DIALOG basic search for "Melungeon," no limiters - 272 results
DIALOG basic search for "Melungeons" with limiters of "full text," "peer reviewed" and "scholarly journals" - 3 hits
DIALOG basic search for "Melungeon" with limiters of "full text," "peer reviewed" and "scholarly journals" - 3 hits (though not exactly the same 3 - 1 result varies).
DIALOG advanced search for "Melungeons" and "Appalachia" with no limiters - 99 results
DIALOG advanced search for "Melungeons" and "Appalachia" with limiters of "full text," "peer revewed" and "scholarly journals" - 2 results
Best hit: "What ain't called Melungeons is called Hillbillies" - Southern Appalachia's in-between people" - R. Rubin
One content based thing I learned about my topic: In the 1997 newspaper article "The Mysterious Melungeons: The Descendants of a Forgotten Appalachian People Seek The Truth About Their Ancestry" by Ralph Berrier, Jr. in The Roanoke Times: "Melungeons had a bad reputation in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They were seen by some as wild mountain people who raided the lowlands and made counterfeit coins or moonshine. Though the outlaw label is exaggerated, some of it can be traced to the years after the Civil War, when roving bands of Melungeons allegedly wreaked vengeance on people who had earlier persecuted them."
One searching item or tip: Though it did not aid me in my particular topic searches, the search forms customized for various industries were really new to me. I hadn't seen anything like that before on databases I have used and will remember that way to limit is there should I have access to DIALOG again in the future.
The search process: This was a database that I enjoyed searching. I found it user-friendly and practical, returning lots of results for my topic which has been difficult to find results for on many databases this semester. I found the use of plurals and limiters to make big differences in the results lists and enjoyed toying with them.
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