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DataBank: WorldCat Comparative Analysis

Expert Search & Subject Headings

WorldCat

If you switch to the Expert Search from Advanced Search, you can also answer these questions:

 

Q.4   How much overlap occurred in purchases, by Duke and NU, of books on economic development, in the past decade?

                su= economic development and li: inu and (li: ndd or li: ndb)

 

Q.5   What percentage of the collections is in European languages?

                                su= economic development and (la=fre or la=ger) and li:inu

 

In the Expert mode you can search for records that appear in multiple libraries—e.g., specify that the record must appear in this and in that library, whereas in Advanced Search the records are in this or that library.

 

In addition, you can search multiple languages at one time, whereas in Advanced the choices are all languages, English or one foreign language.  Notice, too, that the "Indexed in" drop-down menu features more index label limiters in the "Expert" search screen than in the Advanced screen.  Finally, the "Expert" search allows those who are familiar with searching via index labels to use that method.   (For those who need reminding, each descriptor in the drop-down features an index label in parentheses immediately following the term.)

 

The Expert mode is the most flexible.  The pull-down menu at "Indexed in" provides index codes.  The following is a search for Middle East Studies materials, defined as Arabic, Persian, and Turkish language works in particular subject areas, in 2 Yale libraries:

 

                (su:politic* or su:government* or su:anthro* or su:history) and (la="ara" or la="per" or la="tur")

 

Type: books, visual materials, sound recordings

Subtype: not fiction

Library code: gxk or yus

 

If you wanted to run each language separately, and to run this for NUL as well as 15 bench-mark libraries—i.e., 3 searches per 16 libraries—it is most efficient to complete all runs for one institution's libraries at a time, so you do not have to keep changing the OCLC codes.

 

For listings of index labels, go to the drop-down menu at "Indexed in"  or Searching WorldCat Indexes.