Ex Libris MELvyl Tells (EL Mel Tells)!
Volume 3, Number 3, April 2004
In this issue:
- Searching for Authors...Truncation a must in Exact Author Search
- Recent (Small) Changes to Melvyl
- Melvyl Formats-More Clarity
- Got an idea for an article?
Searching for authors...Truncation a must in Exact Author Search
The Author indexes in Melvyl do not support automatic truncation. For example, if a Melvyl user is looking for a book by the author Kwame Gyekye, and enters Gyekye, K in Author (keywords in name), he will retrieve a result of one-with the author name "Gyekye" and the initial "K" as an initial in a second author's name. If the user searches Author (keywords in name) Gyekye, K*, s/he will retrieve the message "Your search term(s) found too many results. Please refine your search." This message appears because of the truncated "K", which pulls up too many records, making a long search.
By searching in Author (last name first) (or Author, exact) for Gyekye, K, the search retrieves 0 records because there is no record with that last name and letter in it as an exact name. You CAN, however, truncate first initials in an Author (last name first) search. An Author (last name first) search for Gyekye, K* retrieves 10 records. If the name is unusual, as this name is, you can try searching for the last name alone, without a first initial or name. This would yield our user 15 records-a small enough return through which to browse.
Another approach is to use Command searching by entering AUT = Gyekye, K*. This is the same search as above for Author (last name first).
You can also Browse an author's name if you are unsure how it is indexed in records. To do this, click on the Browse link in the yellow menu bar. Then, select Author (last name first) and enter Gyekye in the input box and click the Browse button. When the subsequent screen displays, click on the link for the author for whom you are searching. Voila!
Recent (Small) Changes to Melvyl
The Melvyl Operations Team (MOT) keeps track of suggestions received through Melvyl Comments and feedback. Sometimes we spot suggestions that would clearly enhance Melvyl functionality without expending an enormous amount of staff time-high impact, low cost enhancements. One recent such change was to repeat the menu bar at the bottom of the Melvyl screen. After retrieving results, you will now see these buttons at the bottom of the screen:
Having the tool bar at the bottom of the results screen makes it easier for users to start new searches or take other actions without having to return to the top of the Melvyl screen. We do listen to your suggestions for improvements, so keep them coming. A fairly simple improvement in terms of staff time can yield a big bang for the buck!
Did you ever wonder about what exactly those record formats contained, and why you got what you did when doing certain searches? Two new pages have been created and added to the Melvyl "Help Contents" page under Expert Searching to clarify your possible confusion. These are
Record Formats - Descriptions
Record Formats - MARC Record Data Elements
Each record in the Melvyl catalog is assigned one or more Format Types based on data elements within the MARC record. The “MARC Record Data Elements” table shows which data elements and values are used to determine each format. You may select a column heading, e.g., “Format Type”, for a description of each data element.
“Record Formats - Descriptions” explains what types of materials are contained in the Melvyl record formats, such as government documents or videorecordings.
"See also" links are also available for navigation between these two pages and the "Searching the Melvyl Catalog: Command Search Format Codes" page.
Do you have an idea for an article, or a question about Melvyl you’d
like answered? Contact Ellen Meltzer (ellen.Meltzer@ucop.edu).