Discovery how-to guide

Discovery Advanced Search

On Discovery you could run an advanced search using guided-style search fields and Boolean operators. 

To use Advanced Search:

1. On Discovery click on "Advanced Search" which is just under the search box.
2.  In the Advanced Search screen you will see multiple search boxes to enter your keywords. To add more search boxes, click on "ADD A NEW LINE " if you need more search boxes.

*to replicate the search in the image click here.

See the explanation for each search option indicated image above. 

Field selector: 

For each search line, this parameter enables you to narrow the search to all search fields (any field) or a particular field (such as title and subject).

 

 

 

 

FIELD	DESCRIPTION
Any field	All search fields below
Description	This field corresponds to the description of a book or DVD or Abstract of articles where available.
Title	Title of a book, dissertation, film or Title of Article.
Author/Creator	This field corresponds to the Author, Writer, Editor or Creator of the publication.
Subject	Subject that is assigned to the record. Subjects are headings that were assigned by librarians during the classification and cataloguing process. An article, book or report could have multiple subject headings, it aims to show concerns of an article or book.
ISSN	International Standard Serial Number - this is assigned to periodical publications such as academic journals and magazines. It is a unique number and if known can help find the journal quicker.
User tags	These are added by users in their personalised accounts. If you have saved items and if they are tagged by you, it will help you search those tags. You could only search your own tags.

 

Search type: 

For each search line, this parameter indicates how your search terms are compared against the search field. The following values are valid:

 

 

 

 

 

is (exact)	Returns results that contain phrases that exactly match the phrases specified in the query.
contains	Returns results that contain all words in the phrase, but the words may be in a different order and may not be as close together.
starts with	Returns results that contain words that start with the specified string. This type performs left-anchored title searches only. When performing a Title search, it is recommended that you do not omit any leading articles from the title. For example, The Oxford Handbook is preferred to Oxford Handbook.

 

Search box  

For each search line, enter the search query text, which may include words, phrases, and operators (AND, OR, and NOT).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filters 

Filters enable you to narrow your results to specific data or categories (such as a material type or date range). You could pre-select some of your filters in the advanced search. Nonetheless, you could also see and select these and more filters on your search results page. It is advisable to run your search first and apply these. 

 

 

 

 

Selecting Your Search Scope

The search scope defines where the system should perform the search. Our default, predefined search scope is "All Resources". However, you can change the scope of your search by selecting a search scope from the drop-down list. 

 

 

Scope	Description
All Resources	Searches all physical and electronic resources/databases owned or subscribed by the LSBU Library.
Physical resources	This scope finds resources and publications in physical formats, such as hard-copy books and journals or DVDs. When this category is selected, it is possible to see some electronic resources also. This is because the system merges identical items with multiple formats under a single record. This is useful as it will show the print copy location and provide a link to the electronic copy if available in the same record.
Electronic Resources	Items found in this scope are in electronic format such as eBooks, online journal articles.
Beyond LSBU	This enhances the search by returning results from a global central index. In this scope, in addition to LSBU`s own and subscription resources,  you would likely find resources from external databases that are unavailable with full-text access. You may be able to request these items from the library within the system by looking at the records page of each item.

Advanced search can be complex, as you can see here, there are many options. Depending on your topic and requirements, you could use one or more of these options. If you are unsure about using these filters and your keywords get in touch with our librarians in the help section of this guide.