ALEPH Searching Exercises
by
Doug Smith
ALEPH Searching Exercise
To
use the Find function in ALEPH, click the <Binoculars>
button on the toolbar at the top of the search module. A window opens
with three tabs. We are only interested for the moment in the first tab
with the name <Simple>. Below the tab, there is a list of the
types of searches possible using Find.
We are going to do a few quick searches to get a feeling for the different
types of searches that it is possible to do using Find.
Note that the list of possible searches corresponds roughly to various fields
in the bibliographic record. If you choose a title search, the Find function will only search fields
such as the 245, 246, etc. If only one field is searched, it is indicated
in parentheses next to the type of search.
We are going to use search using the word "plants". Enter "plants" in the
space at the bottom of the window called the Find Query. You choose
the type of search you want to do by clicking once with the mouse on the
name of the search type. You can also select within the list using the arrow
keys after you have first used the mouse to click on one of the search types.
Follow the directions below and answer the questions:
Be sure you have the <anywhere in the record> search selected.
Type "plants" in the space at the bottom of the window and hit the OK button.
1)
How many hits did you get? _____________
2)
What is the first word of the title of the first item listed? _________________
3)
What is the last name of the author of the third item?
__________________
4)
Where is the third item in the list located?
________________________
Now, be sure you have the <titles> search selected. Type "plants"
in the space at the bottom of the window and hit the OK button.
5)
How many hits did you get? _____________
6)
Did you get only items whose title is the single word "Plants"? _______ (Y/N)
7)
In what year was the sixth item published?
____________
8)
What is the call number of the sixth item listed?
_______________________
Now,
be sure you have the <Subjects> search selected. Type "plants"
in the space at the bottom of the window and hit the OK button.
9)
How many hits did you get? _____________
10)
Who is the author of item number 89? _____________________________
Now,
we want to try sorting the list of records we obtained from our search.
We will use the Subjects search that we just performed. Note that the second
button on the left of the list says <Sort>. By default, ALEPH
sorts the records by year from most recent to earliest. If you want to change
the order, you use the <Sort> button. Suppose we need to find
a book whose author's last name starts with a "V". It would be easier to
find such an item if the list were in alphabetical order by author. Click
the button <Sort> button. From the top drop-down menu,
choose <author>. Since we want to find a name starting with
"V", we will leave the default choice of sort order as "Descending". "Descending"
will give us the records organized by author's name starting with Z. Click
OK.
11)
What is the name of the author for whom we are searching? There is only
one. Remember it starts with "V". ____________________________________
Let's
search a full title. We want to find the book Libraries for the New Millennium.
Using the <Full> button, answer the following questions from
the first tab <Full + Link>.
12)
What is the system number of this record?
___________________
13)
How many pages does this book have? __________________
14)
Who was the publisher? _______________________________________
Next,
we will look at another view of this record. Click the second tab, named
<MARC Tags>. Answer the following questions:
15)
What is the OCLC number of this record?
_________________________
16)
Does this work have bibliographical references?
______________ (Y/N)
Find
a book by J. A. Corry using the AUTHORS search and answer the following
questions:
17)
What is the title of this book? _____________________________________
________________________________________________________________
18)
How many copies does the library have?
_______________
19)
Where are the copies located? ____________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Next,
we want to find the record for an item entitled Automated Stratigraphic
Correlation. Then answer the following questions from the <MARC
tags> tab:
20)
What is the ISBN number? ___________________________________
21)
Is this book part of a series? If so, what is the name of the series?
________________________________________________________
22) List a sub-heading of the subject heading for this
record.
_____________________________________________________________
We
are now going to briefly practice using other types of search categories
that are possible in ALEPH. To search a series title with Find, you can use the <anywhere
in the record>. To do this, you must type the full title to avoid
getting a large number of hits. The <Browse> function can be
used more easily to search series titles. We will look at the <Browse>
function later. Search the series title: Series in Decision and Control.
23)
What is the call number of the book that is part of this series?
________________________________________________
Using
other search categories, find the following information.
24)
How many titles are in the database that were published in 1998? ________
25)
How many titles were published by Elsevier?
____________
26)
Sort the above list by title in ascending order. When was the book,
Fertility
Dynamics, published? ________________
27) Search for titles with the word, yale, in a URL.
How many hits did you get?
_______________
Find
a record with the word, fall, in the 505 field.
28)
Who is the author of this work? __________________________________
In ALEPH, you cannot move a record directly to another module from the
search module. To push the record from one module to another, you use the
Navigation Window. The Navigation Window serves as more than
just a way of going from one module to another. Let's see how Navigation
Window works. Search contents for the word "love". Highlight number
17 in the list and click on the <Full> button to view the record.
29)
What is the system number for this record?
_____________________
Notice
the top left button says <Add to Nav Map>. Click on this button.
A new window, the Navigation Window, opens up. Fully expand the Navigation
Window. If necessary expand the left hand side so that you can see fully
the information there. A great deal of information about this title is provided
on the left hand side. Initially this window can look confusing. Note first
that the top box is named EXU01-27371. The digits after the dash are the
system number of the record you pushed into the Navigation Window.
Below the top box is a list of barcodes.
30)
Would you guess this is a single or multi volume title? ______________
Notice
there is also information for Serials (if a serial), Acquisitions (orders),
Circulation (loans) and holdings for the title (at the bottom). Highlight
the topmost barcode, 27371-60. On the right, you are now looking at the
"item record" for one of the volumes.
31)
To which volume does this "item record" correspond? _____________
32)
What year was it published? ______________
Leave
Ovid's Works open in the search module. We will use this record again very
soon. However, remove it from the Navigation Window. Do this by highlighting
the topmost box and click the remove button, fourth from the bottom.
Now,
find Diderot's Oeuvres Completes.
33) What are the library's holdings? List the volumes.
__________________________________________________
Collapse
the tree for Oeuvres Completes by clicking the minus sign next to
the topmost box.
Finally,
let's push Ovid's Works from the search module to the cataloging
module. In the Navigation Window, Click the top button that says
<Catalog BIB>. The cataloging module opens and brings
up the bibliographic record for Ovid's Works.
Answers to the above exercises
Doug Smith