Tap the Power of AVS

by

Jerry V. Caswell

John WynstraUniversity of Northern Iowa

http://www.uni.edu/~caswell/avs/

A library is a growing organism.

-Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan

Save the time of the reader.

-Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan

AVS – Advanced Searching

• What is AVS– AltaVista Search Engine Technology– Extra purchase from Innovative– Pricing Staggered by library size

AVS - 3 Modes

• X - Advanced Boolean (AND OR NOT Limits &

Sorts)– AltaVista Advanced Search Syntax

• Y - Simple Boolean (AND OR NOT )– AltaVista Advanced Search Syntax

• Z - Altavista simple (+ -)– AltaVista Basic Search Syntax -

Boolean Search Syntax

• AND & OR | NOT !

• BEFORE AFTER NEAR ~ WITHIN

Example Searches

Xml and html

Xml and not html

Xml within 3 html

Xml near html

AltaVista Simple Search Syntax

• + Include

• - Exclude

Example Searches

+Xml +html

+Xml -html

AVS WildCards

? 1 character

* 1-5 characters

**unlimited characters

Note: Must have at least 3 stem characters

Sample Wildcard Searches

Wom?n (women and woman)

Trans* (transport not transportation)

Trans** (transportation)

AVS and Punctuation

These all become spaces in an AVS search

: \ @ ; ` = % , _ / ^ #

AVS Search Tags

• a: (author)• t: (title)• d: (subject)• w: n: (notes)• genre:• Mattype:mattype?• Lang:Lang???• Branch:branch???

Sample Tagged Searches

a:Beethoven and g:compact discs

g:videocassettes

Understanding the AVS URL

• http://innovative.server.edu/search/X?

• + searchString

• + limitString

AVS URL Example

http://unistar.uni.edu/search/X?SEARCH=

searcha:beethoven&g=compact%20discs

limit&m=j&l=ger&b=&searchscope=1&SORT=A

&Da=&Db=

AVS Configuration options

37 > Alta-Vista Searching: Ranking Options.........DAR

Type any combination of the below "Search and Sort" options.

First code entered is the default option.A = Alphabetical D = Date R = Relevance

Current Fields: DAR

AVS Configuration options

41 > AVS automatic quote insertion......CALL Innov.

Four Configuration options

42 > AVS performs adjacency search.......YES

AVS performs adjacency search

Current Setting: YES

Change setting to NO? (y/n)

Four Configuration options

44 > AVS performs OR search.................................................NO

AVS performs OR search

Current Setting: NO

Change setting to YES? (y/n)

Begin Search

Results?

Sorry Display Results

term1 term2

term1 OR term2

term1AND term2

Results?

Results?

no

no

no

yes

yes

yes

Adjacency to Yes

Or to Yes

Indexing Concepts

• Advanced Keyword Index is broken down into segments.

1. Title2. Subject3. Author4. Note

• We added an additional segments such as:– Genre

Some Local Practices

Catalog e-journals

Added author entry for e-journal providers 710 2\$aLexisNexis Academic

Forms in genre index 655 \7$aElectronic Journals$2local

Special location code for internet resources

1intr

AVS Applied

• Modifying the User Interface

• Canned Searching

• Library Gateway

Modifying the User Interface

• Phase 3– Integrates keyword with phrase searches in a

single form

• Before Phase 3– Dropdown field selection– Additional qualification: resource types

(dictionaries, encyclopedias)

Dropdown Field Selection

Resource Types

Modifying the User Interface

• Post Phase 3– Integrate pre-qualified AVS searches with

phrase searches in a single form

Fully Integrated Interface

Fully Integrated Interface 2

Canned Searching

• Place search forms outside of vendor interface

• Taming the complexity while tapping the power

• Available at point of need

• Tailored to context

Predefined Searches

– All parameters hard coded into URL– Both search terms and qualifiers

Predefined Searches

• Browse a List of Print and Electronic Newspapers by Title

• http://unistar.uni.edu/search/X?SEARCH=genre:newspapers&searchscope=1&SORT=A

Guided Searches

• Users enter query in search form

• Hidden qualifiers provide limits

Guided Search

Rod Library Gateway

• Gateway as a structured means of organizing information

• Process centered categories: Find articles

• Action oriented

• Melding the catalog into the Gateway

• Continuity of look and feel

• Specialized retrieval forms

Gateway: Major Category

Gateway: Subcategory

Gateway: Major Category

Gateway: Subcategory

Quote of the Day

“Information finding for users is a series of approximations rather than a series of certainties.”

-- Jerry Caswell

Thank You

• Have a nice day

• Good Luck– Jerry.Caswell@uni.edu– John.Wynstra@uni.edu