Note: The information on this page currently refers to the OVID search interface. The interface was recently upgraded to EBSCO. This document will be updated shortly.
1. What is PsycINFO?
PsycINFO is a database that indexes hundreds of journals in psychology. The database consists of a collection of records; information about a single article makes up a record. Each unit of information in a record is called a field. At a minimum, each record contains fields with the title, author, and publication information. Abstracts are almost always included as well. There are over 30 additional fields in each record, most (but not all) of which are of little interest.2. Opening the PsycINFO Database
Option 1:
- In your web browser select File and Open location
- Type gateway.ovid.com/autologin.html
- You will now see a screen with the heading Ovid -- Choose a Database. Click on PsycINFO in the list of databases
Option 2:3. Searching PsycINFO
- In your web browser, navigate to the Bates College homepage
- Click on Hot List Menu
- Select Ladd Library
- Click on Indexes/Databases (near upper left corner of screen)
- Click on Psychology under the Social Science heading
- Click on PsycINFO
- Scroll through the list of databases and click on PsycINFO (you will need to do this twice)
Basic Search
In the box Enter Keyword or phrase you should enter the subject you are interested in searching for and then click on Perform Search. The results of your search appears in the Search History box. In this box you will see a running list of all the searches you do during a given session. The Results column indicates the # of articles matching your search criteria.
The search will give you a list of articles that have your search word appearing somewhere in their records. The search is VERY literal; for example, if you search for the word children you will not get articles about preschoolers, or even articles with the word child.
Limiting your search
Unless you are searching for a very obscure topic, you will need to limit your search because you will be given too many records to review. For example, entering the word exercise generates over 11,000 records. Try to have fewer than 100 records before you start looking at individual records. Don't limit your search unless you need to; that is, start with the most general term and limit gradually. For general information on refining your topic, refer to the library page on Research Help. The information below also provides some ideas about how to limit your search in PsycINFO.
Limit by date
This is almost always a good option. Once you start reading recent articles, it quickly becomes clear which older material is still being cited (and therefore needs to be tracked down). To limit by date, use the From _____ to _____ boxes under the main search box. You can change the years in these boxes by holding down the mouse button and scrolling through the years. For starters, try limiting to the last 10 years.Using information limits
If you want to limit your search to particular samples (i.e., only animal studies or only disordered populations) or by primary language or to journal articles click on the Limit icon above the Search History box. A Limit a Search Window will open. Select the # from the Search History box that you would like to limit. Click on the box(es) in front of the information that you would like to limit. Click on the Limit Search button.Limit by topic
This is your best tool for limiting your searches. You can try picking a more specific term for a one-word search (e.g., use anorexia instead of eating disorders) or you can use more than one word and combine the terms with Boolean operators (e.g., AND, OR, NOT). For example, entering exercise AND self-esteem generates several hundred records which contain both the words exercise and self-esteem. If you type exercise OR self-esteem you get records which have either one or the other--in this case, tens of thousands of records-- most having nothing to do with the overlap of the two terms.Because the search is literal you will not get records that use synonyms such as self-confidence rather than self-esteem. One way around this is to ask for records which contain self-esteem or self-confidence. If you type exercise AND self-esteem OR self-confidence the program reads the phrases in pairs from left to right (just as in algebra); in this case you will get records that have either exercise AND self-esteem OR the term self-confidence. In other words, you could get records about self-confidence that have nothing to do with exercise. Use parentheses to specify how you want the groups to be read; in this case, exercise AND (self-esteem OR self-confidence) will give you the correct ordering (i.e., records which all deal with exercise and in addition have either the term self-esteem or the term self-confidence.)
Using the icons above the Search History box
Many of these are helpful. Play around and explore their capabilities. For example, clicking on the Author, Title, and Journal icons will allow you to search specific fields rather than entire records. Look at Search Fields to get an idea of all the different fields that make up a complete record--you may find something useful here.Within the PsycINFO database is a thesaurus function which allows you to search the database documents to obtain synonyms and form variations of a selected term. A hierarchy of broader, narrower, and related terms will be generated for a selected term. To use Thesaurus: Click on the Tools icon above the Search History box. Type your subject heading in the box to the right of Subject. Click on Perform Search. Choose the appropriate subject heading and highlight either explode or focus and click Continue. A search will be generated that either combines the term selected with all conceptually similar narrower terms (explode) or retrieves documents in which your term is the central concept under investigation (focus). You may also combine two terms using Boolean operators (e.g., AND, OR).
Other tips for searching (use on-line help to explore the many other searching tools)
4. IMPORTANTTruncating words
Suppose you want to search for the words exercise OR exercisers OR exercises OR exercising. To avoid typing all these words out, you can simply type exercis$. Using the dollar sign will turn up records containing any words starting with the letters exercis.Wild cards
If you want to search for words that have different spellings such as women and woman you can type wom#n. The # sign can only be used to substitute for a single letter at a time.Adding to a search you've already done
Suppose your first search was on exercise and you want your second search to be on exercise AND self-esteem. You can type 1 AND self-esteem and the program will search for records that meet the criteria of you first search AND have the word self-esteem. You can combine searches by entering the search numbers and connecting them with the word AND (e.g., typing 3 AND 8 will find all records that appear in search #3 and also in search #8. This option is also useful if you want to gradually limit the years on a given search. Just type the search number into the Keyword box and select the new year limits.
PEOPLE HAVE LOST HOURS OF WORK!! If you don't type anything for 5-10 minutes (reports vary), your PsycINFO session may "time out" and you will lose any records that you have not saved, printed or emailed; that is, you will lose marked records. You can try using the back button on your browser, but this rarely works. PsycINFO has also been known to time out even if you ARE typing regularly. SAVE FREQUENTLY (every 15 to 30 minutes).To save a search history: If you cannot complete a search or would like access to a search in order to look up library holdings at a later time you can temporarily save your search history. To save a search, click on Save Search History at the bottom of the Search History box. Under Search Name type the name of the search. Click Save Search. You can now log out and your search history will be saved for 168 hours. To retrieve your saved search at a later date just log in to PsycINFO (within 168 hours!). Click on Saved Searches under the Search History box. A window will appear that has a list of your temporary searches. Click on the box next to the search you would like to open and click on Run Search(es). Click on the Main Search Page button. Your saved search should appear. Given that all searches are saved on the same system (someone else can access your search!) you should also use an alternative method for saving your records (refer to Printing/saving marked records).
5. Looking at Records
In the Search History box there is a link labeled Display for each search. Click on this and you will get a listing of all the record titles generated by that search. You now need to mark any records you are interested in so that you can save or print out the titles.6. Printing/Saving Marked RecordsThere are two ways to mark records. USE ONLY ONE METHOD IN ANY GIVEN SEARCH (see below).
METHOD 1: Next to each title is a small box that you can click on to mark the record. As you will note, the only information that is provided is the citation. It is often difficult to determine whether you would like the article based just on the citation. To see the abstract (or summary) of the study refer to Method 2 below or customize the display. To customize your display click on the Customize Display tab at the top left of the screen. In the Display Fields section click on the circle in front of Citation+Abstract. Click Continue at the top of the screen. You will now notice that the citation and abstract for each record appears.
METHOD 2: Click on either Abstract or Complete Reference to view an individual record in more detail. There is a separate web page for each record with a Citation # at the top of the page. Click on the box next to the Citation # to mark the record for future use. From this window, you can either go on to the next citation (abstract and all) by clicking on the Next Citation(s) button (top of screen), or you can return to browse through titles by clicking on the Titles Display button (top of screen).
**** On any given set of 10 citations if you begin by marking records using the first method and then switch to the second method, you will lose any records marked with the first method (for that page only). The reverse is also true. Thus, it is a good idea to only use one of the methods in a given search.****
When you are finished selecting records, first follow steps 1 - 5 and then pick one of the 3 options for dealing with marked records (print, save, or email).
1) Click on the Main Search Page button at the top of the screen. The records that you marked should appear as the last search in the Search History box.2) Click on the word Display for that search. This will generate a new page containing only the records you marked.3) At the bottom of this page there are a series of boxes under the heading Citation Manager. Under Citations click All in this set to select all your marked records for printing, saving or emailing.4) Under Fields, choose Citation if you just need the title/author/journal to find material in the library--it's a big waste of paper to print out abstracts if you don't need them; choose Citation + Abstract if you need the abstract.5) Under Citation Format click on the Include Search History box. If you later want go back and do additional searches on your topic, the search history is very helpful because it lets you know what combinations you've already tried. It also enables other people to help you figure out different ways to search the topic.
Option 1: Printing: Under Action click Display. Now you can use the print button in your browser to print what is on the screen.
Option 2: Emailing: Under Action click Email. Fill in your email address (including @bates.edu) and click on Send Email.
Option 3: Saving to a file: Under Action click Save. Navigate to where you want the file to be saved.7. Retrieving an Article or Book Located in PsycINFO
With a copy of your selected records in hand or on-screen, follow the steps listed below for retrieving the article.8. Searching Additional Databases along with PsycINFO1) After printing, saving, or emailing the records, click on the Main Search Page button at the top of the screen. Click on the word Display next to the last search in the Search History box (This should display all of your marked records). If you are locating an article during a different PsycINFO session, you will need to perform a new search using the keywords from the previous search history or run a saved search (see Option 3 above).2) Click on Library Holdings under the article/book that you would like to locate. One of the following will appear:
a) If the library has a copy of the journal/book then reference information will appear that you can record and use to locate the article/book at Ladd Library.
b) If the library has access to the electronic journal then you will be able to click on the record and it will redirect you to the journal site. You will then need to locate and print the article from that site.
c) If the library does not have the journal/book then a table of numbers will appear with your record number highlighted in red stating that your record would be here if it was available at the library.
To retrieve a book not available at Ladd Library1) When the library holdings report that a book is not available at Ladd, scroll to the top of the screen and click on Repeat Search in Maine Info Net. If the book is available through Info Net a screen will appear that allows you to request the item. Fill in the necessary information and submit it on-line. You should hear from the Library in a few days stating that the book is available for you to pick up.
2) If the book is not available through Maine Info Net you will need to complete an interlibrary loan form using one of the 3 methods below:
a) Obtain an interlibrary loan (ILL) form from the Library Reference Desk. Fill in your name and address and the necessary citation information and submit it at the Reference desk.
b) Submit your Interlibrary Loan form on-line. Go to http://abacus.bates.edu/Library/services/request/loanillbook.shtml. Fill in your name and address and the necessary citation information and click Submit Request.
c) Use the Order function within PsycINFO. To use the order function display your search within PsycINFO. Click on all the records (both books and journals) that you would like to have sent to you through interlibrary loan. Once you have marked your records scroll down to the Citation Manager box at the bottom of the screen. Under Action click Order. Fill in your name and address and click Continue. A new window will appear that has a listing of all the records you would like sent to you. Review this list to make sure it is accurate. Fill in the date by which you need the book(s)/article(s) and any additional comments. Click Order Items. A window will open that discusses copyright restrictions. If you agree to the restrictions click the I Accept button.
To retrieve an article not available at Ladd LibraryWhen the library holdings report that a journal is not available at Ladd, you will need to complete an interlibrary loan form using one of the 3 methods below:
1) Forms are available at the Library Reference Desk. Fill in your name and address and the necessary citation information and submit it at the Reference desk.
2) Submit your Interlibrary Loan form on-line. Go to http://abacus.bates.edu/Library/services/request/loanillarticle.shtml. Fill in your name and address and the necessary citation information and click Submit Request.
3) Use the Order function within PsycINFO. To use the order function display your search within PsycINFO. Click on all the records (both books and journals) that you would like to have sent to you through interlibrary loan. Once you have marked your records scroll down to the Citation Manager box at the bottom of the screen. Under Action click Order. Fill in your name and address and click Continue. A new window will appear that has a listing of all the records you would like sent to you. Review this list to make sure it is accurate. Fill in the date by which you need the book(s)/article(s) and any additional comments. Click Order Items. A window will open that discusses copyright restrictions. If you agree to the restrictions click the I Accept button.
If your topic is interdisciplinary in nature, you may find it helpful to search multiple databases simultaneously. For example, if you are examining the detrimental effects of stress you may be interested in not only the psychological repercussions but also the physiological impact. Therefore, it may be helpful to search PsycINFO and MEDLINE. To add another database click on Change Database icon above the Search History box. A new window will appear. Click on the Select more than one database to search tab at the top of the screen. Place a check in the box next to each database that you would like to search. Click on the Click to begin search button on the left. When the new window appears all the databases that you have selected should be listed.It should be noted that the same article may appear in both databases and will therefore appear more than once in your search. After performing an initial search, it is possible to remove duplicates from your search history. Click on Remove Duplicates at the bottom of the Search History box. In the new window select the search you would like to remove the duplicates. Click on Continue. Your Search History box will reappear with the duplicates removed.
