What are combined databases searches?
Last updated on April 15, 2026
Combined searches allow you to search multiple bibliographic databases simultaneously and remove duplicate records. The available databases are determined by your institution's subscriptions.
The available fields depend on the selected databases. Only fields that are common to all available databases are searchable in Quick search.
Example: The ‘CODEN’ field (CN) is not available in the NTIS database, so it will not appear in the Quick search field dropdown for any combination of databases that includes NTIS.
In Expert search, the Search codes tab lists all search codes across all databases, with a letter indicating the source database (e.g., c = Compendex, i = Inspec, n = NTIS). These codes identify which fields are available in each database.
Example: The ‘Controlled term’ field (CV) is common for all three databases listed above (c, i, n), and returns hits in all three databases, but the ‘Monitoring agency’ field (AG) is a field unique to NTIS (n), and thus returns zero hits in Compendex and Inspec.
It is important to remember that the different databases have different policies or may contain different information for similar fields.
Examples:
An author's name in Compendex usually contains the author's first and middle name or initial (e.g., Smith, John A.), while Inspec usually contains only initials for first and middle names (e.g., Smith, J.A.).
The controlled terms for Compendex, Inspec, and NTIS may not be the same, as each database has its own classification codes.
For best results, refer to the field descriptions for each database.
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