resAnet Help

Return to: Basic Search Advanced Search

Basic Searches
Introduction
Browsing
Keyword Searching
The Browse Screen
Summary Results
Record Display
Advanced Searches
Introduction
Beginning
Boolean
Phrase Searching
Truncation
Wild Cards
Limiters

How do I find ... ?
Theses   Newspapers

Basic Searches
Introduction

Top
resAnet contains brief descriptive records of the holdings of the National Library of Canada *. The database contains to over 1.7 million bibliographic records. It is a subset of the AMICUS database which contains the holdings information for several hundred libraries as well as those of the National Library of Canada. The Library's collection includes books, periodicals, Canadian sound recordings, doctoral and masters theses, federal, provincial and municipal government publications, alternative format materials, electronic books and serials, newspapers, films and videos.
* resAnet also includes CIP (Cataloguing in Publication) records. CIP records are records for items not yet published. They will appear as items without "COPIES" information.
BROWSING

Top
A basic search is composed of choosing an index by selecting one of the radio buttons which appear beside the searchable indexes and inputting a search term(s) in the dialogue box:

Search Term(s):
For example:

Choose Title and type in stone angel to find the title, The Stone Angel. (The Title index is the default for all searches, unless another is specified.)
Choose Author and type in munro alice (last name, first name) to find works by Alice Munro.
Choose Subject and type in decadence to find works about Decadence.

To execute the search, select:
CAPITALIZATION - You can use either upper or lower case. It is not necessary to capitalize words which otherwise are capitalized.
PUNCTUATION - In most cases you can ignore punctuation. The exception is Subject searching: Where a subject heading contains a dash between the heading and the sub-heading, two hyphens must be inserted. For example,
Windmills--Canada
KEYWORD SEARCHING

Top
Simple keyword searching is available through the Basic Search screen. Inputting your terms and selecting "Search" instead of "Browse" will perform a simple keyword search. The simple keyword search looks for occurrences of your word or words within a selected index.
If you input more than one word, the search will be treated as if you were searching for records with both terms in the specified field. This is sometimes referred to as an implied "AND".

Articles, prepositions, and conjunctions should not be included in keyword searches. (e.g. the, a, an, to)

It is not possible to use boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT from the Basic Search screen. If they are used they will be ignored.
For Example:
If you type in
Title Author Subject ISBN ISSN
Selecting will then perform a keyword search.
This search would find items with both dogs and cats in the title.
The phrase dogs or cats
would be interpreted as dogs AND cats as well

If you wish to perform more complex searches including limiting to specific types of material, you should use theSimple or Advanced Advanced Keyword template.
BROWSE SCREEN

Top
If you chose
the results of your search will lead you to a screen which allows you to browse an index of terms similar to the terms you entered. You will also notice that (2 docs) or something similar will appear next to each of the terms in the index. This refers to the number of documents related to that particular search term.

Selecting one of these terms will lead you to a summary display of documents if more than one document e.g.(3 docs) is related to the term or to a brief record display if only one document (1 doc) is related to it.
SUMMARY RESULTS

Top
The Summary Results screen allows you to view a summary of the records associated with a particular term or terms.
Your search term(s) appear in quotes on the top left the screen followed by the number of records which match your term(s).
Note the buttons and icons which appear and the functions they perform:
returns you to the main search screen
sends you to the previous page of your search set results.
sends you to the next page of your search set results.

sends you to the record next to the icon.

SORTING

Sort By:

This function allows you to sort search set results by three parameters - Title, Author, and Date. Select the down arrow at the left of the sort button to see the other sort options. Simply choose a sort option from the dropdown menu.
To execute the sort, select:
RECORD DISPLAY

Top
You can navigate from the displayed record to related authors, subjects or titles using the hypertext links (in blue).
For example,
If you are viewing the record for Understanding media : the extensions of man, and want to see other works by Marshall McLuhan, select his name to display a listing of all his works held by the National Library.
The record display may also contain URLs (Internet addresses) to the National Library's electronic collections. These are active hypertext links to the electronic publications themselves.
Advanced Searches
Introduction

Top
The advanced search function provides boolean capabilities as well as limiters. It is possible to limit by several material types and search for keywords within the subject, author or title fields. It is also possible to combine searches on different fields.
Beginning

Top The most basic search, a simple "AND"ing together of two terms can be performed from the Basic or Advanced search templates. This consists of choosing an index by using the downward pointing arrow to view the options and inputting two or more words into the first box of the template.

This search would find items with both dogs and cats in the title.

(see also Keyword Searching). The Advanced Keyword template, however, permits you to use alternate boolean operators (OR and NOT)
Boolean

Top
Boolean is what we call the logic behind the combination of terms. There are three principal types of boolean operators (AND, OR and NOT). They are represented in the template by the drop-down menus which precede the choice of index.
Placing your mouse over the down arrow and clicking will allow you to view theses options.

Boolean logic within the template is prioritized. The following search would be interpreted by resAnet as (gabriel and dumont) or (louis and riel). Each line represents a set. You would retrieve items with either Gabriel and Dumont or Louis and Riel in the title.

It is also possible to use different indexes:

The search above would retrieve items with green and gables in the title but not with montgomery as an author.
Phrase Searching

Top Phrase searching is performed by using quotation marks.

For Example:

The search would find items with the phrase Joseph Brant in the title. Similarly, compound words such as mid-wife and phrases such as Eric the Red should be contained within quotation marks.
Truncation

Top
Truncation in resAnet involves the shortening of a word with the use of a symbol to represent an unlimited number of characters at the end of a word.
Truncation is used when one wishes to find variants of a word. The question mark is used to truncate words.

For Example:

The search would find items with variant endings of the word e.g. rebellion, rebellions, rebellious, rebelliousness in the title.
It may also represent no character e.g. rebellion? would retrieve items with the word rebellion as well as rebellions.
Wild Cards

Top Wild Cards are symbols which represent a single character in search string. As with truncation they may also represent no character. The # symbol is used to represent a wild card.
For Example:
The search above would retrieve items with the Canadian spelling of neighbour as well as the American neighbor. The wild card may also be used to search for plurals e.g. wom#n or election#.
Limiters

Top
Limiters allow you to restrict your search by language, place of publication, time period or type of material.
You must have at least one search term in the search template in order to use limiters. The template will not allow you to search, for example, for all the National Library's holdings in English without an added search parameter (e.g. a keyword from the title).

To limit by Date

After choosing a search term you may wish to limit by date. The default date operator will be "equal to". If you wish to retrieve items published only in a particular year, you would input a year and leave the default = sign as it is. If you wanted items published before 1984 the search would look like this:

Date:

Symbol key:
= equal to
< before
> after
<= before or equal to
>= after or equal to

To limit by Place of Publication:

Select a province or country from the drop-down menu. Not all countries are represented on this list for countries not listed you may wish to chose "Other".
Place of Publication:
The Language limiter allows you to limit to either French or English material.
Language:
The Material Type limiter allows limiting by several different material types to view the options simply click on the drop down arrow.
Material Type:
How do I find ...?
Theses

Top Theses can be searched through keywords in the title or author fields. In order to limit your search to theses you must use the Advanced Search. Theses are not assigned subject headings so the best way to perform a search on a particular topic is to use title keywords

You then must chose "Theses" as a material type.
Material Type:
Newspapers

Top
Newspapers are not easy to locate within a bibliographic database. Please refer to our resource guides for Canadian newspapers.

Introduction Top	resAnet contains brief descriptive records of the holdings of the National Library of Canada . The database contains to over 1.7 million bibliographic records. It is a subset of the AMICUS database which contains the holdings information for several hundred libraries as well as those of the National Library of Canada. The Library's collection includes books, periodicals, Canadian sound recordings, doctoral and masters theses, federal, provincial and municipal government publications, alternative format materials, electronic books and serials, newspapers, films and videos. resAnet also includes CIP (Cataloguing in Publication) records. CIP records are records for items not yet published. They will appear as items without "COPIES" information.
BROWSING Top	A basic search is composed of choosing an index by selecting one of the radio buttons which appear beside the searchable indexes and inputting a search term(s) in the dialogue box: Search Term(s): For example: Choose Title and type in stone angel to find the title, The Stone Angel. (The Title index is the default for all searches, unless another is specified.) Choose Author and type in munro alice (last name, first name) to find works by Alice Munro. Choose Subject and type in decadence to find works about Decadence. To execute the search, select: CAPITALIZATION - You can use either upper or lower case. It is not necessary to capitalize words which otherwise are capitalized. PUNCTUATION - In most cases you can ignore punctuation. The exception is Subject searching: Where a subject heading contains a dash between the heading and the sub-heading, two hyphens must be inserted. For example, Windmills--Canada
KEYWORD SEARCHING Top	Simple keyword searching is available through the Basic Search screen. Inputting your terms and selecting "Search" instead of "Browse" will perform a simple keyword search. The simple keyword search looks for occurrences of your word or words within a selected index. If you input more than one word, the search will be treated as if you were searching for records with both terms in the specified field. This is sometimes referred to as an implied "AND". Articles, prepositions, and conjunctions should not be included in keyword searches. (e.g. the, a, an, to) It is not possible to use boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT from the Basic Search screen. If they are used they will be ignored. For Example: If you type in Title Author Subject ISBN ISSN Selecting will then perform a keyword search. This search would find items with both dogs and cats in the title. The phrase dogs or cats would be interpreted as dogs AND cats as well If you wish to perform more complex searches including limiting to specific types of material, you should use theSimple or Advanced Advanced Keyword template.
BROWSE SCREEN Top	If you chose the results of your search will lead you to a screen which allows you to browse an index of terms similar to the terms you entered. You will also notice that (2 docs) or something similar will appear next to each of the terms in the index. This refers to the number of documents related to that particular search term. Selecting one of these terms will lead you to a summary display of documents if more than one document e.g.(3 docs) is related to the term or to a brief record display if only one document (1 doc) is related to it.
SUMMARY RESULTS Top	The Summary Results screen allows you to view a summary of the records associated with a particular term or terms. Your search term(s) appear in quotes on the top left the screen followed by the number of records which match your term(s). Note the buttons and icons which appear and the functions they perform: returns you to the main search screen sends you to the previous page of your search set results. sends you to the next page of your search set results. sends you to the record next to the icon. SORTING Sort By: This function allows you to sort search set results by three parameters - Title, Author, and Date. Select the down arrow at the left of the sort button to see the other sort options. Simply choose a sort option from the dropdown menu. To execute the sort, select:
RECORD DISPLAY Top	You can navigate from the displayed record to related authors, subjects or titles using the hypertext links (in blue). For example, If you are viewing the record for Understanding media : the extensions of man, and want to see other works by Marshall McLuhan, select his name to display a listing of all his works held by the National Library. The record display may also contain URLs (Internet addresses) to the National Library's electronic collections. These are active hypertext links to the electronic publications themselves.

Introduction Top	The advanced search function provides boolean capabilities as well as limiters. It is possible to limit by several material types and search for keywords within the subject, author or title fields. It is also possible to combine searches on different fields.
Beginning Top	The most basic search, a simple "AND"ing together of two terms can be performed from the Basic or Advanced search templates. This consists of choosing an index by using the downward pointing arrow to view the options and inputting two or more words into the first box of the template. This search would find items with both dogs and cats in the title. (see also Keyword Searching). The Advanced Keyword template, however, permits you to use alternate boolean operators (OR and NOT)
Boolean Top	Boolean is what we call the logic behind the combination of terms. There are three principal types of boolean operators (AND, OR and NOT). They are represented in the template by the drop-down menus which precede the choice of index. Placing your mouse over the down arrow and clicking will allow you to view theses options. Boolean logic within the template is prioritized. The following search would be interpreted by resAnet as (gabriel and dumont) or (louis and riel). Each line represents a set. You would retrieve items with either Gabriel and Dumont or Louis and Riel in the title. It is also possible to use different indexes: The search above would retrieve items with green and gables in the title but not with montgomery as an author.
Phrase Searching Top	Phrase searching is performed by using quotation marks. For Example: The search would find items with the phrase Joseph Brant in the title. Similarly, compound words such as mid-wife and phrases such as Eric the Red should be contained within quotation marks.
Truncation Top	Truncation in resAnet involves the shortening of a word with the use of a symbol to represent an unlimited number of characters at the end of a word. Truncation is used when one wishes to find variants of a word. The question mark is used to truncate words. For Example: The search would find items with variant endings of the word e.g. rebellion, rebellions, rebellious, rebelliousness in the title. It may also represent no character e.g. rebellion? would retrieve items with the word rebellion as well as rebellions.
Wild Cards Top	Wild Cards are symbols which represent a single character in search string. As with truncation they may also represent no character. The # symbol is used to represent a wild card. For Example: The search above would retrieve items with the Canadian spelling of neighbour as well as the American neighbor. The wild card may also be used to search for plurals e.g. wom#n or election#.
Limiters Top	Limiters allow you to restrict your search by language, place of publication, time period or type of material. You must have at least one search term in the search template in order to use limiters. The template will not allow you to search, for example, for all the National Library's holdings in English without an added search parameter (e.g. a keyword from the title). To limit by Date After choosing a search term you may wish to limit by date. The default date operator will be "equal to". If you wish to retrieve items published only in a particular year, you would input a year and leave the default = sign as it is. If you wanted items published before 1984 the search would look like this: Date: Symbol key: = equal to < before > after <= before or equal to >= after or equal to To limit by Place of Publication: Select a province or country from the drop-down menu. Not all countries are represented on this list for countries not listed you may wish to chose "Other". Place of Publication: The Language limiter allows you to limit to either French or English material. Language: The Material Type limiter allows limiting by several different material types to view the options simply click on the drop down arrow. Material Type:

Theses Top	Theses can be searched through keywords in the title or author fields. In order to limit your search to theses you must use the Advanced Search. Theses are not assigned subject headings so the best way to perform a search on a particular topic is to use title keywords You then must chose "Theses" as a material type. Material Type:
Newspapers Top	Newspapers are not easy to locate within a bibliographic database. Please refer to our resource guides for Canadian newspapers.

Basic Searches Introduction Browsing Keyword Searching The Browse Screen Summary Results Record Display	Advanced Searches Introduction Beginning Boolean Phrase Searching Truncation Wild Cards Limiters
How do I find ... ? Theses Newspapers