Search Screen
Two modes of searching are available: Browse mode and All Fields mode (Keyword). Browse mode cannot be limited by date or source. Terms may be entered in either upper or lower case.
All Fields mode (Keyword mode)
This mode allows retrieval of citations using any word or combination of words in the database. Note that words of fewer than three characters are not indexed. Dates and numbers (1946, 234, etc.) are indexed. Operators The operators OR, AND, and NOT may be used to combine words using Boolean logic. The operator AND is assumed. For example, these two searches will produce the same results: youth conduct and youth AND conduct.
Limiting by source and/or year
If you have entered a search term or terms in the the first dialogue box,
you can optionally select a periodical title and/or a year of publication to limit search results.
Limiting by issue date
Keyword searching extends to the major fields, including the note field and the periodical issue date.
The bound volume shows format for date fields. For example, putting the following in the keyword dialogue box
and limiting by the title of a periodical (like Biblical Illustrator)
will bring up entries limited to a particular issue of the journal: Samaritans AND Spr2001
Truncation
The All Fields truncation symbol (*) is used as follows: house* will retrieve household, houses, housework, etc.
Refining a search
For ideas on revising your keyword search, notice the subject headings assigned to articles that look particularly helpful. To start over with your search, clicking either the "new search" or the "modify search" button will give you a blank search screen. If you first click the back button to get out of a citation and back to the results list, clicking the "modify search" button will retain your previous search so that you can simply revise it. You might also choose to go to the browse mode after clearing the screen and search a specific term or phrase in the thesaurus.
Browse mode
Browse mode presents an alphabetically arranged list of titles, authors, or subjects. Clicking on a listed item displays either a titles list or a citation, depending on the number of hits (title occcurances) attached.
To search by Title in Browse mode, type the first few words of the title of an article or book. Initial articles (a, an, the) are ignored.
To find records by Subject, use a heading such as handbell music or maturation. For subjects with numerous entries that tend to have subdivisions, using the following format will place one closer to the appropriate alphabetical position: Jesus Christ--Teaching Methods
To search for items by Author, enter a name in any of the following formats: Sonya Humber or Humber, Sonya or Humber.
Citation
A successful search returns (in Browse mode) a list of titles, names or subjects. In All Fields mode a successful search returns a list of titles. In either case you can display the associated citation by clicking on the title, name or subject.
Marking items for export
There are two ways of marking items for export. When viewing one citation, you may click on the SAVE button to place that item in your list. Working from the search results screen, you may click on the box beside your choice(s) then click the SAVE button to add those citations to your list. Either going to another page of hits without clicking save or clicking the RESET button will clear all the marks on a given page.
When your compilation is complete, double click on the EXPORT SAVED RESULTS button. Your total list will appear and you can sort the citations by author, title, or date.
You may then choose E-MAIL to open a dialogue box for an email address. Choosing PRINTER-FRIENDLY FORMAT allows you to either print immediately using your browser or place the list in a word processor using the SAVE AS function for customized formatting. All items marked and saved in each session remain there until you either exit the database or click on the CLEAR SAVED RESULTS button at the EXPORT page.
Operators
The operators AND, OR AND NOT can (optionally) be used to define complex queries during All Fields mode searches. Examples: Cookery vegetables retrieves only citations with both elements. Cookery AND vegetables as above, retrieves only citations with both elements. Cookery NOT vegetables retrieves all entries except those with the term vegetables in fields searched. Cookery OR vegetables retrieves all entries containing either of the terms. Youth conduct drugs NOT review AND's the first three terms and then excludes book and media review citations. (Youth conduct drugs) NOT review gives the same results as above.
Searching for book or media reviews
The surest way to find all reviews of an item is best done with a keyword search of significant word(s)in the title and/or the last name of author or performer. The way in which reviews have been handled has varied through the years, making the keyword search more comprehensive than a browse mode search.
Adding review to the search string will make your search more specific. For example, to look for a review of the commentary on the gospel of John by Craig Keener use this search string: Keener john review. If you are looking for reviews of books on a particular topic such as youth--conduct of life and put just youth conduct in your seach string (with the limit to the year 2000), you have 60 hits. Adding review to the string narrows the search to produce 8 hits.
Reset
Use this button to clear your search screen. Or, if you are marking items for export, this button will clear all those marked on the current page.
Searching help available
The following PowerPoint tutorials describe sample searches in the SBPI database. (These will open in a new window. To return to SBPI, close the window; alternatively, click on the SBPI tab):
Q. I keep getting an 'Expired Session' message when I try to search. What is happening?
A. Because of the way the Southern Baptist Periodical Index software authenticates users, you must use either the home url (http://www.libris.ca/sbpi) or the search screen url (http://www.libris.ca/cgi5/_01431.exe) to begin. Chances are someone has pasted an SBPI search url into a list or index, hoping to bypass the opening page. This will work for a few hours, and then go permanently paws up.
Two modes of searching are available: Browse mode and All Fields mode (Keyword). Browse mode cannot be limited by date or source. Terms may be entered in either upper or lower case.
All Fields mode (Keyword mode)
This mode allows retrieval of citations using any word or combination of words in the database. Note that words of fewer than three characters are not indexed. Dates and numbers (1946, 234, etc.) are indexed. Operators The operators OR, AND, and NOT may be used to combine words using Boolean logic. The operator AND is assumed. For example, these two searches will produce the same results: youth conduct and youth AND conduct.
Browse mode
Browse mode presents an alphabetically arranged list of titles, authors, or subjects. Clicking on a listed item displays either a titles list or a citation, depending on the number of hits (title occcurances) attached.
To search by Title in Browse mode, type the first few words of the title of an article or book. Initial articles (a, an, the) are ignored.
To find records by Subject, use a heading such as handbell music or maturation. For subjects with numerous entries that tend to have subdivisions, using the following format will place one closer to the appropriate alphabetical position: Jesus Christ--Teaching Methods
To search for items by Author, enter a name in any of the following formats: Sonya Humber or Humber, Sonya or Humber.
Citation
A successful search returns (in Browse mode) a list of titles, names or subjects. In All Fields mode a successful search returns a list of titles. In either case you can display the associated citation by clicking on the title, name or subject.
Marking items for export
There are two ways of marking items for export. When viewing one citation, you may click on the SAVE button to place that item in your list. Working from the search results screen, you may click on the box beside your choice(s) then click the SAVE button to add those citations to your list. Either going to another page of hits without clicking save or clicking the RESET button will clear all the marks on a given page.
When your compilation is complete, double click on the EXPORT SAVED RESULTS button. Your total list will appear and you can sort the citations by author, title, or date.
You may then choose E-MAIL to open a dialogue box for an email address. Choosing PRINTER-FRIENDLY FORMAT allows you to either print immediately using your browser or place the list in a word processor using the SAVE AS function for customized formatting. All items marked and saved in each session remain there until you either exit the database or click on the CLEAR SAVED RESULTS button at the EXPORT page.
Operators
The operators AND, OR AND NOT can (optionally) be used to define complex queries during All Fields mode searches. Examples: Cookery vegetables retrieves only citations with both elements. Cookery AND vegetables as above, retrieves only citations with both elements. Cookery NOT vegetables retrieves all entries except those with the term vegetables in fields searched. Cookery OR vegetables retrieves all entries containing either of the terms. Youth conduct drugs NOT review AND's the first three terms and then excludes book and media review citations. (Youth conduct drugs) NOT review gives the same results as above.
Searching for book or media reviews
The surest way to find all reviews of an item is best done with a keyword search of significant word(s)in the title and/or the last name of author or performer. The way in which reviews have been handled has varied through the years, making the keyword search more comprehensive than a browse mode search.
Adding review to the search string will make your search more specific. For example, to look for a review of the commentary on the gospel of John by Craig Keener use this search string: Keener john review. If you are looking for reviews of books on a particular topic such as youth--conduct of life and put just youth conduct in your seach string (with the limit to the year 2000), you have 60 hits. Adding review to the string narrows the search to produce 8 hits.
Reset
Use this button to clear your search screen. Or, if you are marking items for export, this button will clear all those marked on the current page.
Searching help available
The following PowerPoint tutorials describe sample searches in the SBPI database. (These will open in a new window. To return to SBPI, close the window; alternatively, click on the SBPI tab):
- Finding Articles By and About Persons
- Advanced Research in SBPI: Parenting Examples
- Dives into SBPI (Four Brief Dips)
- Searching and Compiling a List of Sources Found
Q. I keep getting an 'Expired Session' message when I try to search. What is happening?
A. Because of the way the Southern Baptist Periodical Index software authenticates users, you must use either the home url (http://www.libris.ca/sbpi) or the search screen url (http://www.libris.ca/cgi5/_01431.exe) to begin. Chances are someone has pasted an SBPI search url into a list or index, hoping to bypass the opening page. This will work for a few hours, and then go permanently paws up.