UWA Library | SuperSearch

Introduction

SuperSearch contains a selection of resources across a variety of disciplines. These resources selected include journal article databases, statistical sources, case law and legislation databases, text collections and recommended websites.

To find articles by subject, keyword, title or author, the best option is to select and search resources from SuperSearch. SuperSearch consists of four modules: Quick Search, Find Resource, Multi Search and My SuperSearch. To search more than one resource simultaneously, use Multi Search to select your resources. To search a single resource use Find Resource. You can also use Quick Search to find articles in subject sets created for you. Finally, use My SuperSearch to create your own record and resource lists.

Access

SuperSearch is accessed from the UWA Library Web site.

UWA staff and students should log in using their UWA ID and campus card barcode to ensure access to all resources and full functionality in SuperSearch. Guest login is also available for users not affiliated with UWA.

SuperSearch consists of four modules which provide you with different ways to access search and arrange resources:

1. Quick Search
2. Find Resource
3. Multi Search
4. My SuperSearch

You can navigate to these modules using the tabs on the SuperSearch toolbar:

Searching

There are three ways to search resources. Quick Search and Multi Search use the SuperSearch interface. Find Resource involves accessing individual resources in the Find Resource module, and searching them directly. Direct searching is recommended for advanced searching.

Quick Search

Use Quick Search for an introductory, basic search on your topic. Quick Search is the first screen you will see after logging in to SuperSearch. From this page you can choose a Quick Set and perform a search across several databases at once.

Quick Sets are groups of databases that relate to a particular subject area. You can search most of the resources in these sets at the same time and view the results in SuperSearch.

How to do a Quick Search:
1. Choose the Quick Set you want to search by clicking on the radio button next to it (You can only search one Quick Set at a time)
2. Type search terms into the search box(es)
3. Click on the Go button
4. Most of the resources in the Quick Set will now search for these terms. Once all databases have completed searching results will be presented in Table View format.

Multi Search

The Multi Search module allows you to select and search several resources simultaneously. Note that not all resources can be searched this way.

How to do a Multi Search:

1. Go to the Multi Search module.
2. In the Select Search Type section select subject from the drop down menu. Choose the subject and a sub-category that you wish to find resources in.
3. Select resources to be searched by clicking the check boxes next to the resource title. (Any resources that do not have a check box next to them are not able to be multi searched and must be searched directly).
4. Add search terms in desired search fields and change the Boolean operator if necessary.
5. Click the Go button.
SuperSearch will search all resources selected simultaneously.

The following searching options are available when using Quick Search or Multi Search:

Field searching
In Quick Search, and Multi Search you can search specific fields. Use the search in fields drop down menu to select from the options of all fields (keyword), subject, title, author, ISSN, ISBN, or year.

Boolean searching
Like most other resources, SuperSearch uses the Boolean logic operators AND, OR, NOT to combine search terms and create relevant and effective search queries. These operators are available from drop menus and can also be inserted within a search box.

Truncation
SuperSearch allows you to truncate a term using either the symbol ? or *. Truncation allows you to capture variations on a word. For example populat* = populate, populated, population.

Author searching
Authors can be entered into a resource in a number of different ways. For example Smith, J or Smith, J.R., or Smith, John. If you are searching across several resources at once enter in all the different versions of the author.

Searching hints
• Searching is not case-sensitive
• Use quotation marks to search for exact phrases
• Avoid punctuation
• Not all resources support searching by year or subject. If you receive an error message try searching for these in all fields
• Click on the Information button to find out more about the resource and view Search hints.

Search Results

As results are received a summary screen provides a breakdown of how many results were found in each resource. Once the results are all in the screen will change to display results in Table View format. In Quick Search only thirty results from each resource will be displayed. To see more than thirty results, click on the Retrieve More link. In Multi Search you can view results by individual resource by clicking on the View link next to the resource. If you want to see results for all resources searched, click on the combined results link.

Use the Find IT button to locate articles (either full text or print).

Sorting Results
Results in SuperSearch can be sorted by resource, year, rank, title or author. To change the sort option click on the drop down menu in the left hand corner of the results screen.
Sorting is only available if more than one resource has been searched.

Saving and Emailing Records
You can email or save an individual record from within the Full View by clicking on or .

To save or email several record at once click thebutton next to each record and to to the My SuperSearch module. The record will appear in My Articles. Click on the Selected link at the top of the results list and a new box will open displaying the selected records and give the option to email or save the records.

Printing Results
Print results from SuperSearch using your Internet browser (Internet Explorer/Netscape/Firefox). Instructions may vary depending on the browser you are using.
Select File, then Print (in Internet Explorer) and follow the onscreen instructions.

Direct Search via Find Resource

Use the Find Resource module to locate relevant resources and search them directly. You should use direct searching for advanced and more accurate searching.

There are three ways to find resources in this module.
• By Title
• Search
• By Subject

Title
Make sure the title tab is selected. If you know the name of the resource you want to use (eg. Factiva) type the name or the first few letters of the name into the search box. You can also select the first letter of the title from the A-Z list. To conduct a search click on the resource name.

Search
You can also search for a resource by using the search tab. Choose from the fields provided to search for a resource. The keyword field will allow you to do a broader search to find resources eg psychology.
Vendor relates to the platform a resource is hosted on eg OVID hosts Medline, Biological Abstracts etc.

Subject
You can also search for a resource by using the subject tab. The left-hand window contains subject headings under which you will find related resources. Select a subject from the left-hand frame and a list of sub-categories will appear in the next frame. Click on a sub-category to select it, click the Go button and a list of resources relevant to that sub-category will appear.
To conduct a search click on the resource name.
The subject headings are based on Faculties and Schools at UWA and General (non subject specific and containing dictionaries, encyclopedias, statistics etc).

My SuperSearch

My SuperSearch offers a number of personalisation features associated with your login. Specifically, you can save sets of records, create favourite sets of resources, and set up regular alerts.

My Resources
Use the My Resources area to create personalised sets of resources to search individually or as a Quick Set. You will see these sets each time you log into SuperSearch.
To create a new resource set use Find Resource to locate resources you wish to add and click the button to select them.
Next go to My Resources in My SuperSearch and the selected resources will be available here on a clipboard that can be organised into sets.
To create a new set, click on the folder icon in the left hand column and name the set. Move resources from the clipboard to the folder by using the button.

View and search your set of resources by going to Quick Search.

My Articles
My Articles is a facility that allows you to save and store records found while searching SuperSearch.
Click on the button to add a record to My Articles. To access records stored on My Articles, click on My SuperSearch and you will automatically be taken to My Articles. You can view the
record, delete it or move it.

My History
You can save previous SuperSearch searches to My History so they can be run in future.
To save a search to My History: click on Previous Searches in the Multi Search module. Select a previous search by clicking on the button to save it to My History. You can view and re-run your saved searches in My SuperSearch - My History.

Alerts
Once you have saved searches to My History you can set the search to run automatically at a chosen time, by setting up an alert.

To create an alert go to My History in My SuperSearch and click on the button next to the relevant search. You will be asked to enter the alert name, your email address and how often you want the alert to run.

Help

SuperSearch has help panels throughout which will provide you with contextualised assistance. There are also a number of other sources of help, such as online tutorials and FAQ via the Library website.
For further assistance please Ask A Librarian.

More information

SuperSearch Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)