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<* *>
<* Inside Dialog *>
<* By *>
<* Ctrl C *>
<* Advanced Telecommunications Inc. *>
<* *>
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DIALOG is one of the largest online databases. DIALOG
currently provides access to over 250 databases containing a
total of over 100 Million records. The range of information
available is enormous.
BEGIN:
The BEGIN command starts a search and tells Dialog which
database you want it to check out. The BEGIN command is followed
(without a space) by the file number of the database you want.
Either of the following ways could get you into the file 229
(Drug information):
Begin229
or
B229
Dialog will then put the date, the time, your user number,
and what it costs for the database you just left. For example,
if you move from ERIC (file 1) to Management Contents (file 75)
it would look like this:
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? b75
28sep86 13:59:25 User08331
$0.10 0.00 Hrs File1
$0.02 Uninet
$0.12 Estimated Total Cost
File75:Management Contents - 74-86/Sep
(Corp. Management Contents Inc.)
Set Items Description
___ _____ ______]_{_
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EXPAND:
The EXPAND command is used to pick keywords for a search.
You can search for any word; but knowing how common a word is
gives you a good idea where to start your search.
All databases have a index of searchable words. You can see
if there are any words of the same spelling to a keyword you want
to search for. For example:
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? Expand Drink
Ref Items Index-term
E1 1 Drina 31 *Drink
E4 2 Drinkers
. . .
. . .
. . .
E12 3 Dripping
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The word -more- at the bottom of the screen means that
typing Page or P will display another screen of information.
SELECT:
When you find the word you want to search for, you use the
SELECT command to tell the database what to search for. The
SELECT command can be followed with one or more search terms.
SELECT STEP:
The SELECT STEP command works just like the SELECT command,
except the files it finds are listed separately.
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? SS television? OR tv
1 21347 TELEVISION
2 6376 TV
3 22690 1 or 2
? SS s3 AND violen? AND child?
4 1680 VIOLEN?
5 20577 CHILD?
6 38 3 AND 4 AND 5
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TYPE and DISPLAY:
There are two commands, TYPE and DISPLAY, that you can use
to look over the information you have found. The difference is
the TYPE command causes a non-stop list of the information. The
DISPLAY lets the information to list a page at a time, you have
to type PAGE or P to see the next page.
DIALOG offers nine formats to display retrieved files.
Format Parts of Record Listed
~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
1 Accession Number
2 Complete record except abstract
3 Bibliographic citation
4 File dependent
5 Complete record
6 Accession number and title
7 Bibliographic citation and abstract
8 Accession number, title, and indexing
9 File dependent
LOGOFF:
The LOGOFF command has no abbreviation. It's self
explanatory.
DIALOG is has help commands, typing ?HELP, or ?EXPLAIN will
give you help.
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? ?EXPLAIN
Valid EXPLAIN commands are:
Basic Commands:
?BEGIN ?ENDSDI ?MAPRN ?SCREEN
?COMBINE ?EXPAND ?ORDER ?SELECT
?COST ?KEEP ?PAGE ?SFILES
?DISPLAY ?LIMIT ?PRINT ?SORT
?DS ?LIST ?REVIEW ?TYPE
?ENDSAVE ?LOGOFF
***
News/Status:
?DIALINDX ?FILESUM ?ONTAP ?SUBSCRIP
?DISCOUNT ?HELP ?RATES ?SUPPLRS
?EXPLAIN ?INSTRUCT ?SCEDULE ?TOLLFREE
?FILES ?MESSAGE ?SDI ?TRUNCATE
?FILESAZ ?NEWS ?SEMIARS ?UPDATE
***
Telecommunication Access:
?ACCESS ?DIALNET ?SABD ?TRANSPAC
?DARDO ?FINNPAK ?TELENET ?TWX
?DATAPAC ?IDAS ?TELEPAKD ?TYMNET
?DATEX ?NORPAC ?TELEPAKS ?UNINET
?PSS ?TELEX ?WATS
***
File Information:
?FIELDn* ?FILEn* ?LIMITn* ?RATESn*
*Enter desired file# in place of the n
***
Training (DIALOG Service):
?TRAIN (For information on DIALOG
training sessions, including
descriptions of particular
training sessions.)
***
Training (DatabaB*UI=A%j|
?KINONEWS (Kinokuniya Japan)
?MMCNEWS (Masis Japan)
?USNEWS (United States)
***
Online User Group News:
?CANOUG ?OUGNEWS MMCOUG ?USOUG
?EUROUG
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Logging on
For: Type:
Telenet C 41520
C 41548
C 213170
C 213236
Tymnet DIALOG
UNINET DIALOG
Dialnet DIALOG
To dial directly:
Baud: Number:
300 415/858-2575
300 415/858-2461
1200(Bell 202) 415/858-2421
1200(Bell 212A)415/858-0511
1200(Bell 212A)415/858-2460
1200(VADIC) 415/858-2391
WATS:
1-800/847-1620
1-800/792-6680
When it connects type P.
When you connect it will say ENTER YOUR DIALOG PASSWORD.
Passwords are usually eight letters long. When you type the
correct password you will see something like this:
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ENTER YOUR DIALOG PASSWORD
XXXXXXXX LOGON File1 Sun 28sep86 18:35:12 Port866
** FILES 13,104 & 139 ARE UNAVAILABLE **
** FILE 262 SROTS ARE NOT WORKING **
** FILES 7 AND 50 ARE NOT WORKING **
And a bunch more shit..
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When the announcements are done, you are given a question
mark (?). The first command you will want is to move to a
database. This is done by typing B(no space) and a the database
number.
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? B296
28sep86 18:37:22 User08331
$0.00 0.006 Hrs File1*
$0.05 Telenet
$0.05 Estimated Total Cost
File296:ONTAP TRADEMARKSCAN - O.G.
(END/SAVE, END/SDI, .EXECUTE, .RECALL, & .RELEASE invalid for file)
Set Items Description
--- ----- -----------
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I don't have a list of all the databases, you'll just have to
play around with it.
Here's a few I know of:
File Database
---- --------
75 Management Contents
201 ERIC
204 CA Search
205 BIOSIS Privews
208 Compendex
213 INSPEC
215 ABI/INFORM
216 PTS Prompt
229 Drug Information
231 CHEMNAME
247 Magazine Index
250 CAB Abstracts
254 Medline
290 Dialindex
296 TrademarkScan
Summary of command Abbreviations
B=BEGIN E=EXPAND S=SELECT SS=SELECT STEP
T=TYPE D=DISPLAY PR=PRINT P=PAGE
Dialog Training office 1-800-227-8282 or 1-800-982-5838
Have Fun..
<----Ctrl C---->
ATI!