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What is a Search String?
A search string is a line of plain-text comprised of types, values, and operators that are easily combined to form a search query. For example, ((smart::cat)&&(smart::dog)) would search for items in your collection that contain both cats and dogs. Alexandria uses predefined syntax to interpret such strings, allowing you to compose your own search strings capable of performing complex queries against your database. These can be used directly in the search interface or as the basis for Explore buttons, slideshows, links and more.
Search strings must be enclosed within double-parentheses ((queryType::searchValue))
. Alexandria will locate the first and last parentheses and evaluate everything between from left-to-right. If there are “nested” parentheses, they will be evaluated first. Use parentheses within the string to differentiate multiple expressions, like this:((queryType::searchValue) && (queryType::searchValue))
Create a Search String
You can build a search string from scratch by manually combining various queries. However, we recommend starting with a pre-built string created in Search:
In Search, set up your search. This could include defining a Search Type; typing a term into the search bar; adding Study Programs, Medium, or Genre filters; or using Advanced Search for more complex searches.
You can use the Study Programs, Medium, or Genre search filters in conjunction with Advanced Search. However, Alexandria will filter results by those selectors first before filtering results by the Advanced Search selections.
- Press Enter on your keyboard.
- Click on the Share button in the control bar.
- Click on the search string to copy it to your clipboard.
If necessary, you can then paste the string into a text editor and modify or add to the queries manually (see Query Types & Values and Separators & Operators).
Once you're done customizing your search string, add it to an Explore button, slideshow, bulletin, or more for others to view or use.
Query Types & Values
Query Type | Search Value | Example | Usage Notes |
---|---|---|---|
accession | Accession Date (DateTime) | (accession::201611170000) (accession::201611170000--201612170000) (accession::#201611150000) | Searches by Accession Date in YYYYMMDDHHMM. |
author | Author Names (Text) | ((author::rowling)) ((author::#rowling) && (author::#j k)) | Searches fields: Personal Name—100a, 100q, 700a, 700q. Corporate Names—110a, 710a. Meeting name—111a, 711a. Use “::#” as the separator to make this an exact phrase search. |
awards | Awards Notes (Text) | ((awards::ala) && (awards::notable) && (awards::books)) ((awards::#caldecott) && (awards::#honor) && (awards::#book)) | Searches field 586a. Use “::#” as the separator to make this a near term search. |
bibliographic | Bibliographic Term (Text) | ((bibliographic::whitestone) && (bibliographic::publishers)) | Searches field 653a. Use “::#” as the separator to make this a near term search. |
curriculum | Curriculum Term (Text) | ((curriculum::geography) && (curriculum::212)) | Searches field 658a. Use“::#”as the separator to make this a near term search. |
electronic | Title Policy (Numeric Value, 0 or 1) | ((electronic::1)) | Setting ((electronic::1)) searches for items with an electronic resource policy only. |
genre | Genre Term (Text) | ((genre::science) && (genre::fiction)) ((genre::war) && (genre::stories)) ((genre::dystopians)) | Searches field 655a. Ignores the “#” (if used) in the separator. |
hidetitle | Title Attribute (Numeric Value, 0 or 1) | ((hidetitle::1)) | Setting ((hidetitle::1)) overrides the "Hide Title" settings and causes all titles to be displayed. |
interest | Interest Term (Text) | ((interest::mg)) | Searches field 521a. Use“::#”as the separator to make this an exact match search. |
ISBN | ISBN (Numeric Value) | ((isbn::0760712107)) ((isbn::0439064864)) | Searches field 020a. Ignores the “#” (if used) in the separator. |
ISSN | ISSN (Numeric Value) | ((issn::0689849974)) | Searches field 022a. Ignores the “#” (if used) in the separator. |
language | Language (Text) | ((language::eng)) ((language::german)) | Searches subfields: Language Code—41a Uniform Title—130l, 730l Language Note—546a. Use“::#”as the separator to make this an exact match search. |
LCCN | LCCN (Numeric Value) | ((lccn::2003002086)) | Searches field 010a. Ignores the “#” (if used) in the separator. |
link | Link Description (Text) | ((link::mackinvia)) | Searches field 856_y. |
medium | Medium Type (Text) | ((medium::book)) ((medium::text--unmediated--volume)) | Searches fields: Title Statment—245h Content, Media, Carrier Type—336a, 337a, 338a Use“::#”as the separator to make this a near term search. |
notes | Note (Text) | ((notes::ships)) | Searches fields: Content Notes—505a General Notes—500a Summary Notes—520a Use“::#”as the separator to make this a near term search. |
pubyear | Pubyear (Text) | ((pubyear::1996)) ((pubyear::1950--1955)) | Searches fields: Publication Year—264c Use“::#”as the separator to make this a begins with search. |
rating | Ratings, x' 10 (Numeric Value) | ((rating::40)) ((rating::50)) ((rating::40--50)) | Exactly 4 Stars Exactly 5 Stars Range, 4 through 5 Stars |
savedlist | GUID (GUID) | ((savedlist::5C8E874133AF4058B5527AC5F6B57E63)) ((savedlist::0D4E6E52E1444A74BAE4A3E792AA4527)) | Returns all titles in a specified saved list. Do not combine with other types or used with multiple operators. Ignores the “#” (if used) in the separator. Saved List GUIDs are found in URLs generated when clicking Share (“”). |
series | Series Title/Statement (Text) | ((series::harry) && (series::potter)) ((series::boxcar) && (series::children) && (series::mysteries)) ((series::hunger) && (series::games) && (series::trilogy)) | Searches fields: Series Statement—490a Series Uniform Title—830a. Use“::#”as the separator to make this an exact match search. |
smart | Relevancy Ranked Algorithm (Text) | ((smart::harry potter)) ((smart::suzanne collins)) ((smart::mystery)) | Searches on a multitude of fields and orders the results based on a proprietary weighting algorithm. A Smart Search should be used wherever you would normally specify a "keyword" type search. |
studyinterestlevel | Study Program Interest Level (Text) | ((studyinterestlevel::mg)) ((studyinterestlevel::ad)) | Searches fields: Study Program Interest Level—526b Target Audience Note—521a, for Lexile Codes |
studypointcount | Study Program Point Value, x's 10 (Numeric Value) | ((studypointcount::15)) ((studypointcount::10--15)) | Searches field 526d. Applies to Accelerated Reader and Reading Counts Only. |
studyprogramnamecode | Study Program Name Code (Numeric Value) | ((studyprogramnamecode::1)) | Searches by StudyProgram. Each Study Program is assigned a number: 1=Accelerated Reader 2=Reading Counts 3=Fountas and Pinnell 4=Guided Reading 5=Lexile. |
studyreadinglevel | Study Program Reading Level (Text) | (studyreadinglevel::01.10) | Searches fields: Study Program Reading Level—526c, for Accelerated Reader and Reading Counts Target Audience Note—521a for all others. For AR/RC format as: 00.00 For Lexile format as: 00000 For others, format as: x |
subjectwords | Subject (Text) | ((subjectwords::united) && (subjectwords::states)) ((subjectwords::navy)) | Searches fields: Personal Name—Fields 600a, 600x, 600y, 600z Corporate Name—610z, 610x, 610y, 610z Meeting Name—611a, 611x, 611y, 611z Uniform Title—630z, 630x, 650y, 650z Geographic Name—651z, 651x, 651y, 651z Use“::#”as the separator to make this a near term search. |
title | Title (Text) | ((title::the) && (title::mystery) && (title::of) && ((title::#holes)) | Searches fields: Translation of Title—242a, 242b Title Statement—245a, 245b Varying Form of Title—246a, 246b Former Title—247a, 247b Use “::#” as the separator to make this an exact phrase search. |
titlecallnumber | Title Call Number (Text) | ((titlecallnumber::793.7)) ((titlecallnumber::793.7 ta)) ((titlecallnumber::#793.7 tan)) | Searches field 991a Use“::#”as the separator to make this a begins with search. |
titlersn | RSN (Numeric Value) | ((titlersn::4139)) | Searches for a specific titlersn. |
titlersns | RSN (Numeric Value) | ((titlersns::nn,nn,nn)) | A comma delimited list of title rsns (e.g. from temp lists). |
Copy Query Types & Values | |||
copycallnumber | Copy Call Number (Text) | ((copycallnumber::FIC)) ((copycallnumber::FIC EVE)) | Searches field 852h Use “::#” as the separator to make this a begins with search. |
copybarcode | Copy Barcode (Text) | ((copybarcode::10456)) ((copybarcode::10456--10457)) | Searches field 852p |
Additional Centralized Catalog Query Types and Values | |||
sitecode | Site Code (Text) | ((sitecode::ams)) | The site code assigned by the librarian. |
sitersn | RSN (Numeric Value) | ((sitersn::5)) ((sitersn::3--5)) | The sitersn is the location of a site within the database. |
KNOCOPY | KNOCOPY (Text) | ((smart::oz) && (sitersn::1) || (site::KNOCOPY)) | When used, KNOCOPY will return electronic items that have no copies. In other words, items that belong to the entire catalog rather than a specific site. |
Non-Index Query Parameters | |||
numrecords | Numrecords (Numeric Value) | ((numrecords::10)) | Limits the number of items returned in a query. Has a max limit of 1000 no matter what number is entered. |
Separators & Operators
Separators | Function |
---|---|
:: | Use a double colon (::) as the separator between query types and search values. |
::# | To perform a special “variant” for search values, use the separator of “::#”. For example, ((series::#Harry Potter)) searches for an exact series match of “Harry Potter”. The way that special variants are handled depends on the individual query type. Although it’s always valid to include the #, it may be ignored in many cases. |
Operators | Function |
---|---|
&& | Performs the Boolean operator AND. |
|| | Performs the Boolean operator OR. |
&- | Performs the Boolean operator AND NOT. |
-- | Separate terms using two hyphens without spaces (--) to search for a range of results such as dates, ratings, or call numbers. For example: ((copycallnumber::FIC EVA--FIC EVE)). |
" " | Enclosing words in quotation marks (“ ”) tells Alexandria to interpret the character sequence literally, and not as part of the normal search string syntax. For example, double-hyphens (--) in search strings are interpreted as a range. However, two hyphens also separate subfields in subject headings. Therefore, you must contain certain search phrases in quotations in order to get relevant results, such as ((subject::“Basketball -- Tournaments -- United States”)). |
Examples of Combined Types and/or Multiple Operators
Alexandria only accepts a maximum of ten expressions in a single search string.
General Title
((author::rowling) &- (title::harry))
((subjectwords::civil) && (subjectwords::war) && (medium::book))
Smart Search
((smart::harry potter) && (medium::book))
((smart::oz) && (medium::electronic) && (medium::resource))
Accession
((accession::#201501010000))
((accession::201501010000--201601010000))
Combined and Boolean Searches
((smart::animals) &- (smart::birds) || (smart::reptiles))
((series::graphic) && (series::novels) && (medium::electronic) || (medium::ebook))
Rating
((rating::40) && (medium::book))
((rating::30--50) && (author::king))
Study Programs
Accelerated Reader
((studyprogramnamecode::1))
((studyprogramnamecode::1) && (studyreadinglevel::03.00--03.50))
((studyprogramnamecode::1) && (studyreadinglevel::03.00--03.50) && (studypointcount::15--20))
Reading Counts
((studyprogramnamecode::2))
((studyprogramnamecode::2) && (studyreadinglevel::03.00--05.50))
((studyprogramnamecode::2) && (studyreadinglevel::03.00--05.50) && (studyinterestlevel::mg) && (studypointcount::15--20))
Fountas and Pinnell
((studyprogramnamecode::3))
((studyprogramnamecode::3) && (studyreadinglevel::D))
Guided Reading
((studyprogramnamecode::4))
((studyprogramnamecode::4) && (studyreadinglevel::D))
Lexile
((studyprogramnamecode::5))
((studyprogramnamecode::5) && (studyreadinglevel::00300–00500))
((studyprogramnamecode::5) && (studyreadinglevel::00100--00200) && (studyinterestlevel::ad))