Advanced Searching on OCLC
By Cecilia Schmitz and Dana Caudle
The purpose of this guide is to give a broad overview of all the different ways one can search OCLC. Only the most common forms of searching will be covered. Since proper searching also incorporates knowledge of library policies; these will be covered where appropriate. For more information please see:
http://www.oclc.org/support/documentation/worldcat/searching/searchworldcatindexes/
REMEMBER: Before inputting a record in OCLC; try several different types of searches.
Searches Covered in This Guide
The types of searching that will be covered include:
· Numeric Searching
· Title Searching
· Author Searching
· Author/title Searching
· Phrase Searching
· Keyword Searching
Search qualifiers will also be covered.
[Go to the next page to see how to enter a search in OCLC.]
Where to Enter Searches in OCLC
There are three ways to enter a search in OCLC:
· In the search box on the OCLC toolbar.
· In the command line search box at the top of the OCLC search window.
· In the keyword/numeric search boxes in the rest of the OCLC search window.
Enter the searches in the Toolbar and Command Line boxes as they are given in this guide.
For the Keyword/Numeric Search boxes: Enter search words into the boxes on the left. Select the appropriate search label from this guide in the drop-down menu in the boxes to the right. Enter the appropriate qualifiers in the boxes at the bottom. For example, to search C.S. Lewis’ The lion, the witch and the wardrobe, enter the search as shown in the keyword boxes above.
(Hint: Use the Keyword boxes if you are searching for keywords in particular fields; have a complex search with a lot of qualifiers; or you’re not sure of the appropriate search label.)
Numeric Searches:
Numeric searching is the easiest way to search since every record usually has some form of number attached to it. However, be careful since many records may have the wrong numbers; many may not have numbers; and many numbers are duplicated.
Government Document Number:
Label: gn: {enter all numbers and letters, omit punctuation}
Example: NAS 1.2:SP1/46 would be searched as gn: nas12sp146
ISBN:
Label: bn: {don’t use dashes, type all numbers and letters}
Example: 1-874744-29-7 would be searched as 1874744297 or bn: 1874744297
ISSN:
Label: in: {always include hyphens}
Example: 0048-9239 would be searched as 0048-9239 or in:0048-9239
LC Number:
Label: ln: {enter with or without hyphens}
Example: 78-52051 would be searched as 78-52051 or ln:7852051
Music Publisher Number:
Label: mn {use all numbers and letters; omit punctuation}
Example: CO 1979-AB5-1 would be searched as mn:co1979ab51
OCLC number:
Label: # or no.
Example: 32713994 would be searched as #32713994 or no: 32713994
Title Searches:
Derived:
Code: 3,2,2,1 {the commas are very important}
Title: Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Search: tre,gr,in,b
Title: To Sir With Love
Search: to,si,wi,l
(Hint: Use a derived search when a qualifier is readily available.)
Limits:
· Use only with main (proper) titles. Sometimes it will not work with subtitles.
· Hyphenated words are regarded as one word. {Ex. Use the first letters of “Trans-fats,” then skip to the next word.}
· Omit initial articles like A, An, and The.
Author Searches:
Derived:
author: 4,3,1 {commas are very important}
corporate name: =4,3,1 {you must have the = sign to make it a corporate name search}
Author: Barbara E. Crawford
Search: craw,bar,e
Corporation: Hershey Foods Corporation
Search: =hers,foo,c
For names beginning with Mc and Mac, the “c” and the “ac” are dropped so:
Author: William Reynolds McLeod
Search: mleo,will,r
(Hint: Make sure you use the whole name.You will get more incorrect hits if you
don’t use a middle initial.)
Author/title Searches:
Code: 4,4 {4 letters from author’s last name, 4 letters from first significant word of the title}
Author/title: C.S. Lewis’ The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe.
Search: lewi,lion
(Hint: This is a very powerful search especially when qualified by date of publication or format.)
Phrase Searching:
Use a phrase search when you want to search for an entire title/author/series/subject. Phrase searching takes the place of the old scan title (scan ti:) only you can search more fields than just the title. See the labels below for the various fields. The phrases that end in a “w” are called whole phrase searches and they are more precise because they cover more MARC fields. Whole phrase searches are useful when you retrieve too many records using other searches because you narrow your search to exactly what is in the whole field, including all subfields. All phrase searching uses an equals sign rather than a colon. See the sections on title, author, and series searching for examples of phrase searches.
Format: label code=phrase
Labels:
auw= author
cnw= corporate/conference name
hlw= subject headings (LCSH)
pnw= personal name subject
ncw= corporate/conference name subject
pnw= personal name
sew= series
suw= subject heading
tiw= title
utw= uniform title
Title phrases:
Title: Agricultural chemical news
Search: ti=agricultural chemical news
Title: $a Proceedings / $c International Conference on Artificial Intelligence
Search: tiw=proceedings international conference on artificial intelligence
{tiw searches across all subfields within the field and returns an exact match on the entire field. It is useful when you have a single word as the title proper and a simple subtitle or statement of responsibility.}
(Hint: Use when the title is too short for a derived search; when a derived search
yields no results or too many results; and for journal titles that could have uniform
titles.)
Author phrases:
Author: Carl Sagan
Search: au=sagan carl
Search: auw=sagan carl 1934-
{auw= searches across all subfields within the field and returns an exact match on the entire field. It is useful if you have a common name like Bob Smith and know the authorized form of the name.}
Corporate name: Caedmon Records
Search: cn=caedmon records
Corporate name: $a General Motors. $b Cancer Research Foundation
Search: cnw=general motors cancer research foundation
{cnw= searches across all subfields within the field and returns an exact match on the entire field. Use only if you know the authorized form of the name.}
Series Searches:
Series searching is best done as a phrase search.
Series: rainbow magic
Search: se=rainbow magic
Complete series title: $a Rainbow magic : the jewel fairies ; $v v. 102
sew=rainbow magic the jewel fairies
{sew= searches across all subfields within the field and returns an exact match on the entire field. This includes the numbering, so if you searched just for the series name with this search, you would not retrieve any records that had a volume number in the series field.}
Keyword:
Use a keyword search when you are unsure of the title but know other things about the record such as the name of the publisher. A keyword search can also be used to check how other libraries have used a specific subject heading or call number. All keyword searching uses a colon. Or you can enter your keywords in the keyword search boxes on the search page and select the appropriate label in the box next to your keywords.
Format: label code: keyword
Labels:
· au: author
· cn: corporate/conference name
· cp: country of publication
· dt: format/document type
· hl: subject heading (LCSH)
· kw: keyword
· la: language code
· lc: LC call number
· mt: material type
· na: personal name subject
· nc: corporate/conference subject
· nt: notes
· pb: publisher
· pl: place of publication
· pn: personal name
· se: series
· st: subject/title/contents
· su: subject
· ti: title
· ut: uniform title
· yr: year
Example: su: folk and su dance and la spa (this will pull all the books about folk dance in Spanish)
(Hint: A question mark (?) can be used to for truncation.)
Qualifying a Derived Search:
The derived searches for author, title, and author/title can be qualified further by format of material; year of publication; microform or not microform; and cataloging source.
Search: Code/qualifier 1/qualifier 2/etc.
Codes: 4,3,1 (author) 4,4 (author/title) 3,2,2,1
Qualifiers:
Format:
bks = books
com = computer Files
map = maps
mix = mixed materials
ser = serials
sco = scores
rec = sound recordings
vis = visual materials
Years of Publication:
1996 = single year
199? = decade
19?? = century
1996- = single year and all later years
-1996 = single year and all previous years
???? = no date
Range of Years:
1861-5 = covers 5 years
1990-99 = covers 10 years
1880-920 = covers 40 years
1900-2000 = covers 100 years
Microform:
mf = microform
nm = not microform
Cataloging Source:
dlc = Library of Congress records [Sorry this only works with dlc and dlc copy cataloging]
Example: gon,wi,th,w/mf/dlc would produce the microfilm edition of Gone with the wind which is cataloged by dlc.
EXAMPLES
In this section, we will give you examples of real books. You are to come up with a possible search strategy using your toolbox. There is more than one way to search for a book so there is no wrong answer. However, you are not allowed to use Scan ti.
Example #1
Possible searches:
a) mnei,angl (best)
b) ang,ul,,
c) mcei,t,e
Here we purposely didn’t include the date of publication. Remember to use the correct number of commas even it you don’t have the words included.
Example #2
Title Page Verso:
Possible searches:
a) webs,medi/1997 (best)
b) med,sc,,/1997
c) webs,bru,
What if the dates were all different? Which one would you use?
Answer: Use the date which matches the place of publication. In this case New York.
Example #3
Title Page Verso
Possible Searches:
a) nico,scot/1986 (best)
b) sco,pl,,/1986
c) nico,w,f/1986
Remember you wouldn’t use 1979 because impression means printing. Apparently the author has two middle names, only the first middle initial is used.
Example #4
Title Page Verso
Possible searches:
a) nyga,temp/1960
b) tem,ov,sc,/1960
c) nyga,nor,e/1960
Why didn’t we use 1963?
Answer: 1963 is a printing date rather than a publication date. Because we don’t have a publication date, we use the copyright date instead.
Example #5
Title Page Verso
Possible Searches:
a) mgif,triv/1978 (best)
b) mgif,mic,/1978
Why didn’t we use the title search?
Answer: The title search even when qualified would give too many results.
Why did we include the forward?
Answer: To identify the correct record in this case, you would need to know that this is a reprint of a section originally published over many issues of the William and Mary Quarterly. Often it is necessary to look all through the book for the information that you need for a search or to identify the correct record.
Example #6
Cover Title
.
Title Page
Possible Searches:
a) nedh,true/1978
b) tru,st,of,t/1978
c) nedh,mar,/1978
What is this? Why is the information on the cover different from the information on the title page?
Answer: This is a facsimile. The original was published in 1653. It has been republished by The Rota in it’s entirety using the same print type after an introduction explaining it’s history.