SPIN: Finding Funding through Keyword Concepts
Posted on: Thursday, December 15, 2005
Wayne State University subscribes to SPIN WWW, a version of the popular Sponsored Programs Information Network (SPIN) on the world-wide web. The SPIN database contains information on thousands of current programs from federal and private sources internationally.Anyone on Wayne State’s campus using a computer with Internet access through the campus network may access SPIN WWW. Those who dial in to the University modem pool to connect to internet services may set up their proxy server to access the database. See the following web page for more details: http://computing.wayne.edu/proxyserver/index.php
The following instructions will assist you in conducting a quick keyword search. From your world-wide web browser, enter the URL of the SPIN World-Wide Web site:
http://spin2000.infoed.org/new_spin/spinmain.asp
You will find yourself on a page entitled InfoEd International. With your mouse, click on the link entitled Advanced Search.
The majority of SPIN searches are simple keyword concept searches. Click on the link that reads Keywords. You are now on the keyword selection page. The page is divided into three sections. Across the top of the page you will find alphabetical links to lists of keywords. If you wish to explore a hierarchical list of keywords by discipline, you may follow one of the links on the left hand side of the screen.
Finally, If you wish to type in keywords related to your research project, you will notice that in the lower portion of the screen, there is a rectangular box accompanied by a button that reads Search for a Particular Keyword. Click in the box once to bring a cursor into it, and type in a portion of your keyword. A list of associated terms will appear on your screen.
(Hint: Typing in a portion of your keyword may result in more associated keywords. For example, typing in “management” will find all keyword phrases with the word “management” in them, but will miss any keyword phrases with the word “manager” or "managerial". Try typing “manage” to elicit both.)
If certain keyword appeal to you on the Keyword Search Results screen, highlight them by clicking on them with your mouse. Follow the instructions on the screen to highlight multiple keywords. Click on the SELECT keywords button. You may continue to search for more keywords, or click on the RETURN button to return to the Advanced Search page.
On the Advanced Search page, you will notice that the keywords you have selected appear in the box under Keywords. If you wish to enter in any other search criteria, such as Award Types or Applicant Types, click on the appropriate link and follow the on-screen instructions.
If you are ready to conduct your search, press the button at the top or bottom of the page marked Run Search. The search may take a few moments to run. When the search is complete, you will be presented with a list of programs that match your search criteria. Depending upon the search you ran, you may find as few as a half-dozen to as many as several hundred.
At this point you may review, if you wish, the programs on your search results. Clicking on the program title will give you more information about the program.
At the bottom of the search results page, you will notice a column marked Report Options. You may choose a full report, in which all the information in the SPIN database will be given to you, a summary report that contains deadline dates and essential information about the program, or a deadline date format, in which the programs are arranged in order of date due.
Once you have made your choice, specify a Destination Option. You may either display to browser, which will bring up your report in you browser window for printing or emailing, or you may save to file and review the report in your favorite word processor at a later time. Be sure to check the Select all programs from whole search option!
Click the Build button to begin, and follow the instructions on the screen.
A step-by-step tutorial on the SPIN system is available from SPA's web site at http://www.spa.wayne.edu/spin.html . If you have questions about SPIN or about its more advanced features, please contact Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Services, 577-2294.