Before you get started, here are a few tips on using these databases:

IRIS

IRIS uses an intuitive interface that recently was streamlined, with clear help text to aid first-time users. You can search on sponsors, deadlines, or keywords, among other terms, and you can sort by either sponsor or deadline.

Two tips:

When specifying a keyword search (as opposed to the "Search All Categories" field), the IRIS Keyword Thesaurus is your best bet. Like the Library of Congress catalogues, IRIS uses precise keywords that may not be the same ones you would choose. If you don't use their terminology, you may miss some excellent funding sources.

Second, it's usually best not to narrow your search by too many categories at once, which can foreclose opportunities. For instance, if you are interested only in opportunities restricted to women, you should select "Women" as a specifier, but if you are looking for other opportunities that are open to both genders as well, limiting your search to women may eliminate some excellent sources. We recommend choosing only the keywords or the keywords and the applicant type for most searches. Finally, if your search turns up too few hits, you may have to broaden it (to search on "Chemistry" rather than "Organic Chemistry," for instance).

SPIN

SPIN is available to UCI personnel who wish to do their own search. SPIN now includes two versions: an older one and a new one. Both return many hits; the "new SPIN" has the advantage of providing a short synopsis and a more legible interface, so it's easier to determine whether a particular program is right for you.

You'll get the best search results if you choose "Advanced Search" and , as with IRIS, use their keyword library. Although it's more time-consuming than using keywords that you determine yourself, if you scroll through all the keywords in a category like Social Sciences, for example, you will find some relevant ones that you hadn't thought of.

Please be aware that a SPIN search will time out after 10 or 15 minutes, so if you leave your search and come back to it, or if it takes you more than 10 or 15 minutes to scroll through a page of search results, you may be unable to access the rest of the results. We therefore recommend setting the "Return Results" button to 25 at a time.

Browse or Search Previous Opportunity Postings

All prevois RGS Fundopp announcements are stored in the Zotmail Archive at http://www.ddm.uci.edu/zotmail/archive/index.html.

1.) To BROWSE messages from any year, go to http: http://www.ddm.uci.edu/zotmail/archive/index.html. Click on "subscription lists" under the desired year, and scroll down to "RGS - Fundopp." Once there you will find a reverse chronological list of Fundopps for that year. Browse the list manually (suggested), or use your web browser to search for key words (finds them in headers only).

2.) To SEARCH for key words in the bodies of previous Fundopps, go to: http://www.ddm.uci.edu/zotmail/archive/index.html. You will need to search all Zotmails (but most are Fundopps). Click on "Search for all 2001 ZotMail Messages" next to the magnifying glass for each year.