Search tips for OCLC Z39.50 Authorities

Databases available

In addition to OCLCAuthoritiesLC, you can use the OCLC Z39.50 Cataloging service to search these OCLC databases:

Depending upon your client, separate sessions may be required for each database.

Indexes available

The indexes provided by the server are listed in the section below about MARC fields and subfields indexed.

Word and phrase indexes

Indexes in OCLC Z39.50 Authorities are word or phrase indexes. The following examples highlight the differences between them. See Index-specific search tips below for more information and examples.

Index browsing

The OCLC server supports the Z39.50 Scan Service capability. If your client supports that capability, you can browse indexes to view a list of the words or phrases included. When you want to use a phrase index, OCLC recommends browsing it first to verify the phrase before searching.

Stopwords

Stopwords are words that are not included in word indexes because they occur frequently and do not add to the content of the indexes. There are no stopwords in Z39.50 authority searches.

Punctuation and symbols

Include the following letters, digits, punctuation marks, and symbols in searches:

• Letters, a-z
• Digits, 0-9
• - (hyphen) within words
• & (ampersand) within words

You do not need to capitalize names or other proper nouns in searches. All letters are treated as lowercase whether you enter them as lowercase or uppercase.

Exclude hyphens when they are preceded and followed by blank spaces. Include them within words, such as high-energy. Search for hyphenated words in various ways. For example: post operative, post-operative, postoperative.

When an ampersand (&) is preceded and followed by blank spaces, exclude it in word indexes but include it in phrase indexes. Include ampersands within words in word or phrase indexes. For example, enter at&t.

Substitute a space for a / (slash). For example, enter men women instead of men/women.

You may search with or without diacritics. For example, enter André Gide or Andre Gide.

Exclude other punctuation marks and symbols. Do not substitute a space for them. For example, to search for O'Hara, enter ohara.

ISSN, ISBN, LCCN

When searching for International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSNs), International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs), and Library of Congress Control Numbers (LCCNs), use the following rules:

• Enter an ISSN with or without a hyphen. For example, to search for ISSN 0833-1871, enter: 0833-1871 or 08331871
• Enter an ISBN without hyphens. For example, to search for ISBN 0-316-08275-9, enter: 0316082759
• Enter an LCCN with or without a hyphen. Type the year portion (2 or 4 digits), hyphen (optional), and the control number. Leading zeros in the control number and alphabetic prefix are also optional. For example:
  • to search for the LCCN 78-5201, enter: 78-5201 or 785201 or 78-05201 or 7805201
  • to search for the LCCN 2001-12345, enter: 2001-12345

Use the phrase search only. Word search is not supported for the LCCN.

OCLC ARN

Enter all digits. Leading zeros are optional. For example, enter 01450635 or 1450635.

Topicals phrase

The complete phrase is indexed. For example, to search for: Adventures and adventurers ‡v Fiction enter:

• adventures and adventurers fiction
  Or
• adventures and adventurers and set right truncation

Title phrase

The complete phrase is indexed. For example, Complete sonatas for violin and piano is indexed in its entirety. You can enter complete sonatas with right truncation set to retrieve this title and others beginning with complete sonatas.

Omit initial articles (a, an, the, and the non-English equivalents) from your title search.

Personal name phrase

The complete phrase is indexed. For example, for Johannes Brahms enter:

• brahms, johannes 1833-1897
  Or
• brahms, johannes with right truncation set

Introduction

For each index, the table below lists the combinations of Use and Structure attributes used to access the index through the OCLC Z39.50 server. The table also lists the MARC fields and subfields covered by the index. Where "word" is valid as a structure attribute, "word list" is valid as well.

OCLC provides a Test Server to assist users and system vendors with Z39.50 client configuration.

Canadiana indexes and indexed fields

Library of Congress indexes and indexed fields