Advanced Search : Positional Operators

The Positional Operators are same as the Boolean Operators, they tell the system to search words or phrases which appear anywhere in the catalogue record.  They can be used in Basic Search and Advanced Search.  The only difference is:-

Positional Operators :  All the search terms appear in the same field (e.g. all in title, all in author, all in notes, or all in subject)

Boolean Operators :  The search terms appear anywhere in the record

There are 4 operators (SAME, WITH, NEAR, ADJ) and their function is as follows:-

• SAME or WITH : only records containing both words within the same field will be retrieved.
• NEAR : only records with the words next to each other within the same field will be retrieved.
• ADJ : only records with the words adjacent to each other within the same field will be retrieved, and the order is the same as they were entered. 

Quick Search : Boolean Operators

The Boolean Operators provide broader search results and they are not restricted to Advanced Search.  You can use them in Quick Search as well.  They tell the system to search  records if the search terms appear anywhere in the record.

If you use more than one word to perform keyword searching without any operators, TAFECat uses the "AND" Boolean Operator by default.  For example, if you search under "fruits vegetables", the result is the same as for "fruits AND vegetables".

If you want to use the Boolean Operator (AND, OR, XOR, NOT) in Quick Search, insert the operator between the words to perform the search.

Advanced Search -- from the TAFE Library Catalogue

Advanced Search combines search elements to refine a search or limit a search. You can combine word or phrase, author, title, subject, series, and periodical title with operators and special punctuation to perform your search.

Operators allow you to focus your search by linking search terms and defining the relationship between them. They include the following types:

• Boolean Operators
• Positional Operators
• Relational Operators

Here’s how to combine search elements in Advanced Search using Boolean operators (AND, OR, XOR, NOT).

The following diagrams show which records will be considered when each of Boolean operators are used in a search:

fruit AND vegetables

fruit OR vegetables

fruit XOR vegetables

fruit NOT vegetables

Limit Search – from the TAFE Library Catalogue

When your Search Results list is too long, you may want to limit the search result.  Please refer to the following steps:-

• Click on “Limit Search” on the menu bar to go to Limit Search screen.

• There are many options you can use for your search:-
• Library:  select a Library to limit your search.
• Language: specify a Language in your search.
• Location: Select a Collection (shelving Location) in your search.
• Item category 1 & Item category 2:  specify a format, such as maps, eBook, DVD, eVideo, … etc.
• Match on: specify your search match on a particular part of a catalogue record, such as keywords only.
• Pubyear:  specify the publishing year.
• Sort by:  specify the sorting sequence of the search results.

Also, if you may want to combine the limit search elements into your search, click on the “Advanced Search” on the Quick searchscreen to switch to “Advanced search”screen.

Search Result List – TAFE Library Catalogue

When you use TAFECat (the library catalogue) to search, if the search term is available, a Search Result List is displayed.

The Search Result List contains information which includes:-

• Total titles of the search  (A)
• The title’s bibliographic details (title, author, publisher, publication year, pagination) (B)
• Type of material (C)
• Library holds the copy (D)
• If your library owns a copy, a tick will be displayed (E)

When you click on the title link, it will take you to the Item Details screen, where you can access the following information. 

• Call number (i.e. the location on the shelf) in each library (F)
• Status in each library (G)

If you want to use this item, go to the shelf and match the call number.

Quick Search – TAFE Library Catalogue

The TAFECat is not just a catalogue, you can do a lot of thing through it.  In TAFECat, you can access all types of information that your library has for you.

Input your search terms.   By default, the search option is set to “words or phrase” (A), which search all fields.  If you want to narrow your search into a particular field, such as title, author, or subject, click on the arrow, choose the field you want to look in, then click the "Search" button (B).  No matter what index you used, the search pattern is by keyword.  Search Results List will be displayed immediately.

If you prefer a browse list for your search result, click on “Browse search” (C).  Once the browse list displays, click any item to see the search results for that item.