Library Transcripts

Limit database results and get persistent search results link

Begin Transcript

(DESCRIPTION)
EBSCO Host Choose Databases webpage

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FEMALE SPEAKER: This short video will show you how you can limit your results after a search and save a link to your research results for later use. This is a search I did in the Education Source database for "COVID-19 or pandemic" and "Zoom or video conferencing." I got 210 results. I can now use some limiters to narrow these results down to more focused articles.

Using the column on the left side of your screen, scroll down to the Limit To section. Check off Peer-Reviewed Scholarly Journals, and your results will update to just peer-reviewed articles. I now have 91 articles.

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Scrolls down page

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If you need to limit to date, you can do so from under the Limit To section. You only have to put in a beginning year date under Publication Date. The databases will always search through the present.

You can also limit by subject. Scroll down to the Subject section, and click on the Show More link.

(DESCRIPTION)
A dialog box appears.

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This popup screen says that, out of the 91 results, 51 of them have "COVID-19 pandemic" in their subject lines. 22 articles have "video conferencing" as a subject line.

Let's say you're interested in seeing how COVID-19 and Zoom have affected online education. Click on the box next to Online Education, and then click on Update.

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The results update,

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Now all of your articles not only are about "COVID-19 or the pandemic" and "Zoom or video conferencing" but also have "online education" in their subject lines.

To get back to your original results, go to the top of the blue column on the left side of your screen where it says Current Search. Go down to where it says Subject and click on the X next to the subject limiter you applied.

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Clicks the X and results update.

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Now you'll get back to your original results.

You can also limit your results by telling the databases to search specific areas in an article. For instance, if we click on the Select a Field optional dropdown menu next to "Zoom or video conferencing" and then select Abstract, the database will only bring back articles that have those terms in the abstract. Now we have 72 articles.

We can also do this with the subject line. Click on Select a Field optional dropdown menu next to "COVID-19 or pandemic," and then click on Subject. And hit the Search button.

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Clicks Search

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We now have 59 articles, but these are very focused articles.

If you would like to take a break or save this search for review later, you can get the link to the search by clicking on the Share button at the top of your search results. Scroll down to the Use Permalink and copy the persistent link in the box.

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Highlights the link and copies it.

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Save this link to a Word doc for later use. When you're ready to use it, open up your browser and paste the URL in the browser.

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Pastes the link in Google.

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It will pull up your search results.

Remember to double check the limiters that you applied because they may change when using a permalink to a search. Also, be aware that although they are called permalinks, they do not last forever. You should rerun a search every 6 months or so and grab a new link. So that is how you can limit your search results to get more focused articles and save a search for later use. Thank you for watching.

 

Create April 2021 by Walden University Library