Dialog^® Supplemental Review Exercises

This page and these materials will be available until December 31, 2012.

Practice in applying search concepts and techniques benefits students greatly. With this in mind, we have provided a series of review topics and exercises, including answers, to help students become more proficient searchers.

Reviewing the Dialog Basics—Review of creating basic Dialog searches using the DialogWeb interface.

Reviewing Dialog Basic Commands—Review of Dialog basic commands using DialogClassic.

Using Dialog Bluesheets—How to use Dialog Bluesheets and why they are important.

Searching Multiple Databases—Identifying Dialog OneSearch categories and searching multiple databases simultaneously.

Using DIALINDEX to Locate Databases—How to use DIALINDEX to conduct a preliminary scan of Dialog databases and determine files with the highest number of matching records. ADD and REPEAT commands are also covered.

Database Selection—Using various Dialog online tools to select appropriate databases. This lesson includes tips on searching Dialog Bluesheets, DIALINDEX, and Dialog Finder Files.

Conducting Focused Searches and Using the RANK Feature—Using proximity connectors and controlled vocabulary to improve search strategies. Analyze data using the RANK command.

Customizing Output: SORT and REPORT Features—Tips on how to use the SORT and REPORT commands and create customized tables from a set of records.