Search

Some special characters require particular forms of input into the search fields of the ECONIS database:

In the search bar above (see illustration below) you can compose a search operation by entering one or more search terms.

Above the search field there are three drop-down menus with which you can modify your search operation. Once you have entered your search operation, click on the search button. The search results are then displayed on the screen.

See also:

• Simple search for more information about composing search operations.
• Extensive search for information about modifying and refining search operations.
• Special search keys for information regarding search keys with which you can search by authors, publications, etc.

1.  Search for topics

Standard-Thesaurus Economics as useful tool for you search

The Standard-Thesaurus Economics (STW) covers terms from

Economics
Management science
Industries
Products
Related sciences
Geographic names


All title records from 1986 onwards in ECONIS are indexed with the terms from the STW. This will help you to perform a precise search for titles belonging to a specific topic.

We recommend to search for appropriate search terms in the STW first and then to search for the relevant titles with these search terms.

1.1. Search for the relevant search terms
You can search for the subject headings that best fit with the search key Standard-Thesaurus Economics. The search result will be the data sets for the specific subject headings. You may klick on the broader terms, the narrower terms and the related terms belonging to this subject heading. This way you may find another search term that suits better to you field of interest.

1.2. Search for the titles
Titles may be searched in two ways.

1.2.1. Click an the button "related publications" at the bottom of the data set of the subject heading that best apply to your field of interest. You search result will be all titles with contents relevant to this subject heading.

1.2.2. Use the search term in connection with the search key all words or subject/geographical headings. The search result will be the relevant titles. You may enlarge or restrict your title list so that it fits better to your topic.

1.3. Search for older literature
We recommend to chose the search key "subject/regional headings" and then to chose "browse" in the pull-down menue on the left side. The search result will be an index list where you can browse the most appropriate subject headings and click to the titles indexed with these subject headings

2.  Simple search

The search bar is the point from which you coordinate your search activities. You can use the search bar to:

• Enter search terms;
• Perform search operations;
• Change standard search options to suit your needs.

To search bibliographical data, you must enter a search operation in the horizontal search field, next to the search button. A search operation consists of a search term or a combination of search terms. A search term is a sequence of characters without spaces (you cannot use the characters &, |, ~, (), / unless they are preceded by a backslash, \. For example: ups \& downs).

For example: The search engine regards 'bookplates' as one search term, while 'book plates' is regarded as two search terms. Exception: the author's complete name is regarded as one search term. For example: bakker, bas de.

If you want to search for a specific phrase, you must use quotation marks, for example: "fourth symphony".

The search engine is not case sensitive. Your can use either upper or lower case letters or you can mix capital and small letters. This has no influence on the results of your search operation.

Once you have entered a search operation, click on the search button. To interrupt a search operation, use your web browser's standard button.

2.1  Drop-down menus

Above the search field you will see a number of drop-down menus in the search bar with which you can modify a search operation. The options in the menus allow you to further refine your search in the database.

Menu 1

In the first menu you can select one of three search methods:

• Search (and);
  The standard selection is the search method AND. A search operation of two or more search terms shows the titles that contain all the search terms entered. For example: einstein AND gravity searches for all titles that contain both "einstein" and "gravity".
  
• Search (or);
  In the menu you can also select the OR search method. A search operation with two or more search terms shows all titles that contain at least one of the search terms. For example: einstein OR gravity searches for all titles that contain either "einstein" or "gravity" or both.
  
• Browse;
  With the selection Browse you can scan the index for the search terms you have entered.

After a search it is possible to enlarge, restrict, etc. the results. For more information see: Perform a search operation on the search result.

For additional information about modifying search operations, see Extensive search.

Menu 2

In the second menu you can select a search key with which you can further modify a search operation:

title, topics, persons [ASB]
For this search key you may enter title keywords, first names, surnames, organizations, subject headings, type of publication (eg. statistic) in any order.

author [AUT]
Select "author [AUT]" if you are searching for a specific author.

title: keywords [TTL]
Select "title: keywords [TTL]" if you want to search the titles of books, magazines, conference proceedings or magazine articles or other material.

periodical/series title [ZTI]
Select "periodical/series title [ZTI]" if you are searching for periodicals and series. Omit the article at the beginning of the title. Please notice that this is a string search

STW Thesaurus for Economics [SHE]
Select "STW Thesaurus for Economics [SHE]" if you are searching for subject headings that best apply to your field of interest.

subject/geographical headings [SHD]
Select "subject/geographical headings [SHD]" if you are searching for literature indexed with a specific subject heading.

personal headings [PERH]
Select "personal headings [PERH]" if you are searching for literature containing information on a specific person or the writings of a person.

organizational headings [ORG]
Select "organizational headings [ORG]" if you are searching for literature containing information on a specific organization.

type of publication/content [TYP]
Select "type of publication/content [TYP]" if you are searching for literature of a specific form. Please enter the relevant code e. g. 15 for statistics or 18 for dissertations.

call number
Select "call number" if you know the number-local-call.

any number [ANY]
Select "any number [ANY]" if you know the ISBN or ISSN number for a specific publication.

For additional information regarding search keys, see Special search keys.

Menu 3

With the third menu you can sort the results of your search operation. You can sort by:

• year of publication.

By default titles are sorted by year of publication (JVU). The most recent publications are then displayed first.

You can also sort publications by relevance. This means they are displayed in sequence of importance. Titles that are most to the point are displayed first. What determines that one title is more relevant than another title? The search engine analyses the contents of the title using a combination of the following factors:

• Frequency: the number of times a search term appears in a title.
• Compactness: the relative length of the titles found.
• Reverse work frequency: terms that seldom appear in the entire database weigh more heavily.