OAIster
Why select this database?
- Contains digital resources from open archive collections
- Represents multidisciplinary resources from more than 1,100 contributors worldwide
- Records contain a digital object link allowing users access to the object in a single click
Subjects included
Digital resources including:
- Digitized books and articles
- Born-digital texts
- Audio files
- Images
- Movies
- Datasets
Collections including:
- Theses
- Technical reports
- Research papers
- Image collections
Database details
| Database name | OAIster |
|---|---|
| Short database name | OAIster |
| Available on | FirstSearch, WorldCat Discovery, and WorldCat.org |
| Sources | 2,000+ data contributors |
| Number of records | More than 50 million records |
| Update frequency | Quarterly |
| Producer | OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. |
Indexes
Index labels and search examples
Use a colon after an index label (for example, au:) when you are not certain of your search terms. Use an equal sign after an index label (au=) for an exact match search. You can search with an index label from any search screen. The information you type overrides any default menu selections. The following examples show sample rather than actual searches.
| Search indexes | Labels | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword | kw: | predecessor institutions |
| Access method | am: | http |
| Accession number | no: | AIM25_2229 |
| Author | au: | wessels |
| Author phrase | au= | wessels martin [last name first] |
| Content type | ct: | text |
| Data contributor | dc: | area aim 25 |
| Data contributor phrase | dc= | archives in London and the m25 area aim25 |
| Language phrase | ln: | English [use to refine other search terms] |
| Notes | nt: | university archivist |
| Publication date | pd: | 20050407 |
| Publisher | pb: | university surrey guildford |
| Resource format | fr: | html |
| Resource type phrase | ry= | image |
| Source | so: | gender behavior |
| Subject | su: | mathematics |
| Subject Phrase | su= | mathematics statistics |
| Title | ti: | contact networks |
| Title Phrase | ti= | modeling protein contact networks |
| Year | yr: | 2007 |
Index use and structure
What follows is a list of FirstSearch indexes and the combination of USE and STRUCTURE attributes that can be used to access them.
- For any FirstSearch label where multiple USE attributes are listed, all the attributes will provide the exact same search result sets
- Any USE attribute that is not marked as a restrictor is available via the SCAN service.
- Restrictors are specially implemented indexes and are not available for scanning. Terms for these must be ANDed with other terms to limit the size of the result set. See the table provided for each restrictor to determine valid terms and their associated meaning.
FirstSearch Indexes and USE and STRUCTURE attributes used to access them
| Index | Description | Use Attribute | Structure Attribute | Indexed Data Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keyword (kw) | Any | 5110 | 2 | 245/a 500/a 504/a 536/a 540/a 650/a 653/a 773/g |
| Keyword All (ka) | Any | 1016 | 2 | 100/a 245/a 500/a 504/a 536/a 540/a 650/a 653/a 773/g |
| Access Method (am) | OCLC Defined | 5856 | 2 | 856/u |
| Accession Number (no) | Control number-local | 12 | 2 | 035/a |
| Author (au) | Author-name | 1003 | 1,2 | 100/a 700/a |
| Content type (ct:) | Content-type | 1034 | 1 | 598/b |
| Data Contributor (dc, dc=) | OCLC Defined | 5076 | 1,2 | 902/g |
| Language Phrase (ln=)* | Code-Language | 54 | 1 | 546/a 917/j |
| Notes (nt) | Note | 63 | 2 | 500/a 504/a 536/a 540/a |
| Publication Date (pd) | Date | 30 | 2 | 260/c 949/e,g |
| Publisher (pb) | Name-publisher | 1018 | 2 | 260/b |
| Source (so) | Title-host-item | 1033 | 1,2 | 773/g |
| Subject (su, su=) | Subject | 21 | 1,2 | 650/a 653/a |
| Title (ti, ti=) | Title | 4 | 1,2 | 245/a |
| Year (yr)* | Date-publication | 31 | 2,4,5 | 964/x,y |
* Language and Year also serve as restrictors when they are not the first term in a search. |
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Record display information
The MARC records returned from this database will be the OCLC-MARC records as they were input into the system.
This database can have any valid MARC tag in it. Besides the valid MARC tags, the following FirstSearch Locally Defined fields also exist:
|
856 fields |
OCLC has added links to additional content such as cover art, table of contents, summaries and author notes. These OCLC-created 856 fields include the following subfields: 856/u URL to additional content 856/i Instructions in URL use 856/q Data type such as "ASCII," "GIF," etc. 856/x "OCLC EC" 856/3 Type of content such as "COVER ART," "TABLE OF CONTENTS," "MORE INFO," or "EXCERPTS" Evaluative content info in websites: OCLC created URLs contained in 856/u fields in full MARC syntax and under the label "Access:" in full SUTRS syntax will allow internet-based access to evaluative content (cover art, summaries, excerpts, author information, etc.) These URLs can be cut and pasted, or programmatically entered, into any browser supported by FirstSearch in order to gain access to the information. The URLs will time out after 7 days so if continued access is desired another search to receive and updated URL will need to be executed. The 856/i field is the indicator for information on the URL; because not all 856/u fields are additional evaluative content, the 856/i should be checked to be certain the 856/u link is truly a OCLC sourced link. The 856/i field contains instructions regarding the URL. NetLibrary websites: All NetLibrary records have had additional 856 fields added that would authenticate a user's access to their library's NetLibrary book subscription, based on their FirstSearch authorization number. These 856 fields will have a subfield u with the URL and a subfield I with the instructions: "Input this URL in a browser to view e-book from NetLibrary." Note: Searching "NetLibrary" in the Access Method index can retrieve all NetLibrary books. All NetLibrary books that a FS user subscribes to can be searched by ANDing this to the library's holding symbol, assuming the library is cataloging their holdings on the OCLC WorldCat cataloging subsystem. |
|---|---|
| 945/f | Primary document type code |
| 945/d | Additional document type codes |
| 945/m | Material type code media/technology access |
| 945/n | Material type text media/technology access |
| 945/p | Material type code content |
| 945/q | Material type text content |
| 945/r | Music Composition code |
| 945/s | Music Composition text |
| 947/g | Displayable form of the LC Control Number [010/a] |
| 947/h | Displayable form of the LC Control Number [010/z] |
| 947/m | Number of holding library symbols connected to item |
| 947/n | Date added to a database |
| 947/p | Date last updated in Cataloging subsystem of WorldCat |
| 947/s | Indicator for My Library holdings. This indicates if authorization number's institution has local holdings attached in OCLC WorldCat. "Y" is yes. "N" is no. |
| 948 |
Library Holdings |
| 949/i | Document Types (repeating) a = Articles, Chapters, or Papers b = Books, Monographics, or Text f = Visual Material h = Maps i = Computer File j = Sound Recording k = Score m = Archival Material r = Continually updated resource s = Serial, Journal, or Magazine w = Internet Resources, primarily websites |
| 949/x | ILL/Display type b = Books, Monographic, or Text including articles and websites listed as text f = Visual Material h = Maps l = Computer File j = Sound recordings k = Score m = Archival Material s = Serial, Journal, or Magazine g = Multiple types, includes more then one of the types listed above) |
Restrictors
The following restrictors can be used only in conjunction with an index search. They must be added to an index search with the Boolean AND in order to receive results.
| Restrictor | Type | Input | Use Attribute | Structure Attribute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource type Phrase** | No Limit Audio Dataset Image Text Video |
— audio dataset image text video |
1001 | 1 |
| Language** | No Limit English Non-English |
— english nonenglish |
54 | 1 |
| Year** | No Limit Single: 19xx Range: 19xx-20xx |
— 19xx, 20xx 19xx-20xx |
31 | 5 |
|
** Resource Type Phrase, Language, and Year are all both indexes and restrictors. |
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Sorting
Search results in the OAIster database can be sorted by Author (1003), Title (4), Date (30) and Source Title (1033).
General punctuation rules
Omit accent marks and diacritics such as umlaut (¨) and cedilla (¸). Special characters should be replaced by a Romanized form of the character, such as u for hooked u and ss for eszett (ß).
| Punctuation | Rule | Punctuation | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| " (quote mark) | Convert to a blank | @ (commercial at) | Convert to a blank |
| ' (apostrophe) | Indexed both as: — delete and collapse — convert to a blank |
? (question mark) | Convert to a blank |
| . (period) | Convert to a blank, except when the first period in a class number search. | / (slash) | Convert to a blank except in Dewey call number search where it is deleted and collapsed. |
| , (comma) | Convert to a blank. | - (hyphen) | Convert to a blank |
| ; (semicolon) | Convert to a blank | & (ampersand) | Retain and index |
| : (colon) | Convert to a blank | \ (backslash) | Convert to a blank |
| () (parentheses) | Delete and collapse | © (copyright sign) | Delete and collapse |
| <> (greater/less than signs) | Convert to a blank | ° (degree sign) | Delete and collapse |
| {} (curly brackets) | Convert to a blank | € (Euro) | Convert to a blank |
| [] (square brackets) | Delete and collapse, retaining the data within except for [sic] and [i.e. any data following] | Flat (musical) | Convert to a blank |
| = (equal sign) | Convert to a blank | ¡ (inverted exclamation point) | Convert to a blank |
| ! (exclamation point) | Convert to a blank | ¿ (inverted question mark) | Convert to a blank |
| # (number sign) | Delete and collapse | Phonograph copyright | Delete and collapse |
| $ (dollar sign) | Convert to a blank | # (sharp — musical) | Convert to a blank |
| % (percent sign) | Convert to a blank | Space | Convert multiple spaces to a single space |
| * (asterisk) | Convert to a blank | ± (plus/minus sign) | Convert to a blank |
| + (plus sign) | Convert to a blank | _ (underscore) | Convert to a blank |
Searching tips
Keyword All searches (1016): The Keyword All search includes elements from the Abstract, Author, Title, Subject, Source Phrase, and Note indexes.
Using restrictors: English and Non-English are restrictors. All other language terms can be searched alone in the Language (54) index.
Using limiters: Use the following indexes as limiters to an index search in order to narrow the focus of your search: Document Type (1001) and Content Type (1034). OCLC uses these indexes as limiters on the web.
Copyright information
OAISTER was originally developed at the University of Michigan Libraries with the support of a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.