<*************************************************> <* *> <* Inside Dialog *> <* By *> <* Ctrl C *> <* Advanced Telecommunications Inc. *> <* *> <*************************************************> 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: ------------------------------------------------------- ? 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 ___ _____ ______]_{_ ------------------------------------------------------- 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: ------------------------------------------------------- ? Expand Drink Ref Items Index-term E1 1 Drina 31 *Drink E4 2 Drinkers . . . . . . . . . E12 3 Dripping ------------------------------------------------------- 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. ------------------------------------------------------- ? 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 ------------------------------------------------------- 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. ------------------------------------------------------- ? ?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 ------------------------------------------------------- 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: ------------------------------------------------------- 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.. ------------------------------------------------------- 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. ------------------------------------------------------- ? 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 --- ----- ----------- ------------------------------------------------------- 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!