Tap the Power of AVS: Summary

Jerry V. Caswell
caswell@uni.edu

John Wynstra
wynstra@uni.edu

University of Northern Iowa Library
1227 West 27th Street
Cedar Falls, IA 50613-3675


  1. Introduction & Library Objectives

    Many libraries will be interested in this topic because of their shared interest in facilitating users' access to information.

  2. The complexity of the catalog as an information resource

    The catalog was originally developed in an era when there were few categories of material and all of them were in the actual possession of the library. Since that time the numbers of categories have increased significantly and some categories consist of online materials not even in the possession of the library. AVS can help harness access to this abundance of materials.

  3. AVS as the key to retrieving specific types of resources

    The power of AVS is due to its extensive use of Boolean operators, its division of the index into components called segments, and the ability to use a wide variety of qualifiers or limits. Because the Innovative web server search syntax is predictably structured, AVS searches can be created either within or outside of the official interface.

  4. Modifying the User Interface

    Long before Phase 3 came out, the University of Northern Iowa Library had modified the provided AVS search interface to enable users to specify the index segment and additional limits via dropdown menus.

    Since the release of Phase 3, which integrates keyword and phrase index searching into one form, the UNI Library has discovered a way to integrate pre-qualified AVS searches into a single form along with the traditional indexes. This capability means that the library can tailor its search interface to whatever kind of categories it wants to emphasize in addition to the traditional index searches.

  5. Canned Searching

    "Canned searching" means placing search forms and search links outside of the official catalog interface. It consists of two types. Predefined searches are links in which all the parameters -- both the search terms and the qualifiers -- are hard-coded into a URL. Guided searches allow users to enter search terms, but contain qualifying parameters hidden in the forms, which limit the search to the desired language, material type, or collection.

  6. Categorizing resources for retrieval

    The key to making predefined or guided searches work are the qualifications derived from various fields in the MARC record. Locations, languages, and material types are common to most libraries. Libraries may also create and index in AVS additional qualfiying fields such as 650 $x or 655 headings to represent categories of material.

  7. UNI Library Gateway   http://www.library.uni.edu/gateway/

    The UNI Library has included both a modified AVS user interface and canned searches in its Gateway to Library and Internet Resources. Organized around process-centered categories, such as "Find articles" or "Find books," the Gateway groups together the most important search functions that provide access to the materials in those categories.


Comments: Jerry V. Caswell or John Wynstra
Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
1227 W. 27th St., Cedar Falls, IA 50613-3675
http://sites.uni.edu/caswell/iug2004/tap_avs_abs.shtml
Revised: 2 May 2007