable format.
  • Searches in this interface will be keyword matched to titles and questions from the databooks. Use the filters below the search box to narrow your search to a specific category, region, or survey type.

Mintel offers a general Help & Training page that can help with troubleshooting as well as providing more information about the insights and data provided on the platform.  Access the page by clicking on the profile/account settings icon in the middle of the upper right corner of the screen and selecting "Help & training" from the menu.

If your question is not addressed in the help center, please contact a librarian for assistance.

Phone: 757 823-2418
Email: library@nsu.edu
SMS: 757 230-2015

On the O'Reilly home page, there is a search box at the top where you can type in key words, events, topics, titles, etc...  You can also browse by "Topics" or "Start Learning" which is divided into "books", "courses", and "answers."

Click on the "Topics" link and in the drop down menu click on "View all topics."

Search for a specific topic using the Topics filter in the left panel.

Then sort your results by format, publication date, publisher, relevance, popularity, rating, and date added.

Save interesting content to your playlist so you can easily come back to it later. The "Add to playlist" button is on the upper left of the item page.

O'Reilly will also list your history on your landing page.

See related topics and follow the ones that interest you. O'Reilly will personalize your home page with content in the topic areas you follow.

SocINDEX with Full Text is part of the EBSCOhost platform. By default this platform will open on the Advanced Search screen. You can enter general keywords and phrases in the top search box or switch to Basic Search by clicking the "Basic Search" link below the search boxes. Either way, SocINDEX with Full Text will return results across its full collection that include some or all of your keywords. 

Many of the EBSCOhost databases available at Norfolk State University search huge volumes of resources and using the Advanced Search to narrow your results is often advised. See the Advanced Search tab of this block for more information.

The "Advanced Search" option is the default and preferred method of using the EBSCOhost platform search.

Use the provided Advanced Search search boxes to build your search and refine it by assigning values to the "Select a field" dropdown menu at the end of each search box.

Below the search boxes, there are a variety of Search options that can be used to narrow results by language, publication date, and many more. This section is also where you will find the "Peer Reviewed" checkbox to limit your results to only scholarly resources.

For detailed explanations of every field in the Advanced Search feature, review the instructions in the user manual that can be accessed from the "Help" link in the upper-right corner of any page.

SocINDEX with Full Text and other EBSCOhost databases offer several specific filtering and time-saving features.

• Dynamic filtering:
  • In the search results page, the "Refine Results" tools on the left side menu will adapt and changed based on the database being accessed and the type of materials in the results list.
  • If available, the "Refine Results" list will include the "Full Text" and "Peer Reviewed" check boxes as well as a publication date range covering the available dates in the results list.
  • Some databases will introduce additional filtering facets such as the research methods used to conduct a study or the inclusion of images. When you land on the results page, take note of all of the available filters to help you find the best items from your search.

• Easy Sign In:
  • When you access EBSCOhost platform databases through OpenAthens, you only need to click the "Sign In" link at the top of any page to enter your personalized workspace where you can save your resources to Folders and even share folders with a group.
  • If you want to save documents to your folder, make sure that you click "Sign In" first. This will make sure that your items are saved and will be accessible the next time that you access and EBSCOhost database.
  • Because your EBSCOhost account works across the full platform, your folders are available any EBSCOhost database so that your research is always available.

• Mix-and-Match:
  • The EBSCOhost platform includes many databases and you can search across any or all of them simultaneously by selecting the databases that you want to search from the full database list.
    • From the top of the search page, click the "Choose Databases" link and a pop-up will the full database list will appear. Check or un-check the boxes for databases that you want to search and click OK. Now when you search, you will be searching all of your selected databases at once. 
      • For more information about each database, click the ">" next to the database name to open a full description.
      • Note that when you mix databases, you may lose some of the filtering options that you are used to seeing in an individual search on the results page. If necessary, rerun your search in single databases as needed.

EBSCOhost offers a full user manual that can be accessed through the "Help" button in the upper right corner of any page. Additionally, anywhere that you see a "?" symbol at the end of a line, you can click that button for support on that specific topic.