Dialog Searching. Mary Cavanagh Faculty of Information Studies University of Toronto

Transcription

1 Dialog Searching Mary Cavanagh Faculty of Information Studies University of Toronto

2 Outline of class Review basic searching commands (e.g. b, s, ds,) - Suffixes (e.g. /ti, /ab, /de) - Prefixes (e.g. au=, cn=, py=) Examine blue sheets and become familiar with how they work Learn some advanced commands - Expand [e au=smith or e librar?] - Remove duplicates [rd s#] - Sort [sort s#/ci,co,mm/all] - Rank [rank s#/all/jn] - Report [formats] Practise, practise, practise - Review Assignment #1

3 Review of Session #1 How to login? Which database? We will use Files 7, 154, 727, and Begin (b db#) 2. Hold command (logoff hold) 3. Search command = s(elect) 4. Display sets (ds) 5. Expand (e s#) 6. Truncation? 7. Proximity (w) (n) 8. And / Or (or is more)

4 Sample Bluesheet SEARCH OPTIONS BASIC INDEX SEARCH SUFFIX FIELD NAME INDEXING /AB ABSTRACT WORD /DE DESCRIPTOR WORD & PHRASE /ID IDENTIFIER WORD & PHRASE /LP LEAD PARAGRAPH WORD /TI TITLE WORD /TX TEXT WORD ADDITIONAL INDEXES SEARCH PREFIX FIELD NAME INDEXING AU= AUTHOR PHRASE CS= CORPORATE SOURCE WORD JN= JOURNAL NAME PHRASE LA= LANGUAGE PHRASE PD= PUBLICATION DATE PHRASE PY= PUBLICATION YEAR PHRASE WD= WORD COUNT NUMERIC

5 EXPAND Command Tips Enter the appropriate prefix for the index you are searching: AU= for author name, CO= for company name, etc. Enter only the first part of the name or search term, just enough to go to the right section of the index. (E CO=Ford Motor) Examine the list of E numbers carefully you may not be in the right section of the index if you entered the prefix incorrectly or used incorrect formatting of the name. Never enter any truncation or proximity operators in an EXPAND command EXPAND is completely literal, character by character. SELECT E (or R) numbers using the OR operator or the colon (:) range operator. SELECT all relevant E (or R) numbers before entering another EXPAND command. Each new EXPAND command erases the previous command.

6 EXPAND Command EXPAND the term and then SELECT from the E numbers that display:?expand microcomputer Ref E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7 E8 E9 E10 E11 E12 Items Index-term 1 MICROCOMPUTE 1 MICROCOMPUED 5018 *MICROCOMPUTER 1 MICROCOMPUTER APPLICATIONS 1 MICROCOMPUTER BASED LABORATORIES 1 MICROCOMPUTER BASED TRAINING 1 MICROCOMPUTER CONTROLLED SYSTEMS 200 MICROCOMPUTER DATA 1 MICROCOMPUTER ENCAPSULATION 1 MICROCOMPUTER INVENTORY 1 MICROCOMPUTER PROGRAMMING 1 MICROCOMPUTER SOFTWARE AND INFO FOR TEACHERS Enter P or PAGE for more The EXPAND display pauses after 12 lines. Use PAGE (or P) to see the next 12 lines, up to a total of 50 lines.

7 SORTing Records Range Set number SORT command format: Field codes to be used for the SORT?sort s3/all/au,ti SORT creates a new set of the same records, rearranged according to the SORT parameters:?sort s3/all/au,ti S4 103 Sort S3/ALL/AU,TI SORT assumes the order to be ascending (A to Z, and lowest to highest numbers). To specify descending order, add the letter D after the field:?sort s7/all/em,d S8 103 Sort S7/ALL/EM,D

8 Creating Customized Tables REPORT Command Special feature available in many directory databases Create customized tables from the records you retrieve. To create a REPORT table, follow these five steps: 1 Consult the Bluesheet to determine the fields you want in the table and the number of characters needed for the full display. 2 Conduct your search to retrieve the set of records you want. 3 Enter a SET SCREEN command if needed to accommodate the size of REPORT table. (For instructions on the SET SCREEN command, see Successful Searching on Dialog.) 4 Sort the set by the field codes you want. 5 Enter the REPORT command, followed by sorted set number, field codes for table, and ranges of records. Use the command format: Set number Field codes to be displayed in the REPORT?report s4/co,cy,st,sa/1-25 Range of records

9 Using the RANK Command Use RANK command to statistically analyze your search results for frequency of terms Helps evaluate search results and modify strategy RANK is available in phrase-indexed fields only Simple application of RANK Extracts terms from specified field in set of records and displays terms in ranked order. Syntax for RANK is: RANK <field> <set number> <range> Example: Find the most prolific authors in the area of fractal research over the past two years. Search for articles about fractals Rank of authors to see which author ranks highest with the most articles on fractals in this database, then the next-most prolific author, and so on. Display a record to see the most prolific author s address.

10 ?b 34 current File 34:SciSearch(R) Cited Ref Sci /Sep W3 (c) 2001 Inst for Sci Info >>>CURRENT started Set Items Description ?s fractals/de S1 139 FRACTALS/DE?rank au Started processing RANK...Ranking 100 of 139 records Completed Ranking 139 records DIALOG RANK Results RANK: S1/1-139 Field: AU= File(s): 34 (Rank fields found in 139 records unique terms) Page 1 of 42 RANK No. Items Term REPRINT) 2 5 RAMAKRISHNAN A 3 5 SADANA A 4 3 QUEIROSCONDE D 5 3 ROMEU J 6 2 BALIARDA CP 7 2 COURTIAL J 8 2 FALOUTSOS C P = next page Pn = Jump to page n P- = previous page M = More Options Exit = Leave RANK To view records from RANK, enter VIEW followed by RANK number, format, and item(s) to display, e.g., VIEW 2/9/ALL.

11 Advanced commands Learn some other advanced commands - Expand [e au=smith or e librar?] - Remove duplicates [rd s#] - Sort [sort s#/ci,co,mm/all] - Rank [rank s#/all/jn] - Report [formats] Practice, practice, practice!