The following are accessible only on the St. Mary's University campus.

Periodical Abstracts or ABI/Inform

Very General Search Tips

• combine words (concepts) with AND
• use synonymous or closely related words to retrieve related articles
• use truncation ($) to retrieve various forms of a word
example: mexic$ retrieves Mexico, Mexican, Mexicans
• this database is not case sensitive; you do NOT need to use upper and lower case letters
• unlike a search engine, do NOT use quotation marks (" "), plus signs (+), etc.

For more search tips

• see the Network Guide titled ABI/Inform via Ovid Web located behind that Reference Desk and in the CD-LAN Help Guides Notebooks on the Second (Main) Floor of the library.
• click on ?Help when connected to the database.
• ask a Reference Librarian (210/436-3508).

Finding articles that do NOT include full-text: The Blume Library subscribes to a number of periodicals that do not include full-text in this database. Some of these periodicals include Advertising Age, American Demographics, Business Week, and Harvard Business Review, to name only a few. To determine if we subscribe to a particular journal or periodical

• check the "journal title" in the Periodical Holdings List located on the first and second floors
• check the online catalog
• Periodicals are located on the First (basement) Floor of the Blume Library. They are arranged alphabetically by title. Most periodicals are on the shelf. Microfilm and microfiche are in the cabinets in the center aisle on the First Floor. These are also arranged alphabetically by title (except the San Antonio Express-News and the New York Times).

For items not at St. Mary's University,

• check the CORAL Union List of Periodicals located near the Reference Desk, or
• search San Antonio Library Catalogs from the Blume Library's Web site.

LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe

Search steps (once you are connected):

1. Click on an information category.
2. Type your search statement (see below for search tips).
3. Select an appropriate source category.
4. Select an appropriate time period.
5. Click on Search.
6. View your results.
7. View or download relevant documents.
8. To modify your search, click on the Last Form link at the top or bottom of the screen or on the Back tile of your browser until you are back at the search form.

Search tips

• this database is not case sensitive; you do NOT need to use upper and lower case letters
• unlike a search engine, do NOT use quotation marks (" "), plus signs (+), etc.

• Boolean connectors:

AND	Finds both terms in the document clinton and health plan
AND NOT	Finds first term, but not the second term in the document oil and not exxon
OR	Finds either term; use for synonymous or closely related terms women or gender
W/#	Terms must appear within the specified number of words of each other; useful for searching personal names boutros w/3 ghali channel w/5 tunnel
W/S	Finds both terms in the same sentence sanction w/s frivolous
W/P	Finds both terms in the same paragraph oil w/p antitrust
PRE/#	First term must precede the second term within the specified number of words cable pre/2 television

• Truncation:
• Use ! (exclamation point) to retrieve various forms of a word
mexic! retrieves Mexico, Mexican, Mexicans
• Use * (asterisk) as a wildcard to replace one letter; retrieves different forms of a word
wom*n retrieves woman, women

To Save (Download) a Document

As with other Web files accessed via Netscape or Internet Explorer, to save a document to disk:

1. Click on File in the upper left hand portion of the browser.
2. Click on Save As.
3. Make sure the appropriate Drive is selected (A: or B: for a diskette).
4. To save the document as plain (ASCII) text, select Save file type as and select Plain Text (*.txt).
5. Under File name, be sure the file has a .txt extension.
6. Click on OK and the file should then be saved to your diskette.

For more assistance,

• ask a Reference Librarian (210/436-3508).
• when connected to the database,
• click on Examples to see search examples.
• click on Search Tips.
• to learn more about the information sources contained within each information category, click on Sources.

Connect to LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe