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Heritage of the Printed Book Database Help

  • Simple search - more information about composing query.
  • Advanced search - information about modifying and refining queries.
  • Special search keys - information regarding search keys with which you can search by authors, publications, etc.

In the simple search bar you can compose a query by entering one or more search terms.

Above the search field there are four drop-down menus with which you can modify your query. Once you have entered your query, click on the search button. The search results are then displayed on the screen.

The search bar is the point from which you coordinate your search activities. You can use the search bar to:

  • Enter search terms;
  • Perform search;
  • Change standard search options to suit your needs.

To search bibliographical data, you must enter a query into the horizontal search field, next to the search button. A query consists of a search term or a combination of search terms. A search term is a sequence of characters without spaces (you cannot use the characters &, |, ~, (), / unless they are preceded by a backslash, \. For example: ups \& downs).

For example: bookplates is regarded as one search term, while book plates is regarded as two search terms. Exception: the author's complete name is regarded as one search term. For example: bakker, bas de. If you want to search for a specific phrase, you must use quotation marks, for example: “fourth symphony”.

The HPB search engine is not case sensitive. You can use either upper or lower case letters or even mix both. This has no influence on the results of your search.

Once you have entered a query, click on the search button. To interrupt a search, use your web browser's standard button.

Above the search field you will see a number of drop-down menus in the search bar with which you can modify a query. The options in the menus allow you to further refine your search in the database.

In the first menu you can select one of three search methods:

  • Search (and)
    The standard selection is the search method AND. A search for two or more search terms shows the titles that contain all the search terms entered. For example: commentarius AND hippocratis searches for all titles that contain both commentarius and hippocratis.
  • Search (or)
    In the menu you can also select the OR search method. A search for two or more search terms shows all titles that contain at least one of the search terms. For example: commentarius OR hippocratis searches for all titles that contain either commentarius or hippocratis or both.
  • Browse
    With the selection Browse you can scan an alphabetical list of all search terms that can be used with a specific index.

After a search it is possible to enlarge, restrict, etc. the results. For more information see: Perform another search on the search result FIXME TODO.

For additional information about modifying queries, see Advanced search.

In the second menu you can select a search key with which you can further modify a query:

  • [ALL] all words
    Select [ALL] if you want to search different parts simultaneously, such as title, keyword and summary.
  • [TIT] title (keywords)
    Select [TIT] title (keywords) if you want to search the titles of books, magazines, conference proceedings or magazine articles or other material.
  • [PER] person/author
    Select [PER] person/author if you are searching for a specific author.
  • [PUB] publisher, publishing place (keywords)
    Select [PUB] if you are searching for a place or name from the imprint as on the item FIXME ?.
  • [IPN] imprint name
    Select [IPN] if you are searching for a printer, publisher, bookseller etc. A keyword search will be performed across added entries and the original imprint phrasing FIXME Is that true? Check with B. For example search IPN sermartelli or IPN daniel elsevier
  • [COR] corporate body (keywords)
    with [COR] you can perform a keyword search for corporate bodies affiliated with a publication FIXME Check. For example search COR gymnasium dorpat? or COR Bank England
  • [PRN] Provenance Names use PRN when searching for names, initials, snippets from free text descriptions of provenance marks such as former owner, dedications etc. This might also include booksellers, … FIXME Check. 009B $x Better “Provenance Keyword?”) For example search PRN Varnhagen or PRN motto sapere aude or (a more sophisticated query) PRN (exlibris or “ex libris”) and berlin
  • [FMO] Former Owner (keyword)
  • [FOC] Former Owner (Corporate Body)
  • [FPS] fingerprint (string)
  • [SER] series, periodical (keywords)
    Select [SER] series, periodical (keywords) if you want to search magazine titles.
  • [HLD] Holdings
  • [NUM] any number
    Select [NUM] any number if you know the former HPB OCLC no. or an identifier from a source system (e.g. ISTC no. or VD16 no.).
  • [CID] CERL ID
  • [CSO] Cataloguing Source

For additional information regarding search keys, see Special search keys

With the third menu you can sort the results of your search. You can sort by:

  • year of publication.
  • author.
  • title.
  • relevance.

By default titles are sorted by year of publication (JVU). This means that the most recent publications are then displayed first.

You can also sort publications by relevance. This means they are displayed in sequence of importance. Titles that are most to the point are displayed first. What determines that one title is more relevant than another title? The search engine analyses the contents of the title using a combination of the following factors:

  • Frequency: the number of times a search term appears in a title.
  • Compactness: the relative length of the titles found.
  • Reverse work frequency: terms that seldom appear in the entire database weigh more heavily.

You can also sort the short list by names of the authors in alphabetical order.

And you can sort the short list by titles in alphabetical order.

Limit option 1

With this drop-down menu search result can be limited to titles originating from a specific source. All institutions contributing to the HPB are listed (or respectively their databases). Only one source can be chosen. To limit searches to a group of sources please use the limit available in Advanced Search

Limit option 2

Use the “digital copy available” checkbox to limit your search to records containing links to digitisations. The bibliographic description in these records refers to the printed (=original) expression but a link to a digitised version in an external sytsem is present.

The checkbox “fuzzy search” makes your search more tolerant towards typos and includes alternative spellings into the result set. This possibly includes multilingual, implicit and associative searching. FIXME ADD MORE DETAIL AND REVIEW IF THIS FEATURE SHOULD BE OFFERED FOR HPB

With HPB you can modify your query in such a way that you search for a specific subject, publication or author. Using Boolean, wildcard and proximity operators you can modify a general query so that the search more closely approximates your expectations.

Search for approximate matches

You can search for approximate matches using the /n operator. By adding /n to the search term you can specify how many 'variables' are allowed in the search term, where n stands for the number of variables. Each addition, deletion or replacement of a character counts as a variable.
For example: rachmaninov/2 finds titles that contain two variables or less, such as rachmaninov, rachmaninoff and rachmaninow. However, for technical reasons the first three characters must be correct, which means that this search will not find ragmaninov.

Mandatory and non-mandatory term

Your can precede a search term by the + character. This means that this word is mandatory. Your can also precede a search term by the - character. This means that this word must not appear.
For example: transport -car finds all titles that contain the word transport, but do not contain the word car.

Parentheses: nesting multiple search operations

You can also use parentheses in a query. Without parentheses, a query is performed according to the hierarchy of the search operators. That is, the operator that is highest in the hierarchy takes precedence. Proximity operators have the highest position in the hierarchy, followed by AND and then OR. Parentheses ensure that this hierachy is ignored. This enables you to nest your search operations.
For example: (auto OR bicycle) AND (transport OR highway) finds titles that contain auto and/or bicycle and that also include transport and/or highway.

Combining Search operators: complex search operations

It is possible to compose complex queries by combining search operators such as Boolean, wildcards and proximity operators.

  • Example 1: complex query
    NOT johann ? bach searches for titles that contain the word bach not preceded by the word johann. This search operation will not find a title containing johann sebastian bach, because in this title johann precedes bach. This search operation will find the title wilhelm bach, johann bach because the title contains an occurrence of bach not preceded by johann.
  • Example 2: complex query
    Einstein ##! gravity searches for titles that contain einstein and gravity with three or less intervening words. The query einstein NEAR/3 gravity searches for titles that contain einstein and gravity (or gravity and einstein) with three or less intervening words.
  • Example 3: complex query
    Einstein #### gravity finds titles that contain einstein and gravity with four or less intervening words. Another possibility for finding the same result is: einstein #/4 gravity.

Articles, prepositions and other fill words

Every word in a title is indexed with the exception of fill words. Fill words are words that are ignored during a search to prevent irrelevant information from being displayed. Articles, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions are examples of fill words. Words that appear, but have no relevance during a search. For example: the, him, a, of, in, etc.

Overview of search operators

Below is an overview of the search operators supported in HPB:

  • AND, &
    Boolean operator; searches in two directions; finds titles that contain both words. For example: einstein AND gravity.
  • OR, |
    Boolean operator; searches in two directions; finds titles that contain either of the two words or both of them. For example: einstein OR gravity.
  • NOT, -
    Boolean operator; searches in two directions; finds titles that contain either of the two words or both of them. For example: einstein OR gravity.
  • NEAR, ~
    Proximity operator; searches in two directions; searches for words that are located in close proximity. For example: money NEAR spend. Moreover, it is possible to specify the number of intervening by using NEAR/N. For example: money NEAR/3 spend.
  • /n
    Search operator; searches for approximate matches by adding /n to the word, where n stands for the number of 'variables' permitted. For example: gorbatsjov/3.

  • Searches for the exact phrase entered between the quotation marks. For example: “fourth symphony”.
  • ?, *
    Wildcard operator; replaces a random number of characters. For example: use? or use*.
    Proximity operator; searches from left to right; replaces a random number of words. For example: use ? drugs or use * drugs.
  • #
    Wildcard operator; replaces no or one character. For example: use#.
    Proximity operator; searches from left to right; replaces no or one word. For example: use # drugs.
  • !
    Wildcard operator; replaces one character. For example: use!
    Proximity operator; searches from left to right; replaces one word. For example: use ! drugs.
  • %
    Searches titles for which the sequence of the words is not specified. For example: john % kennedy.
    Ensures that an operator that searches from left to right also searches from right to left. For example: john #% kennedy.
  • +
    Search operator; searches titles that at a minimum contain the added word. For example: +auto bicycle.

Special search keys

In HPB you have a number of special search keys with which you can search for a specific subject, publication or author.

Search by people

People are indexed according to their 'last name,initials' or by 'last name,first name' (without a space after the comma). For example: Johnson,A or Johnson,Alfred. If you type n a name without a comma followed by the initials or first name, all people with that surname will be displayed. However, if you type in a name with a comma followed by the initials or first name, only people with names identical to that typed in will be displayed. Naturally, you can use wildcards here as well.

Search by year of publication

If you are searching for publications by a particular author and you wish to limit the search results to a specific year of publication, you can modify the query by using the following search keys. You can search by year of publication using the following operators (the search engine does not include serials in the search results):

  • AND JVU 1980
    published in 1980
  • AND JVU < 1980
    published in or before 1980
  • AND JVU > 1980
    published in or after 1980
  • AND JVU 1980-1984
    published between 1980 and 1984, including 1980 and 1984

Overview of special search keys

FIXME TODO ARRANGE INTO TOPIC SUBGROUPS. ADD DESCRIPTION, EXAMPLES TO ALL. INSERT OVERVIEW OF M21/UNM FIELD. REARRANGE INTO TABLE LAYOUT?

Enter the following special search keys for the search term:

  • Search by [ALL] all words without fulltext : ALL
    Enter ALL before the search term if you want to search different parts simultaneously, such as title, keyword and summary. Example: ALL albania ; ALL clinton foreign policy
  • Search by [TIT] title (keywords) : TIT
    Enter TIT before the search term if you want to search the titles of books, magazines, conference proceedings or magazine articles or other material. Example: TIT american culture
  • Search by [PER] person/author : PER
    Enter PER before the last name, possibly followed by first name, initials and prefixes if you are searching for a specific author. Example: PER ericson ; PER smith,william (to find all versions of the first name you can follow the first letter by a ?).
  • Search by [TPC] all topics : TPC
  • Search by [SUH] subject heading : SUH
    Dutch language GOO keywords are added to the titles. Enter SUH before the GOO keyword by which you want to search.
  • Search by [PES] periodical (string) : PES
    Enter PES before the magazine title and sub-title you are looking for. Omit articles at the beginning of the title. If you scan the entire title, you will get an overview of all magazines. Example: PES international journal of politics, culture and society
  • Search by [PDS] periodical (string) : PDS
  • Search by [SER] series, periodical (keywords) : SER
    Enter SER before the search term if you want to search magazine titles. Example: SER british medical journal
  • Search by [ZTW] title of periodical (keyword) : ZTW
  • Search by [ZET] title of periodical (string) : ZET
  • Search by [THS] thesis statement : THS
  • Search by [ISB] ISBN (books) : ISB
    Enter ISB before the ISBN number if you have the International Standard Book Number for a specific publication.
  • Search by [ISS] ISSN (periodicals) : ISS
    Enter ISS before the ISS number if you have the International Standard Serial Number for a specific periodical
  • Search by [NUM] any number : NUM
    Enter NUM before the ISBN or ISSN number for a specific publication.
  • Search by [COR] corporation (keywords) : COR
    To find titles which have been published by a specific organization. Example: COR european union; COR ministry education
  • Search by [PUB] publisher, publishing place (keywords) : PUB
  • Search by [URL] URL (string) : URL
  • Search by [URK] URL, URN (keyword) : URK
  • Search by [PPN] Identify number : PPN
    Enter PPN before the Pica production number if you have the production number for a specific publication.
  • Search by [PRS] personal name : PRS
    Enter PRS before the last name, possibly followed by first name, initials and prefixes for the person you are searching for. The search key PRS applies both for the person who has written a publication and for the person a publication deals with (the subject of a publication). Example: PRS smith, william
  • Search by [DEW] Dewey classification : DEW
    Enter DEW before the Dewey code if you have the Dewey code for a specific publication. Note: you must enter a backslash and a slash (\/) rather than just a (/). If you only enter a slash, /4 in the following example would stand for the number of 'variables' that the query may contain. Example: DEW 709\/.2\/4
  • Search by [YOP] year of publication : YOP
    Enter YOP before the search term to find a title which has been published in a specific year. Example: YOP 1798
  • Search by [SJH] subject headings : SJH
  • Search by [PLC] place : PLC
    Enter PLC before the search term to find a title which has been published in a specific town. Example: PLC amsterdam
  • Search by [PRI] printer (person) : PRI
    Enter PRI before the search term if you want to search publications that deal with a specific person. Example: PRI churchill
  • Search by [SGS] shelfmark with blanks : SGS
  • Search by [TTS] title (string, short) : TTS
    Enter TTS before the search term to find documents which have been printed in a specific place. Example: TTS delft
  • Search by [TFB] title (string, from beginning) : TFB
    If you know the short-title.
  • Search by [AED] date of modification : AED
    Enter AED before the search term to find articles about a specific town or place. Example: AED rotterdam, AED rotterdam
  • Search by [SBN] Stand. Bibl. Nachweis : SBN
  • Search by [PBL] publisher : PBL
  • Search by [STS] series (string) : STS
  • Search by [STK] series (keywords) : STK
  • Search by [LNR] linked records : LNR FIXME ???
  • Search by [DDC] Dewey Decimal Classification : DDC
  • Search by [MAK] type of material, bibliographic level and encoding level : MAK
    Searching this index selects records according to a 3-character code which always must be truncated. The first position codes the type of material. Available codes are
    • A Printed material. Search for MAK A? to retrieve all printed publications in HPB
    • K Cartographic material
      Search for MAK K? to retrieve all cartographic publications in HPB
    • M Notated music
      Search for MAK M? to retrieve all music publications in HPB
    • E Microfilmed material (Please note that microforms are not principally in the focus of HPB. They are only included on the condition that full bibliographic description of the original is provided and (preferably) that the original is not present itself. For a more comprehensive research on microform surrogates please consult EROMM)
      Search for MAK E? to retrieve all microform surrogates in HPB
    • O Digitised material (Please note that digitisations themselves are not principally in the focus of HPB. They are only included on the condition that full bibliographic description of the original is provided and (preferably) that the original is not present itself. For a more comprehensive research on digitisations please consult EROMM). Links to digital versions, however, will be included in the HPB record of the original whenever available. To limit searches to records including links to digitised version, please use the limit option available in the simple search FIXME INSERT LINK.
      Search for MAK O? to retrieve all digised surrogates in HPB
    • Z Combined/mixed material FIXME INSERT EXAMPLE
      Search for MAK Z? to retrieve all such materials in HPB
    • V Objects
      For example board games but also graphics such as etchings (portraits, …)
      Search for MAK V? to retrieve all such materials in HPB
  • The second position describes the bibliographic level and can only be retrieved in combination with a certain type of material. Available codes are:
    • a Monographic
      For example search for MAK Aa? to retrieve all printed monographs in HPB
    • b Serial
      For example search for MAK Ab? to retrieve all printed journals and newspapers in HPB
    • c Multi-volume work, title
      This type of record is only present for the subset of HPB contributing institution which work with hierachical record structures and records the title of a multi-colume work as a separate record (which the individual volume records are attached to).
      For example search for MAK Ac? to search for all multi-volume works in HPB which are recorded in hierachical structure
    • f/F Multi-volume work, volume
      Applies only to the subset of hierachically structured records in HPB, see above.
      For example search MAK Af? OR AF? to retrieve all volume records in HPB
    • d Series
      For example search MAK Ad? to retrieve all monographic series records in HPB
    • j FIXME PRESENT?
  • The third position … FIXME TODO
  • Search by [TMB] series title (keyword) : TMB FIXME ???
  • Search by See also : CLT FIXME ???
  • [CID] CERL ID
  • [CSO] Cataloguing Source
  • [FMO] Former Owner
  • [FOC] Former Owner (Corporate Body)
  • [FPK] fingerprint (keyword)
  • [FPS] fingerprint (string)
  • [HLD] Holdings
  • [IPN] Imprint Name
  • [PRN] Provenance Names
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 help/hpb/searching.txt · Last modified: 2013/02/27 11:55 by hentschke

 

 

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