[last updated 2009.3.9.a]

 

Why the Programs Search page?

 

The University, and before that the College, has undergone a number of organizational changes and changes in names for departments and colleges over the years to allow for expansion.  In order to keep up with this, the Programs search page has been revised (in the latest version) to allow searching by certain special but standardized terms.  This is revised from time to time, as needed, to keep up with changes in the organization and needs of faculty and students, as well as accreditation activities. 

 

Minor changes in program names, such as Electronic/Electronics, or Radiography/Radiologic, are ignored in favor of using a standard term.  This also avoids any small differences between what the University names a program and what an accreditation team, statistics-gathering agency, or other group may be using.  For purposes of searching, use only the terms listed on this page and not those used elsewhere for best results.

 

The system is intended primarily for faculty, accreditation activities, and library staff.  It usually produces far too many records to be of use for most other patrons, but it can give an idea of what is available and turn up materials which might not be noticed otherwise.  It does not include materials which are not available in the collection (so materials on order, in processing, etc., are not included).

 

This system is not perfect or even perfectable, but it can be adjusted as needed for best practical use.  Suggestions are invited on the page with a link to the Technical Services Librarian (Dennis).

 

Computer Use of Search Terms

 

Computers are literal, and take exactly what they are given to go searching.  This is especially true in keyword searching.

 

The Innovative Interfaces OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) allows for cross-references only when searching by the Subject search.  Keyword searching in the OPAC does not provide suggestions for alternative searches.  However, a subject search is limited to retrieving a maximum of 1,000 records, no matter how many more might be in the catalog. 

 

While a keyword search is therefore preferable for completeness, if the correct term(s) are not used, it is less likely to produce the desired results.

 

For example, keyword searching "applied science and technology" (without using quotes) means that the word "and" is ignored and the separate words "applied", "science", and "technology" are searched with the computer thinking the records wanted must have the word applied AND the word science AND the word technology all somewhere in the record.  So, a book with 'applied linguistics' and 'science of language' and 'using technology in analyzing languages' could turn up,even though that was not any item that was really included in the College of Applied Science and Technology -- linguistics are not part of that College.

 

Searching "applied science and technology" with quotes means search for that exact phrase -- and will probably get little or nothing for a result.

 

Artificial Terms

 

Earlier versions of the Programs searches keep the word PROGRAM separate, but as more records appeared which used the word ("educational program", "welfare program", etc.), using it as a separate word in keyword searching become less exact.  Other terms had the same sort of problem. 

 

At the same time, we can use that literal thinking.  The word program and the word law could turn up in thousands of different records, not necessarily related to the law in Business.  Put them together into an artificial term such as PROGRAMLAW and now the catalog search for a keyword will only select records with that artificial word, which will not normally appear in any record that it was not specifically added to.  It is entirely different from PROGRAMLEGAL which is about the paralegal program, even though the words program and law may appear in records for both programs.

 

(This is the same principle used in the Create Lists tutorial when we search the 541 field for the fiscal year something was purchased.  The year 2009 might appear in a number of ways, but only items purchased in FY2009 will have that artificial term in the 541 field.  The difference is that PROGRAM searches in the 690 field work in the OPAC, but 541 searches can only be done with Millennium software since 541 is hidden from the OPAC.)

 

Relevancy versus Date sorting

 

The problem with sorting keyword searches is that such searches normally appear by Relevancy, meaning the catalog's best guess at what records might be most relevant to what was searched.  These might not be the latest items in the catalog, and the relevancy depends a great deal on the terms used in the search.  That makes searching using the artificial terms more accurate as these terms should normally be completely relevant.

 

On the other hand, changing the sort to Date in an ordinary keyword search might get something very far off the mark which nevertheless is very recent.  This is why it is most useful to use the Programs page search or search using those artificial terms, and then sort by date for the latest materials.

 

 

Abbreviations

 

Some terms are abbreviations.  PROGRAMARTPERFORM is short for an Art program in Performing Arts, and under that term is defined as covering theater, dance, and screen (video).  PROGRAMMATH is short for the Mathematics program.

 

In some cases, programs may be in full and abbreviated.  PROGRAMLITERATURE covers literature in general.  PROGRAMLITAMERICAN covers American literature specifically.  The same principle applies to History, and is abbreviated for areas such as Business and Health.  These are arranged so that they group alphabetically together.

 

This also means that using PROGRAMLIT in a Create Lists search (but not an OPAC search) will collect PROGRAMLITERATURE, PROGRAMLITAMERICAN, PROGRAMLITBRITISH, and PROGRAMLITWORLD all together.  The same principle applies to PROGRAMHE for some -- but not all -- Health topics beginning with that, and so on.

 

OR Boolean Searches

 

A search using an OR search should get a record only once if it satisfies one or more of the OR alternatives.  Searching separately by Program might turn up a record on more than one list, if it is relevant (say, both Arkansas history and U.S. history).   If you need to avoid any duplication, be sure to create an OR search.

 

The Program Search Page

 

The Program Search page shows the artificial terms used for searching, so if you need to combine terms to create more complex searches not possible on this page, you can copy the terms used into an advanced keyword search for that purpose.  Remember that the colon and spaces are no longer used in the artificial terms.

 

Program Searches by College

 

The left side of the Programs search page has the latest grouping by College within the University organization.  Normally, specific programs are accredited, such as Biology or Dental Hygiene, rather than entire Colleges, so these groupings on this page are the only place in the Library's OPAC where they appear together by College.

 

Normally, it is not expected that a search will be made for an entire College, as this would not only be a rather unwieldy number of records, but the wide variation in dates and programs would tend to create a rather confusing picture of the actual condition of the collection.  A series of Program searches for the Programs within a College, on the other hand, would give a more representative view of the materials available for each Program.

 

In some cases, specific programs such as PROGRAMLPN (Licensed Practical Nursing) cover only those records very specifically covering that aspect of nursing, so it can be see very precisely.  The same applies to PROGRAMIMAGING and PROGRAMRADIOGRAPHY, which cover very specific types of medical image systems.

 

To cover that aspect of nursing plus all the general aspects of nursing which might be included in courses for the LPN program, you would search by PROGRAMLPN and PROGRAMNURSING  separately, or else combine them in a Boolean "OR" search using the Advanced Keyword Search page.

You might also want to add PROGRAMHEALTH to gather additional materials on health (for example, the PDR Nursing Handbook would be included in PROGRAMNURSING but not the PDR itself; that would be under PROGRAMHEALTH as a more general work for several types of health professionals).  Such a combined search can be done using the Advanced Keyword Search page.

 

Program Searches by Program

 

Specific programs are on the right side, in alphabetical order.  Some cross-references have been included on this side of the page to allow for the variations in terminology.

 

For example, some substitutions are made for clarity: there is no PROGRAMCRIMINAL but instead a PROGRAMJUSTICE; no PROGRAMCRIME but instead a PROGRAMINVESTIGATION.  These are cross-referenced to the terms actually used and, it is hoped, reduce confusion (would PROGRAMCRIMINAL refer to Criminal Justice or Criminal Investigation?).

 

Some terms represent areas which are not, in themselves, technically "programs" at the University.  PROGRAMGEOLOGY covers the courses in Geology listed in the catalog under GEOL but not actually leading to a degree in that subject.

 

The ROTC programs are below the Colleges.

 

GRANTS are a separate search, without the PROGRAM prefix, at this time.  That search is below the Colleges.

 

Adult and juvenile fiction can be searched using Material type, so are not given PROGRAM 690s.  However, materials specifically requested in, for example, literature programs, are listed under those programs if given Dewey classification numbers.

 

Locating a term

 

Remember that, like any other web page, you can use a Ctrl-F search to look for a specific word if you don't see what you want immediately.  For example, searching this way for "geospatial" will take you to PROGRAMGIS.

 

Accreditation Links

 

When providing information for accreditation, there are several possibilities using the catalog.

 

* Do a Program page search, and copy the URL from the location bar.  This can be enabled in emails and other digital documents as an actual link, or it can be copy-and-pasted from a document to a browser to run the search.  (These do tend to be rather long but that's the nature of the catalog.)

 

* Refer users directly to the Program page and suggest the specific search.  Such a search will also allow them to limit the materials by material type (book, ebook, DVD, etc.) and/or by range of years (which does not necessarily show what we bought when, but does show the most current material.

 

* The catalog allows us to have Featured Lists, which is what we normally use for New Materials, materials by type, special collections, and so on.  This also allows us to create short-term Featured Lists for special uses, if for some reason the Programs page searches are not sufficient, or search terms need to be combined in some way.

 

It is possible to have a search done for a specific accreditation, sorted in the desired manner, and saved to use as a Featured List.  To put this onto the Featured List page, it must be enabled by Dennis or Joni (MilAdmin, in the WWWOPTIONS), although anyone can use Create Lists to create such a list. 

 

While this is a fixed list, and not a live search like the Programs page searches, it can be more complex.  Once it is set up as a Featured List, it can be searched from the Featured List page and the URL can be given to the accreditation team, or they can be referred to the list on the Featured List page, or both. 

 

Once the accreditation is complete, the list can be removed from the Featured Lists by Dennis or Joni, and the list deleted.  Remember to use a tilde ~ at the start and end of the title, so it is protected from change, and to be sure to give notice when it is no longer needed, as it quickly becomes outdated as new materials are added.  However, if the list is searched again using the same list number, it can be updated in that manner -- it's the number that is designated for a Featured List status.

 

* Specific links are possible for individual bibliographic records.  On each bibliographic record in the OPAC, at the bottom of the record view, is a link called Persistent link to this title which is actually a link using the bibliographic record number of that record and goes directly to that one record.

 

Click on that link, and the record appears again, but the URL above in the location bar now uses the record number.  This can be copied to anything when you need a solid fixed link to a specific record.  This also works for creating bibliographies, emails, etc.

 

* In the event that faculty or accreditation teams want a specific title not already listed with a Program to be included in the Program search in the future, or for a list to go with their documentation, Dennis can add that artificial term to the bibliographic record so it will turn up in the next live search for that Program and from then on.  It's a flexible system and accomodates multiple 690s for Programs, and what is included is whatever users need.