The record lists are displayed in groups of 25, so if there are more than 25, the researcher has to select the next group at the bottom of the screen. Users can at anytime input a new search term or revise the previous search by manipulating the search box and pull-down menus on the left side of the screen. First, users can use the Search Strategy text boxes at the top of the right hand side of the frame to combine up to four terms. To the left of each of the Search boxes are a series of pull-down menus. For more sophisticated searchers, there is a Command-Line Search box at the bottom of the right frame.
Users can enter complete search strategies using Boolean operators and field codes.
If you enter a search in both the Search Strategy boxes and the Command Line box, only the search in the Command-Line box will be retrieved. Users familiar with using Internet search engines and Web based databases will have a particular advantage. The following field codes are found in the records of Ecology Abstracts . They are listed in alphabetical order by two-letter code. A Life Sciences Thesaurus provides a set of standard life science terms for subject searching in ecology.