Informit
What is Informit?
Informit is a collection of electronic databases that index and abstract a range of Australian publications. Some indexes have links to web-based full text materials. There are five full-text databases: A+ Education, AGIS Plus Text, APA-FT, Family & Society Plus and Meditext . These provide access to thousands of PDF articles. Subject areas covered include: public affairs, law, criminology, policing, family studies, health, education, history, Indigenous peoples, heritage, business, economics, management, engineering, environment, agriculture and Asian resources.
Getting started
Informit is available from the University Library page. Use your web browser to go to
<http://www.une.edu.au/library>, then:
- Choose Most popular databases from the Databases drop down menu. Click on the Go button.
- Select Informit.
- Enter your UNE username and password when prompted.
- Click in the boxes next to indexes you wish to search and then click on continue.
- If you don’t know what index to search, read the brief information for each index underneath its name. You can also click on More information for additional details.
Search strategies
- The right side of the screen offers a Search Query box, with tabs for Indexes and Thesauri.
- Begin your search using broad terms, then refine it if necessary.
- Search Hints at the bottom of the search panel provides search tips.
- Enter terms or phrases into the boxes provided, selecting from drop-down menus the Boolean operators (AND, OR and NOT), and fields to search. You can also limit to Full Content Records Only (full-text) or by Publication Year(s).
- Click Search.
Fig 1 Informit search interface
Varying your search strategy
- The wildcard * replaces letters. dra*3t will find draft or draught.
- The wildcard * is also used to truncate a word. aborigin* retrieves aborigines, aboriginal, aboriginality and so on.
- Use the Boolean operator AND to narrow your search. Environment AND economics will find records mentioning both of these terms.
- The operator OR widens your search and finds records with either or all of the words entered, such as dog OR puppy OR canine.
- Click on Search Hints to view other search strategies.
Author Searches
- To search for an author click on the Indexes tab then from Select Index use the drop-down arrow and choose All Author fields - phrase. Type the author’s family name into the search window and variations of the name will appear in a list. Tick the box for the one you want and click Search Checked.
Thesauri
- This function is offered for selected resources. It allows you to search controlled subject headings including broader, narrower and related terms to retrieve highly relevant results.
Viewing your results
- After performing a search, the results display on the left hand side of the Informit screen.
- To view the full text of an article, click on the link to Full Text under the record. If no full text is offered use the Find it icon
to check if we hold it elsewhere. - To return to your list of results from the full text, click on Back, or your browser's Back button.
Fig 2 Display of results in Informit
Full Search History allows you to view, combine, re-use or remove search results. Each search performed is numbered. You can combine search terms by ticking the search boxes and then clicking on Combine using AND to the right of the screen.
Fig 3 Combining searches in Informit
Marking records
- To make your own list of article citations, mark any of interest by clicking in the box next to each record.
- To see your list of marked records, go to View Selected above your results list.
- You can Save, Print or Email your marked list of results.
Retrieving your results
- To Save, Print or Email your results, click on the relevant word or icon above your list of results.
- Choose which records you require. Select Fields to Print (eg Citation & Abstract) and Output Format (Plain Text is the most often used). You can also opt to include your Search History.
Help
From the Search Screen:- Click on Search Hints for examples of search types.
- Click on the Help button in the bar at the top of the screen for the complete help manual.
- For help with the general principles of using journal indexes, try eSKILLS UNE.
Logging out
- When you have finished using Informit, click Logout at the top right of the screen.