Gale 1-800-877-GALE User Manual

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3
S
EARCH
 O
PTIONS
 
Powerful search capabilities deliver concise results. Search 
one of five ways from the main screen. It is easy to perform a 
full-scale search by selecting a topic from the alphabetical list 
of more than 80 topics just by clicking on the topic. If your 
topic is not in the list, you can type it in the Basic Search box 
from which you can select from a pull-down menu to search 
by subject, keyword, or full text. 
From the main screen you can also perform Advanced, 
Person, Publication, or Science Standards, or Timeline 
searches. Search results are returned in six different 
folder tabs:  Reference, Magazines, Academic Journals, 
Newspapers, Multimedia and Web sites.
C
ONTENT
 L
EVELS
When articles are returned in the results list, the content level 
is indicated to the left of the citation by one of three different 
icons representing Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. The 
icons associated with each of these levels help describe the 
degree of detail and difficulty each information source pro-
vides. The levels coincide with stages of research: from basic 
research for facts about a topic to deeper research for more 
background and context to a sophisticated information need 
for scholarly details and recent developments. 
The content levels are assigned to each periodical and refer-
ence set based on the publisher’s age recommendations. They 
are not assigned to each individual article. 
This general approach allows students and teachers to 
choose the articles that best suit particular needs, acknowl-
edging that many students read below or above their particu-
lar grade level.
Further, the Content Level icons indicate the sources’ intend-
ed audiences. Thomson Gale creates research materials for 
targeted audiences (e.g., U•X•L
®
 is for grades 5 and up), and 
these publisher recommendations, along with the amount 
of detail, are the basis of the designated content levels. Each 
content level is described below.
Basic   content provides a good overview for any student 
beginning a research project. It not only provides a founda-
tion of key facts about a topic, but introduces keywords to 
help students who continue their research in other materials 
or on related topics. Basic content level sources are generally 
those published for readers up to the eighth-grade level. 
Intermediate   content builds on the research or information 
at a basic level. For a more experienced researcher, these arti-
cles cover a topic in more detail, offering more background 
information as well as contextual information to expand on 
the facts. An Intermediate content level indicates a source 
published for students from a seventh-grade comprehension 
level up through undergraduates, as well as the general pub-
lic. 
Advanced   content allows a student to complete the most 
sophisticated assignments requiring the latest news and 
details at a scholarly or professional level. 
Subject Search: Science Resource Center features a hierarchi-
cal subject guide designed to help you conduct research by 
topic. It’s usually best to search for only one or two words 
at one time in order to retrieve desired results. If you enter 
more than one word, enter the most important word first, 
even if that looks backwards. You don’t have to enter every 
word of a subject heading to get a match.