Using Indexes

The indexes available for this database are listed below. Each index enables you to look up, select, and search for variations of a term. This database contains a free text index as well as field-specific indexes. Refer to the SPIRS Help for more information on using this index.

Using the Free Text Index (General Index)

The Free Text Index (General Index in WebSPIRS) contains an alphabetical list of all the terms used to index the database. It allows you to look up, select, and search for variations of a term. The Free Text Index is particularly useful if you are uncertain of the spelling of a term or how the terms occurs in the database. Since this index shows all terms that have been used in indexing the database, your search will always yield results. The following database fields are included in the Free Text Index:

AU, DE, IB, IS, RE, SO, SP, TI

Using Field-Specific Indexes

A field-specific index contains an alphabetical list of the terms in an individual field. This allows you to look up, select, and search for variations of terms in the database. The advantage of a field-specific index is that you know where the terms occur in the database. For example, if you look up "French" in the Language Field-Specific Index, you know that all occurrences of the term are as a language name.

In addition to the Free Text Index, the following database fields have field-specific indexes. Also note that the AN, CP, DT, and PY fields are limit fields.

Accession Number (AN)

Author (AU)

Collection Name (CN)

Country of Publication (CP)

Descriptors (DE)

Document Type (DT)

Journal Name (JN)

Reviewer (RE)

Publication Year (PY)