Help for E-Resources/Article Databases

Searching

Word Searching:

A word search finds OED main entries only.

1. Select database from the UW-Madison Libraries Web site.
2. Type a word in the FIND WORD box in upper right side of screen.
3. Click FIND WORD.

Full Text Searching:

A full text search finds any word or phrase anywhere in the OED text.

1. Click SIMPLE SEARCH in lower left side of screen.
2. Type a word or phrase in the SEARCH FOR box.
3. Click START SEARCH.

Quotation Author Searching:

A quotation author search finds authors who have been quoted in the OED.

1. Click SIMPLE SEARCH in lower left side of screen.
2. Type author's last name in the SEARCH FOR box.
   Example: woolf
   Note: Some author names are abbreviated, such as Shaks for Shakespeare. Abbreviations are not consistent.
3. Click the FULL TEXT drop-down menu and select QUOTATION AUTHOR.
4. Click START SEARCH.

Combining Terms

1. Click ADVANCED SEARCH in lower left side of screen.
2. Type a word or phrase in the first search box.
3. Click the drop-down box and select AND to combine separate concepts or OR to combine similar terms.
4. Type a word or phrase in the second search box.
5. Click START SEARCH.

Truncating Terms

Use * to replace more than one character.

Example: oper* (retrieves opera, operate, operetta)

Use ? to replace more than one character.

Example: wom?n (retrieves woman, women)

Proximity Searching

1. Click SIMPLE SEARCH in lower left side of screen.
2. Type the first word you want to find in the SEARCH FOR box.
3. Choose search area from FULL TEXT drop-down menu.
4. Click MORE OPTIONS.
5. Select maximum number of words by which to separate words.
6. Click in the circle next to a proximity option.
7. Type a word or phrase in the second search box.
8. Click START SEARCH.

Combining Search Sets

Not Available

Displaying Search Results

1. Click desired match. Move through the records.
2. Click terms to display next and previous main entries.
3. Click RESULTS to return to original list.

Selecting Records

Not Available

Printing Search Results

1. Click PRINT in the lower right side of screen. Text will appear in a new window.
2. Use browser print function.
3. Close window to return to original search window.

Saving Search Results

1. Insert a disk into the drive.
2. Click PRINT in the lower right side of screen. Text will appear in a new window.
3. Use browser save function.
4. Type the disk drive letter, filename, and extension in the file name box.
   Example: a:myfile.txt
5. Change SAVE AS TYPE box to TEXT FILE.
6. Click SAVE.
7. Close window to return to the original search window.

Emailing Search Results

Email results are accessible for 3 days only.

1. Click MAIL in the lower right side of screen
2. Type e-mail addresses in both FROM and TO boxes.
3. Click MAIL ENTRY at the bottom of the page.

Beginning a New Search, Getting Help, and Exiting

Beginning a New Search

Type a new search term in the FIND WORD box in upper right side of screen or click SIMPLE SEARCH in lower left side of screen.

Getting Help

Click HELP in lower right side of screen for on-screen help.

For further assistance, consult library staff.

Exiting

Click HOME at the top of the screen to return to the UW-Madison Libraries Web site.

Databases Covered by this Guide

• OED (Oxford English Dictionary) Online