[LON-CAPA-cvs] cvs: loncom /html/adm/help/tex Search_Advanced.tex Search_Basic.tex Searching.tex

[matthew]

matthew		Thu Jun  3 16:28:12 2004 EDT

  Added files:                 
    /loncom/html/adm/help/tex	Searching.tex Search_Advanced.tex 
                             	Search_Basic.tex 
  Log:
  Added help for general search, basic search, and advanced search.
  
  

Index: loncom/html/adm/help/tex/Searching.tex
+++ loncom/html/adm/help/tex/Searching.tex
\label{Searching}

LON-CAPA has a built-in search of LON-CAPA resources.  Metadata exists
for each resource published in the LON-CAPA repository.  Much of the
metadata which exists is reported by the author upon resource
publication.  Some dynamic metadata is tracked by the system as well.

If you wish to search for resources related to a certain word or phrase,
the  \ref{Search_Basic} Basic Search provides the capabitility to search 
a number of metadata fields at once.


If you have more specific needs, such as a desire to search on
metadata not included in the basic search, the \ref{Search_Advanced}
Advanced Search will allow you to specify values for as many metadata
fields you are interested in.

% \ref{Search_Course} Course Search  Omitted for now :(




Index: loncom/html/adm/help/tex/Search_Advanced.tex
+++ loncom/html/adm/help/tex/Search_Advanced.tex
\label{Search_Advanced}

The Advanced Search in LON-CAPA allows you to search specific metadata
fields for matching resources.  Resources which match all of the
constraints specified will be returned.

For many of the search fields, a ``related words'' checkbox is
available.  This causes each search term or quoted phrase in the
search for that field to be matched in our thesaurus.  Resources which
matches in the given field any of the search phrases (depending on the
logic in the original search phrase) will be returned.

The following fields can be searched:

\begin{itemize}
\item Title
\item Author
\item Publisher/Owner
\item Author Space
\item Last Modifying User
\item Keywords
\item Notes
\item Abstract
\item Standards
\item Mime type
\item Lowest grade level
\item Highest grade level
\item Domain
\item Copyright
\item Language
\item Creation and Modification Dates
\end{itemize}

Dynamic metadata, computed based on resource usage statistics, can be
searched as well.  The following fields can be searched, with a minimum
or maximum value being specified:

\begin{itemize}
\item Network-wide number of accesses (hits)
\item Total number of students who have worked on this problem
\item Average number of tries till solved
\item Degree of difficulty
\item Degree of discrimination
\end{itemize}

Evaluation data may be searched, with a minimum or maximum value being specified:
\begin{itemize}
\item Material presented in clear way
\item Material covered with sufficient depth
\item Material is helpful
\item Material appears to be correct
\item Resource is technically correct
\end{itemize}


Index: loncom/html/adm/help/tex/Search_Basic.tex
+++ loncom/html/adm/help/tex/Search_Basic.tex
\label{Search_Basic}

The Basic search page allows you to specify a phrase or
expression to search for in the LON-CAPA resource repository.  Search
strings can contain quoted phrases, multiple words, '-' (meaning
``not''), and multiple words or phrases joined with 'or'.  For
example:

\begin{itemize}
\item \textbf{cat} Matches resources about cats.
\item \textbf{cat or dog} Matches resources about cats or dogs.
\item \textbf{cat dog} Matches resources about both ``cat'' and ``dog''.
\item \textbf{``fluffy cat'' -dog} Matches resources on the phrase ``fluffy cat'' that do not contain ``dog''.
\end{itemize}

There are two checkboxes on the basic search page.  The first allows
you to limit your search to the domain of the machine you are
currently logged into.  The second causes a thesaurus lookup to be
done on your search phrase.  Search results will include resources
which match any of the related phrases as well as the original phrase.

The resource metadata fields searched in a basic search are listed
below.  It is worth noting that the data searched is self-reported by
the resource author.  In many cases authors are unable to provide
relevant values for the fields searched.  If you need to search based
on properties other than the following, use the \ref{Search_Advanced}
Advanced Search link on the basic search page.

\begin{itemize}
\item title
\item author
\item subject
\item notes
\item abstract
\item keywords
\end{itemize}