To get the most out of Sofia, it's good to get familiar with its different tools for gaining control over your searches. Click the tabs on the box below to get acquainted with these tools.
Boolean operators (ET/AND/+, OU/OR, SAUF/NOT/-) are inserted between keywords in a search box or between search boxes to connect or exclude certain words or phrases.
For Sofia to recognize them, Boolean operators must be UPPERCASE, in French or English.
Keywords and their Boolean operators are processed left to right.
| ET/AND/+ |
Narrows search results by returning only items that include both words/ phrases connected through the operator. * If no other operator is entered in the search box, a Boolean AND is by default inserted between the words. |
| OU/OR | Broadens search results by returning items that include either word/phrase connected through the operator. Example: cellular OR smartphone |
| SAUF/NOT/- | Reduces search results by excluding items that include the word/phrase after the operator. Example: “renewable energy” EXCEPT hydroelectricity |
For more information on Boolean operators, click here.
Brackets
Specify the order in which Boolean operators are applied to group keywords. Once the search is launched, Sofia interprets the words and operators in brackets first, and interprets the words and operators outside the brackets last.
Example:
Use French (« ») or English (" ") quotation marks to find an exact phrase or the closest words.
Examples:
Truncation
An asterisk (*) searches for the variant or different endings of a word. This generally increases search results. At least three letters must precede the asterisk.
Example:
Wildcards
Wildcards are used in search terms to represent one or more other characters in a search term. There are two wildcards you can use in Sofia - the number sign (#) and the question mark (?).
The number sign (#) replaces one letter in a word.
Example:
The question mark (?) substitutes several letters (9 maximum).
Example:
For more information on truncation or wildcards, click here.
Index or fields are pieces of information that library databases keep for each article, book, etc. that they search. For example, every article has its own title, author(s), subject terms, abstract, date, etc. -- and each of these pieces of information are recorded in their own field. (Richard G. Trefry Library. (2018, November 25). What is "field searching?" https://apus.libanswers.com/faq/2420).
In a basic Sofia search, all indexes are searched at the same time. But you can also specify individual indexes you want to search.
Most indexes are displayed in the Advanced Search window, but you can also enter their abbreviations in the in search boxes (in basic or advanced search), and combine them with different operators.
The following list includes the most commonly used indexes and their abbreviations:
*Please note that a colon (:) after an abbreviation launches a keyword search in the index, but the equal sign (=) is used to find a specific phrase in the index In the latter case, the phrase must be located at the beginning of the field in question, without any words after, which significantly narrows results. When in doubt, use a colon with quotation marks. Ex.: kw:“early childhood”. As such:
ti=early childhood
means that we’re looking for documents precisely entitled “Early Childhood”. A document entitled « Early Childhood : A Survey of Best Practices” would therefore not be included in the search results.
ti:"early childhood"
searches for the phrase « early childhood » wherever it may be within the title field, even in combination with other words.
| Author | au:shakespeare au=shakespeare william |
| ISBN | bn:9782742798247 |
| ISSN | in:0018-165x |
| Keyword | kw:enfance kw=petite enfance |
| Language | ln:fra |
| Editor | pb:boreal pb=presses de luniversite laval |
| Subject | su:rome su=rome antique |
| Title | ti:antigone ti=le pays renversé |
| Year of Publication | yr:2017 yr:2010-2020 |
| Barcode | bq:X38579059 |
| Format | x0:artchap Click here for the format abbreviations. |
| Call number |
nu: PG or nu: ps3515 |
| Location |
b8: 'Wainwright Collection' This search index is very useful to search for specific collections, when the collection name is in the document's location. |
Do not use spaces between index abbreviations and punctuation marks ( : or =), or between punctuation marks and keywords. Ex. : au=shakespeare william
Click on author (au=), subject (su:) or collection (se:) to automatically launch a new index search from an item in the results list.
Examples of new searches generated by clicking on item links:
au=Sonic, Michael
(Displays all of the author’s publications)
se:Advances in Spatial Science, The Regional Sciences Series
(Displays all of the collection’s publications)
su:Space in economics Mathematical models
(Displays all publications related to the subject matter)
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