Contents
Basic system requirements for your computer and a description of the classification components of this site are located in the "Getting Started with Classification" section of this documentation.
The Name Search page is used to locate and browse name authorities. Once you have run a search, you can navigate between names and move from page to page using the links and buttons provided. Many of the links in ClassWeb open new windows so that you can explore various avenues without losing your place. To prevent your computer screen from getting overwhelmed, remember to close these windows when you are finished with them.
OPTIONS Certain options that you select while using ClassWeb are passed from screen to screen by the software. This has two implications: First, different windows can be open at the same time that were started with different options. Second, these windows pass their current options to any new windows that they open. These options include the number of records to return with each request and the type of classification browser you prefer.
You can choose default settings for these options by clicking on the preferences link of the main menu. You may also find occasion to use the extended menu. This menu allows you to select a different style of classification browser (standard, enhanced or hierarchy) without changing the default selection for your account. The classification browser types are described in more detail here.
RUNNING A SEARCH To search the Name Authorities, fill in at least one of the input fields with your criteria, optionally select the type of name you are looking for with the drop-down menu and then press the ENTER key or click on the Search button. Depending on how you filled out the search screen, the system will either run a query or perform an index browse. A query returns only those records that meet your input criteria whereas an index browse returns the first record that matches your requirements and all those that follow, in alphabetical order. The Heading, Classification number and Record number access points will perform an index browse provided you only have one criteria. Using either of the Keyword access points or anytime you fill in more than one criteria, the system will run a query with the results in no particular order.
When running a query, there are some additional choices available in the Search options section of the input screen.
Search Progress Index browsing (using any of the non-keyword access points with no other criteria) will return a page of results almost immediately. Running a query can take considerably longer, depending mostly on the number of records that meet your search criteria: the more records that match, the longer the query will take to run.
Cancelling a Query When ClassWeb is running a query, a status page will be returned to your web browser every ten seconds showing you how many records match your criteria so far and how many records have been checked. If you decide to cancel a query while it is running, use the Cancel button provided on the status page.
Punctuation Whether you are index browsing or running a query, this server treats almost all punctuation (comma, period, hyphen, dollar sign, parentheses, slash, etc.) as a space and multiple spaces as a single space. In addition, any leading and trailing spaces (or punctuation) are ignored. Any punctuation that is not treated as a space is ignored (apostrophe and caret: ' and ^). This makes it possible to find what you are looking without knowing how the original record was punctuated or formatted. In classification number indexes the following punctuation is not ignored: colon, hyphen and period.
This makes it possible to find what you are looking without knowing how the original record was punctuated or formatted. In classification number indexes the following punctuation is not ignored: colon, hyphen and period.
TYPE OF NAME When searching by heading and keyword, the Name Authority system allows you to search all name records or a subset based on the following types: personal name, corporate/conference name, geographic name, uniform title/series and name/title. You choose the type of search you want to run by using the drop-down list to the right of the input boxes. The following table describes the MARC fields associated with each type:
ACCESS POINTS Each of the input fields on the Name Authority search form corresponds to a different access point. They are:
Heading (left match) This access point includes all name headings and their tracings (links to other names). Depending on the type of name you have selected in the accompanying drop-down menu, this will include some subset of the following fields:
1xx, 4xx and 5xx
Keyword (Heading & Ref.) This keyword access point includes the content of all name heading fields (1xx) and their references (4xx) but not any tracings (5xx fields). Note that no other fields from the record are searched via this access point. Depending on the type of name you have selected in the accompanying drop-down menu, this will include some subset of the following fields:
1xx and 4xx
Note: Keyword searches act differently than other access points. If you input more than one word in a keyword field and run a search, the system will search for those words separately in the same record. To search for a phrase, you must input your phrase with quotation marks and run a Boolean search (see below).
Keyword (all fields) When the type of name selected is All names, this keyword access point includes every word in every variable field (010 - 999) in a name authority record. However, for all other name types (personal name, corporate name, etc.), only the corresponding 1xx, 4xx and 5xx fields are included in the search. So, for example, when using the Keyword (all fields) access point with a type of name of Personal name, only the contents of the 100, 400 and 500 field will be searched without looking at any other content in the record.
The only difference between Keyword (all fields) and Keyword (Heading & Ref.) when using anything other than All names is the addition of the 5xx field to the index in Keyword (all fields). The Keyword (Heading & Ref.) index always excludes the 5xx fields.
In summary, when used with All names, the following fields will be included in this keyword search:
010 through 999
When used with any other type of name, only the words in a subset of the following fields will be searched:
Classification Number This access point includes the classification number from each record that has such a number. Not all subject headings have a classification number assigned to them.
The classification number index contains the following fields:
053/a and 053/b
Record Number This access point contains the 001 field -- control number -- from each LC subject heading record. This is the same value as the 010 field -- Library of Congress Control Number-- in these records.
THE DISPLAY The search screen is made up of five to seven sections depending on whether there are any data records on the screen. When you are browsing an index or looking at the results of a query, the data is displayed at the top of the page and the rest of the search screen follows. The sections are, from top to bottom:
Search Results The first line after the command buttons indicates the type of search you have run and, after running a query, the number of records that matched your criteria. Here is a sample after inputting Washington in the Heading (left match) field:
Name Search: Name heading Washington [MARC record] Found in: Author's A touchstone for the leading partymen in the United States, 1800: p. 8 (Washington) MWA/NAIP files (hdg.: Washington)
A Keyword (Heading & Ref.) search for anthony might produce the following:
Name Search: 1 (10980 items) Jolley, Anthony, 1954- [MARC record]
This search found 10,980 records that matched the input criteria..
Following the search information are the first page of matching records. If you are running a Heading (left match) search, the display will look most like a regular authority heading list. This is because the references and tracings (links to other names) will be interfiled in the appropriate places. Any other type of search will return records in an unsorted order and will not look like a traditional authority display.
Name Authority Abbreviations and Links Name authority records contain links to other name headings in the database. The following abbreviations are used:
Any classification numbers that are displayed on the name authority search page are links to the classification browser for that number.
Additional Links Each name authority record that is displayed includes a number of links. The classification number for each record is a link to the classification browser for that particular number. When you click on a number, the classification browser will display the classification schedules starting with that number.
The other links that might be displayed include:
Search Input Fields The input fields are used to enter your searching criteria. See Running a Search more information on how to input your search criteria and Access Points for a description of the input fields. Documentation on wild cards, boolean logic and mathematical operators can be found below in Search Options.
Display Options You can set default values for all of the following display options by clicking on the preferences link of the main menu:
Search Options The search options only affect queries and not index browsing. The options are:
AND vs. OR Search This option only affects your searches if you have filled in more than one field with criteria or if you have selected Boolean Search and have input more than qualifier in a single field (see below for more details on running a boolean search). In these cases, you can ask for those records that meet every criteria you entered (this is an AND query) or you can ask for those records that meet any of the criteria you input (an OR query).
This is an example of an AND query:
Find all records that have a heading of "washington" AND a keyword (Heading & Ref.) value of "amthony".
To run this query, you would make sure the AND option is selected (it is by default) and fill in the input fields as follows:
Input Field Input Value Heading (left match) washington Keyword (Heading & Ref.) anthony
Running the same search with the OR option selected will result in approximately 16,200 matching records.
Simple vs. Boolean Search So far, this document has only described how to to input a simple query. This is the default setting for the search screen. However, your searches can become much more powerful if you turn on the boolean option. In boolean mode, you can have more than one search term per input field , and you can use wild card characters and mathematical operators. The most important difference between inputting a boolean query and a simple query is that you have to put quotation marks around each of your search terms when using boolean mode.
Here is an example of running a keyword query for multiple terms (the Boolean option must be selected for this to work):
Input Field Input Value Heading (left match) "virginia" or "maryland" Keyword (all fields) "fish" or "beach"
Here is an example using boolean logic and mathematical operations (make sure that boolean search is selected in the search options section of the input form):
Input Field Input Value Classification number (>= "AC5" and < "AC20") or ( >= "B8" and < "B21")
Each query operator has a precedence which determines how the system interprets your query. This is the same as in algebraic formulas. For example:
4 + 5 x 6
The multiplication operator has a higher presence than the plus operator. As a result, you multiple five and six before adding the four. In the preceding example, it turns out the parentheses are not needed. This is because AND has a higher precedence than OR. Parentheses don't hurt, however, and they often make a query more readable.
Boolean Operators Here is the list of query operators and their relative precedence values:
Operator Precedence Meaning () 7 Parentheses not 6 Logical NOT cmp 5 Compare operator < 4 Less than > 4 Greater than <= 4 Less than or equal to >= 4 Greater than or equal to = 3 Equal to != 3 Not equal to and 2 Logical AND or 1 Logical OR
Case Sensitive Search Case sensitivity refers to how ClassWeb handles upper and lower case letters, and accent and diacritical marks when searching for data. By default, ClassWeb uses a relaxed approach when working with upper and lower case characters and the presence or absence of acccent and diacritical marks. As a result, you don't have to worry about how the records in the database are capitalized and accented when you input your search terms.
If you are looking for a specific capitalization and accenting, make sure the Case sensitive search option is selected before clicking on the Search button to start the search.
Truncation Search By default, every search term you input is treated as if it was the prefix or beginning of the word or phrase you want. This is also called a truncation search. So, if you are searching for "statistic", the system will also match on "statistics", "statistical", "statistician", etc. This makes it easier to find all variations of a word without having to enter all of them in.
If you are looking for a specific version of a word or phrase, you can select the "Exact match" search option instead.
Wild Card Characters The truncation search that is described in the previous section is an example of the use of wild card characters. ClassWeb supports two wild card characters: the asterisk (*) and the question mark (?). An asterisk matches zero or more characters and a question mark matches exactly one character. You can accomplish the same thing as a truncation search by selecting the "Exact match" option and add an asterisk to the end of each of your search terms.
You can use wild card characters in both the simple and boolean modes. Here is an example with a simple search:
Input Field Input Value Heading (left match) rail * group
Input Field Input Value Heading (left match) "rail * group"
Things to remember:
Keyword Phrase Search To search for a keyword phrase, input your phrase into one of the keyword access points using quotation marks and make sure the boolean search option has been selected before running the search. For example, here is a search for the phrase "rail photo":
Input Field Input Value Keyword (Heading & Ref.) "rail photo"
Note the quotation marks and that this example will only work if the Exact match option is turned off (i.e. you must run a truncation search).
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