Advanced Searching

The Advanced Search option allows you to perform more complex searches than a Standard Search. You can enter search terms across a number of fields and combine criteria with Boolean operators . To access advanced searching click the advanced button at the top of the screen.

To Use Advanced Searching

In the Advanced Searching screen, select your preferred profile from the pull down box.
In the Searchable Collections listed, check the relevant boxes for including collections in your search.
For your search criteria there are 3 columns to set details - Field, Search Term, Operator. The search criteria in each row can be combined together using Boolean operators.
In the first row click the arrow in the Field column to select the field you wish to search, e.g. Title, (the 'Any' field allows searching in all the indexed fields).
In the Search Term box enter your search term(s). Provided Power search is not in use, multiple terms are implicitly ANDed.
Choose an Operator if you want to combine with a second set of search criteria.
When ready click submit.

Order of Processing Boolean Operators

Use the Operator pull down box to combine search rows together. Boolean operators are processed in the following order of precedence:

more than one term present in the search entry box: AND is implicitly used to combine words or phrases in the same entry box.
explicit ORs: used to combine operands from different rows in the search form.
explicit ANDs: used to combine operands from different rows in the search form.

For example if -

row1 contains Title - 'Othello' AND

row2 contains Author - 'William Shakespeare' OR

row3 contains Author - 'Verdi'

The search is processed like this -

implicit AND: william AND shakespeare

explicit OR: (william AND shakespeare) OR verdi

explicit AND: othello AND ((william AND shakespeare) OR verdi))

Explicit operators entered directly into the search entry boxes are not valid.

Controlling Search Attributes - 'Power Searching'

Power search allows you to control the value of every search attribute. To use this click on the Details button to launch the Power Search pop-up window. This window provides access to the full BIB-1 attribute set as configured in the Windows Admin. Client configuration. Any changes you make to the details in the Power Search window are copied into the search criteria on the Advanced Search screen ready for you to submit the search.

List of Attributes

More information on attributes can be found at the Library of Congress web site http://lcweb.loc.gov/z3950/agency/markup/13.html

If you do not set any particular attribute in the Power Search window then it is not included in the search query. Power Searching allows the value of the Structure attribute to be set explicitly, therefore quotation marks are not interpreted as containing a phrase; in addition multiple words in the search box are not joined by implicit Boolean ANDs.

Filter Results

A search can be filtered by Format (e.g. Article Printed), Language or audience Level in order to narrow the search. A filter can be applied before carrying out an advanced search or the search results can be filtered by:

After completing your search criteria select one or more values from the Filter boxes.
Submit the search.
As VDX returns the results, they are filtered by the values you selected.

You can also carry out post search filtering from the results list. In the results list click Filter Options at the top of the page to obtain the same options and submit the search again. VDX checks the records and filters out those records whose Format, Language or Audience Level do not match your preferences.

The list of filter values that you can choose from and the order they are presented in, is dependent on how your local system has been configured. See System Administrator Help: Change Value Sequence for details. Similarly if you do not require filter options the feature can be disabled (SystemConfig.xsl).

Refinement

This allows you to see what Bib attributes are possible with the targets you have currently selected. Refinement can be set to On or Off by checking the relevant control at the foot of the Advanced Search page.

When Refinement is off (default position) the available fields in the Field pull down box is a general list of Z39.50 Bib-1 Use Attribute Set as specified in the Windows Client configuration (Z39.50 Mappings). This corresponds to the Use field when you do a Power Search. This allows you to choose from the familiar (e.g. keyword, author etc.) to less used and more obscure terms (e.g. Bliss Classification, authority/format identifier).
If Refinement is on then the list of Use attributes available in the Field column is updated according to the list of collections being searched. It gives you access to the list of fields that are supported by the target institutions Z39.50 server. This means that searches can be constructed from search attributes that are fully compatible with the setup of the target database. The benefit of refinement is that it allows you to determine what Bib attributes are possible with the selected target databases .

Tip (star)* indicates that all the databases in your Collection support a particular Use attribute.

Note: In Advanced Search, the specific fields can be edited in the Windows Admin.Client and used against specified databases as required, as the default settings. This is edited in the Query Adaptation configuration in the Windows Admin.Client. Check also with local policy for details.

Note: the availability of databases is subject to the configuration of resource groups in the windows admin client.