L4U offers several ways for clients to search the Library collection, ranging from Easy Search or Quicksearch, to a complex multi-level search. Access to the more complex searches can be restricted by employing a modified iPAC skin. The Picture Search, Multiseek and Advanced searches are accessed through the toolbar or from the menu on the left of the homepage. On the standard iPAC skin, either Easy Search or Quicksearch is the default displayed on the homepage. Which search screen displays depends on the iPAC Customization Settings. These settings are configured by the library administrator or can be configured in the Current Session (ie: on the fly from within the internet browser) by the end user. The latter option can be disabled by the library administrator and therefore inaccessible by the end user.
The Easy Search was introduced for patrons who are not exactly sure of how to phrase a query, but have a good idea of what they are looking for. Easy Search uses search techniques similar to the popular internet search engines. The most popular fields in L4U (eg: title, author, subtitle, series, subject, description, etc) are searched and assigned a weighted value. The resulting list is then sorted on the total weighted value. For more information on how to change the weighting scale, please contact L4U Technical Services.
To use Easy Search:
1. On the iPAC homepage, Type in the search criteria in the field provided
• This can be a single word, multiple words or a phrase
2. Click the magnifying glass icon
• Pressing Enter on the keyboard will perform the search as well
3. The iPAC displays a list of items that match the search criteria
This search is the simplest of all the searches and will likely be the most used by your patrons. The search criteria entered for this type of search can be a single entry, multiple words or a phrase. Exactly how the search is executed will depend upon the search options selected by the library administrator. The default setting joins the words in a search with 'AND', although 'OR' can be used as well. To use Quicksearch:
1. On the iPAC homepage, Type in the search criteria in the field provided
• This can be a single word, multiple words or a phrase
2. Click the icon that represents the type of search to perform
• Hitting Enter on the keyboard performs a Keyword search
3. The iPAC displays a list of items that match the search criteria
Note: Searches are not case sensitive and do not recognize
articles (the, and, a, etc.).
The keyword search is performed by entering the search criteria and either hitting the Enter key on the keyboard or by Clicking the Keyword icon. When this option is selected, L4U searches the keywords of each item record looking for a match to the search criteria. Keywords are derived from various fields within the item record. Additionally, L4U applies the search option as selected by the library administrator when performing a keyword search. There are two search options that effect how the search is conducted. The comparison value between multiple words entered can be set to AND or OR. Selecting OR will return results that contain any of the words entered whereas, selecting AND will return results that contain all of the words entered. To adjust this setting, see Search Defaults. Using keywords results in a greater hit rate than using a single search category.
The SoundsLike search is a phonetic search tool. It is especially useful for those hard to spell terms and patrons who experience difficulty with spelling. To use the SoundsLike search, Enter the word as it sounds phonetically and then Click SoundsLike. For Example: Entering elifant will produce those records with a keyword of ’Elephant’. L4U searches a list of phonetic keywords that has been generated from the item keywords.
To search for a Subject, Enter the Subject or a portion of the Subject and Click Subject. For Example: plan would produce records with Subjects such as ’Plants’, ’Trips--Planning’ or ’Planets’. Enter a complete term for more exact searching. If multiple search criteria has been entered, L4U will apply the Authority Keyword Searches preference setting as defined by the library administrator and look for matching items in the Subjects keywords table.
To search for a Title, Enter the Title, or a portion of the Title excluding all articles (The, An, A, etc.) and then Click Title. Example: enter cat and the results will include items such as ’Cat in the Hat, The’, ’To catch a mocking bird' and ’Catcher in the Rye’. Enter a complete term for more exact searching. If multiple search criteria has been entered, L4U will apply the Authority Keyword Searches as defined by the library administrator and look for matching items in the Title keywords table.
To search for an Author’s name, Enter the search criteria and Click Author. The name does not have to be entered completely or in direct order. For example: Entering alex smith can produce a result of ’Smith, Alexander’. If multiple search criteria has been entered, L4U will apply the Authority Keyword Searches as defined by the library administrator and look for matching items in the Author keywords table.
To search for a Series, Enter the Series or a portion of the Series and Click Series. For Example: read would produce results such as ’Reading rainbow’ or ’Step into reading’. Enter a complete term for more exact searching. If multiple search criteria has been entered, L4U will apply the Authority Keyword Searches as defined by the library administrator and look for matching items in the Series keywords table.
The Editor/Illus search applies the same method as the Author search. To search the Editor/Illustrator field, Enter the search criteria and Click Editor Illustrator.
Picture Searches (Topic Searches) are predefined searches as defined by the library administrator that are executed by clicking on graphics displayed in the iPAC.
To execute a Picture Search:
1. On the iPAC homepage, Click Picture Search
• From the toolbar or the menu
2. From the folder list on the left, Click on the folder or sub-folder to search from.
3. Click on the appropriate Search button to the right.
• A list of search results is displayed
The Multi Seek option provides the client with the ability to search on multiple topics at one time. Boolean operators combine terms for more streamlined results.
To perform a MultiSeek search:
1. On the iPAC homepage, Click MultiSeek on the toolbar or the menu
2. From the drop down menus on the left, Select the field(s) to search
3. In the field(s) provided, Enter the search criteria
4. From the drop down menus, Select the Boolean search operand
• OR - used to receive search results that contain either of the items before and after the OR operand. Example: Selecting ’cat OR dog’ will produce results that contain both cat and dog, as well as only dog or only cat.
• AND - will produce results that contain both items before and after the AND operand. Example: Selecting ’mouse AND elephant’ will only produce results that contain both mouse and elephant.
• NOT - will produce results that contain the item(s) before the NOT operand but excludes items after the NOT operand. Example: selecting ’cat NOT elephant’ will produce results that contain cat, but will exclude items which contain cat as well as elephant.
5. Media and/or Level can be used in conjunction with the MultiSeek search criteria.
• If Media and/or Level are used, their Boolean search operand is always AND with respect to the other criteria specified.
6. Click Search
• Reset will reset the search to default so that a new search can be entered
7. The Results screen will display the number of hits in the Title Bar and list them in the main screen.
Note: Very specific searches yield a much smaller
hit rate. To broaden searches, use the OR
operator.
The Advanced Search feature searches the fields of an item record directly as opposed to searching the keywords associated with the field. This means that users will have to enter more specific search criteria. This search is conducted in a direct, or left to right, order. For Example: entering cat would result in hits such as ’Cats and Dogs’ or ’Caterpillars’ but it will not find ’Arthur catches a train’. This search type also includes the ability to do between searches for finding ranges of items. For Example: items with Deweys from 001 to 010.
To use the Advanced search:
1. On
the iPAC homepage, Click Advanced
from the toolbar or the menu
2. Select the field to search
3. In the first field provided, Enter the search criteria
• To search for the criteria exactly as typed, type a ’.’ after the entry. Example: cats.
4. Click Search
Between search can be enabled to perform searches for items in a range. This could be items between a certain range of dewey designations or items entered into the collection between specific dates.
To perform a between search using Advanced:
1. On the iPAC homepage, Click Advanced
• From the toolbar or the menu
2. Select the field to search
3. In the first field provided, Enter the ’from’ search criteria
4. Click the Enable Between Searching checkbox
5. Enter the ’to’ value in the second field
6. Click Search
Note: To clear the field selected and the value(s)
entered, Click Reset.
Wide Area Search if enabled, gives iPAC patrons access to multiple library collections individually or at the same time. The WAS feature must be set up at each of the participating libraries before this option will appear on the search pages. For more information regarding WAS, see Wide Area Search in the L4U Platinum Users Manual.
To execute Wide Area Searches:
1. Select the search to use
• If using Quicksearch, this will be the main page
2. From the lower left hand side, Select the location from the list of available sites.
3. Perform the Search.
Note: Once a remote collection has been searched,
the iPAC will default back to the local collection for further searches.
Some online collections actually list the holdings from multiple locations. This is common in L4U Union configurations. Other collections may use the location field to specify where within a single facility an item is located. For Example: Main Library, Science Lab, Office, Textbook Storage, etc. If the administrator has enabled Location specific searching, Patrons can perform a search of only a specific location. To search a specific location:
1. 
Select the
search to use
• If using Quicksearch, this will be the main page
2. From the lower left hand side, Select the location from the list of available sites.
3. Perform the Search