How do I save my searches and create alerts?

Searches in FSTA Direct can be saved and used to set up email alerts. In order to access this facility please log in with your username and password from the Home page.

The procedure to Save searches created in the current session is:

Navigate to a Search Screen or click on My FSTA Searches on the results page
Identify your search in the Search session history panel under My FSTA Searches
Click on the search and in the pop up window select Save search
Give the search a name and click Save
The named search now appears in the Saved searches panel

Email alerts can be set up only from saved searches. You must be logged in with your username and password to access your saved searches. The email address used for email alerts is the one associated with your user account.

To set up an email alert from a saved search:

Navigate to a Search Screen or click on My FSTA Searches on the results page
Identify your search in the Saved searches panel under My FSTA searches
Click on the search and in the pop up window select Set alert
In the next window select frequency, view type and format, and click OK
The window closes and an email icon appears next to the search name in the Saved searches panel
The next time the FSTA Direct database is updated (usually once a week) you will receive an email in the specified format.

How do I search by a specific field e.g. Author, Journal?

The simplest way to search for a named author is to use the Author selector, accessible from Guided search. Journals can be located using the Source selector, also accessible from Guided search.
All the fields in FSTA Direct are also available for searching from the Advanced search screen.

How do I export records?

Use the following procedure to Export a set of records from a search

Run a search and if necessary select those records you wish to Export
In the light blue menu bar at the top of the Results screen click on 'Export' and select one of the options in the sub-menu (e.g. Export all)
A window pops up, offering you a choice of formats - select the one you need
Click on Save
You can now choose a location and filename for the set of records. If you prefer, check the email box to export the results via email.

What reference software can I use to organize exported records?

At present FSTA Direct supports the Thomson Researchsoft file format used in EndNote®, ProCite®, and Reference Manager® products. Other bibliographic management packages may offer import facilities from the Thomson Researchsoft format or from XML, also supported by FSTA Direct.

Can I change the record display?

There are a number of ways to change the amount of information in the record display.

On the Search results page, all the records on display can be changed by clicking on Change View in the light blue menu bar and selecting the desired format
Individual records can have their display format changed by clicking on the change icon at the right hand end of the record title var and by selecting the desired format; the single record is displayed in a new window or tab
If you wish to change permanently the default view style for records, go to Set preferences and select the format under 'Default view for results' and then click 'Apply' for the change to be used for the current session only and click 'Remember' to apply the change to future sessions as well.

How do I limit my searches to those published or added to FSTA within a specific period?

This procedure, together with other Limits that can be applied, is described on the Limits page.

Can I use wild cards in my searches?

Easy search and the free text component of Guided search support prefix and word-stemming wild-card searches (or truncation).

For prefix wild-card searches use *
Example: choc*Searches for records containing words that start with the prefix 'choc' , e.g. chocolate, chocs, chocolates, etc.

For word-stemming wild-card searches use ~
Example: dry~
Searches for records containing grammatical variations of dry, e.g. dry, dried, dries, drying

Prefix searches (*) are also supported in Advanced search

In Guided search (Authors, Keywords, Sources) and Advanced searches using fields that support the '=' and LIKE match operators, '?' can be used as a single character wildcard.
Example: AL LIKE 'Ols?n*'
Can be used if you are not sure if the author surname you are searching for is Olsen or Olson.

How do I set up an RSS feed for my search?

The exact procedure for saving an RSS feed for a search will depend on the feed reader you intend to use. All Saved searches in FSTA Direct are stored with a related RSS feed, and the first step is to save your search.

You must be signed in as an FSTA Direct user (with your username and password) to do this
Run and refine a search until you are happy with the results it produces
Click on Save search at the top of the results page
Supply a name for the search and click on Save
Click on 'My FSTA searches'
In the top part of the window that opens there is a scrollable list of saved searches with orange RSS feed icons alongside the search names
Click on an RSS icon and the main browser window changes to show the RSS feed; the RSS feed address can be copied from the browser address bar; alternatively, right-click on the RSS feed icon and select 'Copy shortcut' (or similar)
The RSS feed address can now be pasted into the appropriate part of your feed reader

How do I combine searches?

In any search session searches can be combined in the search session history area of the FSTA - My searches panel.

Run some searches
Locate the My FSTA searches panel on a search screen, or by clicking on the button on the search results page
A scrollable list of recent searches is visible in the lower part of the panel
Each search has an associated number in the session (#1, #2, #3, etc.)
Underneath the list of session searches there is a Combine box
Searches can be combined using simple Boolean logic and referring to the search numbers
For example, #1 AND (#2 OR #3)

How do I share search results with my colleagues?

Search results can be emailed to colleagues using the following procedure

Run a search
On the search results page click on Export in the light blue menu bar and select an appropriate sub-menu
In the pop-up window select a format for the results and check the 'Send to email' box
The default email address is the one associated with your account, but the address can be edited and click on Send to send the email.