Suite Search Interface Help Screen
The RDS Business Suite is comprised of two main search interfaces -- Basic Search and Advanced Search. The Basic Search interface uses words and phrases and allows for the use of Boolean logic to perform a more targeted search. The Advanced Search interface uses words and phrases in conjunction with index terms presented in scrolling list-boxes. The terms identified in these list-boxes are comprised of a specialized controlled vocabulary; and although it is not necessary to use the additional index terms, the application of these terms will typically provide more focused search results. Select and use whichever fields are appropriate to structure any given search.

Please note: It is important to remember, that the more you narrow your search by using the additional index field terms, the greater the chance of limiting yourself into an "empty set" result. Meaning that, you may not get any results because you have made the search too specific.

Words & Word Phrases - back to top
Enter words and word phrases in the Word or Phrase field.  Words entered into the Word or Phrase field will search the full text, abstract, title and select descriptor fields.  For Example: entering the phrase technology budget in the Word or Phrase field will retrieve articles that include this term.

To enter multiple words and/or phrases connect them with Boolean Operators (AND, OR, NOT).

Searching Date Ranges - back to top
The Business Reference Suite search interface allows you to limit the extent of your search by date range. By default, no date range filtering is applied. You may optionally set the earliest and/or latest publication date for articles to be returned by entering a date in the from and/or to text boxes.

Company - back to top
When searching for information related to one or more companies enter company names in the Company Name field.  Use Boolean Operators to AND, OR, NOT company names in your search statement.

The search shown above will retrieve articles that include both 3Com and US Robotics companies in the search. You are looking for information about and their joint business activities.

Concept Terms - back to top
Concept Terms define the events or facts discussed in articles.  The Concept Term list in the RDS Business Suite is dynamically built and is dependent upon the databases that the user has selected to search. If B&I, BAMP and TableBase are selected for searching, then the list will include all terms indexed in each of the databases. If only B&I and TableBase are selected for searching then the list will only include the Concept Terms from those two databases. Use the Multi-Select feature to select more than one Concept Term from the scrolling text-box. For greater precision searching with Concept Terms search each database individually.

The example above would find articles that discuss either Divestitures or E-commerce.

Click the button located to the right of the main Words/Phrases search box to refresh the list-boxes after you select or de-select databases for a given search. This will assure that all appropriate terms and list-box fields are added to the search interface.

Marketing Terms - back to top
Like Concept Terms, the Marketing Term lists are built dynamically and are dependent upon the databases that are selected for a given search.  If the BAMP database is included in a search, the Marketing Term list will not be included in the search interface since there are no Marketing Terms in the BAMP database.  However, when a search included B&I and TableBase the list of Marketing Terms will be included in the search interface.

Department Names - back to top
Department Names are used when doing a search in the Business and Management Practices module alone. These index terms would be applied when articles discuss specific departments or functional areas within a company.  Use Department Names to limit your search to a specific functional area of interest.  To select a Department Name, scroll through the text-box list and highlight term that is most appropriate to your search.  Use the Multi-Select feature to select more than one Department Names from the scrolling text-box. Multiple terms may be jointed with AND/OR operators.

View a complete list of Department Names

Industry Names - back to top
The Industry Name scroller-box provides over 90 different Industry Names to chose from.   Industry Names are collections of SICs/Product Codes that belong to a given industry.  Use Industry Names to limit your search to a relevant set of SICs/Product Codes.  Using the Industry Name list-box select one or more terms by holding the Control key and Clicking on the terms.  Multiple terms may be joined with AND/OR operator.  Use the Multi-Select feature to select more than one Concept Term from the scrolling text-box

The example above would find articles that discuss both the Entertainment and Fast Foods industries.

SIC/Product Codes - back to top
Product Codes on RDS Business Suite are derived from the most recent U.S. Department of Commerce Standard Industrial Classifications.  If the SIC for a search is known, it may be entered directly to the SIC/Product Code field

Note: SIC/Product Codes will truncate automatically. You may enter a number that is between 1 and 6 digits. Multiple SIC/Product Codes may be joined with the AND or OR operators.

For example: For electronic computers use 357100

If you do not know the SIC/Product Code it may be looked up using the Browse SIC link next to the SIC/Product text-box. This will bring you to an expanding list of Product Codes. Click on the icon to expand through the product code ranges.  Expanding through the Product Code range will provide you with increasingly specific Product Codes.  Click on an underlined product code and it will automatically be entered to the SIC/Product Code field. Click on the icon to collapse the SIC ranges that have previously been expanded.

Document Types - back to top
Document Types identify specific types of articles or sources.    Use Document Types to find specific types of information such as Rankings, Surveys, Industry and Company Overviews, Geographic Profiles, Time Series, Cross Comparison Studies and more.  Use the Must Include Table check-box to limit a search to only articles that include tabular data.

The example above would find article that discuss either Case Studies or Cross comparison study.

Geographic Codes - back to top
Use Geographic Codes to restrict a search to the country or region of interest.    Click on the pop-up box and select the appropriate country or region.

Country vs. Region
Select a country when you want information about a specific country.  Select a region to search all countries within a region.

The example above would find articles that discuss events occurring in both Romania and Russia.

The U.S.A check-box limits your search to articles that discuss events occurring in the United States.

Using Multi-Select Text-Boxes - back to top
Many of the controlled-vocabulary indexes such as Concept Terms, Industry Names, Document Types or Geo Region are also available through Multi-Select text-boxes. The text-boxes allow you to select one or more entries in the box at the same time. Please note that the method for doing the selection in the list is dependent upon the computer you are using to access the database.

For example:  when using a PC usually holding down the Ctrl or Shift keys on your keyboard while clicking in the text-box with your mouse allows multiple selections.   When using an Apple computer, usually holding the Apple key while clicking your mouse allows multiple selections.

Next to the Multi-Select boxes are radio buttons allowing you to choose And or Or. This allows you to specify how the multi-selected terms are related to one another in a document. If you choose And, each matching document must contain all of the selected terms. If you choose Or, each matching document must contain at least 1 of the selected terms.

Using the Tools Toolbar - back to top
The Tools Toolbar will appear when you select an article for viewing or if you have selected items for a Marked Items List and have selected to view your Marked Items.

The functional tools that are available from this toolbar, are the print function signified by the icon; the e-mail function signified by the icon; and download function signified by the icon. By mousing over each icon, you will get a brief descriptive prompt for additional guidance.

For printing:  when selecting the print function from a singular article you will be prompted immediately to print from that page. If you are you selecting the print function from your Marked Items list, a separate window will pop up with the selected document(s) already formatted for printing; the documents will print out consecutively as one complete document. When you are finished printing your Marked Items, you can simply close out of the printing window to get back to your original Marked Items list.

For e-mailing:  when selecting the e-mail function from the Tools Toolbar, a separate window will pop up confirming how many articles have been selected for mailing. If you entered this function from a singular document, you will notice that the the pop up window states that you are e-mailing 1 article. If you are printing from a Marked Items list, the pop up window will state that you are e-mailing the same amount of items from your Marked Items list.

You will be asked to supply the e-mail(s)to which you would like the article(s) sent (be sure to check each address provided for accuracy). You also have the option of providing an introductory comment which will appear at the beginning of the e-mailed content when received by the e-mail recipient(s).

Clicking the send button, will execute the delivery. Once the send command has been executed, you will receive a confirmation notice confirming to whom the materials were delivered. At this point, you can either exit out of the e-mail window or click on the Back to Results link to return to your original article or Marked Items list.

If while typing in your e-mails or your comment(s) you wish to clear all fields to re-enter your addresses or comments, simply click on the Clear button provided.

Articles will be sent in plain text format with a subject line of RDS Database Records .

For downloading:  when selecting the download function a separate window will pop up and your browser will display the available options for saving the file. The format will be in plain text and the system will be named "download.txt" by default. If you wish to change the file name, simply type over the word "download", making sure to leave the extension that appears after the period (dot). The Cancel button closes the Download window without taking any action and returns you to your original document or Marked Items list.

Important Note: If you are printing, e-mailing, or downloading from a Marked Items list consisting of items from more than one RDS Business Suite module, whatever current tab/module you have open will be the content grouping from which your functional tool will pull. Meaning that if you marked items from two or more RDS Business Suite modules, depending on which tab you have open, this will be the group of articles that will be printed, e-mailed, or downloaded. If you do have Marked Items from more than one module, you should enter each tab/module separately to perform your print, or e-mail, or download functions to ensure that all selections are received.

Revising a Search - back to top
After submitting a search, you can return to the search input page, make changes to your most recent search query, and re-submit your search by clicking the Revise Search link located in the upper left hand side of tool bar.

Clearing Selected Limiters - back to top
While in the process of selecting or de-selecting limiters from the list-box options given, if you would like to clear all of the current selections, you can simply click the button located to the right of the main Words/Phrases search box. This action wil refresh the list-boxes and will assure a clean start.

Marking Items from Results - back to top
While viewing certain pages, such as search results and documents, you may want to collect records in a list called Marked Items which allows you to set aside documents in which you are interested and then view and/or retrieve them all at once, rather than doing so one by one. To add items to your Marked Items list, click to place a check mark in the corresponding Mark checkbox. Once a checkmark is placed in the checkbox, you will see a Marked Items link appear in the top tool bar with a tally of the number of articles you've selected for your Marked Items list.

To remove an item from your Marked Items list, simply click the checkbox to remove the check mark and then click on the Marked Items link at the top of the page to refresh your marked selections.

Whenever you display a marked item on a results list or on the document display page during your current session, you will see a check mark in the corresponding Mark checkbox.

Using Your Mark List

To view your current list of saved items, click the Marked Items link in the toolbar (found in the banner area at the top left of the page) as shown above.

The appearance of the Marked Items list closely resembles a results list; however, you will only be seeing the documents that you've previously selected. By clicking on the individual product tabs, you will be taken to the marked items selected in each module. To deselect a particular article simply click on the check box next to the article and then click on the Marked Items link at the top of the page to refresh your marked selections.

To clear your entire marked items list, simply click on the Clear Marked Items List link at the top of the results list and you will be taken to the Basic Search interface to begin your search anew.

Bookmarking Searches or Individual Items - back to top
By using the Bookmark feature, you and others can re-visit practically any page you choose after you've ended your current session. You can Bookmark almost any kind of page retrieved during your session -- this may include search input screens, entire result lists, specific documents, and your Marked Items list.

While displaying a page, just click the Bookmark link located in the toolbar (found in the banner area at the top of the page) and a separate browser window will open, allowing you to copy and paste the Bookmark into another document, or automatically add it to your browser's Bookmarks, Favorites, or Shortcuts list, depending on your operating system and browser used. To automatically add the Bookmarked page or item to your browser's Bookmarks, Favorites, or Shortcuts list, simply click on the Bookmark Page link on the separate browser window just below the Bookmark web address/URL shown. Please note that some browsers do not support bookmarks, so this option may not be avaiable to you.

If you created a Bookmark, Favorite or shortcut item, simply click the link.

When you or someone else visits your Bookmarked search results, your search is run anew against the current contents of the RDS database. You may get additional or updated information than when you originally performed the search.

Keep in mind that successfully using a Bookmark link starts a search session in the RDS database. Even if the link simply goes to a document, all resources of that database are available to the user.

Documents that are Bookmarked should be reasonably stable, but the list of sources and negotiated rights (for text and/or full content display) in a collection can change without notice. It is therefore a good idea to verify you saved links from time to time to confirm that they are still valid.

Copyright © Gale Cengage Learning.
Terms & Conditions of Use