There are three search options available, reached by clicking on the appropriate tab:
. You can use the Quick Search
tab to simply enter search terms into the box or click on one of the yellow Goals buttons
to search one of VSO's six goals. Use the
Advanced Search option to narrow down a search and Browse by
Country to search for material relating to one of the VSO countries. There is
also the added option on this page to combine a specific country with one of VSO's goals.
Quick Search
- Enter your search terms separated by a space and click on Go.
Examples:
- If you know the author and title:
- If you know the title:
- Using keywords:
- Use Boolean operators (AND, NOT, OR) to narrow or expand your search
- Type * at the end of a word if you are unsure of a word's spelling. This will perform a wildcard search and allow you to find words with multiple endings. For example child* will find child, child's, children, children's, childish etc.
How can I narrow my search?
The Advanced Search tab allows you to make your search much more specific.
Material Type
Click on the drop down menu to display a list of all the different material types
available and highlight the format you require. You can click on the Find all
records of this type button or continue adding search terms below.
Find Results
- with all of the words - finds records that contain every term you enter
- with the exact phrase - finds records that contain that exact phrase somewhere in the record
- with at least one of the words - finds records that contain at least one of the words entered
Resource Centre
- Leaving the default option All Sites searches for material at all centres, as well as web sites and all electronic documents.
- Click on the drop down menu and highlight one of the Resource Centres to limit your search.
- If you choose the INTERNAL option, you get a list of items held in VSO London offices for staff use.
Get Results
Click on Start Search to find all the records that match your query.
How do I find out what information you have about a particular country?
The Browse by Country screen includes two different search options.
Clicking on a country on the map or in the list below brings up a list of resources
relevant to that country.
The second option on the Browse by Country screen is to combine a
country and a goal. Scroll down to the bottom half of the screen and select the country
of your choice:
This takes you to the Goals on the Quick Search page:
Clicking on the relevant yellow Goals button returns a list of results relating to
the specific country AND goal. Please note that if no goal-related materials are
available for that country, you will not get any results.
How do I get more information about a particular item?
A list of matches will be generated once you have performed your search.
Click on an underlined title to display the Full Details screen, which
opens in a new window. This screen includes an abstract or summary of the item, as well
as how many copies are held and in which centre. It also includes other details of the
item, such as publisher. If the item is a website or an eDocument, then there will be a
link at the end of the record for you to click, which will also open in a new window.
Use the Previous and Next buttons to move through the
list of results, or close the screen using the
icon in the top right hand corner.
