The "General Search" allows access to the bibliographic search through a single text field that looks up all fields in the bibliographic record (Title and subtitle, Responsibility, Author, Publisher, Subject, Thesaurus, Keyword, Classification, Notes Abstract, Inventory data).
The general search is a useful tool when you don't have a clear idea of which criterion to use for the search.
The search criteria applied associates all the text entered with the logical operator "AND". The search is therefore carried out by implicitly using a compound criterion which can be briefly described as follows:This general field is easy to use, though this does not guarantee the accuracy of the result or the speed of the search. This kind of search can generate a number of results that are not relevant to the purpose of the search. However, it can produce interesting results that would otherwise be difficult to find.
The available functions on this page are:
The advanced search generates very accurate results through a combination of several search fields.
In the relative search form you can set a compound search criterion by combining one to three criteria through logical operators.
For each criterion there is:
In addition to individual criteria, you can set a series of filters, namely:
The results of the search include records relevant to the criterion set and all the filters.
The available functions on this page are:
The windows to search the indexes consist of a text field where you can enter the term to look up in the index.
There are two functions:
The result of the search is the list of terms in the index starting with the characters entered by the user.
OPAC searches the following indexes:
The general and advanced searches provided by OPAC do not allow you to use all the available channels in the catalogue.
These are the special searches currently available:
Any kind of special search lets you search through specific channels, some of which are not available in the other search forms or by selecting some natures, forms, supports (e.g. modern book, old book, music, cartographic material, film material) or special search methods (e.g. Dewey Navigator, Thesaurus, Descriptors)
For each kind of search, you have search forms that let you define searches using specific channels.
System users who have requested and received the necessary authentication data can use the user area.
The user area is divided into these sections:
Under the "User profile" window you can view the user's current details. In the window you can view:
Under the "user circulation" you can view all the possible circulation operations related to the user logged in. In the window you can view:
Use View to show a list of operations reporting: Title, Operation start, Operation Expiry, End of operation
Under the window "Purchase proposals" you can create purchase proposals for monographs or subscriptions to periodicals.
The proposal will be examined, if accepted you will be notified at the email address and/or in this section of the website.
Enter the following information for a new purchase proposal:
The bibliographical list called "My books" contains a list of records that can be viewed immediately in an analytical form. It is a sort of bibliography created by the user in different search sessions. After identifying the records of interest, the user can choose to save them in the reserved user area.
The lists of results can always be retrieved from the available list via the link in the corresponding search criterion.
In this window you can delete specific searches saved earlier.
Through the "My searches" window you can Save a search in order to perform it again later. The list of saved searches prompts the user with a complete list of searches indicating the following information:
By selecting the name of the search, you run the search and go directly to the page showing an overview of the results.
In this window you can delete specific searches saved earlier.
Please note that this feature is only available to registered users in the system.
This window shows all the searches performed during the working session of a generic user (no login).
The list of searches shows the following information:
The list of results can always be retrieved from the list via the link in the corresponding search criterion.
List of documents enclosed with the records requested to the System through the Document Delivery function.
This function is only available to registered users (username + password).
In the "Libraries" window you can see the institutional information and statistics about the library (or libraries in case of a library system) using the current OPAC.
The list of libraries shows the following information:
In an electronic bibliographical catalogue, normally only some of the fields in a bibliographic record can be accessed via the search functions. These fields are often called search channels and depend on the individual catalogue and its specific purpose.
Indeed, they are often also called access points (term used in international sector standards).
Most bibliographic catalogues offer at least the following channels:
To launch a search, as well as indicating where you want to search, you obviously need to indicate what you want to search.
This means you need to define a search term. Associating a channel and a term means creating a search criterion.
For instance, a simple search criterion might be:
title = trade
where the channel is title and the term is trade or
author = pavese
where the channel is author and the term is pavese.
The search terms in a criterion are often formed by one or several words, as in the following example:
title = a complicated act of love
In this case, depending on the search methods available in the catalogue, you can also specify how the term must be interpreted (for instance: all the words, at least one word, exact phrase, etc...)
Basic criteria like the ones shown can be combined with each other through logic operators to obtain compound criteria.
Finally, some search channels can only be used to build compound criteria. These special channels are called filters.
For instance, the criterion title = political economy is checked against the following titles:
elements of Political Economy
Italian economy in the 20th century
French politics in the Illyrian provinces
industrial policy in an open economy
politics, economy, social life
In this case, the word order is not relevant.
For instance, the criterion title = political economy with the Words (all) mode is checked against the following titles:
elements of Political Economy
industrial policy in an open economy
politics, economy, social life
by referring to the above criterion, in this case only one title remains:
elements of Political Economy