Users will soon be able to use advanced search techniques
Library users on Mount Oread will find electronic catalog searching easier, more precise and substantially more advanced next year.
A new integrated on-line catalog, circulation, reserve, acquisitions, serials, accounting and management system will be installed by the end of the academic year, said John Miller, assistant dean of libraries for information technology.
The new Endeavor system will be implemented cooperatively by the University Libraries and Law Library on the Lawrence campus and by libraries at the KU Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan. It will include many features not available on the current KU on-line catalog, such as:
>> Keyword searches. In addition to exact searches on names and subject headings, users will be able to search for key words anywhere in the catalog records. Results are displayed in order of relevance, based on a sophisticated formula.
>> Precise commands. Searchers may construct commands using "and," "or" and "not."
>> Search history display. Searchers can see previous search commands, which can be edited and re-executed.
>> Parameters. Searches can be limited by language of publication, medium, date of publication or location. A separate search function will allow users to limit searches to journal titles.
>> Sorting by date. Results can be displayed in order of publication, with newest items listed first.
>> Reserve items. A separate mini-catalog will show items currently kept on reserve and searchable by instructor name, course time, department and section.
>> Search results. The new system will allow search results to be printed, e-mailed to a user's desktop or downloaded onto a disk.
The system designer, Endeavor Information Systems Inc., of Des Plaines, Ill., has been contracted to implement its system.
The Endeavor system is used at hundreds of other university research libraries, including Kansas State University and Wake Forest University, and such specialized libraries as the National Library of Medicine. The Library of Congress recently selected Endeavor to develop its new on-line system.
For more information about the system, see the Libraries' Web page . To see a preview of the system, visit Endeavor's web site Endeavor's Web site .