{"id":3729,"date":"2013-01-15T12:04:13","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T18:04:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/digitalservices\/?p=1558"},"modified":"2013-01-15T12:04:13","modified_gmt":"2013-01-15T18:04:13","slug":"advanced-acumen-searching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apps.lib.ua.edu\/blogs\/coolathoole\/2013\/01\/15\/advanced-acumen-searching\/","title":{"rendered":"Advanced Acumen Searching"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acumen is big. Very big. And it\u2019s getting bigger.\u00a0 I\u2019m pointing this out because when databases like Acumen get big, they become\u00a0impossible\u00a0to search through manually. Generally speaking, one can\u2019t just browse casually through thousands and thousands of folder directories and expect to find a very specific file. So custom search engines are created so users can use keywords to locate exact files quickly. Acumen has a search engine (located\u00a0HERE<\/a>)\u00a0that is very helpful at finding files, but like all search engines it has its strengths, its limitations, and its secrets. Knowing more about how Acumen\u2019s search engine works will help you locate the files you want to find.<\/p>\n

*Note that Acumen\u2019s search engine is constantly in a state of change as we strive to improve its functionality, so the following information may not be relevant in the future, and may not function as expected from time to time. New features and methods of searching besides those mentioned here may also be added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you were to search Acumen for something using only keywords, then the search engine would return thousands of pages of results. This can be a bit\u00a0intimidating. Sometimes what you’re looking for is near the top of the list, but\u00a0if you comb through several pages and still can’t find what you need then it can become frustrating. Thankfully, there are ways of narrowing down the search results. By default,\u00a0Acumen’s\u00a0Search engine is designed to organize search results so results containing all keywords populate to the top, followed by results containing only some of the keywords. In order to narrow the search further, you have to use search operators.<\/p>\n

Boolean…<\/h2>\n

The Boolean\u00a0operators AND<\/strong>, OR<\/strong>, and NOT<\/strong> (in all caps form) can be used to force the engine to return only those queries. For example, if you searched for \u201c1813 AND letter\u201d, the search engine would only show results that contained both of those keywords instead of either of them. This drastically reduces the amount of results that are returned making it much easier to find exact files.<\/p>\n

Geek Trivia:<\/strong>\u00a0In 1894, a certain Mr. George Boole\u00a0recorded a unique approach to problem solving in his book \u201cAn Investigation Of The Laws Of Thought\u201d (which was originally titled \u201cAn Investigation Of The Laws Of Thought On Which Are Founded The Mathematical Theories Of Logic And Probabilities\u201d, but that’s neither here nor there). In his book, Boole laid out a set of mathematical rules, aka Boolean Logic, which would later become integral to designing electronics, computer programs, and yes even the humble search engine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lucene query syntax…<\/h2>\n

But that\u2019s not Acumen’s only secret. You can also specify specific fields to search using the standard Lucene query syntax, which consists of the following operators:<\/p>\n