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PowerSearch
Search Tips
Gale’s PowerSearch platform offers comprehensive access to authoritative reference, periodical and primary source information -- "giving more power to the user." PowerSearch is also a time saving tool as it cross-searches across several Gale resources. Refer to our How to Cross-search Gale Resources Tip Sheet for instructions on cross-searching. This document will provide instruction on how to use PowerSearch.
On the PowerSearch home page, you’ll find the following four options for beginning your research: Home Page (Basic Search) , Subject Guide Search , Publication Search , Advanced Search, and Topic Finder.
Basic Search from Home Page
Basic Search is a simple search that offers a few search options by selecting from the drop box: Keyword, Subject, Publication Title, or Entire Document.
Keyword searches several important fields (title, citation, first paragraph, subjects, etc.) in each document and allows for several keywords (related or not) to be entered.
Subject is best for a single topic and generally returns more relevant results. Use Subject to search for topics such as academic disciplines, companies, people, events, laws, geographic locations, organizations, etc.
Publication Title searches for all articles/documents from a particular publication like The New York Times. It’s useful for browsing recent issues.
Entire Document searches within the entire text of all documents, as well as other annotated fields. Use this search when you want any mention of your search terms.
You’ll notice each search box in PowerSearch offers a Search Assist to help you focus your search. This is a “smart” search assist and will not suggest anything that won’t retrieve results. You can use the suggestions but can also create your own search string.
Subject Guide Search
This search takes a guided approach to finding your topic. It’s best for searching a single topic and offers the ability to narrow that topic by subdivisions. It’s also helpful for discerning between words with different meanings (e.g. Mars – planet or candy company?) or people with the same name (e.g. George Bush – two former presidents share the same name).
For this search, we’ve searched on ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. Our results found a subject heading for Artificial intelligence but also shows us other subjects like Artificial intelligence software; we’ve also found a Related subjects link to related topics like
Swarm intelligence. This can help you find a more specific or broader topics to explore.
Many subject headings will also offer Subdivisions to help you narrow down your topic. To the right we’re exploring the subdivisions for Artificial intelligence. When researching a person, you’ll find subdivisions like Interview and Biography. Likewise when researching a disease or condition, you’ll find subdivisions like Care and Treatment, Diagnosis , and Prevention. This is a great way to focus your research.
Topic Finder
The Topic Finder tool generates a visual search result by topic and subtopic based on an analysis of frequently occurring and related terms in your results. It’s a great way to quickly assess your topic, find relevant articles, and discover new connections between your topic and others. You’ll find Topic Finder near the bottom of PowerSearch’s home page.
Your results initially are displayed in a Wheel View; you may switch to a Tile View if you prefer. In Tile View, the user must click on the large tiles to view narrower terms. Use the Visualization toggle on the left to move between views. Popular topics related to your search are displayed on the inner ring of the Wheel View and in the larger tiles in Tile View. More specific terms appear in the outer wheel or the smaller tiles. Both views are also a heat map – darker reds and oranges are more popular terms than yellows and greens. To view results on a topic simply click on the topic and your results will populate in the box to the right of your visual results. As you click around in a Topic Finder, results on the right update dynamically, allowing for one-click access into relevant content. Simply click on an article to view it.
Advanced Search
Advanced Search is the search where you’re the boss; you can perform a very complex search as well as a simple one. Advanced Search offers all limiting options, like Publication Date, Document Type, and Publication Subject. As an example, let’s say someone is looking for an article they read about solar eclipses in Astronomy. We choose the field we want to search from the drop box and enter our search term in the corresponding search box. Connect the fields with the operator you need – AND, OR, NOT. For more detail, please refer to Help.
Document View
To view an article, simply click the hyperlinked title of the document.
The top of the article provides some of its source information; click the down arrow to the right of the title to display more. In most documents you’ll find a button for Related Subjects ; clicking this will help you find more articles on topics in your article. You’ll find a View PDF icon for documents where a scan of the originally published document is available. Listen is also available for any text based document; you can adjust the speed and other settings by clicking the gear icon within the player.
The Document Tools are available in the box to the right of the article.
Citation Tools generates a citation using MLA or APA format, or export citations to the third party software of your choice. Email allows you to e-mail the article to yourself or others. Download allows you to save the article to your computer or memory device. Depending on your document you will be able to download an HTML and/or PDF version. Print offers a printer-friendly version of the article. Highlights and Notes provides a summary of the highlights and notes you’ve added to your document. For more on this feature, read below. Save allows you to “save” your document to My Folder (available in the Menu in the banner). This acts kind of like an online shopping cart. You can save documents to your folder and then print, e-mail, or cite them in a batch. For more on this feature, refer to Help in the banner. Download MP3 provides an audio download of your article. Share allows you to post a link to content you’ve found using a number of different sharing sites, including Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Translate Article translates the article into one of eleven different languages available from the drop down box. Keep in mind this is a machine translation. The within publication box allows you to search the same publication your article is from.
NOTE: The article text and/or images may not be included for all documents. Ask your librarian for assistance in obtaining the text/images of articles not included within the resource.
Highlights and Notes
This feature allows you to highlight text as if you’re using a highlighter marker and add notes to the highlighted text. Simply click and drag to select the text you’d like to highlight and/or add notes to and the highlights/notes bar will appear. Choose your highlighter color to highlight the text and click the Notes box to add your own notes. These highlights and notes will print with your article. They’ll also appear at the bottom of the original text of your e-mailed or HTML downloaded document. You can access a summary of your highlighted text and notes by clicking the Highlights and Notes from the More button in the banner. It’s important to remember that Highlights and Notes only last for YOUR session. Once you leave the database, they are erased to protect user privacy.
Bookmarks
By using the Bookmark feature, you and others can revisit practically any page you choose after you’ve ended your current session. The Bookmark feature is available for most pages including individual documents, search results, saved folders, and more. While viewing a page, simply click Bookmark in the top black banner. A separate window will open, allowing you to copy and paste the Bookmark link into another document, web site, teaching tool, or you may add it to your browser’s favorites list and/or e-mail it.
More
The More button in the banner offers a variety of tools such as:
Dictionary – Use Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary® to look up words. Title List – Provides a link to Gale’s website so you can download a title list of all sources that make up a database. Search History – Provides a list of your successful searches (this is erased after you leave the database). Highlights and Notes – View all the highlighted sections & notes from your current session. My Folder – Where all the documents saved during your session will be held.
If you require further assistance with PowerSearch , please contact your librarian or visit the Gale Cengage Learning Training site at www.gale.com/training.
Please note, PowerSearch will adjust to accommodate your device & screen size. All Menu and Tool options will become icons that can be opened by clicking or tapping.
