Military and Government Collection II
by David Wilson

What is the Military and Government Collection?

The Military and Government Collection connects TexShare users to nearly 400 full-text periodicals, peer-reviewed journals, and government publications. The database includes news, pamphlets, press releases, and scholarly articles highlighting issues relevant to all branches of the armed forces and departments of the U.S government.

Defense and foreign policy periodicals are well-represented, as are technology and engineering publications. The Military and Government Collection also provides full-text access to a number of national newspapers and consumer magazines, as well as abstracts of an additional 250 titles not available in full-text form.

How do I search the Military and Government Collection?

Basic search
First, try a Basic Search. Sometimes a simple keyword search will bring you fast results. A Basic keyword search of the Military and Government Collection will attempt to locate your terms within any and all of the following categories: authors, subjects, keywords, titles, and abstracts.

1. Select the Basic Search tab at the top of the page.
2. Enter a keyword or series of keywords in the Find field.
3. Click Search.

If your search returns too many matches, you'll probably need to refine your search. In this way, you'll zero in on just the information you need.

My search of the term "army reserves" returned 1117 results—far too many to be of much use.

Refining Your Search:

Try refining your search by adding keywords and Boolean operators.
The Military and Government Collection allows you to use Boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT to limit or expand your keyword searches.

In my case, I realize that I'm not interested in looking at every article about the Army Reserves. I want to know what's going on in Texas.

• Try a Basic Search of "army reserves" AND "Texas"

Much better this time. Now the database returns 15 results.

In fact, after browsing through these articles, I may decide that I need to expand my search once more.

Select the "Refine Search" feature to limit or expand your initial search.

•  Click the Refine Search tab.
• Set your conditions by checking the appropriate boxes.

•  Limit your search to Full-Text entries, for example, or only to articles from a particular Publication.
• Expand your search by instructing the database to "search for related words" or to "search within the full text of the articles," rather than default search fields alone.
• Click Search once again.

Are your results better or worse? There's always an element of trial and error involved in database searching. Learn to be flexible. When one strategy takes you in the wrong direction, back up and try something else.

Advanced Search

If you'd like to exercise more control over your search, The Military and Government Collection offers a wide range of Advanced Search features.

Maybe you're looking for works by a particular author, for example. Or perhaps you'd like to search subject fields alone. You may even apply several different conditions simultaneously.

The Advanced Search feature allows you to enter strings of keywords into three distinct search fields at the same time.

1. Select the Advanced Search tab.
2. Enter your first set of search terms in the topmost Find field.

In the example above, I'm confining my search to articles by a particular author. Her name becomes my first set of keywords.

Now I have to let the database know that I'd like to search by author's name.

3. Use the dropdown menu to choose the search field you'd like to pinpoint:

4. Now type additional search terms into any of the remaining Find fields.
5. An additional series of dropdown menus allows you to separate each element of your query with Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT.

I'm looking for articles this author has written on the subject of employment benefits for military personnel.

• First, I add the term "benefits" and direct the database to search the field "SU Subject Terms."
• Now I separate my two search fields with the "and" operator, so that the database only retrieves articles that satisfy both conditions: articles by "Deborah Funk" that are also about "benefits."

For now, I'd like to read about the issue as it relates to active duty personnel, and not veterans.

• I select "not" from the dropdown menu and enter a third keyword, "veterans," which I confine to the "Default Fields."

The Military and Government Collection returns 17 articles by this author, including two recent articles in Army Times and Navy Times I've been trying to locate.

Other Features of the Database:

Subjects Authority File

You may be able to conduct more effective searches by consulting The Military and Government Collection's Subject Authority Files.

• Click the Subjects button at top,
• Enter a keyword. Click Browse.
• The database will alert you of the preferred term, and will also provide a list of broader and narrower terms to help you further refine your subject searches.

Learn the database's preferred term for the concept you'd like to locate, and you'll often get better results.

Publications Authority File

You can also access a complete list of every publication included in the database.

• Click the Publications button.
• Browse this list in alphabetical order, or enter a subject keyword in the search box for a list of titles that match your description.

Putting it all together

• Enter the terms and titles you locate in the Subject and Publication Authority Files as additional Advanced Search terms.
  
• Keep track of the different Advanced Search strategies you employ by clicking the Search History/Alerts tab. You'll see a numbered display of each search you conducted, with a direct link to the results page generated.