Academic Search Complete is a database consisting of scholarly articles, e-books, and e-journals, and is owned as well as managed by EBSCO. EBSCO is a worldwide provider of academic databases, with services at many different institutions, including Binghamton University. So in terms of credibility, one should not suspect any invalid or untrustworthy resources from their databases.
In the main page of the site, which is accessible through the Binghamton Library website, the viewer is presented with a typical advanced search module. This array of options allows the user to precisely search for the desired material, ensuring that relevant search results are produced. The search is divided into two sections: search modes and search filters (to limit results). In the search modes, you can choose to either search key words relevant to each other, key words without any relevancy, a phrase, or "SmartText Searching" which allows massive searches like paragraphs or entire pages. In the second section there are various boxes that can be checked to filter the results. A couple in particular that is worth noting is the "Full Text" and "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journal" options. Having "Full Text" checked will only produce articles or books in its entirety, as opposed to an excerpt or segment. Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals produces results that, like stated, have been reviewed by scholars and thus establishes credibility as a valid resource. Upon searching, results are ranked in relevancy by default, though this can be changed at the top to either date descending/ascending, author, or source. Moreover, the page options can be set to vary the length of the summaries/abstract (e.g. brief or detailed) and the amount of results per page can be specified as well. Clicking a result will bring the viewer to a page with a slew of information pertaining to it. If available, the full text can be viewed in PDF format as well as the citation in several different formats (APA, MLA, etc).
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New Features
This page (located on the header frame of the site) displays a list of updates and features that have been added to the website. It displays a list of features to come as well. Not only is this useful to know about and how to use the new features on the website, but it also establishes currency in that the viewer knows that their resources are not outdated. Several new features mentioned in this page are “Results List Enhancements,” “Detail View Enhancements,” and “New Full Text Translation Service.” It also lists upcoming updates such as an iPod touch application.
Preferences
This page allows the user to set default parameters for their searches. This is particularly useful if the viewer is using the database for many different resources and does not want to set the search options each time. The options available here are similar to those available after the search results are produced. The user can specify result list format (brief, detailed, etc), results per page, # of columns, sorting options, as well as choose to turn autocomplete on or off for search suggestions. A user can also choose a default e-mail address for a particular resource to be sent to should they choose to e-mail it. This may be particularly useful for those who find themselves constantly e-mailing themselves different resources and having to type their e-mail address each time.
Help
This is the main support page for EBSCOhost’s databases. It contains standard help content with a list of topics on the left and articles for each topic that explains it in detail. This particular support page is very detailed and informative, and may prove useful for users who are new to the EBSCO databases and wish to learn how to use it to its maximum potential. Viewers can also search for a specific topic if needed.
I myself have used this Academic Search Plus for several research papers and essays, and have found it to be a highly useful tool in finding resources. Although this is a site-specific feature, the database even displays each result (whether it is an e-book or article) with an abstract to summarize it, which can be ideal to use for examples to help write our own abstracts when the time comes. All resources from this database are credible and valid to use as sources of information, especially with the “Peer Reviewed only” search filter. As such, I highly recommend using Academic Search Complete or any of EBSCOhost’s databases to help conduct research for this course.
EBSCOHost: Advanced Help. EBSCO, 2010. < vid="1&hid=" sid="197ebe9a-0acd-4895-928b-a7aba12c3587%40sessionmgr112">. 25 September 2010.
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