Interactive Library Databases
The Interactive Library is composed of three separate databases. The FPJ/HSP database includes the technical articles published by the Forest Products Society in the Forest Products Journal (FPJ) and the Hardwood Symposium Proceedings (HSP) published by the National Hardwood Lumber Association (NHLA). The FPS Publications database includes the conference proceedings, guides, manuals, and text books published by the Forest Products Society and publications distributed by the Society. The PCforest database includes 14,639 records for the patents, books, and articles abstracted by the Society to form the PCforest database, the majority of which were published between the years 1974 and 1986. Together, these databases represent a significant compendium of information on forest products research spanning several decades.
Regardless of which Interactive Library database you are searching, finding the research you need is easy if you form your query correctly.
A Browse Choices button is included for most of the query boxes. Click the Browse Choices button to open a dialog box of indexed information exactly as it appears in the database. This information can be added to the query box. Adding information eliminates typing mistakes and trial and error searching. When the Browse Choices dialog box is open, use the < and > at the top of the dialog box to page through the indexed information. Type one or more characters and then click the Find button to move to that item (or to the closest matching item) in the list. Select a word or term by clicking on it. Click on the Add button at the bottom of the dialog box to add the word or term to the query box. Some of the Browse Choices buttons have the option of browsing a list of words or a list of terms, for example, publication titles inthe FPS Publications database. Clicking on the Terms List in the dialog box will display the complete titles of the catalogued publications. Clicking on the Words List will display each word used in the title separately.
The following query boxes can be used for searching the FPJ/HSP database. The drop-down Boolean AND, OR, NOT buttons on the left of the query box can be used to combine or limit information in multiple fields.
- Publication title:
- Choose either Forest Products Journal or Hardwood Symposium Proceedings from the drop-down list. If you would like to search the entire database, leave this query box empty.
- Author:
- The author’s name appears in the database as last name followed by initials or a full first name and middle initial. Because this is a term indexed field, an exact match is required. Type the author’s last name followed by an astersik (*) or click on the Browse Choices button to see exactly how an author’s name appears in the database and then add this information into the query box. Punctuation is not necessary.
- Example: Typing Morrell* eliminates the guesswork of searching for Morrell J J or Morrell Jeffrey J. Please note that typing Adams* will result in articles written by Adams Daniel, Adams Darius, Adams Edward L, and Adams Roy.
- Title of article:
- If you don’t know the exact title of the article, use an amperstand (&) between words to indicate that the words must be present. Use a slash (/) between words to indicate that the words can be present.
- Year published:
- Leaving this box blank will search all of the years in the database. To define your search, use the Boolean operators & (and), / (or), ! (not). You can also search for years greater than or less than a certain year or within a range. A range consists of two values, low and high, separated by a colon. Include spaces around the colon. Use the symbols shown below.
Symbol Meaning Example < less than (before) < 1997 finds articles published before 1997 <= less than or equal to <= 1997 finds articles published from 1987 to 1997, including 1997 > greater than (after) > 1987 finds articles published after 1987 >= greater than or equal to >= 1987 finds articles published after 1987, includes 1987 : between 1991 : 1998 finds articles published between 1991 and 1998, inclusive
- Subject area:
- Use the Browse Choices button to select from 42 general topic areas assigned to the articles in this database.
- Key terms:
- Use the Browse Choices button to select from the list of key terms assigned to the articles in the database or use a word stem (drying* will find drying, drying defects, drying rate).
- Species:
- Use the Browse Choices button to select from a list of species that are included in the articles in the database or use a word stem. Word stems are helpful in avoiding typing or spelling errors. Liri*, for example, will find Liriodendron tulipifera, but Acer* will find Acer macrophyllum, Acer rubrum, Acer saccharinum, and Acer sp.
The following query boxes can be used for searching the FPS Publications database. The drop-down Boolean AND, OR, NOT buttons on the left of the query box can be used to combine or limit information in multiple fields.
- Publication title:
- The Browse Choices button for Publication title provides an option of looking for words or terms. Clicking on the Terms List in the dialog box will display the complete titles of the catalogued publications. Clicking on the Words List will display each word used in the title separately.
- Year published:
- Leaving this box blank will search all of the years in the database. To define your search, use the Boolean operators & (and), / (or), ! (not). You can also search for years greater than or less than a certain year or within a range. A range consists of two values, low and high, separated by a colon. Include spaces around the colon. Use the symbols shown below.
Symbol Meaning Example < less than (before) < 1997 finds titles published before 1997 <= less than or equal to <= 1997 finds titles published from 1987 to 1997, including 1997 > greater than (after) > 1987 finds titles published after 1987 >= greater than or equal to >= 1987 finds titles published after 1987, includes 1987 : between 1991 : 1998 finds titles published between 1991 and 1998, inclusive
- Key terms:
- Use the Browse Choices button to select from the list of key terms assigned to the publications in the database or use a word stem (drying* will find drying, drying defects, drying degrade, etc.).
- Subject area:
- Use the Browse Choices button to select from 42 general topic areas assigned to the titles in this database.
- Species:
- Use the Browse Choices button to select from a list of species that are included in this database or use a word stem. Word stems are helpful in avoiding typing or spelling errors when searching for species. Liri*, for example, will find Liriodendron tulipifera, but Acer* will find Acer macrophyllum, Acer rubrum, Acer saccharinum, and Acer sp.
The following query boxes can be used for searching the PCforest database. The drop-down Boolean AND, OR, NOT buttons on the left of the query box can be used to combine or limit information in multiple fields.
- Publication title:
- Use the Browse Choices button to view the titles included in this database.
- Author:
- The author’s name appears in the database as last name followed by initials. Because this is a term indexed field, an exact match is required. Type the author’s last name followed by an astersik (*) or click on the Browse Choices button to see exactly how an author’s name appears in the database and then add this information into the query box. Punctuation is not necessary.
- Article title:
- If you don’t know the exact title of the article, use an amperstand (&) between words to indicate that the words must be present. Use a slash (/) between words to indicate that the words can be present.
- Year published:
- Leaving this box blank will search all years in the database. To define your search, use the Boolean operators & (and), / (or), ! (not). You can also search for years greater than or less than a certain year or within a range. A range consists of two values, low and high, separated by a colon. Include spaces around the colon. Use the symbols shown below. Use the Browse Choices button to view the years included in the database.
Symbol Meaning Example < less than (before) < 1980 finds titles published before 1980 <= less than or equal to <= 1997 finds titles published from 1987 to 1997, including 1997 > greater than (after) > 1987 finds titles published after 1987 >= greater than or equal to >= 1987 finds titles published after 1987, includes 1987 : between 1991 : 1998 finds titles published between 1991 and 1998, inclusive
- Subject area:
- Use the Browse Choices button to select from 38 general topic areas assigned to the titles in this database.
- Key terms:
- Use the Browse Choices button to select from the list of key terms assigned to the publications in the database or use a word stem (drying* will find drying, drying defects, drying degrade, etc.).
- Species:
- Use the Browse Choices button to select from a list of species that are included in this database or use a word stem. Word stems are helpful in avoiding typing or spelling errors when searching for species. Liri*, for example, will find Liriodendron tulipifera, but Acer* will find Acer macrophyllum, Acer rubrum, Acer saccharinum, and Acer sp.
Using the Boolean AND, OR, NOT droplist on the left of each query box allows you to conduct more sophisticated searches. The Boolean operator you select for a query box determines how the search criteria in that box will be combined with search criteria in additional boxes. Example: In the FPJ/HSP database, type an author’s name into the Author query box and set the Boolean drop-down button to AND. Type a year into the Year published query box and the search will find articles written by the specific author in the specific year.
Case in query criteria is usually ignored (typing allison richard c will find articles by Allison Richard C). Punctuation is also ignored, except for the and, or, not symbols (& / !) and the colon for range searches ( : ).
To clear the query criteria, click the Reset button.
To start your search, click the Submit Query button.
A successful search will find one or more database records. The results will be displayed as a report in your web browser. Use the browser controls as you normally would to browse, print, go back, etc. If your search found more than twelve records, use the Previous and Next buttons on the top or bottom of the list to view additional results.
The title of each article in the FPJ/HSP database acts as a link to a detailed report of the article. The detailed report includes an abstract and access to the full-text, searchable PDF. Members of the Forest Products Society may view and print the PDFs; nonmembers are required to purchase them. Click the Next and Previous buttons on the top or bottom of the detailed report to page through all of the detailed reports for the articles found in your search.
The title of each publication in the FPS Publications database acts as a link to a detailed report for the publication. The detailed report includes a description and access to a PDF of the Table of Contents. Click the Next and Previous buttons on the top or bottom of the detailed report to page through all of the detailed reports for the publications found in your search. Information on the availability of the publication will be provided. Access to the FPS Publications database is free for both Members and nonmembers.
The title of each article in the PCforest database acts as a link to a detailed report. The detailed report includes citation information and a link to a PDF of an abstract. Click the Next and Previous buttons on the top or bottom of the detailed report to page through all of the detailed reports for the records found in your search. The full text of each entry is stored in the FPS microfiche library and is available on a pay-per-page basis at Member/nonmember pricing. Contact FPS for more information.
If you used an asterisk, omit it and try an exact search instead (search for adhesives instead of adhe*). Try using the Boolean drop-down buttons to combine information in multiple fields.
Examine the contents of the entire search form to verify that you don’t have query criteria remaining from a previous search. If you are not sure of the spelling, use an asterisk after the first few characters. This is especially helpful in the Author and Species fields. If you tried to perform a complex search, try simplifying the search criteria to eliminate confusion. Use the Browse Choices button to view and paste exact information. This eliminates guesswork. If your search includes Boolean symbols (& / !) or range searches ( : ), put spaces around the symbols. When using multiple criteria in a query field, do not use words (and, or, not) for Boolean operators. You must use symbols (& / !).