Basic and Advanced Search

This page covers -

Basic Search

Persistent search bar

The persistent search bar at the top appears on every page in Alma (hence, "persistent search bar"). If you are in the Metadata Editor (MDE), Ctrl+Alt+F can launch the cursor to the search box.

Make sure that your location is set to your work; some search options are inaccessible depending on your location.

Advanced Search

Interface

Advanced Search supports Boolean operators and an array of search operators.

Not all searches have Advanced Search options. For Invoices and Vendors, for instance, you can only use the Basic Search to find what you're looking for.

Search Type and Search Indexes

Search type	Scope of target entity	Type of records being searched	Search indexes	Documentation of mapping tables
across search types				Fields covered by a keyword search
All titles	All bib records	Bib	Relevant to bib records only	Search Index name --> Bib record field tag [reverse table]
Physical titles	Holding records must be present Records without holding attached are excluded from search	Bib, holdings, and--if present--item	Relevant to bib, holdings, and item	Search Index name --> Holding record field tag [reverse table] Alma’s holding tag matching table may not entirely align with Princeton’s practice. Interpret with caution.
Physical items	Item records must be present Records without items are excluded from search	Bib, holdings, and item	Relevant to bib, holdings, and item	Searchable fields
Electronic titles	Bib records for licensed material that gets activated/de-activated	Bib, portfolio
Electronic collections				Searchable fields
Electronic portfolios				Searchable fields
Authorities	Authority files and controlled vocabularies from a variety of sources Community Zone only	Authority records from sources that include LCSH, LCNAF, LCGFT, LCDGT, and others		Search Index name --> Authority record field tag [reverse table] Sources of authorities files and controlled vocabularies
				Additional Information for Advanced Search

Source:

Ex Libris Knowledge Center > Configuring Search: Object Type to Search Index Types Mapping (Table)

Some search types, such as Order lines and Invoices, are restricted by user roles, as detailed in User Roles for Search Types.

1st drop-down menu: Scope of entity (Search type)

This choice, hitherto referred to as Search type for simplicity, defines the scope and type of target records you are searching. It determines which set of search indexes are available for you to choose.

See the table Search Type and Search Indexes above.

The drop-down list of search type options is fixed and cannot be modified.

Here are scenarios to illustrate the implication of the Search type choice.

Item-less records

Suppose a material has holding but no item record (common with Special Collection materials, which may not have been barcoded).

(1) Searching for that material while having Physical items selected will not retrieve its record. Being item-less, it has been excluded from the scope of this search.

(2) Searching for that material while having Physical titles selected, you should take note to choose a Search Index from the groups Title and Holdings only.

Any Search Index from the Physical item group (such as Item call number) will also fail to retrieve the item-less record.

Holding-less records

Similarly a bib record may not have inventory records attached yet for various reasons. If you have exported a WorldCat record from OCLC Connexion Client to Alma using F5, for example, select All Titles to retrieve it by MMS ID number.

2nd drop-down menu: Search Index

Alma + Princeton indexes: The search indexes in the drop-down menu are a combination of indexes provided by Alma and those configured by Princeton.

Search type-dependent: The Search type you have chosen enacts a distinct set of search indexes in the drop-down list, applicable to that particular search type.

Basic versus Advanced: Some fields are available under Basic Search, others are only available under Advanced Search. Princeton customizes which indexes appear where.

Below is an illustration of the search indexes available for an All Titles Advanced Search and how they correspond to MARC fields in metadata.

Indexes provided by Alma

MARC 21 Search Indexes is the main Ex Libris document for understanding out-of-the-box Alma indexes.

The table above, Search Type and Search Indexes (last column: Documentation of mapping tables), links to different parts of Ex Libris documentation, which are divided into sections about fields from bib, holding, item, authority records, and those covered by a general keyword search.

How to: To look up what a Search Index stands for, to find out what MARC fields you are searching, or to decide what Search Index to choose, do a quick Ctrl+F for the Search Index name or the three-digit MARC field tag of interest.

Indexes configured by Princeton

Some of Princeton's local fields have been configured for searching.

Similar to out-of-the-box indexes, some fields are available under Basic Search, others are in the Advanced Search only.

Grouping of search indexes

The list of search indexes is more extensive in Advanced Search than in Basic Search.

In Advanced Search, the drop-down list of search indexes may have been organized into groups, depending on the type of target records you have chosen. The grouping saves some mouse scrolling and makes it easier to locate a field.

Title

Search indexes in this group refer to elements at the bibliographic level.

For example, the search index LC Call Number is an index of classification numbers from the 050 field in the bibliographic record.

Holdings

Search indexes refer to indexed elements from holdings records.

For example, Permanent call number searches data from the 852 field.

Physical items

Search indexes refer to indexed elements from item records.

For example, the search indexes Barcode and Process type take their data from item records.

Use text filter

If you know the name of the search index, you may also type directly in the Look-up box. What you enter serves as text filter and quickly shortens the list of choices.

3rd drop-down menu: Search Zone

Select the repository to search:

Search Zone	Target repository
Institution	Princeton's holdings
Community	Other Alma institutions

The zone you have chosen determines which tab the search result page opens to. You can use mouse click or keyboard shortcuts Alt+1 and Alt+2 to alternate between the two tabs.

An administrator can configure (Ex Libris documentation) which tab is pre-selected by default for certain simple search types. The default zone for Physical items search is Institution (Princeton's repository).

Advanced topic

Ex Libris Knowledge Center > Using "OR" and "AND" operators together in advanced Alma searches