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Chapter 3. SEARCHING

   

 

Advanced Search

To perform an Advanced Search:

  1. Click the Advanced Search link in the page banner.

    NOTE: A “loading” indicator shows on the Search button while the Advanced Search screen loads.

    • The Advanced Search screen displays.

Advanced Search Screen

Advanced Search Screen

  1. If necessary, click the Expand Advanced Search icon Expand Advanced Search Icon to expand the Advanced Search field.
    • The Advanced Search field displays a series of menus and text boxes into which you will enter your “search query.”
  2. Enter the first term of your “search query”:

    NOTE: When your library’s A-G database is included in an Advanced Search, the Search button shows the total number of records available in the database; i.e., Search 395298 Records. The value shown on the button updates as you enter your “search query” to show the number of records that will be retrieved from your library’s A-G database when your search is submitted. A “loading” indicator shows on the Search button whenever the number of records to be retrieved is in the process of updating.

    NOTE: When searching your library’s A-G database, you can omit all search terms to retrieve all records contained in the database. When searching Z39.50 or third-party databases only, you MUST include at least one search term.

    • Enter the keyword(s) (search term) in the Enter a Search Term text box (see Entering Search Terms for details).
    • Select the desired matching option from the associated drop-down menu:
      • All of these words: Uses all of the words in your search term (in any order) to locate items according to the selected search index and specified Boolean operator.
      • Any of these words: Uses any of the words in your search term (in any order) to locate items according to the selected search index and specified Boolean operator.
      • This Exact Phrase: Uses all of the words in your search term (in the exact order entered) to locate items according to the selected search index and specified Boolean operator.
    • Choose the index you wish to search from the in menu:

      NOTE: Available search indexes are determined by your library.

      • All Headings: Searches terms that appear in any of the Title, Author, Subject or Notes headings.
      • Author/Creator: Searches by the author's name (personal or corporate).
      • Title: Searches terms that appear in publication title.
      • Title Begins With: Searches for titles that begin with the specified term.
      • Title Exact: Searches for titles that are an exact match to the specified term.
      • Subject: Searches terms that appear in particular subjects.
      • Subject Begins With: Searches for subjects that begin with the specified term.
      • Subject Exact: Searches for subjects that are an exact match to the specified term.
      • Journal Title: Searches terms that appear in Journal title.
      • Title Series: Searches terms that appear in Series title.
      • ISBN: Searches terms that appear in International Standard Book Number. Enter a partial or complete (9, 10 or 13 digit) ISBN without the hyphens. When entering a partial ISBN, you must include the asterisk wildcard “*” at the end of your search term (see Using Wildcards for more information).
      • GMD (General Medium Designator): Searches terms that appear in the General Medium Designator subfield ($h) of the 245 tag.
      • Notes: Searches terms that appear in record notes.
      • ISSN: Searches terms that appear in International Standard Serial Number. Enter a partial or complete (7 or 8 digit) ISSN; hyphens are optional. When entering a partial ISSN, you must include the asterisk wildcard “*” at the end of your search term (see Using Wildcards for more information). If you omit the hyphen, close up the number and do not use spaces. For example, if you omit the hyphen for ISSN 1068-2554, enter the number as 10682554.
      • LCCN: Searches terms that appear in Library of Congress Catalog Number. Enter a complete (8, 10 or 12 digit) or partial LCCN.

        If you enter a complete LCCN, the hyphen is optional. If you omit the hyphen, close up the number and do not use spaces. For example, if you omit the hyphen for LCCN 95-123456, enter the number as 95123456.

        If you enter a partial LCCN, you must include the hyphen between the second and third digits. For example, 95-123. When entering a partial ISSN, you must include the asterisk wildcard “*” at the end of your search term (see Using Wildcards for more information).

      • OCLC Number: Searches terms that appear in Online Computer Library Center Number. Enter a complete OCLC number.

        NOTE: When searching by OCLC Number, the system will return only those records where the OCLC number is an exact match to the search term entered.

      • For Government Printing Office (GPO) numbers, you may enter either a complete or a partial number. When using partial GPO numbers, do not omit or delete numbers within a related group of digits.

        NOTE: These options are available only if your library has set the authorization.

        GPO SuDoc Number: Enter a complete or partial SuDoc number. It is not necessary to enter spaces and/or punctuation marks when entering the SuDoc number. If desired, you may use the “*” wildcard character to replace multiple characters in the SuDoc number (see Using Wildcards for details).

        GPO Item Number: Enter a complete or partial Item Number for Depository Library items, including spaces and punctuation marks.

        GPO Order Number: Enter a complete or partial Stock number, including spaces and punctuation marks, assigned to publications by the Superintendent of Publications.

        GPO Report Number: Enter a complete or partial Report number, including spaces and punctuation marks, assigned to certain series designated as technical reports.

        GPO Monthly Cat. Number: Enter a complete or partial Monthly Catalog Entry Number, including spaces and punctuation marks.

        GPO Ship List Number: Enter a complete or partial Ship List Number, including spaces and punctuation marks.

      • Original Control Number: This optional feature searches for records using other system number(s) located in the 035 tag. Enter a complete or partial number.
      • A-G Control Number: The A-G Control Number is the Auto-Graphics assigned accession number (system number). Enter the complete A-G Control Number.
      • Publisher Number: Enter a complete publisher number assigned to sound recordings, video recordings, printed music and other music-related material.
      • Personal Name: Searches by the author's personal name.
      • Dewey Call Number: Searches terms by Dewey Decimal Classification Number.
      • LC Call Number: Searches terms by Library of Congress Call Number.
      • Other Standard Identifier
      • Material Type: Searches terms that appear in general material designator (electronic resource, video, recording, etc.).
      • Item Call Number: Searches terms by Item Call Number. Enter a complete or partial Item Call Number, with or without spaces and punctuation marks. When entering a partial Item Call Number, you must include the asterisk wildcard “*” at the end of your search term (see Using Wildcards for details).
      • Study Program: Searches terms that appear in the Study Program Name.
      • Your Reading Level: Searches terms by Reading Level.
      • Your Desired Point Level: Searches terms by Point Level.
      • Lexile Level: Searches terms by Lexile Level.
      • Interest Level: Searches terms by Interest Level.
      • Genre Subject: Searches terms that appear in the Genre Subject.
      • Barcode: Searches terms by item barcode.
      • Related Resource: Provides for full text searching of items “linked” to bibliographic records in an A-G database. For each record that includes a link to an electronic resource, the system retrieves and indexes the full text content of the “linked” resource.

        NOTE: The Related Resources feature does not support “phrase” searching.

    • Select AND, OR or NOT from the drop-down menu to set the logical function between the first search term text box and the second search term text box.
  3. If desired, add a second and third term to your search query using the procedures described in step 3, above.
  4. If desired, use the Sort Order menu to set the sort order for search results (see Adding a Sort Order Qualifier for details).
  5. Scroll to the Resources section. If necessary, click the Expand Resources image of Expand Qualifier Icon icon to expand the Resources section.
  6. Choose the resources you wish to include in your search (see Database Selection for details).

    NOTE: If desired, you can use the Your Favorite Resources function to select and save your favorite resources from a list of all resources available through your library. Each time you log into the system, your favorite resources are automatically selected in the Resources menu. See Your Favorite Resources for details.

  7. If you wish, you can use the Search Qualifiers options to narrow the scope of your search (see Using Search Qualifiers for details):

    NOTE: Search Qualifiers are applied to your library’s Union catalog and Z39.50 databases only (see Using Search Qualifiers with Z39.50 Databases for details). Search Qualifiers do not affect any other selected database.

    • Sort Order: Determines the order in which your search results will be sorted.

      NOTE: If desired, you can use the Your Preferences function to set a default sort order for your account (see Your Preferences for details). However, the Sort By selection will override your default sort order selection. Additionally, once a sort order has been selected from the Sort By menu, the new sort order will be used for all Quick Searches and Advanced Searches until a new sort order is selected, or until you log out.

    • Libraries: Limits your search to a specific library grouping (subset of libraries) within your library's consortium or collective.

      NOTE: This feature is not available on all systems.

    • Year of Publication: Limits your search results to materials that were published during a specific year (or range of years).
    • Formats: Limits your search results to materials that are available in a specified form or media format (Books, Visual Materials, Large Print, Microform, etc.).
    • Languages: Limits your search results to materials that are available in a specific language.
    • Interest Level: Limits your search results to materials associated with a specified interest level.
    • Audience Level: Limits your search results to materials targeted to a specific audience level.
    • Reading Program: Limits your search results to materials associated with one or more selected reading programs.
    • Awards: Limits your search results to materials that were recipients of a specified award.
    • Reading Level: Limits your search results to materials associated with a specified reading level.
    • Lexile: Limits your search results to materials associated with a specified Lexile level.
    • Point Level: Limits your search results to materials associated with a specified point level.
  8. Click the Search button to submit your search.

    NOTE: To reset the search form to its initial conditions and re-enter your search criteria, click the Reset link before submitting your search. Note that the Reset link resets the search form AND all Search Qualifier selections. The Reset link does not reset the Sort Order qualifier to its default value.

  9. The Search Summary screen displays when the search is submitted (see Chapter 4, Viewing Search Results for more information).

    NOTE: If you omitted all search terms, and your selection of Resources (see steps 7 and 8) did not include your library’s A-G database, the message “Please enter a search term to start searching” shows briefly at the top of the screen. Enter at least one search term, or, add your library’s A-G database to your selection of Resources, then resubmit your search.