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STN Basics - Training Module 3
 Step 4: Logon to STN InternationalSTN may be accessed via the Internet, direct dial, or telecommunication networks such as CompuServe. STN Express is software specifically designed for use in searching and displaying information on STN. To access STN using the STN Express software, select Logon from the STN Express Main Menu. At logon you are placed in the HOME file of STN. Search queries may NOT be conducted in this file. Step 5: Conduct an Exploratory SearchThe information you gather with this search will help you decide how to refine your search.
Focusing on a specific concept, such as "drug", can eliminate useful answers (i.e., answers that don't pertain to drugs, yet provide information that is helpful in developing the search for tamper resistant packaging systems in general). Instead, begin the search using the broader components of the search topic, TAMPER and PACKAGE. NOTE! In representations of STN online interactions withinthis training module the following conventions are followed:
A) Enter the database you've chosen to search. (The PSTA (Packing Science and Technology Abstracts) database is a relevant file to search based on the database description in the CAS Catalog.) => FILE PSTA B) EXPAND on potential search terms to verify that they are in the database and to look for variations in word endings (in order to apply Wild Card Symbols). In the filing cabinet analogy used earlier, EXPAND opens the index drawer at the specified term. => E TAMPER E1 1 TAMPCO/BI E2 2 TAMPELLA/BI E3 449 --> TAMPER/BI E4 1 TAMPERATURE/BI E5 2 TAMPERE/BI E6 6 TAMPERED/BI E7 2 TAMPERER/BI E8 4 TAMPERERS/BI E9 1 TAMPEREVIDENCE/BI E10 4 TAMPEREVIDENT/BI E11 71 TAMPERING/BI E12 1 TAMPERINGS/BI EXPAND gives an alphanumeric list of 12 E-numbered terms. The term you specified always appears as E3. The /BI appended to each term indicates that, by default, STN looked in the Basic Index for the terms. Numeric postings, in the center column, give the number of unique records having that term (in /BI, in this example). Recall that as records are added to a bibliographic database, words generally from the title, abstract, and indexing terms (but excluding articles such as "of", "the", and "in") automatically become a part of /BI. When you EXPAND on a term in /BI you see a portion of the alphanumeric list of all of these terms. Consequently, some of the terms in the EXPAND list reflect misspellings and typographical errors in the original document. "Wild Card" symbols can be used to include many of these word variations in the search. If this approach is not appropriate, it is generally valid to ignore the misspellings on the assumption that records with an incorrectly spelled word usually also contain the correctly spelled form of the word. => E PACKAGE E1 1 PACKAGAGING/BI E2 2 PACKAGAING/BI E3 10004 --> PACKAGE/BI E4 1617 PACKAGED/BI E5 88 PACKAGER/BI E6 120 PACKAGERS/BI E7 5997 PACKAGES/BI E8 1 PACKAGGE/BI E9 4 PACKAGI/BI E10 1 PACKAGIES/BI E11 2 PACKAGIG/BI E12 2 PACKAGIN/BI To continue the list, type E at the prompt. => E E13 1 PACKAGINE/BI E14 22757 PACKAGING/BI E15 2 PACKAGINGG/BI E16 1 PACKAGINGQUESTIONS/BI E17 556 PACKAGINGS/BI E18 1 PACKAGINGSSV/BI E19 1 PACKAGINNG/BI E20 1 PACKAGINS/BI E21 3 PACKAING/BI E22 1 PACKANLAGE/BI E23 1 PACKANLAGEN/BI E24 1 PACKANORDNUNG/BI => E CONTAINER E1 1 CONTAINE/BI E2 303 CONTAINED/BI E3 5139 --> CONTAINER/BI E4 1 CONTAINERABFUELLUNG/BI E5 1 CONTAINERBAU/BI E6 2 CONTAINERBELADUNG/BI E7 14 CONTAINERBOARD/BI E8 1 CONTAINERBOARDS/BI E9 1 CONTAINERDISPOSITION/BI E10 3 CONTAINERED/BI E11 1 CONTAINERFAEHIGEN/BI E12 1 CONTAINERFAEHIGKEIT/BI C) Run the exploratory search => S TAMPER? AND (PACK? OR CONTAINER?) 516 TAMPER? 29901 PACK? 7633 CONTAINER# L1 439 TAMPER? AND (PACK? OR CONTAINER#) The search runs in /BI, the default index, since no other index was specified in the command line. STN finds 439 records which contain the specified terms in /BI. These records are placed in an answer set labeled with an L-number. Step 6: Evaluate Answers at No CostAt this point you are ready to evaluate the effectiveness of the search strategy you used. Whether or not the search is effective depends on your intent for the search. At this step you look through answers to see if your search strategy retrieved the kinds of answers you want and to identify relevant information that may be used to further refine the search strategy to best fit your needs. To evaluate answers at no cost, use the DISPLAY (D) command followed by instructions specifying a no cost display option. This option lets you view a portion of the complete STN record at no charge (generally the title and indexing terms - depending on the database). Implementation of the DISPLAY command requires 3 pieces of instruction:
Use either commas or spaces to separate nonconsecutive answer numbers in the command line. A hyphen is used to specify a range of answers. The answers within an answer set from a bibliographic database are typically arranged from newest to oldest, with answer 1 being the newest. Hit-term highlighting (bold type within the STN output) identifies the occurrences of words from your search query in the retrieved records. It is available in many, but not all STN files. Step 7: Refine Your SearchShould you make your search more comprehensive or more precise? The course of action you take depends on how the search is evolving and your intent for the search. Generally, you will make it more comprehensive in some respects and more precise in others. Aspects to consider when making these choices:
Make the Search More ComprehensiveIncreasing comprehensiveness increases the number of answers that are retrieved. Increase comprehensiveness by adjusting your search query.
Skills Practice 2Add Alternate Terms to the Search:Add "PILFER?" and "CLOSURE" to the search. Relate synonyms using the OR operator. => S (TAMPER? OR PILFER?) 516 TAMPER? 530 PILFER? L2 811 (TAMPER? OR PILFER?) => S (PACK? OR CONTAINER# OR CLOSURE#) 29901 PACK? 7633 CONTAINER# 2457 CLOSURE# L3 32545 (PACK? OR CONTAINER# OR CLOSURE#) L-numbers may be combined with other search terms or other L-numbers using the SEARCH (S) command. => S L2 AND L3 L4 796 L2 AND L3 Adding the alternate terms to the search increased the answer set size from 439 to 796. Alternatively, the preceding queries could have been combined into one search query: => S (TAMPER? OR PILFER?) AND (PACK? OR CONTAINER# OR CLOSURE#). The answer set is the same in either case.
Make the Search More PreciseIncreasing precision decreases the number of answers that are retrieved. Techniques for doing this are to:
Add More Specific Terms to the Search:Add the term EVIDEN? to the search. => S (TAMPER? OR PILFER?) AND EVIDEN? AND (PACK? OR CONTAINER# OR CLOSURE#) 516 TAMPER? 530 PILFER? 437 EVIDEN? 29901 PACK? 7633 CONTAINER# 2457 CLOSURE# L5 324 (TAMPER? OR PILFER?) AND EVIDEN? AND (PACK? OR CONTAINER# OR CLOSURE#) Adding the more specific search term decreased the size of the answer set from 796 to 324.
Add Another Concept to the Search Query:Recall that the "drug" concept was not included in the Exploratory Search in order to keep the answers more general. This strategy gives a searcher a broad range of answers to examine for information that can be used to refine the search. Now that the search is more comprehensive with respect to the broader concepts (TAMPER and PACKAGE) it can be targeted to drug applications. => S L5 AND (DRUG# OR PHARMACEUTICAL# OR MEDICINE#) 758 DRUG# 1058 PHARMACEUTICAL# 226 MEDICINE# L6 54 L5 AND (DRUG# OR PHARMACEUTICAL# OR MEDICINE#) Adding another concept to the query decreased the size of the answer set from 324 to 54. Step 8: Display Answers in More DetailAfter verifying with the "no-cost display" option that the answer set is what you want, use the DISPLAY (D) command to see more of the information in the STN records. Two commonly used answer formats are: BIB (bibliographic information) and ALL (the complete STN record - Use with caution because records in some files are very large and perhaps costly to display). Displaying Specified Data Fields of an STN RecordAn individual data field can be displayed if an answer format is available for that field. For example, just the title can be displayed using the TI answer format (e.g., => D L6 1-10 TI). Refer to the Database Summary Sheets to see a list of the available answer formats in a file. Step 9: Logoff from STNTyping the LOGOFF command at an arrow prompt (=>) terminates your STN session. All L-numbered answer sets are deleted at logoff. An estimate of online session costs is given at logoff. The LOGOFF HOLD command can be used to save the entire online session for up to 60 minutes, at no charge. Within 60 minutes you can logon and continue your search from the point at which you disconnected.
ONLINE PRACTICE 1Training Module 4 Updated 5/8/2007 8:40:27 AM
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