Sample Searches

Gale's Ready Reference Shelf Sample Searches

Gale's Ready Reference Shelf is an integrated resource that incorporates 15 of the most popular Gale™ general reference databases. Users can access more than 320,000 entries for associations, research centers, publishers, publications (ranging from newspapers and newsletters to periodicals and directories), databases, television and radio stations and more.

Search 1:

A caller using Gale's Ready Reference Shelf wanted to know how many organizations in Alabama did research in the area of nature or environmental conservation.

Solution:

1. Opened Gale's Ready Reference Shelf and went to the "Extended Search Mode (Organization)" page.
2. Checked the "Research Center" box.
3. Entered "AL" in the "State/Province:" entry box.
4. Entered "USA" in the "Country:" entry box.
5. Entered "conserv$" in the "Subject Descriptor (assigned thesaurus term):" entry box.
6. Clicked on the "Search" button and retrieved four organizations that fit the desired criteria.

Search 2:

A caller using Gale's Ready Reference Shelf wanted to know how many newspapers and periodicals in Dallas, Texas, are available online.

Solution:

1. Opened Gale's Ready Reference Shelf and went to the "Extended Search Mode (Publications)" page.
2. Checked the "Newspaper" and "Periodical" boxes.
3. Entered "Dallas" in the "City:" entry box.
4. Entered "TX" in the "State/Province:" entry box.
5. Entered "USA" in the "Country:" entry box.
6. Selected "Yes" for "Available Online:".
7. Clicked on the "Search" button and retrieved eight newspapers and periodicals.

Search 3:

A user of Gale's Ready Reference Shelf wanted heard references to the Cato Institute while watching Fox News and wanted to find out more about this organization.

Solution:

1. Opened Gale's Ready Reference Shelf and went to the "Search By Name" page.
2. Selected "Organizations" for "Select a Database:".
3. Entered "Cato Institute" in the "Organization Name:".
4. Clicked on "Search" button and retrieved three "Cato Institute" links that provided the desired information.

Search 4:

A sales representative using Gale's Ready Reference Shelf wanted to know how many newspapers in the United States had a circulation of 1,000,000 or more.

Solution:

1. Opened Gale's Ready Reference Shelf and went to the "Extended Search (Publications)" page.
2. Unchecked all but the "Newspaper" box.
3. Entered "USA" in the "Country:" entry box.
4. Went to the "Help" page, selected "Field Codes and Descriptions", and scrolled down to "Publications" section to find all codes having to do with circulation.
   
   CC Controlled Circulation
   CU Circulation
   MC Combined Circulation
   NC Nonpaid Circulation
   OC Other Circulation
   PC Paid Circulation
   RC Sunday Circulation
   WC Weekday Circulation

5. Went to the "General Search Tips" page and scrolled down to the "Numeric Range Searching" section to find out how to do range searching for this search.
6. Returned to the "Extended Search Mode (Publications)" page, made sure only the "Newspaper" box was checked, made sure "USA" was entered in the "Country:" entry box and then entered the following in the "Circulation:" entry box:

(@CC >= 1000000) or (@CU >= 1000000) or (@MC >= 1000000) or
(@NC >= 1000000) or (@OC >= 1000000) or (@PC >= 1000000) or
(@RC >= 1000000) or (@WC >= 1000000)

7. Clicked on the "Search" button and retrieved more than 10 U.S. newspapers that matched the requested criteria.

Search 5:

A user of Gale's Ready Reference Shelf wanted to generate a list government libraries in the State of Wyoming.

Solution:

1. Opened Gale's Ready Reference Shelf and went to the "Extended Search (Organization)" page.
2. Checked the "Government Library" box and entered "WY" in the "State/Province:" entry box.
3. Clicked on "Search" button and retrieved more than 20 organizations that were or contained state or federal government libraries.