Covers the public and social policy literature of business, economics,
finance, law, international relations, public administration, government,
political science, and other social sciences -- with emphasis on issues
that are or might become the subjects of legislation. Covering from 1972
to the present, it contains abstracts of journal articles, books, statistical
yearbooks, directories, conference proceedings, research reports and government
documents from 60 countries published in six languages -English,
German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. All subject headings and
abstracts are written in English. Access PAIS International
from the Ely Library Home page : http://www.lib.wsc.ma.edu/index.html,
under Quick Links to Databases. Once on the Database Selection Page,
click in the box next to PAIS Internationaland click
on search at the bottom of the list.
The Search page allows you to construct search requests
and determine how retrieved records will be displayed.
To Construct a Search:
Select one or more fields in which to search, or leave the
selection as the default, "Words Anywhere". Searching by Title, Author,
and Subject are available in this database.
Type a word or phrase in the text entry area. Make use of
the Thesaurus and refer to Valid
Search Statements for examples of the types of searches you can
enter.
If desired, narrow your search by Language, Publication Year,
or other Limit Field.
Remember: When changing the selections on this screen
(Words Anywhere, Language, etc.), be sure to DESELECT the default before
proceeding.
Click Search. WebSPIRS performs the search and indicates
how many records it finds.
Valid
Search Statements
Below are the types of searches you can create in the
Search page.
Term: dyslexia
Term with truncation or wildcards: trauma* , wom?n
Previous search request number: #3
Number, in quotes if equal to previous search number: 1989
, "2" , "#5"
Letters and numbers combined: 3m
Phrase: behavioral management
Phrase with hyphens: drug-abuse
Phrase with operator in quotes: "near" death experience
Multiple terms combined with operators: adolescents or teenagers
or young adults
Any of the above, grouped with parentheses for clarity: (dog
or 1) near puppy
Combining Previous Searches:
You will have the option to combine previous searches
in this system. To do so,
Scroll down to see Search History, the complete list
of searches already done.
Click beside the searches you want combined, keeping in mind
that any search with a small number of results will come out even smaller
(often "0") when combined with other terms.
Make sure to RESET Checked Boxes each time you do this.
Limit Fields in PAIS International
Document Type (DT) You can
use the Document Type field to limit your search
to journal articles, books, book chapters, research reports, information
analyses, etc..
Language (LA) (This is easiest to do from the basic search
screen)
Publication Year (PY)
NOTE: For more information on these limit options, see the
online HELP file under "List of Fields"
Using Limit Fields
in Your Search
How To Find...
Search Statement
...records for periodical articles on elections:
elections AND PT=periodical
...records for books on elections:
elections AND monograph in PT
...everything on welfare at the national level:
welfare AND national in gl
..everything on welfare at the international level:
welfare AND international in gl
...records for materials on income taxes written
in english
income taxes ANDla=english
...materials on taxation published after 1994
taxation AND py=1995-
NOTE: Both Upper or Lower case will work.
CAUTION: You must use the
complete hyphenated document type when limiting by field:
Use the online thesaurus to select the preferred indexing terms (controlled
vocabulary) for your search.
Click on the Thesaurus button at the top or bottom of your search screen.
Type a term to look up at the thesaurus prompt.
The Thesaurus Subject List is displayed (an alphabetical list of all terms
in the thesaurus).
You can see Term Details for a particular term by clicking on it. The Term
Details defines a term and lists all its Broader (less specific), Narrower
(more specific), and Related terms.
You can now select a search term from the Term Details.
Thesaurus Subject List Example
INTERNET
Advertising mediums Internet see Internet advertising Internet Internet
advertising Internet
corporation for assigned names and numbers Internet
domain names Internet
gambling
Internet search engines see Search engines Internet
service providers
Results
Page
The Results page allows you to mark, print, save, and
e-mail the records retrieved by the current search. In this database,
terms of certain fields are linked. If you click on a linked term, WebSPIRS
searches for the term or looks it up in the Thesaurus.
To mark records:
Click in the box next to the record number, such as Record
1 of 235, for any record that you want to mark.
To show only records you have marked, click Show Marked (top
or bottom of screen). WebSPIRS displays the first ten marked records.
To print records:
After marking records of interest, click the Print
button in the citation screen [CAUTION: Do Not Use the Netscape
Print Feature yet, as this may log you out of the database]. WebSPIRS displays
the Print Records page, which allows you to select and format records for
printing.
Click Display for Print. At the next screen,
go to your browser's File and Print.To save records:
Click the Save button in the citation screen.
WebSPIRS displays the Save Records page, which allows
you to select and format records for saving to a disk. [CAUTION:
If you use the Netscape Save Feature you must change the file name extention
to .txt].To E-mail records:
Click E-mail. WebSPIRS displays the Mail Records page,
which allows you to select and format records to mail to an e-mail address.
Be sure to include your full address: username@foma.wsc.ma.eduTo change display options:
Click Change Display to determine how field names are
displayed, how records are sorted, and which fields are displayed.
Click Previous 10 or Next 10 to display
the previous or next ten records.Document Types and Descriptors:To quickly determine what type of document you are looking
at, find the PT field in any record.
For subjects you might find helpful to use in another
search, look for the DE (Major Descriptor) fields.
Help
For online help once logged into PAIS International, click on
the HELP button at the top or bottom of your screen. There you will
find information about the specific task you are performing, as well as
links to Help Contents at the bottom of the screen. Help is also
available at the Reference Desk.
Please Log Out when
you are finished with your search
Westfield
State College Ely Library