VIEWING, SAVING, AND PRINTING SEARCHES

Once you have completed your query, you will probably want to view, save, or print the resulting records for future reference or location purposes. CA on CD allows you to perform any of these tasks:

Viewing Records
Marking Records
Saving Records
Printing Records

After performing a browsed search, a keyword search, or a search of one of the hierarchical structures, you will find yourself faced with a list of titles. The easiest way to view the record for a particular title is to double click on the title in the list. This brings up the record and the abstract for the article. Once you have viewed one of the records, you can move to to the next or the previous record by clicking on the Next or Prev buttons at the top of the screen.

If the record looks like something you might like to print or save for future reference, you can mark it. There are two methods of marking a record. The first is to mark the record from within the title list. To do this, highlight the desired record and then click on the Mark button at the top of the screen.

If you would like to mark all of the records on the screen, select the Mark All button, rather than the Mark button.

Once you mark a record in the title area, a little square to the right of the record appears to let you know that the record has been marked.

If you decided that you want to remove a mark from a record, simply select either the Unmark button or, if you want to clear all marks, the Clear button from the top of the screen.

After examining the records that you have retrieved and marking some that are relevant, you may want to save the records to a file on your home/office computer or to a floppy disk.

If you desire to save the records that you have marked, click on the "SaveMk" button at the top of the screen. This saves your marked records. The system then presents you with a generic save menu that allows you to specify the disk and directory to which you want to save your file. In addition, it allows you to select a format in which to save your file. The default is text files (*.txt), which saves the information as a text-only file. The other option is tabbed files (*.tab), which saves textual information as tagged segments separated by tabs. This format allows the information to be read by other databases.

It is also possible to save the window in which you are working. This is particularly useful when the record you are viewing is the only record retrieved by your browse or search and you want to save the record without marking it. In order to perform this type of save, click on the Save button at the top of the screen or go to "Save" in the File menu on the function bar.

You will be given the same save options as you are when you are saving marked records. You can use the save feature to save a list of titles or a page from the hierarchy, as well. If you want to save a particular highlighted selection in the open window, select "Selection" in the save screen, and if you want to save all selections, select "All." If you would like to save the entire window for future reference, select the "Window" option.

Printing records involves a process very similar to that of saving records. If you have marked records that you wish to print, select the "PrintMk" button from the top of the screen.

You have several options for the format in which you print the marked records. You can elect to print "All," which results in a printout of the entirity of each of the marked records (citation, abstract, keywords, index entries, and structures where available), to print "Bibliographic," which results in a printout of the citation of the articles marked, or to print "Bibliographic and Abstract," which results in a printout of the citation and the abstract for the articles marked.

If you have not marked any records but prefer to print a window or a single record, you can select the "Print" option from the File menu in the function bar at the top of the screen or you can click the Print button in the top row of buttons. As with the save button and option, this allows you to choose between printing the highlighted selection and printing the entire window.