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Enter a derived search

Discover how to enter a derived search in Connexion client.

Overview

A derived search uses a specific number of initial characters from words in a name and/or title. The "derived" segments of the words are separated by commas. The number and pattern of letters and commas tells the system which WorldCat index to search.

The four derived search formats include the following required number of initial letters and commas:

  • Title (td:) 3,2,2,1
  • Personal name (pd:) 4,3,1
  • Corporate/conference name (cd:) =4,3,1
  • Name/title (nd:) 4,4

     Note: Even if a derived search has fewer than the number of words in a derived search sequence, you must enter all required commas.

  • Enter all letters available, even if a name or title segment does not contain the requisite number of letters.

    Example: To search for the title Roots in the Command Line, enter td:roo,,,

Guidelines

  • Use the correct format for the type of derived search you want to do, whether you use the command line or a guided search (the system does not automatically format derived searches).
  • In the command line, enter a derived search with or without an index label if it is the first or only search; otherwise you must use the index label (and punctuation).
  • In a guided search, enter only one derived search per Search for box.

     Note: You can enter an index label and a colon preceding the derived search in the Search for box to override any selection in the index list.

  • Omit initial articles (a, an, the, and non-English equivalents).
  • Include articles found within titles. Include letters, numerals, and these characters:& $ * % @ £
  • Exclude punctuation, diacritics, and these characters: - # / + =
  • Use a circumflex (^) to narrow a search. For a name consisting of only two parts, enter a circumflex in the third segment.

    Example: To search for Harvey, Henry, enter harv,hen,^"

    Exception: The circumflex is invalid in a derived title search.
  • If a personal name begins with Mc or Mac followed by an uppercase letter, enter m and omit c or ac.

    Example: To search for MacDonald, Marion B., enter mdon,mar,b 
  • For Name/Title Derived searches:
    • If the surname in a Name/Title Derived search contains a prefix (e.g., de Cervantes), enter the first four letters of the first word, which in this case may be the prefix depending on how the name was entered into the record. 
    • If the first word in the name or title contains less than 4 letters, only the letters of the first word are searched.

      Examples: To search for Miguel de Cervantes and Don Quixote, it would depend on how the author's name was added to the record.
      • If the name was added as Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, the most common way it is represented, enter cerv,don.
      • If the name was added as De Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel, enter nd:de,don.
      • If the name was added as Saavedra, Miguel De Cervantes, enter nd:saav,don.
  • When WorldCat derived and keyword search results include words with diacritics, the records may be sorted out of sequence with words that do not have diacritics, whether you use the client or the browser interface.

Stopwords

When constructing a Corporate/Conference Derived (cd:) search, omit the following stopwords from the first segment only. Also omit the stopwords when they appear at the beginning of a corporate/conference name in a Name/Title Derived (nd:). Include the stopwords when they are not the first element of a corporate/conference name.

&
a
A
Alabama
Alaska
American
an
and
Arizona
Arkansas
Association
at
Australia
Board
Bureau
California
Canada
College
Colloquium
Colorado
Commission
Committee
Commonwealth
Conference
Congress
Connecticut
Council
Delaware
Department
Dept.
Division
East
Federal
Florida
for
France
Georgia
Great Britain
Hawaii
House
Idaho
Illinois
in
India
Indiana
institute
Institution
International
Iowa
Joint
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Meeting
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
National
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North
North Carolina
North Dakota
of
Office
Ohio
Oklahoma
on
Oregon
Organization
Parliament
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
School
Seminar
Senate
Society
South
South Carolina
South Dakota
State
Subcommittee
Symposium
Tennessee
Texas
The
U.N.
U. N.
United Nations
United States
University
U.S.
U. S.
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Workshop
Wyoming

Selected indexes and examples

The following table lists the four derived search indexes and gives examples and guidelines:

Index (label) Format To find ... In Command Line Search area, type ... In Keyword/Numeric Search area, type ... (select index from list) Guidelines
Corp/Conf Derived (cd:) =4,3,1

Minimum key:
4,1,blank
Hershey Foods Corporation =hers,foo,c
Or
cd:hers,foo,c
 
hers,foo,c Command line search:

Precede search with leading equal sign (=) or use index label and colon (:).
American Rock Garden Society =rock,gar,s
Or
cd:rock,gar,s
rock,gar,s
Adrian College =adri,col,
Or
cd:adri,col,
adri,col,
Symposium on a New International
Order
=new,int,o
Or
cd:new,int,o
new,int,o
Name/Title Derived (nd:) 4,4

Minimum key:
4,4
Hailey Hotel hail,hote
Or
nd:hail,hote
hail,hote Minimum key for records without 1XX field: blank,4
Clarke 2001: a space odyssey cclar,2001
Or
nd:clar,2001
cclar,2001
Personal Name Derived (pd:) 4,3,1

Minimum key:
4,1,blank
Becker, George Joseph beck,geo,j
Or
pd:beck,geo,
beck,geo,j  
Mozart, Wolfgang
Amadeus
moza,wol,a
Or
pd:moza,wol,a
moza,wol,a
cummings, e. e. cumm,e,e
Or
pd:cumm,e,e
cumm,e,e
De Groot, Adriaan degr,adr,
Or
pd:degr,adr,
degr,adr,
Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth kubl,eli,
Or
pd:kubl,eli,
kubl,eli,
Title Derived (td:) 3,2,2,1

Minimum key:
None
Realism in Modern
Literature
rea,in,mo,l
Or
td:rea,in,mo,l
rea,in,mo,l Circumflex (^) cannot be used
The Complete Circuit Training
Guide
com,ci,tr,g
Or
com,ci,tr,g
com,ci,tr,g
I Believe in Unicorns i,be,in,u
Or
td:i,be,in,u
i,be,in,u
Hotel hot,,,
Or
td:hot,,,
hot,,,
Miracle on 34th Street mir,on,34,s
Or
td:mir,on,34,s
mir,on,34,s