Tips for searching the Church House library on-line databases

(You may wish to save and print a copy of these Tips for ease of reference and use.)

FINDING THE DATABASES

You can access the Library's databases over the Internet in a variety of ways. The simplest method is to save the URL http://www.anglican.ca/search/databases.htm and add it to your the favourites on your browser

OR

you may go the General Synod home page http://www.anglican.ca, and click on Library Searches in the left hand column.

DIFFERENT "TYPES" OF DATABASES

Full Text Policy
There are two main types of databases. The Anglican Consultative COUNCIL, LAMBETH Conference and OFFICIAL Statements databases are all full text databases. In other words, the record contains the complete (full text) of the item. The full text databases are composed almost exclusively of resolutions. The only exception is the OFFICIAL Statements database which also includes Press releases and some Pastoral letters/statements from the House of Bishops. Every resolution/record includes a date, a mover and seconder, and text. The great majority of records have also been indexed and include subject headings.

Bibliographic/Citations
The Library's book CATALOG database and journal ARTICLE database contain records which each describe one book or one journal article. You will see a listing of the individual book or article, with an author, title, annotation or description, and subject headings. You are seeing a description/summary of the book or article but NOT the complete (i.e. full) text of the book or article. Books are indexed to the chapter or essay level and in most cases Anglican and/or Canadian content is highlighted.

SELECTING A DATABASE

To select a database, simply click on the name/title of the database that appears in purple and you will be taken to the search screen for that database. If you are already in one database e.g. LAMBETH and want to switch to another one e.g. book CATALOG, simply click on the "Search another Database" link at the bottom of the search screen.

SEARCHING A DATABASE

Subject Field
You can search a number of "fields" or areas within each record but we would suggest that unless you are looking for a specific record whose title you know, it is best to search or browse the SUBJECT Field. Almost every record in the database has had subject headings added by library staff to highlight and describe the content of the record.

Browsing the Indexes
If you want to see all the subject headings that have been used in the database (and the number of items with that heading) you can click on the "Browse Index" button. This opens up a box that shows you all the terms appearing in this field in the database. You can search this listing by starting to type the word or phrase you are searching for and you will automatically be taken to that place in the list. You can use the navigation arrows at the bottom of screen to move around the list. Clicking on a subject heading inserts that term in your search.

For example, if you type the word Ordination in the "Find" box you will be taken to the first heading in the list that starts with the word Ordination. You can move backwards or forwards through the list by clicking on the > or < arrows at the base of the list OR you can add to the word(s) you have already typed e.g. Ordination of women Anglican Communion. Click on the heading you wish to search on and then click on "Close the window" at the bottom of this window to return to your search. The term(s) you have selected will appear on the screen and you can now press "Search" to search and display the results.

Searching, using the "Browse Index" function generally results in "narrow" more focused searches with a smaller number of relevant records. There are times, however, when you may want to do a "broad" search to see a wide range of results before choosing to narrow your focus and number of results.

Broader Searches
Using the "Browse Index" function gives you a "narrow" search with fewer (but more focused/relevant) results. However, if you were interested in ALL articles on the subject of Ordination of women not just ones about the Ordination of women - Anglican Communion or Ordination of women - Church of England you would be best to simply type in Ordination of women in the SUBJECT Field, and click on the "Search" command to see any record with the term Ordination of women anywhere in the subject heading!

Narrowing a Broad/Large Search and Boolean Searches
You can do a first broad search for a topic like Ordination of women and then narrow it down by adding other words or terms to make the search more specific i.e. narrower/smaller. INMAGIC, the software behind the databases, makes use of so-called "Boolean operators" in order to refine searches.

Truncated Words / Wildcards
If you want ALL the records that include the words "archives", "archival" or "archivist" you can find them by searching for the word archiv*. INMAGIC will find all words with the root/trunk archiv. (The asterisk indicates truncation and is also referred to as a wildcard.)

Narrowing a Search : Using the AND Command i.e. Ampersand Symbol &
If you have asked for Ordination of women in the SUBJECT Field and then decide you only want the items about this subject AND the Catholic Church you can go back to the original search screen and type in & Catholic Church in addition to the words Ordination of women. Click on "Search" to see the new search results. There will be fewer records.

If you then decide that you want only records about the "Ordination of women" as well as the "Catholic Church" and also dating only from 1996 onward you can go back to the search screen and now in the DATE Field type in >1995 i.e. greater than 1995. This time you will have even fewer records.

Broadening a Search: Using the OR Command i.e. Forward Slash Symbol /
If you are interested in seeing all records authored by George Carey and Rowan Williams, you can click on "Browse Index" in the AUTHOR Field to find both names and paste them in OR you can type Carey, George / Williams, Rowan directly in the AUTHOR Field:. This will give you ALL items written by Carey OR Williams.

Eliminating Records Using the NOT Command i.e. Exclamation Mark !
If you are interested in seeing all records about "Evangelicals" or "Evangelicalism" as a movement you can type evangelical* in the SUBJECT Field and then type ! [exclamation mark] Lutheran to indicate that you want all records with the word/stem evangelical* but NOT those that also include the word "Lutheran". (This will eliminate a large group of records containing the terms "Evangelical Lutheran Church of America" or "Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada").

Quick "Hot-Link" Searches
When you are looking through the "full" display of records you will notice that the Subject Headings are displayed in blue. Each of these headings is a potential "hot link". If you are browsing through a record and suddenly see a heading that is exactly what you are interested in you, you can click on the blue heading e.g. Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) to immediately see ALL the items with that EXACT heading. Remember, however, that you will get only those headings that are EXACTLY the same. You will NOT see "Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC I)" or "Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II)" as these are more specific headings. If you wanted to see ALL of the subject headings for ARCIC you could type either ARCIC or Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission in the SUBJECT Field.]

SEARCH RESULTS

After you submit a search you will get results. Occasionally you will get the message "No records found by latest query" and an OK button. Press OK to perform another search.

In most cases, however, you will be shown the results using a report screen that first tells you how many records were found e.g. “Your search: FIND rwanda found 10 records”. A drop box under this information will tell you how the records are sorted/arranged e.g. “Sorted by Title”. This first search report is always a brief listing to let you see quickly if the records/results are what you want/expect. If you wish to see the complete record you can click on the title of the record to see the full record listing.

CHANGING THE WAY THE RECORDS/RESULTS DISPLAY

All of the databases allow you to see and/or sort the records in several ways. At the top left side of the Search Results display you will see a box with a drop down indicator. Click on the drop down box to see the names of other reports/displays. The titles are usually self-explanatory e.g. Sort by Author OR Sort by Pub Date which will show you all articles arranged chronologically by date with the OLDEST items first.

E-MAIL, SAVING OR PRINTING (ESP) SEARCHES

Select items
In order to e-mail, save or print a search you must first select the items you wish to e-mail, save or print. You select items by checking them in the checkbox and creating a List. After your have finished selecting the items you wish, Click on “View Selections” to confirm that the items you have chosen are the ones you want to e-mail, save or print. You have the option to “Delete” items you do not want. Click on the button “Email, Save or Print” at the bottom of the screen.

Email Save or Print (ESP) Screen
Fill in the address to which you wish to send the Search Results in the first box “E-mail” on the top left side of the screen. This is usually your own e-mail address but can be a third party. The box below this “E-mail From” identifies the sender, especially important if it is going to a third party.

The Format box describes how your search list appears. The default (until you change it) is “Brief Display”. If you wish to send/have the fullest/complete listing of each item/record you will need to change this to “Full Display”. If you always want to save records in the Full Format click on “Keep” beside “Keep preferences".

N.B. After you have E-mailed, Saved or Printed this Search, ALWAYS remember to choose “Remove All” from the box “Choose One: Email, Save, Print, Remove All” in order to clear the last search from your Selections/Saved List or the records you have chosen will remain in your “Selections List” even when you do a new search until you have deleted them one by one.

SEARCHING A DIFFERENT DATABASE

If you are in one databases e.g. the OFFICIAL Statements Database of the Anglican Church of Canada and decide that you would like to search the resolutions of the LAMBETH Conference, simply click on the link “Search another database” at the bottom of the search screen and you will be taken to a page showing you links (with short descriptions) to all five Library online databases. Simply click on the database of your choice and begin searching the new database.

QUESTIONS ? PROBLEMS ? SUGGESTIONS ?

Please contact us at: library@national.anglican.ca

Karen Evans,
Librarian

June 2007