EbscoHost and eBooks

I use Academic Search alot so I decided to look at Masterfile Premier.  Under publications, I looked for Birders World (I'm a birder).  It wasn't there.  Then, I looked for Yankee.  It was there but only in html; not as good as a pdf.  Finally I looked for Arizona Highways, one of my favorite magazines.  It wasn't there either.  If this database is designed specifically for public libraries, it struck out in my eyes.  Of course, these aren't really popular titles, I guess.

I did the basic search for foods containing zinc.  I put in "zinc foods" (without the quotation marks).  I found alot, so I limited to full text.  I took a look at the results and the fifth item looked good to me.  It was from the Saturday Evening Post and the indexing indicated "Food Sources of Zinc."  So I opened the pdf.  What a disappointment!  It was one short paragraph.  I went back and looked at the citation and clearly saw that it indicated the item was 1/4 page.  It's important to pay attention to details in this database.  I also discovered that the back button on the browser is not reliable and that it is better to click on "result list" or you can end up having to start over.

I think all the Ebsco databases are really rich resources but users need a bit of instruction in searching in order to be successful and efficient searchers.

I am totally bombing in my use of Ebsco e-books.  I tried searching consumer health and got all kinds of odd titles.  I could not find how to limit to key words.  Finally I noticed the small "field codes" link which enabled me to limit to title ( not key words).  I still didn't get much worthwhile.  Plus I kept pulling up Historical Dictionary of Taiwan (which I pulled up in several other searches).  I found only 1 good book for Constitution Day:  Representing Popular Sovereignty : The Constitution in American Political Culture.  I clicked on "use smart search to recommend related titles" and got 1 additional title: Natural Wonders of Tennessee : Exploring Wild and Scenic Places - huh?  I wonder what I'm doing wrong?

Searching on Oklahoma as a publisher was useful, however.  It pulled up lots of titles by the University of Oklahoma Press.  That would give the class lots of material on western history.  I tried putting Maine (nothing) and then New Hampshire (nothing) in as publishers.  Oh well.