Before our test next week - try these two challenges

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A.
Go to the Boolean search form for the Canadian Patents database. At most online databases, like this one, you do not have to write your entire Boolean query; the Boolean operators can be chosen from menus.

Try the following four sample searches (answers to be given later in class).

1. -- Find, by list of fifty, the patents that were issued between October 1, 1989, and December 31, 1999, and contain "controller" in the Title field and "Smith" in the Owner field.

2. -- Find, by list of five hundred, the canadian patent documents under the IPC subclass "A63B" or "A63C" which has been laid open in 1999.

3. -- Find, by list of one hundred, the patents that were issued in Canada and that were published by WIPO in 1996.

4. -- Find, by list of fifty, the patent documents that contain in the Title field the word "tooth" and also "brush" or the word "toothbrush".

Check your answers here.

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B.
PowerReporting is an online resource for journalists operated by the prestigious Columbia School of Journalism. It offers a challenging "Web Treasure Hunt" to for its students. The ten-question test goes beyond the kind of searching we cover in our course, but trying the test will open your eyes to new possibilities.

Be sure to spend some time looking for the information before you
(1) look at the Hint, and finally
(2) look at the answer.

Try the Columbia School of Journalism's Web Treasure Hunt.