ProQuest
Accessing ProQuest
Access to the Ashworth College Online Library service is free and provided upon enrollment.
To access ProQuest:
1. Go to http://www.ashworthcollege.edu/student/resources/enterlibrary.html (Figure
2-1).
2. Click on the “Click here” or the “Ashworth College Library” link. You will now be on
the ProQuest Basic Search page (Figure 2-2).
Figure 2-1: The Ashworth College Library
ProQuest Shortcuts and Bookmarks
You may choose to create a Desktop shortcut or Favorites bookmark to access the library
resources as described above. Shortcuts and bookmarks must be created prior to reaching
the ProQuest Basic Search page. Otherwise, you will receive an Authentication Error
1010. It is best to create a Desktop shortcut or Favorites bookmark from the Ashworth
College Library Web site (as shown in Figure 2-1). This enables you to quickly access the
library. If you have ProQuest access problems using the shortcut or bookmark methods, you
may have some type of software or firewall issue preventing access (see the next section).
Internet Browser and Firewall Configurations for ProQuest Access
To ensure your computer system’s internet browser and firewall software are properly
configured for ProQuest access, go to ProQuest’s technical support Web page. ProQuest
provides detailed instructions on how to configure your software for ProQuest access at the
following locations:

Browser requirements for ProQuest Products:
http://support.proquest.com/apex/homepage?id=kA0400000004JPMCA2&l=en_US 
Browser Help: http://support.proquest.com/apex/homepage?id=kA0400000004JPKCA2&l=en_US 
Home/Remote Access to ProQuest: http://support.proquest.com/homepage 
Personal Firewall and Workstation Security Set Up Information: http://support.proquest.com/apex/homepage?id=kA0400000004JIVCA2&l=en_US Locating Information on ProQuest
Using the Basic Search
To find an article on ProQuest:
1. In the search box, input the article title, and press “Enter”.
2. This will bring up a list of articles with similar titles.
3. Search through the list of articles and locate the correct article by comparing the
author, date of publication, etc.
If you are not looking for a particular publication, author, or article, you may type in a key
word and click on Search. See Figure 2-2.
Tip: Be specific. The more specific the key word is, the narrower the search. The entry
criminal justice, for example, elicits over 25,000 responses, whereas the entry drug
rehabilitation elicits only 218 responses.
Figure 2-2: The ProQuest Basic Search Page
Using the Publication Search
If you know the publication title, date, and article title, you should do a publication search.
The steps, tips, and instructions below will help you conduct a publication search.
1. Click on the Publications tab at the top of the page. Figure 2-3 shows the screen
that you will see when you click on the Publications tab.
Figure 2-3: The ProQuest Publications Search Page
2. Click on the letter of the alphabet that represents the first letter in the publication
title. You will then see a complete list of publications beginning with that letter.
3. Scroll down to find the publication needed and click on it. All available issues of the
publication will be listed.
4. Click on the date or issue number needed.
Tip: Browsing Periodical Issues. If you would like to browse issues of a particular
publication, this search is also useful for doing that. Browsing publication issues may give
you an idea or a focus for your research.
Using the Advanced Search
An advanced search allows you to tailor your search by giving you options to limit or narrow
your searches (see Figure 2-4).
1. Click on the Advanced tab at the top of the page (see circled tab).
2. On the first line under the heading “Advanced Search,” click on the first dropdown
menu and then type your key search terms in the blank to the left of that option.
3. On the next two lines, more dropdown menus provide additional options to limit or
broaden your search. Choose an option for each dropdown menu on the second line
and then fill in the blank.
Figure 2-4: The ProQuest Advanced Search Page
Using Browse
Some ProQuest database products, such as ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source, and
ABI/INFORM Global offer browsing—in addition to searching—as a way of finding content
(Figure 2-5).
Important to know: When you are using browse, you are simply clicking links, ultimately
revealing relevant documents in a results list. Unlike searching, you do not enter any words
or phrases as search terms.
1. More than one browse experience:
The browse experience can vary, depending on the database product and the nature
of the content. Some examples of the browse experience in ProQuest include:
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Topic explorations — browse an editorially defined topic and subtopic
presentation such as Study Paths in ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health
Source
Subject exploration — browse an editorially defined directory of subject
terms, for example ABI/INFORM Complete
Specific Content exploration — such as Industry and Market Research in
ABI/INFORM Complete
Study Paths in ProQuest Nursing and Allied Health Source are presented as a
hierarchical organization of broad nursing-related topics. When you click one of these
broader topics, you expose related, more focused subtopics. As you continue to click
deeper into one of these topic study paths, you ultimately reach a View documents
link. When you click that link, a list of relevant documents—selected by nursing
professionals—displays.
2. Find a topic:
Some database products, such as the Daily Brief Service in OxResearch, provide a
search box and Go button to let you search for a topic within an editorially built
hierarchy of topics or subjects. The Go button returns a list of matching (if any) topic
or subject links.
3. Breadcrumbs and topic/subject exploration
If you are browsing a topic or subject hierarchy of links and then display a document
from the results list, the trail of links you clicked to find that document may be
presented at the top of the document view. This trail is often called a breadcrumb
trail.
A sample breadcrumb trail might look like this:
Business & Industry > Accounting & taxation > Accounting > Accounting methods >
Cost accounting >
You could click any link in the trail to return to that place in the overall topic
structure.
Figure 2-5: The ProQuest Browse Page
ProQuest Tools That Will Aid You in Document Selection
ProQuest has a few tools that will aid you in your search for scholarly, full-text articles that
are appropriate for graduate-level research. After you enter a search, ProQuest returns a list
of matching documents called your Search Results. By default, documents that ProQuest
determines are most relevant to your search terms display at the top of the list.
1. The search box above your results list:
Results not what you expected? Search again. The search box above your search
results reflects your search criteria. If it does not look like you found the documents
you need, run a new search.
Want to change your search: Click Modify search to return to the search page
where you created the search, with your original search terms and any limiters
displayed.
Search within your current results list: Click Search within to jump to the bottom of
your results list and use the search box there to search within your current results
list only. By searching within your current results list, you are focusing—or
narrowing—your search.
What does an asterisk (*) next to your results count mean? When you run a search,
and you do not select the checkbox labeled Include duplicate documents,
duplicate documents are removed from your results list. The asterisk serves as
confirmation that duplicates were removed. The number shown is an estimated count
after duplicate removal.
2. Suggested subjects—powered by ProQuest Smart Search:
When you run a search, ProQuest—in addition to returning a results list—
automatically evaluates your search terms to provide you with subjects relevant to
your search. The subjects display as links in a box titled Suggested subjects at the
top of your results list. Click a subject to retrieve a results list of relevant documents.
3. Choose the amount of detail you want to display for each item in the list:
Items in your Search Results list are available in either Brief view or Detailed view.
Click the links above the results list to switch between the views (Figure 2-6).
Brief view includes:
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Title and date
Highlighted occurrences of your search terms in the title
Pricing information (if you are on a transactional payment plan)
Details of the database that the item was found in, including coverage
information
Citation information (if you are a subscriber to a particular database).
Detailed view includes the same information as Brief view, plus the following:
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Up to three instances of your search terms in the article are highlighted, so
you can view your terms in context
Links to the article in different formats are shown where available
Figure 2-6: The ProQuest Scholarly Journal Options
4. Documents
Icons show what kind of publication (source type) each item was published in
(Detailed view only): An icon displays to the left of each document title in your
results list if you have chosen to display your items in Detailed view. The icon
indicates what kind of publication—for example, newspaper or magazine—the item
was published in.
Document title and information: The title of each document in your list is a link. Click
the link to view the document. Citation information for each document displays
beneath the title. For some documents, a brief snippet of the available full text
displays beneath the citation information.
Document preview: To the right of the title of each item is a Preview icon: . Move
your cursor and pause over the Preview icon corresponding to any item in your
results list. A box displays, containing the document title, abstract, and citation
information.
5. Check boxes and your Selected items list:
As you search for documents on ProQuest, you may run across certain documents
that you would like to reference later. ProQuest gives you the option to mark
documents that you are interested in (see Figure 2-7). A checkbox displays with
each item in your search results. Select the checkbox to add the corresponding item
to the Selected items page. Traditionally called a marked list, your list of selected
items is stored only for the duration of your current session. The list will no longer be
available after you exit your current session.
Figure 2-7: The ProQuest Selected Items List
Select the checkbox above your results list to add the first 20 items to the Selected
items page. Deselect the checkbox to remove the items. To remove all the items
from your Selected items page at once, click the Clear link in the blue toolbar
above the Search Results.
With one or more checkboxes selected, you can also click any of these links above
your results list to perform the corresponding task:
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Email: Email selected items to yourself and others. You can specify the level
of available document detail (Citation, abstract, indexing, Full text, etc.) you
want to send, as well as selecting a citation format.
Print: Select a level of document detail (such as Full text if available), and
display print-ready versions of the selected documents in one continuous file.
Optionally specify a page break between each document as they print.
Cite: Create a formatted citation for each selected item in your preferred
citation style. You can then email, print, or download the citations. You can
also copy and paste the citations into a Word or other document.
Clearing your selected items: After you email, print, or cite a list of items, you
can quickly and easily clear your selected items at one time by checking the
Deselect items when done checkbox.