Thesaurus (USM14) - ALEPH Help

The ALEPH Help appears in a separate browser window on top of the ALEPH Public Catalog. If a portion of the Public Catalog window is visible under the Help window, simply click on the Public Catalog window to return to it. If the Public Catalog window is not visible, you may minimize the Help window or close the Help window completely.

The ALEPH Thesaurus module is made up of two windows. The small window contains the 'Tree of used terms' and the main window is the area for the search and display of results.
The module uses hypertext links and graphical symbols and buttons to guide you through the thesaurus. To activate a link, move the mouse pointer over the desired link so that the pointer changes to a hand, then click.

The Search function enables you to find records by entering keywords or phrases. A variety of search types are available that provide sophisticated search capabilities.

The Search function will retrieve a maximum of 2000 records per set. If your search request finds more than 2000 records, you will be requested to rephrase your search term.

In addition to the Search Hints at the bottom of each Search screen, following are additional rules for all types of searches:

The ? character or * character (asterisk) may be placed at the left, right or middle of a portion of a word, but it can never be used more than once in a text string.

The # symbol can be used to find varient spellings in cases where one version of the word has one more chararacter than another version. For example, colo#r will find both color and colour; and arch#eology will find both archaeology and archeology.

The ! character can be used to find varient spellings in cases where a single character may vary. For example, wom!n will retrieve both woman and women.

The % symbol, followed by a number, may be placed between two words to indicate that you want the words to appear within a particular distance from each other, and you don't care what order the words appear in. For example, england %3 ballads will retrieve Ballads of England , Ballads of Merry Olde England and England and Her Ballads.

The ! character, followed by a number, may be placed between two words to indicate that you want the words to appear within a particular distance from each other, and in the same order in which you type the words. In this case, ballads !3 england will retrieve Ballads of England and Ballads of Merry Olde England but not England and Her Ballads.

Following are the most common abbreviations used by the ALEPH command language for the Thesaurus module.

This function shows a list of sets from past searches and lets you:

Select a set and see the list of records in the set.
Sort a set and see the list of records displayed in the order set in the Options/Sort function.
Modify a set by crossing it with another search term.
Narrow or widen your search by crossing sets.
Delete sets from the list.
E-mail to yourself or someone else the bibliographic details of all the records in a set.
Save a set in a directory or on a diskette.
Choose a set of records for the scope, so that all future search requests will be performed on the selected set of records rather than on the entire database.

The Browse function enables you to scroll through an alphabetical index. Some of the indexes available are the Author Index, the Title Index, the Subject Index, and any other index that your library has made available to you.

Choose the index you'd like to browse through, then enter the text from which you'd like to start browsing. This text will appear at the top of a scrollable list. For example, entering a will give you an alphabetical list starting at a. Entering great will give you an alphabetical list starting from great. You will then be able to scroll down to entries such as Great Britain and Great Danes.

The Browse List displays an alphabetical list of entries, shows the number of records for each entry and indicates whether or not there are cross-references for the entry. Click on an underlined entry to see the associated records for the entry. Click on the cross-reference symbol X to see a list of cross-references.

There are 3 ways to go to a Browse List:

By using the Browse function and choosing an Index to browse. After typing in the text that you want to appear at the top of the list, the Browse List will be displayed.
By using the Search function. When viewing a record, you may click on an underlined tag and receive a Browse List of entries for the tag. For example, if you click on the Author tag, you will receive an alphabetical list of authors, with the current author at the top of the list.
While viewing a list of cross-references. Clicking on an underlined tag will present a Browse List. For example, clicking on the Heading tag will present an alphabetical list of entries with the current heading at the top of the list.

A List of Records is displayed as a result of a Search or Get request or from a Browse List by clicking on an underlined entry. You can also choose a previous List of Records by selecting Search History.

A List of Records may be viewed in a variety of formats. The default format is set using the Options/Display function. No matter which option you set as the default, you will always be able to see the Full View of the record by clicking on an underlined record number in a List of Records.

Various actions may be performed on a List of Records, such as filtering, mailing and saving the list.

In the Full View, you have the option to see the record in a variety of formats which change the tags from standard ALEPH tags to name tags or alphanumeric tags.

The Full View has links that allow you to jump to:

A Browse List
Records with narrower, broader or related terms

Special functions for the Thesaurus module:

	Click this button to see the entry in the 'Tree of used terms' window.
	Click this button to see the linked bibliographic records in the OPAC. The system searches for the current term and all narrower terms too.
(number)	Click the underlined number in the field No.of bib records to search the bibliographic library for records which are linked to this thesaurus record.

This option lets you choose the database that contains the records you'd like to see. Your library will determine which databases are available to you.

This option lets you send your comments to the developers of the ALEPH system. Your constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.

This option lets you set preferences for the display of information on your screen. For example, you can determine the language of the interface and the language of the thesaurus terms shown to you. You can also set the order in which records are sorted and you can determine the format in which records are presented. Your preferences for printing and sending mail are also set here.

This option lets you return to the first screen of the system to start working all over again.