Power Search in Lexis Nexis

In this video, we're going to look at the Power Search of the Lexis Nexis database What's great about the Power Search is that it's very specific about the results that you find. Because the database is so huge, it can be helpful to search for just the kind of information you need. When I do a Power Search, I usually start off by choosing what source I would like to search In this case I'm going to do all news in English. I could also search just one source like The New York Times or the Columbus Dispatch. This and "Add Section" down here lets me say... ...that I only want my search results to come from a specific section of the newspaper. So, one of the most common things to do is to search in the HEADLINE The topic that I'm going to look at today is PR efforts around global warming. So I'm going to look at "global warming" and then say "Add to Search." This just puts your search term up here in the search box. You could type this all in yourself once you know how to do it or you can use this "Add Search" section I also know that another term that is used for global warming is climate change So I'm going to say also search for climate change by selecting "OR" as a connector then type in "climate change" keeping the section as HEADLINE. and then "Add to Search" So, right now I'm saying that my search results either need to have "global warming" or "climate change" in the headline. The next thing I'm going to do is use an industry index term the index terms are kind of like tags or subject headings They tell you that someone has decided that the article is about that particular industry You can also look for companies, subjects, people and geography. To add an industry tag, click on the link for "Industry" And you should get a pop up box, which I'm going to move Now I have an industry directory So I'm going to scroll through, then look at "Marketing and Advertising," click the plus sign And then check the box for the industry that you want. You can check as many as you want. But I'm just going to do "Public Relations" Then when you're done, go down to the bottom and you should have a red button that says "OK - Add to Search." So now I'm looking for articles that have either "global warming" or "climate change" in the headline And that also have the index term "Public Relations" as an industry. Go ahead and click "Search" So I have 18 search results Which is a lot more manageable than the number of results I would get with just a regular keyword search Over here on the left hand side, I can see the different sources including newspapers. Click on the plus sign to see what's included. Then you can, for example, click on "The Vancouver Sun" to see just the articles from that source And then click on a title to read the full text This is a letter, but it has "climate change" in the headline and then at the bottom... we should see under Industry "Public Relations." When you find an article that you like, remember to use the options for saving up here on the right hand side If you just save the URL at the top of the page, it wont work when you try to go back because it's a database search. But from here, you can print, email, download, or send to Ref Works or another citation manager. This has been a quick look at the Power Search in Lexis Nexis. If you have any questions, you can always return to the OU Libraries home page and use the link to "Ask a Librarian." ohio.edu/library