SEARCH HELP FOR COLLEGE PUBLICATIONS
General Instructions
To search for college publications, type a word or phrase in any search field, or search by date in the Publication Date field, and hit the submit query button.
You can also use the Word Wheel buttons (if available) in the Title field. Clicking on the Word Wheel button will bring up a list of search terms for that particular field, and the terms can be pasted into the search field to be used in a query. Using the default view in the Word Wheel list is the best way to view, cut and paste the terms in that particular list. You can limit your search to publications issued by particular colleges by using the drop-down list to paste the college name(s) into the Publishing College field.
If you put search terms in more than one search field, your search will only find records that include all of your search terms if you use the default search options. You can click on the Boolean Operator droplist buttons, if available, to the left of a search field in order to change from the default, AND, to either OR or NOT.
To clear the query screen, click the Reset button.
Search results are sorted alphabetically by title.
Boolean Operators (And, Or & Not)
Boolean operators allow you to combine search terms within a single field and in multiple search fields.
Conducting Boolean Searches within a Single Search Field
This requires the use of symbols between the search terms. The symbols should be surrounded by a space on each side.
The Boolean Operators are:
| · & for AND | Search results will contain both search terms. For example, roads & expressway will find records with both roads and expressway.. |
| · / for OR | Search results will contain either search term. For example, roads / expressway will find records with either roads or expressway.. |
| · ! for NOT | Search results will contain the first search term but not the second search term. For example, roads ! expressway will find results with roads but not expressway. |
The search engine evaluates search terms combined using & / or ! in left-to-right order. For example, conducting a search using roads & expressway / ferry finds records that contain roads and expressway, or records that contain ferry. Parentheses can be used to control the evaluation order, for example, a search using roads & (expressway / ferry) finds records that contain roads and expressway or roads and ferry.
Conducting Boolean Searches in Multiple Search Fields
If the search screen includes an AND-OR-NOT droplist to the left of a search field, you can choose how to combine the search terms in that search field with the search terms in other search fields on the search screen. The search engine evaluates search fields in order from the top to the bottom of the search screen.
Words that are typed into the search fields are searched as a phrase unless Boolean Operators are used to combine the search terms. For example, conducting a search using Staten Island Expressway finds records that contain Staten Island Expressway, in that order, in that particular serach field.
You can also use the "=" symbol to limit a phrase search. A normal phrase search, such as the preceding example, will find a phrase within surrounding text. If you use an "=" in front of your phrase search, you will obtain records where only that phrase, and no other text, appears in the field you are searching.. For example, conducting a search using Staten Island Expressway finds records that contain Staten Island Expressway, in that order, whether or not the words appear within surrounding text. Conducting a search using =Staten Island Expressway will only find records where Staten Island Expressway is the only text appearing in the field you are searching. This technique is not recommended for searching folder descriptions, but it is useful if it is necessary to differentiate between similiar titles.
To find all variations of a word, type an asterisk(*) at the end of its word stem.
For example, conducting a search using prison* would find records that contain prison, prisons, prisoner, prisoners, and so on. Conducting a search using prisons will only find records that contain prisons.
Proximity searches allow you to look for two words within a certain distance from each other in the field you are searching. The search engine supports two types of proximity searches:
p# - Finds a word that precedes another word by a certain distance. For example, whitehall p5 ferry would find records where whitehall precedes ferry by five words or fewer.
w# - Finds a word that is within a certain distance of another word (before or after). For example, whitehall w7 ferry would find records where whitehall within seven words of ferry.
A proximity search will only work using single words, not phrases. For example, ferry p5 whitehall is a valid search, but Staten Island Ferry w8 fares is not a valid search.
Case and punctuation, except for the Boolean Operators (&, /, !), are ignored in all search fields.
| Title | Publishing College | Description | Publication Date |
The Title field searches within the titles of college publications. You can also use the Word Wheel button to cut and paste an exact publication title into the search field.
You may use the drop-down arrow to cut and paste the name(s) of the publishing college(s) into the search field, or leave the field blank to search for publications issued by any of the three colleges. Conducting a search using only the the name of the publishing college will bring up all of the records for that college. Conducting a search using the name of the publishing college with another field will limit your search results to publications issued by the college name(s) used in the search field.
The Description field allows you to search the descriptions of the college publications. Generally, if the nature of the publication cannot be determined from its title, the database record includes a brief description of the publication (i.e. yearbook, literary publication, student newspaper, etc.).
The Publication Date field allows you to search the college publications for items relating to a certain time period. The search engine supports several types of date searches.
To find a date, use any reasonable format, including but not limited to the examples shown below:
1998 |
31-Dec-98 | Dec 31, 1998 | 1998 Dec | Dec 98 | 12-98 |
Do not use a forward slash to separate date elements unless you surround the date with quotation marks "12/31/98" or the "/" will be interpreted as the Boolean Operator OR.
You can conduct Boolean searches (AND, OR & NOT) in the Dates field.
You can also conduct range searches in the Dates field by using the symbols <,>, and =.
| · < for "less than" | < 1975 finds items dated before January 1, 1975. |
| · > for "greater than" | > March 1, 1975 finds items dated after March 1, 1975. |
| · = for "equal to" | This is used with the prior two searches to include the date typed into the Dates field. To do this, type the "=" after the "<" or ">". For example, <= 1975 will find items dated 1975 or earlier. |
You can also do range searches in the Dates field by using the colon (:) symbol. The symbol should by typed with a space on either side. For example, a search conducted using 1997 : 1998 finds dates from Jan. 1, 1997 through Dec. 31, 1998 (inclusive).
If you are conducting a search using an exact date and have difficulty finding an item, try using only the year in the Dates field to broaden your search.
General Information
The Word Wheel (which sometimes appears as Browse) shows indexed terms that you can use in searches for a particular search field. To do a search, paste an item from the list into the search field, then hit the Submit Query button. This eliminates trial-and-error searching and makes searching easier. Word Wheel uses Index Streaming™ technology to download only the part of the index you are browsing, to minimize load on the server. Note that Word Wheel requires version 3.0 or later of Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
An Explanation of Browse Options
Using the default view in the Word Wheel lists is the best way to view, cut and paste the terms in that particular list. However, you can switch between a Words List, which shows all the individual words in the list, and a Terms List, which shows search terms as complete phrases.
The Choices List has two columns, Hits and Keys. Keys shows the list of words or terms (depending upon whether you are viewing a Words List or a Terms List) that you can use in your search. Hits indicates the number of records that contain that word or term in that particular search field.
Word Wheel displays search terms for only one record field at a time. Each record field contains a particular type of information about the folder or item, such as title. The Field box indicates which record field you are viewing in the browse box. The Field box at the lower right indicates which record field you are viewing in the browse box - use the arrow at the right to use the drop-down menu of available fields.
There are two ways to search for terms within the list. There are scroll bars on the right-hand side of the list that you can use to scroll through the list. If the scroll bars do not appear, click in the list and use the keyboard keys to scroll through the list. You can also use the Find box and the Go To button to move to a particular term or its nearest match in the list. To do this, type one or more characters in the Find box and click the Go To button.
The Paste button allows you to paste a word or term from the list into the search field. You can also paste a word or term into the search field by double clicking on the word or term in the list. The Word Wheel box will keep track of the number of words or terms you have pasted into the search field. This number is displayed under the Find box on the right-hand side.
You can paste as many search terms as you like from the Word Wheel list into the search field, and the search field will automatically insert the Boolean Operator OR (/) in between the search terms.
A successful search finds one or more records, which are displayed in your web browser as a report. The records are initially displayed in a brief view format; click on the hyperlinks to see an expanded view of the record.
Browser buttons work normally within the report screens, and you can also:
| · | Jump to other locations by clicking links on the report to display more detail or to jump to other pages. |
| · | Display additional pages by clicking the Next and Previous buttons on the report page. |
General Information
If you are having problems with your search, some of the most common problems are listed below. You can also go to WPMSG.HTM, which lists error messages in alphabetical order. If you continue to have difficulty, contact Archives & Special Collections. Our contact information is located at the bottom of this page.
The "Unable to Recognize as a Correctly Formed Query" Message
This meands that the program cannot understand the search criteria. Possible problems include:
· Typographical errors
· Mismatched quotes or parentheses
· Extra Boolean Search Operators
were typed into the field.
· Missing quotation marks around symbols that
can be misinterpreted.
If you cannot determine what caused the error, try a simpler search (such as a single word in the search box) to see if it works. If the search screen includes Word Wheel buttons, use these to cut & paste search terms into the search fields, instead of typing your own search terms. If even simple searches don't work, contact Archives & Special Collections. Our contact information is located at the bottom of this page.
Not Finding Records
There could be several reasons for failing to find records. Some search strategies are listed below:
| · | If you did a complex search, try simplifying the search to increase the possibility of finding related records. |
| · | Try doing a truncated search, such as catalog*, as this search would find more records. In this example, the search would find records including either catalog or catalogs. |
| · | If your search includes Boolean symbols (/ & !) or range searches (:), put spaces around the symbols. |
| · | Do not use words (and, or, not) for Boolean Operators within a search field. You must use the appropriate symbols (& / !). |
| · | It is possible that the items(s) for which you are searching are described in terms that differ from those you are using in your searches. If you are having difficulty finding item(s) or need help with a particular topic, please contact Archives & Special Collections. Our contact information is located at the bottom of this page. |
The "Your Current Query has Expired. Perform the Search Again" Message
The query set file that stored your search results has expired, so you will have to perform your search again.
 |
The
College of Staten Island, CUNY Telephone: 718.982.4128 |
Updated December 1, 2005