Monday, October 26, 2009

Search features of database-Book index with reviews

Search features of database-Book Index with Reviews

Default fields-

*basic search-using known terms and Boolean operators

*advanced search –using known terms and Boolean in the following fields

(tx) all text, (au)author, (ib)ISBN, (pb)publisher, (rv)review & annotation, (su)subjects, (ti) title, (se) series information and (lc)LCCN



Search types-

In both the basic and advanced search, the user can type a known item and may also use the following search modes:

-boolean/phrase

-find any of the terms

-find all of the terms

-SmartText searching-this allows the user to type in as much text as they want, even up to several pages.

-apply related words

-search within full text of articles



Search protocols-

Limiters-

-title (exact match)

-publication type (book, audiobook, e-book)

-edition type (large print, illustrated, Braille)

-language

-title words

-publication year

-content type (fiction or non-fiction)

-publication status

-truncation: books for children-I used books for child*-1495 hits

Search helps-

Smart Text searching- this allows the user to type in as much text as they want, even up to several pages.

Spelling-if the word is spelling wrong in the initial search, then optional choices are given.

Output formats-

Visual search- this allows the user to display results in either columns or blocks, as well as sorting the results and filtering them by date. I tried the visual search on basic first and then on advanced. The visual search was only available on basic search.

Preferences- through this option, the user can change the format, page layout, image quickview, sorting prefence and the amount of results on each page. Through this option, one can print, e-mail and set export settings.

Building block search-

Search statement- I am trying to find out which books for children are considered controversial and have been prohibited in libraries.

S1-books for children-1495 hits

S2-controversial books for children-1 hit

S3-prohibited books for children-0 hits

(tx) books for children with (tx)controversy and (tx)prohibited-2 hits

(su) books for children with (su) controversy and (su) prohibited-0 hits



My conclusions about building block search- I have been using this specific search statement quite a bit for different databases. My reason behind this question involves my interest in children’s literature. As an educator, I am constantly bombarded with new literature and some of this literature is considered controversial for various reasons. During my undergraduate work, I was able to take a class titled Children’s Lit. That semester, I was introduced to some of the books that were considered controversial at that time. As I was conducting my search on this database, I was expecting to see some of the same books. However, none of the controversial books were the same. After adding the Boolean operators, I was quite surprised at the narrowing of the results. I never expected it to be only two hits.
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