© F. Dell'Orso, Bibliography Formatting Software: An Evaluation Template
Last update: June 4, 2004


 3.7. Searching

v

Searching

1 Different levels and approaches: 
   1. easy / expert
   2. menu/command driven
   3. browsing term lists/indexes directly pointing to records
   4. query expressions
   5. browsing record list(s)

Library Master : 1 easy "jump to a record": type a string for an indexed field, on the short record list display; expert: assisted command driven (see 2);
2 command driven, assisted by buttons for fields and their contents, (not for operators apart from "="); syntax control; 3 (from indexed fields); 4; 5

Short Record List browsing is default window, database dependent: one record per line, can choose any field to display in columns. Quick Find/Jump to record: enter string based upon indexed fields. Sort on any displayed field by clicking the column field bar

Procite:   1 easy browsing indexes + direct "Quick Find" by typing string; expert: assisted command driven (see 2); 2 command driven, assisted by buttons but syntax errors are possible; 3; 4; 5

Short Record List browsing is default window, database dependent: one record per line, can choose any field to display in up to six columns. Quick Find: enter string based upon sort key. Sort on any displayed field by clicking the column field bar

EndNote: 1 one "query by example" template, with syntax control; 4; 5

Short Record List browsing is default window, common to all databases: one record per line; can handle up to five columns and use any field to display. Quickly move to record by directly entering a string belonging to a key of the first sort field (no windows is displayed). Sort (A/D) on any displayed field by clicking the column field bar. Cannot use term lists here to point to records. Cannot toggle between short list and search result: one or the other

Reference Manager: 1 Usually only expert; easy "Quick retrieval" available in Term Manager; 2: command driven, assisted by buttons; 3: no, lists are to pick up terms for a query, not to index and display records at once; 4; 5

Short Record list browsing is default window, not database dependent -and can apply to all lists: one record per line, can choose any field (up to 33); sort on any displayed field by clicking the column field bar. Quick retrieval lets select terms but only from Term Manager and launch <F12> a search (AND or OR)

Papyrus: 1 easy browsing database; expert: assisted command driven; 2; 3 quick find from journals, kw and names lists; 4; 5

Browsing mode depends on formats built-in or user defined; tabular -usually shorter- format is available

 2 Browsing indexes to search
    1. entries show number of related docs
    2. relationships (e.g. x-refs) between entries are displayed
    3. direct selection of index terms and display of related documents

Library Master : 3

entry lists can be used in command driven searching to pick up terms to insert in a query expression or on the general short list to quickly spot entry related records

Procite: 1; 2 n.a. ; 3
EndNote: n.a.
Reference Manager: n.a. (see above Term Manager)
Papyrus: 1; 2 (kw); [3 not a contextual display but a quick search]

3 Query expressions

LM: assisted by command buttons to select: fields, contents, previous queries, scope (subsets)
Pr: assisted by command buttons to select: fields, operators, terms, previous queries
En: assisted by template and buttons to select fields, operators, scope, (+ options: full word, case, use (quick)indexes, remote search); terms lists are available to pick-up terms from
RM: assisted by command buttons to select: fields, operators, terms, previous queries
Papyrus: assisted by command buttons to select: fields, operators, terms

4 Natural language queries

LM: no
Pr: no
En: no
RM: no
Papyrus: no

5 Search stragey
   1. can save and recall search expressions
   2. can recall previous queries within the same session
   3. can recall and combine previous search steps

LM: 1; 2
Pr: 1; 2 only if = 1, i.e. explicitly saved and named; 3 yes, new expression can cumulate previous queries still fully editable
En: 1; 2 no, only if saved as queries; 3 can search on result : refine within, add to, omit from
RM: 1; 2 (up to 10); 3 (recalled query becomes first expression: others can be added)
Papyrus: 1 if the resulting set of retrieved records -group- is saved, the originating query is saved as well: can be re-run and edited; 2; 3 (editable)

6 Can save and recall search result

LM: yes, stored in subsets
Pr: yes, stored in subsets (Groups)
En: no
RM: yes, stored in subsets (Reference Indexes)
Papyrus: yes, stored in subsets (Groups)

7 Shows hits of each search expression component

LM: no, only total records number
Pr: no, only total records number
En: no, only total records number
RM: total number of records also for each line of a multiline query (but not for its internal components nor for the last line)
Papyrus: no, only total records number

8 Can print directly one or more records while in search/browse mode

LM: yes
Pr: yes
En: yes
RM: yes
Papyrus: yes

9 Refine (search within search result)

LM: yes
Pr: yes
En: yes
RM: yes
Papyrus: yes

10 Advanced search features
    1. best match, weighted terms, ranking
    2. fuzzy, sounds like
    3. hypertext-like

LM: 2
Pr: no
En: no
RM: no
Papyrus: 3

kw file allows links between entries, also records can be linked: search can be limited/expanded to selected/all types of links; number of levels for the same link can also be selected: up- down- posting (thesaurus-like)

11 Input allowed while indexing

LM: n.a. (real time)
Pr: n.a. (real time)
En: n.a. (real time)
RM: n.a. (real time)
Papyrus: n.a. (real time)

12 Instant display of retrieved records
    1. short record list
    2. one record at the time

LM: 1 2
Pr: 1 2
En: 1
RM 1 2
Papyrus: 1 2

13 Highlighting search terms in result (and * jump to next occurrence of term)

LM: yes, in the record editable display (no * "jump")
Pr: no
En: no (but "Go-to" command, and Next, to find a string within a reference )
RM: yes in the Output display --not in the Standard editable one, (no * "jump")
Papyrus: no

14 Indexing operation
    1. automatic, real time
    2. batch

LM: 1 automatic when saving a record
Pr: 1 automatic when saving a record
En: 1 automatic when saving a record
RM: 1 automatic when saving a record
Papyrus: 1 automatic when saving a record

15 Indexing techniques
    1. any character string
    2. word by word
    3. phrase (adjacent words)
    4. marked portions of fields

LM: 1 2 3; indexing is ruled by the system, but user can choose a) whether to index a field or not for faster search; b) whether default search string is to be taken as whole or beginning of a field
Pr: indexing is ruled only by the system: 1 2 3
En: indexing is ruled only by the system: 1 2 3
One built-in quickfind index for authors, user can activate or exclude it. If on, left truncation is unavailable. User can also create quickfind indexes for kw or "any field"
RM: 1 in non-indexed fields; 2 in non-indexed fields; 3 also more words inside the string (only indexed fields require truncation symbol)
Papyrus: 1 2 3 (any string is automatically made searchable, but proper indexing for user-defined fields is under user's control)

16 Scope of searching
    1. one or more distinct fields
    2. cluster of fields
    3. full text = any field
    4. same occurrence

LM: 1 yes with field indicator (RT included); 3
Pr: 1 yes with field indicator (RT included); 2 limited to three clusters; author, title, date; 3 yes, default
En: 1, RT included; 3 any field
RM: 1 (RT included); 2 (predefined: non-indexed fields, authors, titles)
Papyrus: 1 (RT included); 2; 3 ("general" but does not include either kw or journals)

17 Case sensitiveness

LM: yes (optional: if exact search command is selected)
Pr: no
En: yes if Case option is on
RM: no
Papyrus: no

18 Diacritics

LM: yes, (optional: if exact search command)
Pr:: no difference, "Gšthe" = "Gothe"
En: difference: "pche" does not  retrieve "pŽchŽ" , but "peche" retrieves both
RM: no difference (can be used only in: Authors, kw, Titles, Notes)
Papyrus: no difference

19 Can use and nest parentheses

LM: yes
Pr: yes
En: only automatically and to a limited extent: according to its vertical priority, the up most query element is the first and inner most within the implicit search expression, e.g. A and B not C or D is equal to: (((A and B) not C) or D) = the whole first part result will be ored with D therefore it is different from: (A and B) not (C or D) which cannot do.
RM: yes; but to a limited extent and implicitly: according to its vertical priority, the up most query element is the first and inner most within the implicit search expression, e.g. A and B not C or D is equal to: (((A and B) not C) or D) = the whole first part result will be ored with D therefore it is different from: (A and B) not (C or D) which cannot do;
neither can do: (A or B) and (C or D) unless each couple (triple etc.) of values belong to the same field [i.e. Titles [3,13,23] = {dolphins } OR {atlantic} OR {bottlenose} AND Authors [4,14,24] = {Au,W.W.} OR {Orso,Franco} this is possible]
Papyrus: yes

20 Priority within search operators and queries

LM: standard : left to right; if AND operator is used, indexed fields come first; by using parentheses one can modify the order
Pr: set by using parentheses, the inner most comes first
En: vertically: first comes the upper most, cfr. previous 7.19
RM: no explicit parentheses; vertically: first comes the highest, see above
Papyrus: set by using parentheses, the inner most comes first

21 Boolean operators
    1. AND
    2. OR
    3. NOT (unary)
    4. AND NOT (binary)
    5. XOR

LM: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 indirectly
Pr: 1 2 3 4, 5 indirectly
En: 1 2 3 (as "omit") 4, 5 indirectly (two steps: OR + omit ref. AND)
RM: 1 2 4
Papyrus: 1 2 3 4, 5 indirectly

22 Relational operators
1 contains   
2 different <>
3 less than     <
4 less or equal    <=
5 greater than     >
6 greater or equal     >=
7 range   
8 equal

LM: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 for dates (or via: x > y and x < z), 8
Pr: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 for dates (or via: x > y and x < z), 8
En: 1, 2 as "Omit showing references" option, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8
RM: 1, 3 for earlier than today's date in Reprint status=On request; 7 in dates and RefID (RN);
Papyrus: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 (by adding a backslash to the search string, e.g.: Author=Smith,P\ will not match "Smith, Paul")

23 Can combine boolean and relational operators

LM: yes
Pr: yes
En: yes
RM: yes, but only range
Papyrus: yes

24 Truncated search (with/without wildcard, e.g. ? *)
    1. explicit or implicit
    2. right
    3. left
    4. r/l

LM: 1 yes explicit with wildcards (* or }); 2; 3; 4
Pr: 1 yes (* ASCII 42) 2; 3; 4 : operator "contains"

"contains" is like "=" equal, with implicit l/r truncation; whereas explicit l/r truncation ( *xxx*) is used with "=" e.g. AUTHOR contains ale, AUTHOR = *ale*, no: AUTHOR contains *ale*,)

En: 1 implicit 2; 3 left unavailable when using (quick)indexes; 4 (see 3)
RM: r/l explicit in indexed fields (only indexed fields require truncation symbol); r/l implicit in non indexed fields (non-indexed fields will take * as a real character, reverting to \*)
Papyrus: 1 explicit; 2; 3; 4

25 Can search by position: b/e field and/or occurrence

LM: yes beginning of field
Pr: yes

BEGINS WITH field or occurrence (names and kw), implicit right truncation: "D'Alema", AUTHOR BEGINS WITH "D'Alem" ok; not: AUTHOR BEGINS WITH "D'Alem*"); same for field ends with

En: no
RM: no
Papyrus: no

26 Search for not/empty fields

LM: yes both

and also if a field is present just as an element of a RT structure

Pr: yes (dedicated operators: EMPTY, NOT EMPTY)
En: yes,

empty: "field" is [blank];
not empty: "field" is [blank] + "Omit showing references" option;

RM: "yes", only in indexed fields: look for records (RefID range) then exclude (NOT) or include (AND) any character *
Papyrus: yes

27 Internal wildcards ("masking" e.g. ? * : m*ss, for miss mass mess mistress ..)

LM: no
Pr: no
En:no
RM: no
Papyrus: yes * for any character

28 Can combine boolean, relational, parentheses, truncation etc.

LM: yes
Pr: yes
En: yes
RM: yes
Papyrus: yes

29 Adjacency and proximity operators

LM: no operators (but xxx yyy zzz is adjacency without delimiters)
Pr: no, but "xxx yyy zzz" is adjacency (with " " delimiters)
En: no, but xxx yyy is adjacency (without delimiters)
RM: no proximity , but xxx yyy zzz is adjacency (without delimiters)
Papyrus: no, but xxx yyy is adjacency (without delimiters)

30 Search only within the same occurrence of a repeatable field

LM: no
Pr: no
En: no
RM: no
Papyrus: no

31 Search only within the same paragraph

LM: no
Pr: no
En: no
RM: no
Papyrus: no

32 Stopwords

LM: yes, leading words can be excluded from searching in any field (as wells as for sorting purposes)
Pr: no (only for sorting purposes)
En: no (only for sorting purposes)
RM: no
Papyrus: yes, system-controlled; but user can decide how many characters make up a "word"

33 Z39.50 Searching

LM: no

the specialized BookWhere?¨ package can be obtained at a special price through Balboa Software and offers direct export to LM format

Pr: yes,

embedds previous "companion" BookWhere?¨ package; use special -simplified and limited- search interface (e.g.: cannot use parentheses, see above 7.19: (A or B) and (C or D) will not be possible); can search different databases simultaneously; automatically converts and saves result in db, separate folder; can save search expressions; can modify or add new hosts and configure; can configure conversion filters which are separate individual files, but one single file for all the different hosts configuration and properties; cannot specify text characters set (ANSEL, Latin-1...)
in addition to Z39.50 hosts and PubMed search (which is not Z39.50), an "ISI" option lets -password required- search ISI databases, such as : Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Resulting records can be donwloaded, automatically converted and linked back to records in ISI's database

En: yes

embedded proprietary software; use same interface as normal searching function (with less options**); cannot search different databases simultaneously; can save result in db without conversion; can batch import downloaded file; can modify or add new hosts and configure; can configure conversion filters; host configuration, connection properties and filters are individual files; can specify text characters set (ANSEL, Latin-1...)
in addition to Z39.50 hosts and PubMed search (which is not Z39.50), an "ISI" option -password required- lets  search ISI databases, such as: Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Resulting records can be donwloaded, automatically converted and linked back to records in ISI's database;
** can also search in command line mode: \\[search-term]&/attribute type/attribute value ...

RM: yes,

embedds BookWhere?¨ package; use same interface as normal searching function; can search different databases simultaneously; automatically converts and saves result in db, separate folder; can modify or add new hosts and configure hosts and filters which are individual files, but one single file for all the different hosts configuration and properties; can specify text characters set (ANSEL, Latin-1...)
in addition to Z39.50 hosts and PubMed search (which is not Z39.50), an "ISI" option lets -password required- search ISI databases, such as : Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Resulting records can be donwloaded, automatically converted and linked back to records in ISI's database

Papyrus: no



Table of contents Bibliography Index

© F. Dell'Orso, Bibliography Formatting Software: An Evaluation Template
Last update: June 4, 2004
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