Advanced Search (Standard)

 

The ADVANCED SEARCH screen allows you to do more complex searches using up to 5 different search terms and Indexes.  It also allows you to limit the search by a number of filtering criteria.  This screen can also be used as a basic search screen using just one search term and one index and without any limiting criteria.  The procedures for a basic search are explained in the Simple Search topic.  You can also Browse the Index from this screen.

 

Boolean Searching:

·                To do a boolean search, enter search terms in at least two of the Search Term fields, select an Index type for each search term, select an Operator (AND, OR, NOT), then click on the SEARCH button OR use the shortcut keys ALT+S to start the search.  You can also use the ENTER key to start the search providing the cursor is in a Search Term field.

·                If there is more than one word entered in the first Search Term field, the system uses an implicit AND between each word.  For the other Search Term fields, it depends on whether AND or OR is selected.  If OR is selected, then the system treats all words in those Search Term fields with an implicit OR between them.

·                For example, if you wanted to retrieve all records with a Title of computer or software written by an Author of Reynolds you would enter computer in the first Search Term box, select Title as the Index and OR as the Operator on that line;  enter software in the second Search Term box, select Title as the Index and AND as the Operator on that line;  and enter Reynolds in the third Search Term box and select Author as the Index.

·                Note:  When the system finds no hits for a boolean search, it goes to the index and trims off the string until it finds the Closest Matches and these are then displayed on the Browse Index screen.   This will usually be the Closest Matches for the term in the first Search Term field, even though it may be the term in the second Search Term field that does not in fact have any matches.

·                Any of the Search Term fields can be left blank and you do not have to use the first Search Term field.  For example, you can just use the 3^rd Search Term field if it has the Search Index displayed that you want to use.

·                Select the number of records to display per page (the default selection is set by your library).  If activated, you may also be able to select the Sorting Preference on this screen.

Limit By options:

·                Any one or all of the Limit By options can be selected for a search.  If these options are not visible on your screen it means your Library has disabled them.

·                SERVICE POINT (or LIBRARY):  If you wish to restrict the search results to titles that have holdings at a Service Point/Library (usually setup as a group of Branches), select that Service Point/Library from the Select Service Point dropdown box. 

·                LOCATION:  If you wish to restrict the search results to titles that have stock holdings at a particular Branch or Branches, select those Branches from the Limit by Location dropdown box.  The default selection is All Locations.   Note:  To cater for electronic resources and other material where a physical copy may not exist, records with no holdings will also be displayed in a search limited by Location.

·                PUBLICATION YEAR:  If you wish to restrict the search results to titles published within a specific time period, enter the years in the From and To fields.  Either the From field or the To field can be left blank to include records from the beginning, or to the end.

·                MATERIAL TYPE:  If you wish to restrict the search results to titles of a specific material type (e.g. Book, Video, Compact Disc) select it from the Limit by Material Type dropdown box.  The default selection is All Materials.  Your library may have also setup that when you select a Material Type, the Limit by Collection field will refresh with only those Collections linked internally to the selected Material Type, or vice-versa.

·                COLLECTION:  If you wish to restrict the search results to titles belonging to a specific Collection (e.g. Adult Fiction, Adult non-Fiction, Junior Fiction) select it from the Limit by Collection dropdown box.  The default selection is All Collections.  Your library may have also setup that when you select a Collection, the Limit by Material Type field will refresh with only those Material Types linked internally to the selected Collection, or vice-versa.

·                SPECIAL COLLECTIONS:  Your library may have setup special Collections based on specified data within bibliographic records.   These will normally be based on criteria that is not normally available via any of the standard Search Indexes.

·                LANGUAGE:  If you wish to limit the search by a specified Language, select it from the list of available languages.

Broadening your Search Term:

·                With normal searches you need to enter a full word or word/s, e.g. computer and the search will take place on just that term.  If however you want to broaden the search you can enter an asterisk * at the end of any ONE word IN THE FIRST SEARCH FIELD ONLY.  For example, if you entered comp* as the search term, the search would include all words starting with comp such as computer, computerisation, computers, complete, compilation, etc.  If entering multiple words in the first search term field, the asterisk * works on ONE WORD ONLY but this word can be in any position in the first search term field.  If you enter multiple asterisks in a search term string in the first search term field, it is likely that no records will be retrieved.    You should not enter asterisks in any search term field other than the first one, as they will not be taken into account.

Closest Matching Terms for unsuccessful searches:

·                If your search does not find any hits, the Browse Index screen will be displayed with (where possible) closest matching terms.  If you wish, you can then click on one of these closest matching terms to view the Titles tied to those terms.

Search History:

·                After doing a search, a "Search History" option will appear on a menu (which menu depends on how your library has set it up).  Click on the menu option, and the Show History page will appear with the searches in a structured list, showing Count, No. of Hits, Type, and Search Index/Term.  If you click on an entry in the Type column it will take you to the original Search screen with all the options filled out, from where other selections can be included if necessary, and the search re-run.  If you click on an entry in the Search Index/Term column, the Hit List for that search will be redisplayed (bypassing the search screen).

·                There is also another means of accessing Search History.  If your library has activated it, after doing a search either on the Simple Search screen or the Advanced Search screen, a small icon will be visible next to each Search Term field on the Advanced Search screen.  Click on this icon and the Search History window will popup listing all terms you have used and the search index used with that term.  Click on any term listed in the History window and it will then be placed into the search term field from which the Search History button was accessed and the Search Index will change to whatever has been stored with that selected term.   This search history can be cleared by clicking on the Clear Search Term History option on the menubar, or the Clear Search Sets menubar option (which will also clear any other stored Search set).  The history will also be cleared if the timeout feature is invoked.

Selection of Index Terms to fill Search Term fields:

·                If your library has activated the Search Index Term facility, a small icon will be displayed beside the BROWSE INDEX buttons for each search term field on the standard Advanced Search screen.

·                Clicking on the Search Index Term button will display the index term selection window.   This button can be selected without first entering any search terms.  The selection window has an Index selection dropdown box, A to Z buttons for accessing keywords in the selected Index that start with the selected letter.  There is also a Display From field so that you can enter the first part of the index term, click on the Display button and then only the Index terms from that point onwards will be displayed.  If you use the A to Z buttons, all terms commencing with that one character will be displayed.   Note that the index terms listed are the keywords that exist in the selected Index, so no phrase entries will be displayed as they do for the Browse Index function.   So if, for example, you select the Author index and click on M, the words listed could occur in any part of the Author name (Surname or Given Names).  

·                Any keyword listed can be selected and it will then be inserted into the Index Terms field.  If required, multiple selections can be made from any of the lists.  If you then click on the Transfer Terms button, the selected terms will be inserted into the Search Term field on the Advanced Search screen from which the Search Index Term icon was selected.   Note that this transfer does not change the Search Index selected on the Advanced Search screen.  For example, if Titles is displayed on the Advanced Search screen when you click on the Search Index Term icon, but you then select Authors as the Index on the index term selection window, after you have transferred the terms, the system will not change Titles to Authors. 

·                The search can either be started after one selection is made, or any of the other search term fields on the Advanced Search screen can be filled in by selecting index terms, or by manually entering search terms.   If multiple terms are selected for the one search term field, the system will transfer them separated by a space and use an implicit AND operator between the terms in the same manner as when multiple words are entered manually.