SIT Library Guides: Study Toolbox: Searching ProQuest Central

How to search ProQuest Central

A basic search can be approached a number of ways.

Enter keywords that relate to your subject e.g. small business and ethics.
Enter an author's surname if known.
Enter the title if known.

The advanced search allows you to use multiple keywords in your search and specify the field to search e.g. document title, abstract or anywhere. The advanced search provides the option to add extra search bars.

You can use different search techniques within the search bars e.g. phrase searching, truncation and Boolean operators.

When the database returns the search results, use limiters to reduce and refine those results. Some useful limiters are full text, source type, publication date, subject and language.

On the sub-page Searching the Online Databases the functions of common limiters are explained.

To read an article click on the title. Some articles may be an abstract only. In this situation the SIT Library can interloan the article from another library for you free of charge.

Clicking on a title will take you to the article’s record. Some will have the option of HTML full text and/or PDF full text. There is a difference between HTML and PDF. HTML displays as one long continuous page and does not display page numbers. You will need to reference a HTML document as an electronic source with counted paragraphs. PDF full text is a scanned copy of the original article and has page numbers.

Click on the Full Text tab to view the article in HTML format and click on the Full Text-PDF tab to view the article in PDF format.

Options for a Full Text (HTML format) or Full Text - PDF article:

Your personal profile folder stores information collected across searching sessions. All the items you save to your personal folder remain until you remove them.

Set up and Sign In:

To access your personal folder you must set up a personal account with ProQuest Central. This involves providing an email address and creating a password. Once signed up remember to sign in at each new session. If you are not signed in, the folder will not retain any items.

1. Click once on the sign in icon located in the top ribbon. → 2. Select either Sign into My Research or Create My Research Account to set up your account.

Adding items to your folder:

There are two ways to add items to your folder.

From the results list, tick the box to the left of the title.

From the item's record, click All Options from the toolbar located on the right hand side of the title. Next, click Add to selected items.

After adding an item to your folder, click on the folder in the top right hand corner and select Save to My Research.

Accessing saved items:

To access your folder click once on the person icon located in the top right hand corner and select Saved Documents. You must be signed in to access any saved items. Within your folder you can create custom folders e.g. for different assignments or papers.