Modern Languages Publications Archive User Documentation

• Browsing
• Searching
• Text Search Fields
• Lists of Values
• Yes/No Fields
• Registering
• Your User Record
• Subscriptions

Browsing

Browsing is a good way to access documents if you don't have a specific idea of what you're looking for. There are two ways to browse the archive, by subject and by year.

To browse the archive either select Browse from the front page or from the navigation bar at the top of the screen. Then choose which property you wish to browse by eg. "subject".

You will be presented with a list of possible values, select one of these, and you will be given a list of references to documents in the archive (if any) which match this value. To access a paper, simply click on its reference in the display.

On the abstract page, you should be able to see what subjects are pertinent to the current document. Clicking on one of those subjects will take you back to the relevant browse by subject view.

Searching

Text Search Fields

These are used to search fields like abstract or author. These are the fields where there is a text entry area, and a popup menu just to the right of it. Type your search terms into the box. You can decide how the system will use your search terms by selecting one of the options from the popup menu just to the right of the input box.

Match all, in any order.

In the example shown, the system will search for records in which any of the title, abstract or keywords fields contain both the word ``patient'' and ``care''.

Match any.

In the example shown, the system will search for any record with either the term ``patient'' or ``care,'' in any of the title, abstract or keywords fields.

Match as a phrase.

In this case, the system will search for your terms appearing exactly as you type them. In the example, the system will return any record with the phrase ``patient care'' appearing in the title, abstract or keywords.

Lists of Values

With these you can select one or more values from a list of values for the system to search for. If no value in the list is selected, the system will ignore this field (i.e. it will retrieve records with any value of this field.)

In cases where each individual record may have more than one value attached to the list, you can also change search behaviour by selecting ``Any of these'' or ``All of these'' from the popup menu on the right of the list.

Any of these.

If this is selected, any record which has any of the values you select will be retrieved.

All of these.

If you select this option, a record must have all the values you choose associated with it to be retrieved.

Years

When you're searching a year field, you can specify a single year or range of years that you're interested in:

1999

retrieves only records where the year is `1999';

1987-1990

retrieves records with years between 1987 and 1990 inclusive;

1995-

retrieves records with years of 1995 or later;

-1998

retrieves records with years up to and including 1998.

Yes/No Fields

Some fields can have the value yes or no, for example the ``Refereed'' field. In this case, the search field lets you specify whether you want retrieved records to have the value yes or no for this field, or whether you have no preference, in which case the field isn't used to find records.

Registering

You only need to register if you wish to receive email alerts about new publications.

When you register with the system, you can register a username, email address and password which must be confirmed. The system will email you a confirmation URL to visit to enable the password.

The first thing you'll need to do, after registering, is fill out your user record using the form at http://mlpa.nottingham.ac.uk/perl/users/record. When you click on ``User Area,'' you'll see an option saying ``View/change your user record'': Select this option. The user record form is described below.

Your User Record

Your user record is used to hold contact information about you. Enter the relevant information in the form. Those boxes where the field name (on the left of the box) has an asterisk are required fields that you must fill out.

Note that you cannot change your e-mail address here. This is deliberate; if you inadvertently enter an incorrect e-mail address, the site will have no way of contacting you. Instructions for changing your e-mail address can be found on the ``Registered Users Area''.

Rather than clicking in each box before you enter something into it, you may find that your browser will let you use the tab key to move the cursor between the boxes. In this way you can enter the information much more quickly.

When you've entered the relevant information, click on the ``Update Record'' button at the bottom of the form. If the form is filled out correctly, you'll be taken back to the ``User Area'' page. If there's a problem with the form, the form will be presented to you again with a description of what's wrong. Correct the error and click on ``Update Record'' again.

Subscriptions

You may configure subscriptions (email alerts) to this archive. A subscription is a stored search which will be run every day, week or month. Any matching records which have been added or modified since last time will be mailed to you.

From the home page click on ``User Area'' and then ``Change your subscription options''.

To create a new subscription click on the ``New Subscription'' button then specify the Subject of interest and the email frequency (eg Once per week) and click on ``Submit changes''.