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How to Search BiblioLine Databases

What are the BiblioLine Databases?

The Social Work Library has access to several subject-specific databases from the vendor, BiblioLine. The databases most relevant to social work research are: Family & Society Studies Worldwide and Child Abuse, Child Welfare & Adoption Database.

When Should I Search These Databases?

Family & Society Studies Worldwide provides an international perspective on the family and society with over 800,000 abstracts and bibliographic records (1970-) drawn from over two thousand professional journals, books, popular literature, conference papers, government reports, web sites, poster sessions, and Australian theses. Of special importance to social work students, it includes citations with abstracts, and some links to web sites of research, policy and practice literature.

Child Abuse, Child Welfare & Adoption Database provides information on the maltreatment, safety, permanency, and well-being of children from 1965 to the present. The citations and abstracts in this database are to books, journal articles, papers, reports of federally-funded grants, and descriptions of programs and treatments. A publicly available version of this database can be found at the National Child Welfare Information Gateway at http://www.childwelfare.gov/.

The databases are accessible from the "Databases" link located on the Social Work Library web site header on each page.

Note: You may search any or all Biblioline databases simultaneously -- click on the Biblioline "Databases Menu" link near the top of the screen to select multiple databases for searching.

How Do I Begin?

Below you will find a simple two-step approach to preparing your search strategy, thereby allowing you to search the database effectively and efficiently.

Step #1. Define your topic in the form of a question or statement, for example, "Are there ethnic differences in the way children are punished?" Then, break down the question into specific logical components or concepts:

CONCEPT 1: punishment

CONCEPT 2: ethnic differences

Step #2:

Using the example in step #1, think of ways to expand your search with related terminology or synonyms:

CONCEPT 1: punishment	CONCEPT 2: ethnic differences
discipline punishment child rearing nurturance behavior problems physical abuse	ethnic identity cultural differences ethnic groups racial and ethnic differences cultural factors

How Do I Search BiblioLine databases ?

After you prepare your search strategy, you may begin searching the database(s). Using the example above, at the opening Biblioline Search screen, type in:

ALL words

racial and ethnic differences

You may find that the Basic Search is not complex enough for your search strategy, in which case you should change your search level to "Advanced." Click on the Search Tab at the top of the results list and select "Go to Advanced" directly under this tab. The available search fields in "Advanced Search" include: Author, Author Affiliation, Index Terms, Key Words/Phrase, Source/Periodical Names, Publication Type, Publication Year, Title, and URL. Notice that your previous search appears in the Key Word/Phrases input box:

To verify if a search term is used in the database (typically as an index term or subject descriptor, use the "Index" search option. This will help you generate the most accurate results by using the appropriate vocabulary in the database. Click on the "Index" link at the right side of the screen. At the "Index Terms" screen, type in one of your terms (for example, child rearing) and click on the "Find Term" button. A list of terms used in the database will appear, and the number of times the term appears in the database. This number gives you a good idea whether you should focus or narrow your search. If your term is used in the database, select it by clicking in the box next to the term. Then, at the top of the screen, click on the "Add to Search Field" button. The "Advanced Search" screen appears with your selected terms in the Index Term field. Words not found in the database Index should be searched in the "Key Words/Phrases" input box. To continue our example, repeat the Index Term search for the word "discipline." The Index Term field now looks like:

Remember, searching in "Key Words/Phrases" will result in more hits than searching the same words in the "Index Terms" box, but "Index Terms" searching will result in more precise results. To continue with our example,

1. Type in terms from Concept #1 and Concept #2 as follows: (ethnic or racial or cultural) in the "Key Words/Phrases" box, with (punishment or discipline) in the "Index Terms" box. You will receive thousands of hits.
2. At the results screen, review brief citations that appear. To view the entire record of a particular citation, click on "view Database Record" link.
3. To limit your search to subject terms only, highlight and cut the key words in Key Words/Phrases box and paste them into the Index Terms box on the Advanced Search Screen. Your results will be far fewer, but may be more precise.
4. If you want to limit a search by one of the other fields (author, author affiliation, periodical title, or publication year or type), click on the Search tab and modify your search. To limit a search to Web sites, type "http" in the URL box.
5. From the results screen, click on the SFX symbol or the link "Check SFX for Availability" to find the full-text availability for the citation listed. SFX provides links to other sources for a full text version, delivery options through Interlibrary Loan, links to , showing which libraries have a print subscription of the journal and links to other University of Michigan libraries which own the journal containing the article. (For more information on SFX see the SFX Frequently Asked Questions page.)

How Do I Save, Export or Print Records?

To display your search results, click on the "view Database Record" link. The complete record will be displayed.

Select the Output tab at the top of the page. You can now choose to Email, Export to a database, Save citations as a text file or Print either all the records found from your search or just marked records.

Choosing "Export to Database" allows you to download these citations to a number of different bibliographic management software, including ProCite, EndNotes, and RefWorks.

Note: Because we have limited connections to the Biblioline databases, please logout of the database before you close your web browser window. Simply click on the "Logout" button in the top right-hand corner of the screen, then click on "Exit."

This database is restricted to validated U-M students, staff and faculty.

Document Custodian: Sally Haines

Content last updated on: 10 October 2006

Social Work Library | (734) 764-5169 | social.work.library@umich.edu

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