• Using the Knovel Database
• Navigating content
• Conducting site keyword searches
• Search results
• Search tips
• Unrelated search results
• Using Booleans
• Case sensitive search terms
• Wild cards
• Conducting data searches
• Interactive tables
• Searching tables
• Exporting data
• Printing tables
• For more help

1. Knovel Engineering and Scientific Online References allows you to cross-search any number of publications instantly, providing you with immediate access to the information you need. Access is restricted to systems with campus IP addresses.
2. Open the Knovel home page by going to the Knovel Online Interactive Books and Databases site (see a Reference Librarian for assistance).

Content featured in this product is intended to be easy to access and browse.

Click to see full image: Knovel home page.

Home Page:

A number of features are available from the Knovel home page, including the Site Keyword Search, "My Books" which provides a list of titles in your subscription, "List of Titles", which provides a complete list of titles on Knovel, and "KNews", which features Knovel's monthly newsletters.

Search Features:

Knovel's motto is "Keep it simple". The Site Keyword Search allows two or more words typed into a single text box and will find any matches within a five-word proximity. The Site Data Search provides for advanced searches allowing you to specify the scope of your search.

Interactive Features:

Interactive Tables provide you with tables that allow you to customize data as you would do when using a spreadsheet application. You can select rows, sort, hide columns, change column order and more.

Use Site Keyword Search to search text and tabular data

You will be conducting:

• A full text search of PDF's of the book. Matches will be returned with text highlighted;
• A search of indexed terms that cover the book and the interactive tables and data derived from it. This search includes subject index, general terms, substance names, synonyms, property names etc. Matches found in the search of indexed terms will not be highlighted.

Home Page:

On the home page there is a simple field and button for keyword searches. This dialog can handle multiple or single keywords. If no Boolean is provided, the system assumes the AND Boolean between keywords separated by a space. Use parenthesis for a phrase search. The following operators are supported: AND, OR, NOT.

Product Table of Contents:

Beginning with the table of contents for a particular product, another basic search is available. This provides the same functionality as the previously described keyword search except the interface provides two fields and an operator pull-down menu. A single keyword can be entered into each field or multiple keywords can be entered into one or both fields. If no Boolean is provided, the system assumes the AND Boolean between keywords separated by a space. Use parenthesis for a phrase search. The following operators are supported: AND, OR, NOT.

Keyword Search Interface:

Similar to the Data Search Interface described later in this help file, the basic keyword search has a separate interface available through the "keyword search" button from the navigation header. This interface will feature 2 fields.

Click to see full image: Site Keyword Search.

Once you have conducted a keyword search, the system returns a compiled search results screen for all the content products that were hit.

There are five columns in a typical search results table.

Click to see full image: Sample Keyword Search Results.

1. The first column (labeled "book") shows a thumbnail of the product in which the results are found as well as title, ISBN or other pertinent information.

2. The second column (labeled "results") shows where the result falls within the Table of Contents for the content product. One important difference is that the result is displaying the actual data rather than simply the chapter title. Use the Plus symbol to expand the description to see where the actual data is located.

3. The third column (labeled "rank") shows a relative ranking of the hit. The search engine rates data hits higher than textual hits, because interactive data formats are often considered more useful than textual information.

4, 5. The fourth and fifth columns (labeled "data" and "text" respectively) indicates whether the hits are one of the interactive data formats or a text hit. Text hits which include terms found in the index of the book will rank higher than those not in the subject index.

Use More Search Terms:

For more effective searches, use at least two terms. By using more keywords to narrow your search, you can locate documents and tables tailored to your needs. Using two query terms in the navigation search fields is the easiest way to narrow your search.

Booleans:

NEAR is the default Boolean for keywords separated with a space. For a broader search, link keyword terms with AND, NOT, or OR. OR will return a broader search than its counterparts AND and NOT.

Sometimes search results from a search will seem unrelated to one another. Or perhaps even unrelated to the original intent of the search.

Generally, the cause of unrelated search results can be traced to search terms that are too broad. As mentioned above, using multiple words in the query will focus the search results.

Another option is to use the advanced search to further refine your search. Advanced search is discussed in depth later in this help file.

Booleans allow you to conduct more advanced searches by specifying search rules. Three Boolean operators are available: AND, OR, and NOT.

AND: retrieves records containing both or all keyword terms (to narrow the search). Example: "moulding AND density" will only find records containing the density of moulding.

OR: retrieves records containing either or both terms (to broaden the search). Example: "moulding OR methyl ethyl ketone" will find records with containing either moulding or methyl ethyl ketone or records containing both.

NOT: retrieves records containing the first, but not the second term (to narrow the search). Example: "ketone NOT moulding" will return all records containing ketone, but none of them will include moulding.

Data searching allows you to combine keyword and numeric searches, while limiting your search to specific subject areas, properties, and numeric ranges.

Click to see full image: Data Search Interface.

Step One: Access the Site Data Search menu by clicking on the Site Data Search button, located on the top navigation bar of every page.

Step Two: Within the Site Data Search menu, you can refine your search by limiting to specific subject areas. Under "Search Publications," choose a subject area from the list box to limit. The default is "Search all subject areas."

Step Three: Under the search criteria, you can choose to search for keywords or search for numeric property values. Keyword search is shown as a default category.

Interactive tables allow you to find and customize data as you would do when using spreadsheet applications, such as Microsoft Excel. Features include selecting rows, sorting, finding data, and filtering data.

Click to see full image: Interactive Tables.

Once in the table, the "Find Data in Table" feature can be used either to refine search results or to search the entire table. After selecting, the search interface appears at the top of the table. Use this to enter search terms and change the properties of the search.

Click to see full image: Find Data in Table

You can export up to 50 rows in a table page, in different file formats, using the Export Table icon.

.Just follow the instructions supplied by the Export Wizard.

Click to see full image: Export Table icon

• Click on the Help button for on-screen help.
• For further assistance, consult a Reference Librarian.