Thank you for visiting naric.com! We hope you're able to find the information, resource, or document you need for your research or practice or to advocate on your own behalf or that of a loved one. If you're having difficulty finding the right resources, try these hints and instructions.
- Choosing a Database
- Browsing Options
- Options for Searching All Fields
- Options for Searching Specific Fields
- Filtering Your Results
- Sharing Your Results
- Search for NARIC Publications
Choosing a Database
What are you searching for? NARIC has several databases, plus individual pages on this site. Are you looking for:
- Articles, books, reports, or multimedia items about disability and rehabilitation? Try searching REHABDATA, our index of disability and rehabilitation research. This collection includes research conducted within and outside the United States. Please note: only a portion of the documents indexed in this database are available to download. Other items can be ordered through our document delivery service (some charges may apply).
- Resources for your specific disability or information need? Try the Disability Resources from NARIC with topic focused lists hand selected by our librarians.
- Organizations, agencies, publishers, and websites that focus on disability and rehabilitation? Try searching the Community Resources Database with more than 3,000 listings.
- Current research projects? Try searching the Program Database, a compendium of current and previously funded research grants funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). Hint: Each project listing includes a list of documents indexed in REHABDATA. It's a great way to see what the grantees produce.
Browse Options
If you're not sure what to search for, try browsing through our databases. Each has its own browse options:
- In REHABDATA you can browse by keyword using the REHABDATA Thesaurus, new acquisitions, journals, book publishers, and international journal and book publishers.
- In the Program Database you can browse by program type or research priority.
- In the Community Resources Database you can browse through organizations, journal titles, and databases and directories.
Options for Searching All Fields
Each of our three databases have the same search criteria. You can search for some, all, or none of the words you need. You can also search specific fields or modify your search by certain criteria.
Search "all of these words"
This search looks for all of the words you entered anywhere in the record, in any order. If you enter wheelchair transportation safety it will search for wheelchair, transportation, and safety (125 records in REHABDATA). Any records your search returns must have all three words. This is not the same as a phrase search.
Search for an "exact phrase"
This search looks for all of the words you entered in that exact order with no other words in between. If you entered wheelchair transportation safety, and records your search returns must have those three words in that order (26 records in REHABDATA).
Search for "at least one"
This search looks for any instance of your search words. If you enter wheelchair transportation safety, it will search for wheelchair, transportation, or safety (1000+ records in REHABDATA). Any records your search returns may have one, two, or all three words in any order. This will return the most results. It's an excellent way to search for something that may have multiple terms (head injury, brain injury, brain damage).
Search for records "without these words"
This search will remove any record that contain all of your search words. This is an excellent way to narrow or focus your search. You may be interested in wheelchair safety but do not wish to include issues relating to transportation. Search wheelchair safety in "all of these words" and "transportation" in "without" will eliminate those records from your search (200 records in REHABDATA).
Can I search for a piece of a word?
Yes! You can do a "wild card search" in any of these databases. Use either the any words blank or search in a specific field. Add a * (asterisk) to the end of your search. A search for librar* will search for library, librarian, libraries, etc.
Options for Searching Specific Fields
Each database has extra search options where you can search for data in specific fields, which can help in refining your search. For example:
- In REHABDATA you might choose to search by
- an author name
- a year or range of years of publication
- research originally published in languages other than English (more about the international research collection)
- a Thesaurus term
- In the Program Database you might choose to search by
- grantee institution
- current grants only
- projects that started after a certain date
- In the Community Resources Database you may choose to search by
- specific disability
- journal publisher
- state
These are just a few of the fields you could choose to search. Each database contains between 12 and 20 fields. Learn about each database:
- REHABDATA field and content descriptions
- Program Database field and content descriptions
- Community Resource Database field and content descriptions.
Filtering Your Results
Our databases contain more than 300,000 records. If you need to narrow your search, try using the filters which appear on the left column of your brief results report. Each of NARIC's three databases offer searchers the option to filter their results based on criteria that appear in their results. Filtering options are grouped by categories specific to that database. For example: in the Program Database, you can filter your results by funding mechanism, outcome domain, keyword, investigator, start year, and funding level. Within each catergory you will see options which appear in your results. If your search included both Field Initiated Research Projects and Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers, you will see both options in your filtering options under funding mechanisms. Each option displays the total records in your search.
Selecting one or more options within a category will return all records with any of the options selected (an OR search). If you selected both Field Initiated Projects and Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers, you will see any records that have either one or the other. Selecting options in two or more categories will return all records with all of the options selected (an AND search). For example: if you selected Field Initiated Projects and Employment Outcomes, you will see any projects that are indexed using both terms.
Sharing Your Results
Our databases use session IDs to generate and display your results. Since each search is tied to a session, the long URL at the top of your browser may not work for the next person. You can share your search results two ways: Downloading to a CSV file or using the "Click to copy sharable link to clipboard" button at the top of your brief results page.
Downloading Your Results
If you've reviewed your search results and are ready to share or save them, look for the link to "View and export all results." The next page will show your detailed report, along with a button to "Export All Records to CSV." This button creates a comma delimited file which you can open in your preferred spreadsheet program (i.e., Excel or Numbers). From there, you can import into a citation management program, use it for a merge, or conduct analyses.
Sharing a Link
If you've reviewed your search results and are ready to share them, look for the button to "Click to copy sharable link to clipboard." This will copy a version of your link, including any filters you applied after your initial search, to your clipboard, ready to paste into an email, embed in a document or webpage, or bookmark for future use. You'll note that the link includes a SearchID and a Filter. Your link must include both to work properly.
Searching for NARIC Publications
Articles and information resources published by NARIC staff can be searched from our main search page. Your search will take you to pages on our website that may answer your question including:
- Questions from the Community that we respond to every day from our patrons.
- NARIC's News and Notes from the NIDILRR Community and Beyond weekly newsletter.
- Community Resource pages.
- Our publications including Research In Focus.
- NARIC's digital media collection.
- The NIDILRR Tools Collection of surveys, questionnaires, and other assessments.