Frequently Asked Questions Basic Search   Fielded Search - Sorting - Term searching - Author select - Subject select - Limit to - Date searching

Search Tips - General - Case sensitivity - Drop-down menus - Number searching - Wildcard operators - Phrase/adjacent term searching - Boolean Technical Requirements

Search Results - Results - Using the check box - Bibliographic citations - Capture Citations Using Zotero - Download citations using EndNote OSTI FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Adopt-A-Doc?

Adopt-A-Doc? is an on-demand service that provides individuals the option to sponsor the digitization of full-text DOE technical reports for a nominal fee, thus making important research broadly available via the World Wide Web.

How do I request this service?

Request to adopt a document via phone at (865) 576-5699; email at adoptadoc@osti.gov; or comment form on the Adopt-A-Doc Database Contact Us page; or the Adopt-A-Doc online ordering application.

When utilizing the online ordering application, you may key in the requested bibliographic information or you may select a report(s) and add it to your order by clicking on the box on left side of the bibliographic information on the initial search screen.

You can view your order and submit the order electronically. You do not need to pay for your order when you submit it. You will be notified via email or telephone and asked to provide payment information when the document(s) you have requested has completed OSTI's review and release process.

How much does it cost to sponsor digitization and broad availability of a technical report?

$85.00 each - approximately the same cost as ordering a hard copy. Payment is payable by check, money order, MasterCard, Discover, Bravo or Private Issue credit cards. Checks and money orders should be made payable to the Department of Energy. The mailing address for checks and money orders is: U.S. Department of Energy/OSTI, 1 Science.gov Way, Oak Ridge, TN 37830

If you are interested in a large scale project, please contact 865-576-5699.

Why would I want to Adopt-A-Doc?

You may find a technical report that you want to share with others or you think worthy of making broadly available on the Web to support the advancement of science. When you search for important science information in your area of interest, you can choose to sponsor the digitization of any adoptable technical report. The cost is $85 (approximately the same cost as ordering a hard copy). Discounts for larger scale projects may be available. For additional information contact Debbie Nuchols at 865-576-5699 or nucholsd@osti.gov.

Will I receive recognition for sponsoring reports for digitization?

You can request recognition via a sponsor "certificate" indicating that the electronic technical report was made possible by your contribution. The certificate will appear as the first page of the document (see an example of a sponsor certificate). Or, you may request an acknowledgement to recognize a person, i.e., in honor of. . . or in memory of. . ., etc., to appear as the first page of the document. (see an example of an acknowledgement). Additionally, you may request a printed certificate of appreciation for sponsoring the digitization of a DOE technical report. If requested, the certificate will be provided to the sponsor via U.S. Postal Service.

Can I request anonymity when adopting a report?

Yes. In that case, no recognition will be placed in the report.

What is the scope of the information available to digitize?

There are more than 200,000 DOE technical reports with full text that have not already been digitized and are available on OSTI's Adopt-A-Doc Database.

How do I locate a technical report to "adopt" for digitization?

To locate a technical report to adopt, enter a search term in the Adopt-A-Doc search field. Your search is limited to documents available for digitization. If you need assistance in selecting a report to adopt, we will choose a document for you. For help in selecting a report call 865-576-5699 or email adoptadoc@osti.gov.

How long will the process take to adopt a report and have the report available on the World Wide Web?

The process will average 3 to 4 weeks from report adoption to electronic availability. In some instances we may not be able to fulfill requests.

How do I get help with the Adopt-A-Doc Database?

If you have questions about the website or wish to make a comment, you can do so through the Contact Us form.

Basic Search

Enter your search term (s) in the search box and your search will be conducted on all available indexed fields, including full text.

Fielded Search

Sorting

Your search results will be sorted in ascending or descending order based on your 'Sort By' selection. The default is Relevance descending.

Term Searching

Enter your search criteria into as few or as many fields as desired. Field choices are:

1. All Fields, which searches all the fields in the bibliographic citation plus full-text pages
2. Bibliographic Data, which searches all the fields in the bibliographic citation
3. Full Text, which searches full-text pages
4. Title
5. Creator/Author
6. Subject
7. Identifier numbers, which searches all the number fields, including the identifier, the report number(s), the DOE contract number, and other numbers.
8. Conference information
9. Patent information
10. Research Organization
11. Sponsoring Organization

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Author Select

1. Assists in identifying variation(s) of an author's name
2. Can be used to identify multiple authors
3. Selected author(s) are 'submitted' to Fielded Search

Subject Select

1. Assists in identifying terms for subject searches
2. Controlled vocabulary is in a hierarchical structure
3. Selected term(s) are 'submitted' to Fielded Search

Limit To

1. You may limit your search results by selecting 'Matches with electronic documents', entering Publication and/or System Entry Dates, selecting a pre-defined Type from the Drop-down menu, entering a Type, and/or selecting 'Return exact count of matches with link to bibliographic citations'.
2. More than one Type may be selected and/or entered using Boolean operators.
3. Pre-defined types are: Book, Conference, Miscellaneous, Patent, Patent Application, Software Manual, Technical Report, and Thesis/Dissertation.

Date Searching

1. Enter the beginning date (From) and ending date (To) of your selected date range in the spaces provided.
2. Enter a 4 digit year (YYYY), a 2 digit month(MM), and a 2 digit day (DD).
3. You may enter a year only or a year and month only.

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Search Tips

General

1. Searching for individual terms does not require a special syntax. For example, a search for DOG will return all results that contain the term DOG.
2. Multiple words entered as search terms must all be contained in the field(s) searched in order to be returned in the search results. For example, a search on DOG CAT will find results that contain both DOG and CAT.
3. Special term prefix syntax, used by some search engines such as Alta Vista, is not supported. For example, searching on +DOG -CAT will only return results that contain both +DOG and -CAT. Neither of these terms is likely to occur.
4. Example:  quark

Case Sensitivity

1. Search terms in the Adopt-A-Doc Database are case insensitive. A term entered in either upper case, lower case, or mixed case will find/match terms that are in the bibliographic citation and/or the full text in upper case, lower case, and/or mixed case.
2. Example: Searching for Quark, quark, QUARK, or quARK will return the same results.

Drop-down Menus

1. To assist you in formulating search strategies, Drop-down Menus have been created for Sort By, Relevancy, Type, and other items with pre-defined choices.
2. Drop-down menus list standardized values that are valid choices. You can select one or more value from the Drop-Down Menu.
3. To select a standardized value, click on the value(s) you want to include in your strategy.
4. To select multiple values, click again on the same drop-down arrow and make an additional selection. Repeat until all desired values are selected.

Number Searching

1. For bibliographic citation fields, the best search results can be obtained by entering numbers without any punctuation or spaces. Enter only alpha-numeric characters.
2. Example:  Searching for doeeh0601 will return DOE/EH-0601.
3. Numbers are not specifically indexed/available for searches in the full text. Although some numbers may be searchable if they are surrounded by delimiters such as parenthesis, full text searching for numbers is not recommended.

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Wildcard Operators

1. The asterisk (*) is used as a multi-character wildcard for term expansion.
   1. A search for NUCLE* will return results that contain terms such as NUCLEAR, NUCLEUS, NUCLEOPROTEIN. Term expansion using the multi-character wildcard is limited, and will result in a search error if the term is too vague (an expansion error). Vagueness depends on the density of the known portion of the word (NUCLE in this example). If a search results in an expansion error, more characters will be required in order to more uniquely identify the desired terms. For example, a search on N* will likely result in a term expansion error.
   2. An asterisk may be used inside a string of characters. For example, a search for H*GENOUS will return results that contain terms such as HOMOGENOUS and HETEROGENEOUS.
   3. Asterisks may not be used as the beginning of a term. For example, a search for *ETERGENOUS will result in an error.
   4. Example:  Searching for batter* will return matches with the term batter and/or with the term battery and/or with the term batteries.
2. The question mark (?) is used as a single-character wildcard for term expansion.
   1. A search for DO? will return results that contain terms such as DO, DOG, DOT, DOE, DOI.
   2. If a search results in an expansion error, more characters will be required in order to more uniquely identify the desired terms. For example, a search for T? will likely result in a term expansion error because a large number of terms or words start with the letter T.
   3. A question mark may be used inside a string of characters. For example, a search for C?T will return results that contain terms such as CAT, COT, CPT.
   4. More than one single-character wildcard may be used in the same search. However, this may cause a slower return of the results than searching with only one single-character wildcard.
   5. Question marks may not be used as the beginning of a term. For example, a search for ?ETERGENOUS will result in an error.

Phrase/Adjacent Terms

1. Phrases (adjacent terms) can be searched for by using double quotes. For example, a search for "BIG EXPLOSION" will return results that contain the term BIG immediately followed by the term EXPLOSION.
2. When the Boolean operator NEAR is within a phrase search (using double quotes), it will be treated as a search for the term NEAR and will not act as a Boolean operator. For example, a search for "DOG NEAR CAT" will find results that contain the phrase "DOG NEAR CAT".
3. Wildcard operators inside a phrase will operate as wildcards. For example, a search on "CIRCUS TRAIN*" will return results that contain phrases such as "circus train", "circus training", "circus trainers".
4. Phrases can be joined together using Boolean Operators. For example, a search for "DOG HOUSE" OR "DOG RESIDENCE" will return results that contain either the phrase "DOG HOUSE" or the phrase "DOG RESIDENCE".
5. Example:  Searching for "solar energy" will return matches that contain the term solar immediately followed by the term energy.

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Boolean

1. If you receive an error message related to Boolean searching, please check your use of operators, parenthesis and/or quotation marks.
2. Operators (AND, OR, NOT, NEAR)
   1. Searches for DOG AND CAT will return results that contain both DOG and CAT. Searches using the Boolean operator AND must have two conditions on which to operate. Therefore a search for AND CAT will return results that contain only CAT (the word AND is not indexed).
   2. Multiple words entered as search terms without a Boolean Operator must all be contained in the field(s) searched in order to be returned in the search results. In other words, an implicit AND is added between each term. For example, a search on the 'Title' for DOG CAT will return results that contain both DOG and CAT in the title. It is not necessary for the terms to be adjacent.
   3. Searches for DOG OR CAT will return results containing either DOG or CAT. Searches using the Boolean operator OR must have two conditions on which to operate. Therefore a search for OR CAT will return results that contain only CAT (the word OR is not indexed).
   4. Searches for DOG NOT CAT will return results that contain DOG and do not contain CAT. Searches using the Boolean operator NOT must have two conditions on which to operate. Therefore a search for NOT CAT will return results that contain only CAT (the word NOT is not indexed).
   5. Searches for DOG NEAR CAT will return results that contain both DOG and CAT. However, the relevance is increased for results where the two terms are closer together. Searches using the Boolean operator NEAR must have two conditions on which to operate. A search for NEAR CAT will return results that contain only CAT because the word NEAR is a Boolean Operator.
3. Order of Operation
   1. The default order of operations (precedence) for all supported Boolean Operators is NEAR, NOT, AND, OR.
   2. Unless overridden by use of parenthesis, the default order of operations will be used. Expressions are evaluated in order from left to right according to the precedence of their operators (or order of operation). Operators with higher precedence are applied first. Operators of equal precedence, i.e. the same operator used more than once, are applied in order of their appearance in the expression from left to right.
   3. A search for DOG NOT CAT OR MOUSE will return results that either
      1. contain the term DOG and do not contain the term CAT or
      2. that contain the term MOUSE.
      This can be demonstrated by adding parentheses in the example (DOG NOT CAT) OR MOUSE to show the order of precedence. Since NOT has a higher order (precedence), its expression is evaluated first.
   4. A search for DOG NOT (CAT OR MOUSE) will return results that contain DOG and do not contain either CAT nor MOUSE. This is an example of overriding the default order of operations by using parenthesis.
4. Examples:
   
   1. Searching for actinide or actinides returns matches containing either the term actinide or the term actinides.
   2. Searching for actinide and actinides returns matches that MUST contain both actinide and actinides.
   3. Searching for actinide not actinides returns matches that both
      – DO contain actinide and
      – DO NOT contain actinides.

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Search Results

Results

1. The Search Results page provides you with information about your search, including your search strategy, your sort choice, an approximate number of results, and the number of results pages.
2. From your Search Results page you can:
   1. Re-sort the search results
   2. Refine your search
   3. Select a Printer Friendly version of the Search Results page
   4. Navigate from your current Search Results page to other Search Results pages
   5. Select results of interest by checking the box in front of each result and clicking on 'Show only (√) Items' (see Using the Check Box).
3. The default number of results per page is 25.
4. Each title displayed is hyperlinked to the full Bibliographic Citation.
5. Each author is hyperlinked so that, when selected, a search is conducted for the selected author. The author search is the same as if you had conducted a phrased search on Creator/Author from Fielded Search. For example, if you select the 'Smith, John' hyperlink, it will provide you with the same search results as when you conduct a Fielded Search on Creator/Author for "Smith, John".

Using the Check Box

1. Items selected via the selectable check box will be retained during your browser session. These checked items will persist until you choose to clear all previously selected items. This will allow you to perform multiple searches using different criteria and have all selected items retained in a single list.
2. You may choose to clear all previously selected items.
3. You may choose to remove single items from your list by deselecting the Check Box.
4. You may choose to view your list of selected results on the Search Results by clicking on 'Show only (√) Items'.

Bibliographic Citations

1. Bibliographic Citations are available via the 'Title' hyperlink on the Search Results.
2. Accessing individual pages of the full text is available via the Bibliographic Citation.
3. You may search for full text authored by a specific individual by selecting the appropriate Creator/Author hyperlink.

Capture Citations Using Zotero

1. In order to utilize the Adopt-A-Doc Zotero capability, you will need to have already downloaded and installed the Zotero browser plugin (FireFox only).
   
2. To capture citations using Zotero, click the folder icon in your browsers address bar on the Search Results or Bibliographic Citation page for the item(s) of interest. Selecting this folder icon from the Search Results screen will provide you with the option to capture one or more of the results on the page. Simply select the checkbox beside the citations you wish to capture then click “OK”.
   
3. To view your captured citations simply click the “Zotero” icon towards the bottom right hand side of your browser window.
   

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Download Citations Using EndNote

1. In order to utilize the Adopt-A-Doc Database EndNote capability, you will need to have already downloaded and installed the EndNote software and have already created a Library. (In EndNote, access the File Menu, select New).
2. To download using EndNote, select the hyperlink 'Download as EndNote' on the Bibliographic Citation page for the item(s) of interest. Selecting this hyperlink will provide you with the option to save as an EndNote file (.enl extension) directly to your own storage space.
3. You may choose to have the EndNote Import File access your EndNote software directly, in which case EndNote will prompt you for your Library file, then a dialog box to select an import format will appear. Select "EndNote Import Format" and select OK. Your selected citation will be previewed and added into your EndNote library.
4. If you choose to save the downloaded citations file (default file name is "citations.enw"), you may open the EndNote software, open your Library, then select the "Import" icon to add the selected citations to your Library.

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Technical Requirements

1. For complete functionality, you must have a recent version of a major Web browser (e.g. FireFox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape) and related software.
2. In order to function correctly on your computer, required browser configurations include:
   1. JavaScript must be enabled
   2. Style sheets must be supported. The application is optimized for W3C's CSS Level 2.
   3. Cookies must be accepted (uses session cookies).
   4. To display a document, a PDF Viewer [exit federal site] and unzip utility (such as WinZip for windows) are suggested. The PDF viewer should be loaded as a plug-in to view individual pages in PDF format.

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