Advanced features of Illinet Online
A. Guided Keyword Search
Illinet Online is the web-interface to the Wheaton College libraries’
catalog. Wheaton College is a member of the ILCSO consortium of
56 academic and special libraries throughout the state of Illinois.
Illinet Online offers search options for basic and more advanced searching.
Once you are comfortable with the basic features of Illinet Online it may
benefit you to delve deeper into the power of Illinet Online’s capabilities.
One such advanced feature is the Guided Keyword Search. This
search allows you to find records using keywords that may appear anywhere
in a record, or only in specific fields, such as the author field, title
field, publisher field, or others.
Whereas the Quick Search screen only provided a single text box
for the entry of search terms, the Guided Keyword Search provides
multiple text boxes for more articulated searches. Theses multiple
text boxes can be used with the “Search by” drop down menus to specify the
field to be searched. For instance, if you knew the subject matter
and the publisher you are able to search for both of these terms together
by combining them with an “and”. Also, if you knew the last name
of the author you would be able to add this term as well to narrow and reduce the number
of returned records.
In the Guided Keyword Search you may search more than one word in
each text box. Another feature not present with Quick Search is
the ability to describe how the words entered into the text box are to be used.
You may choose to search all of these words, your words as a phrase, or any
of these words. This accomplishes the same function as the use of the
plus-sign (+) and quotes, mentioned in the Quick Search tutorial.
B. Understanding and utilizing Boolean operators
One of the major features of the Guided Keyword Search screen is
the fuller ability to combine or exclude search terms and search fields with
each other using Boolean logic. Using Boolean logic allows a searcher
to create relationships between search terms to create a search matrix.
This matrix is represented by the use of the Boolean operators And,
Or, and Not. Using an example from a previous
tutorial, a searcher could be looking for information on aliens. However,
this term has various meanings, but the searcher is interested in aliens
of the extraterrestrial sort. Therefore, a search string of “alien
not immigration” would greatly reduce the number search results and more
likely return items of interest than simply searching for “alien”.
If the search string were to introduce 
another term, such as “alien and extraterrestrial not immigration”, the
results would be even more specific. If the searcher knew that most
published material referred to aliens as aliens or extraterrestrials he/she
could use the Boolean operator “or” to make sure that the search results included
the highest level of relevant resources (e.g. (alien or extraterrestrial)
not immigration). In the example just provided the parentheses separate
various elements of the search and enable the search software to understand
where to place the “exclusionary” NOT operator. Without the parentheses
the “not” would only be applied to the adjacent term, “extraterrestrials”,
rather than both terms.
C. Truncation
Truncation--the ability to place a "wild card" character in a search--can
be used in a variety of searches. For instance, if you want to find records
using the Any Words option that contain any form of the word
“statistic” you can place a “?” at the end of your word to retrieve records
that contain any word that starts with “statistic”. Therefore “statistic?”
will retrieve records with “statistics”, “statistical”, “statistician”,
etc. If you are uncertain about the spelling of an author’s last name
you can utilize truncation (i.e. Anders? to search for Andersen or Anderson).
D. More Limits
Similar to
Quick Limits that is available on the
Quick Search screen, the
Guided Keyword Search screen provides
the option to place various limits upon your search. However, the
limits apply only to title and keyword searches. It should be remembered
that any limits that are placed upon a search remain in effect until you
specifically clear them or exit the Catalog. Multiple limits can be selected
within a single menu box by holding the CTRL or Apple key while selecting
the desire choices. Your search can be limited to specific languages, locations,
year(s) of publication, and primary format or secondary format specification.
E. Specialized Search Fields
The Guided Keyword Search allows you to search many different fields
that aren’t available on the Quick Search screen. Many of these
fields are rather specialized and if you are aware of their usefulness they
can be very handy. For instance, if you need a particular edition
of a book you can search for the ISBN number. If you are looking for
a particular journal you can try and search by the ISSN number. Another
beneficial search fields is the By and/or About a Person search option.
This option searches a record in multiple fields, instead of one, to retrieve
items relating to an individual.
Too much information? Why not try the Introductory tutorial?
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Last Modified: 08/21/03
Questions or Comments? Contact reference@wheaton.edu
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Copyright © 2003, Wheaton College