Using Corsair

Keyword/Browse Search
  The Keyword/Browse search form allows you to search for words or exact phrases anywhere in the catalog record, use search codes to target specific types of information, or browse lists of names, subjects, titles, or call numbers. You may choose from six different types of search (explained below). Each search type is marked on the sample graphic below. Click on a number to go directly to an explanation of that option.
  * Limits
    Select an option from Limit by Collection: or click the icon before you enter your search terms if you want to limit your seach based on other criteria. Search Limits are not required. See section on Search Limits for more information.
   
 

1. KEYWORD OR PHRASE Search
    A search for words or phrases in the whole record or in specific parts of the record
   
Search by word Search by phrase (use quotation marks)

byron
poussin
fouquet

"christmas carol"
"ms m.638"
"adoration of the magi"

Use a question mark to truncate search terms:

illuminat?
bookplate?

"historiated initial?"
"string quartet?"

Combine words or phrases, using AND, NOT, OR (capitalization is not required; the terms are capitalized in examples for the sake of clarity):

byron OR shelley
memling AND pink
vellum NOT manuscript?

"sun god" OR shamash
blake AND urizen AND "copy b"
"dated manuscript?" NOT "de ricci "
 
Search for words or phrases in specific fields (see List of Search Codes)

561A "george washington"   (Searches the Provenance field)
752L paris AND 655L initial?   (Searches the Formatted Place
          field for paris and the Genre field for initial)
AKEY durer AND 245H drawing   (Searches the Author/Artist field for durer and the Material Type field for drawing)
 

Use parentheses to group complex search terms:

"french revolution" AND ("autograph letter?" OR "autograph manuscr?")
(catalog? AND uffizi?) AND (drawing? NOT painting?)

(But it is usually better to use GUIDED SEARCH for complex searches.)
    Note: You may also limit searches by department, type of material, date, place, and language. See Search Limits.
     
 

2. NAME BROWSE

    A search of standardized names and references to variants. The result is a list beginning with your search term or the closest match. Invert personal names and omit punctuation. The system automatically truncates on the right.
   
Names

Persons and corporate bodies associated with the creation or provenance of an item.
Includes authors, artists, composers, librettists, scribes, printers, publishers, binders, former owners, patrons, donors, etc.
brown   finds   brown   browne   browning
smith al   finds   smith alan   smith albert   smith alison   (but not  smith a)
Further Examples:

burne jones edw
kloster st g
marie antoinette
Shelfmarks
The repository designation for a medieval or Renaissance manuscript. In online catalogs, these designations are usually formatted as: name of owning institution, the word "manuscript”, and the institution’s inventory number or code for the manuscript.

pierpont morgan library manuscript m344
british library manuscript cotton caligula a ii
biblioteca apostolica vaticana manuscript barb lat 241
bibliotheque nationale france manuscript fr 208

You may enter as much or as little of the shelfmark as you like:

british library manuscript cotton caligula a ii finds material relating to this manuscript only

british library manuscript cotton finds material relating to all Cotton manuscripts
Note: This search finds medieval and Renaissance manuscripts owned by the Pierpont Morgan Library and reference material that reproduces significant amounts of the text or illustration of manuscripts owned by any institution. To find material about specific manuscripts, enter the same search as a SUBJECT BROWSE. More on SUBJECT BROWSE.
 
 

3. NAME-TITLE BROWSE
   

A search that is particularly useful for finding works with many versions and varying titles, or for doing research on music. The result is a list that will include all works by a given author or creator, subarranged by title. Within this list, uniform or standardized titles and the actual titles transcribed from title pages are interfiled, with all versions of a work clustered under its uniform title. A NAME-TITLE BROWSE search for defoe retrieves:
   

  1   Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. The Dyet of Poland

14   Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. Farther adventures of Robinson Crusoe

      1   Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. Farther adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Esperanto.
    27   Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. Farther adventures of Robinson Crusoe. French.
   

  1   Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. Farther adventures of Robinson Crusoe. Italian.

  1   Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. Fortunate mistress
   

Begin the search with the name (or a portion of the name). The system automatically truncates on the right:
mozart w
blake will
virgil

If you are not sure how the name appears in CORSAIR (vergil or virgil?), do a NAME BROWSE search first. The NAME-TITLE BROWSE does not provide references to name variants..
If the work is anonymous, enter the beginning of the title:

bible
chanson de roland
koran

You may add a portion of the title after the author's name. If you do, you must enter the full name of the author, including dates:

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus 1756-1791 Concertos
Defoe Daniel 1661?-1731 robinson

To save typing, you may cut and paste an author's name from a CORSAIR record into the search box.

     
 

4. TITLE BROWSE

   

A search of all title fields, including popular names of manuscripts. Your search must begin with the first word of the title and must match the word order of the title. The system automatically truncates on the right.

Search Limits can be used with TITLE BROWSE

   

Title: Enter at least the first part of the first word of the title. Omit initial articles (the, an, a, la, le, der, die, etc.).
rose  finds  rose and the ring  does not find roman de la rose
life of charles d  finds  life of charles darwin AND life of charles dickens
symphon  finds  symphonies  AND symphony
Further Examples:

pride and prej
mother goose
lettres a deux amis
berry apocalypse
jahrbuch fur kleinasiatische forschung

Search Tips: If unsure of the exact title, try a KEYWORD OR PHRASE search, or a GUIDED SEARCH..
Less is more. If a search finds nothing, resubmit it using fewer words.
     
 

5. SUBJECT BROWSE (includes Genre or Form Terms and Dates)

    A heading search of standardized subject and genre terms, dates, cross references, and scope notes. The result is a list beginning with your search term or the closest match. Invert personal names and omit punctuation. The system automatically truncates on the right.
   
Subject:  Topics, personal and corporate names, or titles which are the subject of a work.

drawing french exhibitions
printing england history
blake william
bible
Genre/Form terms:  Terms that describe literary and artistic genres, or the physical form of an item. What an item IS, as opposed to what it is ABOUT.

souvenir programs
illuminated manuscr
drawings italian 15th century
Dates of creation or publication:  Formatted dates of creation, writing, or publication (used only for items in curatorial collections).

1560
1492 04 15

Search tips:  Less is more. If a search finds nothing, resubmit it using fewer words.

illuminat  finds   illuminated manuscripts (genre term), illumination of books and manuscripts (subject term)

lithograph   finds   lithographers, lithographs, lithography

1888   finds   1888 or 1888 03 20
Note: Many items in curatorial collections do not have subject terms assigned to them. See Search by Subject for more information.
     
 

6. CALL NUMBER BROWSE
    A search of call numbers. The result is a list beginning with the closest call number found. The system automatically truncates on the right.
   
Call Number: Enter as much of the call number as you know, including all punctuation.

138 finds 138 S226, 138.3 A 138.3 B
MFC C finds MFC C118.X, MFC 129.X
It. 16 finds It. 16.1, It. 16.2 (but a search for It.16 or It 16 finds nothing)

Note:
Call Numbers for the Curatorial Collections: Not all collection items have call numbers. Call numbers for items in the curatorial collections generally carry no subject significance. (For more information see Search by Subject.)

Call Numbers for the Reference Collection: Only the books in the main reference collection have call numbers in the traditional library sense: i.e., numeric codes which are used to classify material by topic. (For more information see Search by Subject.)
     

Guided Search

  GUIDED SEARCH allows you to select indexes from a drop-down list and to combine several search terms from the same or from different fields in one search.
  Step by Step Instructions
  Each step is marked on the sample graphic below. Click on a number to go directly to an explanation of that field.
  * Limits
    Search Limits are not required. They are an efficient way to narrow searches by department, material type, date or place created or published, and language. Click the icon before you enter your search terms.
More on Search Limits.
 

Step 1
    Type the term(s) you wish to search for (punctuation and case are ignored, use question mark to truncate words). Examples: blake; new york; fall of the roman empire; incunab?
  Step 2
    Choose whether you wish to find records with ALL the terms ("all of these"), with ANY of the terms ("any of these") or with the terms IN THE ORDER you have typed them ("as a phrase"). TIP: All three options find the word(s) anywhere in a field, not just at the beginning. A search for roman de la rose "as a phrase" will find Roman de la rose AND Rethinking the Roman de la rose.
  Step 3
   

Select the index in which you wish to search for these terms from the list in the box next to "Search in:". You may search all fields simultaneously (Keyword Anywhere) or choose an index that targets specific fields. For more information see Search Codes

If you do not wish to add more search terms, skip to Step 6.
  Step 4
   

If you wish to add more search terms, choose AND (finds only those records with both sets of search terms), OR (finds records with either set of search terms), or NOT (finds records with the first but not with the second set of terms).
  Step 5
   

Enter the second set of terms as you have the first.
    If you wish to add a third set of terms select another operator (AND, OR or NOT) and enter the third set.
  Step 6
    Click on the Search button to perform the search. Click the Reset button to clear the search page.
     

Previous Searches
  The Previous Searches screen allows you to re-execute or edit any searches you have performed in your current session. To access this screen, you must first complete at least one search. After your first search, the Previous Searches button will display on the tool bar at the top of the screen.
  The Previous Searches screen lists:
 
  • the number of items found for each search (Hits)
  • the Search Type (Keyword, Title, Author, etc.)
  • exactly what you Searched For.
  To repeat or edit a previous search:
 
  • Click the Previous Searches button on the tool bar at the top of the screen.
  • Click on a search in the Search Type or Searched For column to re-execute that search.
  • Click the number in the Edit column to edit the search.
  Note: The Previous Searches option does not retain information about the Search Limits you applied to a previous search. If you re-execute or edit a search, any limits currently in effect will be used instead of the limits you had specified for that search.
     
Search Limits
  Search Limits are the most efficient way to narrow searches by department, material type, date or place created or published, and language. Search Limits process information stored as codes, not as words or phrases. There is no need to know the codes; the system translates for users.
  Only one code for each Search Limit category appears on a record. Search Limits will not retrieve all the languages in a multi-lingual work, or all places of publication for an item published simultaneously in New York, London, etc.
  Search Limits operate only when using KEYWORD OR PHRASE, GUIDED SEARCH, or TITLE BROWSE. They do not operate on the initial searches using NAME BROWSE, SUBJECT BROWSE, CALL NUMBER BROWSE, or NAME-TITLE BROWSE, but may be applied to the results of these searches. See How to Limit Results.
  Search Limits operate only in combination with a search; they cannot be used as the only component of a search. Once they are set, they remain in effect until you click the Clear Limits button or close your browser.
     
  How to Limit Searches
    Note: Enter the limit before entering the main search (if you type in search terms before clicking on the Set Search Limits button, you will have to re-enter the search terms).
    Click once on the Set Search Limits button below the search tab to access the Search Limits screen.
    Scroll through the list of options in each category; click once on an option to select it.
    More than one option from the same Seach Limit category may be selected. The search will find records which contain any of the options selected. Example: material in English or in French. To select two options from the same limits list hold down the <Ctrl> or <Apple> key while you click.
    Two or more Search Limit categories may be combined. The search will find records which contain all the criteria. Example: material in English or in French that is owned by either the Dept. of Printed Books or the Reference Collection.
    When you have finished selecting Search Limits, click once on the Set Limits button to return to the main search screen. The message "Search limits are in effect" will appear above the dialog box (a Clear Limits icon also appears in the lower right of the screen; clicking there willl clear Limits). Then select a search type, enter your search term(s), and click the Search button.
     
  How to Limit Results
    You may limit the results of a search using the Limit Results button. Limit Results works only when you have a Titles List. It is not available for use with the Headings lists, which are the initial results of a NAME, SUBJECT, or NAME-TITLE BROWSE search. However, Limit Results may be used to limit the number of titles linked with an individual heading; this allows you to narrow a search for an author or subject to a particular department or material type.
    To apply Limit Results, click on that button. Select Limits from the list, then click on Set Limits. You can continue narrowing your search indefinitely by repeating those actions.
     
  Search Limit by Date
    Search Limit by Date is a powerful way to narrow searches to items created during a single year, or within a range of years.
    Search Limits operate on encoded date information. This information displays in the column headed Dates in the Titles list, but is not searchable except through Search Limits.
    Almost all records contain encoded dates. However, Search Limits do not operate on B.C. dates. See Search by Date or Period for more information on searching B.C. dates.
    Encoded dates may take the following forms (u = unknown):
   
Single year 1657  
Single decade 187u  
Single century 17uu  
Range of years 1886-1904 (beginning and ending dates)
Open-ended date 1899-9999 (used for current periodicals)
Year month day 1836-0412 (used mainly for autograph manuscripts)
Unknown dates uuuu-uuuu  
    Note: Do not use u in date limit searches; instead, use a date range such as 1700-1799 for the eighteenth century (encoded as 17uu).
    All date limits operate only on the first four digits of the encoded date. This means that Search Limits do not always work as expected.
     
  How to Set Date Limits
  1. Enter a single year in the first text box.
  2. To limit to a single year check the box with the = sign.
   
1543 finds items with a single date 1543
  items with a date range beginning with 1543
Does not find items with a date given as a range between 1482 and 1570
(date matching is performed only on the first date)
  3. To limit to dates after a given year check the box with the "greater than" sign (>)
   
>1970 finds items dated after 1970
Does not find an item with a date range of 1968 and 1975
  4. To limit to dates before a given year check the box with the "less than" sign (<)
   
<1320 finds items dated on or before 1319
  it will also retrieve any item which is coded as dates unknown
  5 & 6. To limit to dates between two years check the Range box and enter the end date in the second text box
   
Range 1400-1499 finds items with a single date between 1400 and 1499 inclusive
  items with range dates beginning between 1400 and 1499
     
    Tip: You will usually get better results by using the date range option instead of the < (less than) and > (greater than) options.
    0001 1319 as a date range works better than <1320
    For searching exact dates of autograph letters and for further information, see Search by Date or by Period.
     
  Limit by Language
    Limit by Language is the most efficient way to retrieve records by language.
    Most records for textual material contain information on the language of the item. Records for visual material (drawings, cylinder seals, art objects, photographs, etc.) do not contain language codes unless the items contain inscriptions.
    Limit by Language operates on information stored in the record as a code, not as a word or phrase. A KEYWORD OR PHRASE Search for "French, Old" will not find all the items that are coded as being in that language.
    Limit by Language does not work well for multi-lingual works, because each record contains only a single language code for the predominant language in the work.
    Language codes that appear in many records for letters, literary and historical manuscripts, archives, and music manuscripts are unreliable. Many of these records contain a language code called "Undetermined" (meaning that the language of the item was not apparent from the information on the record). Others may contain language codes based on the writer's nationality, rather than on an examination of the item. Languages that occur most frequently in the Library's collections appear at the start of the list; all other languages are listed in alphabetical order below.
     
  Limit by Location
    Limit by Location narrows searches to departments or to subcollections.
    List of Locations:
   
  All Curatorial Collections
  All Reference Collection material
  Archives
  Dept. of Drawings and Prints
  Dept. of Literary and Historical Manuscripts
  Dept. of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts
  Dept. of Music Manuscripts & Books
  Dept. of Printed Books
  Dept. of Seals and Tablets
  Gilbert and Sullivan Collection
    The names of the curatorial departments reflect the main focus of the holdings within each department. There is often an overlap among the types of material held by the departments.
    For example, the Dept. of Literary and Historical Manuscripts is responsible chiefly for post-medieval manuscripts, but numbers earlier documents among its holdings. The Dept. of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts owns post-Renaissance manuscripts and pre-medieval papyri. Visual material (drawings, prints, photographs) may be found among the holdings of all the different departments. Consult the guides to research on individual collections for more information.
    The Reference Collection contains books, periodicals, pamphlets, microforms, photographs, and computer files acquired to support research on the curatorial collections.
     
  Limit by Place
    Limit by Place narrows searches by the place of publication or creation.
    Place information is stored in the record as a code, not as a word or phrase. A KEYWORD OR PHRASE search for a place name such as "Michigan" or "Ireland" in the Limits list will not find all the items coded as originating in that place.
    Each record contains only a single code for place; a record for a book published simultaneously in London and New York will contain only the place code for England.
   

Place limits for the United States and Canada operate on the state or province level:
   

Massachusetts
Toronto
    Other place limits operate on the country level:
    France
Italy
Germany
    Within the United Kingdom, limits operate on the country level:
    England
Northern Ireland
Scotland
Wales
    There is no easy way to limit a search to all material published or created in the United Kingdom, United States, or Canada. Selecting "United Kingdom," "United States" or "Canada" from the list of Place limits will retrieve only those records which are coded to indicate that the place of origin is presumed to be somewhere within the U.K., U.S.A., or Canada, but the exact country, state, or province is unknown. For information on searching directly for country, state, and city, see Search by Place.
    When an item cannot be localized, it is assigned a code for "no place, unknown, or undetermined." Records for drawings usually contain this code, since the place of creation is seldom known.To search for drawings by school (French, German, etc.), see Search by Place.
     
  Limit by Type
    Limit by Type narrows searches to specific types of material.
   
Type
Examples
Printed Book Printed monographs, pamphlets, offprints, broadsides, toy and movable books, etc.
Periodical Journals, annuals
Manuscript/Archival Manuscripts, typescripts, galleys, clippings, etc.; archival collections
Printed Score Books or sheet music
Map Map, atlas
Computer File/Software CDs, online databases
Visual Material Drawings, prints, photographs, slide sets, illustrated single leaves and cuttings, portolan atlases
Mixed Material Collections of items in which no single type of material predominates
Object Cylinder and stamp seals and seal impressions; paintings, sculpture and other art objects; three-dimensional cultural artifacts
    Information on the material type is stored in the record as a code, not as a word or phrase. A KEYWORD OR PHRASE search for "Music Manuscript" will not find all the records which are coded as music manuscripts.
    Each record contains only a single code for material type. When a record describes several items which belong to more than one material type, the record will specify only one (usually the predominant) material type. For example, an autograph letter or a group of letters may be housed with a drawing or photograph related to the letter(s). The Type code will be Manuscript/Archival, and a note will record the presence of the drawing or photograph. See the guides to research on individual collections for more information on how to locate items described as accompanying material.
     
  Limits for Previous Searches
    NOTE: The Previous Searches option does not include any limits added to previous searches, though any limits currently in effect will operate when the previous search is repeated. Re-enter limits before clicking on the Previous Searches button, then click on the search term(s) you wish to resubmit. If you try to set Limits after resubmitting the search term, the system will accept the Limits but clear the search.
     

Search Codes

 

Search codes allow you to search for specific types of information within the catalog. For example, the TKEY search code searches only titles.

The KEYWORD OR PHRASE search (first option on the Keyword/Browse search form) must be used for search codes. Type the search code, followed by your search term(s), in the Find this: box.

TKEY endymion

Search codes do not work with any of the BROWSE searches.

The Search in: box in the GUIDED SEARCH form contains a dropdown list of indexes that target the same fields as the search codes. Click on an index to select it; do not type the search codes when using the GUIDED SEARCH form.

See the Search Code table for a full listing and description with examples.
     

Titles List
 

The Titles List contains brief information about each item retrieved by a search. A Titles List is created whenever a KEYWORD OR PHRASE, CALL NUMBER BROWSE, or TITLE BROWSE search retrieves more than one item. (If these searches find only a single record, that record is displayed as a Detailed Record). Titles Lists are also generated when an entry in the Headings List is selected.

If a Titles List contains more than the number of records specified in the Records per page box (the default is 50, which you may change at any time), you can display the next page of records by clicking the icon. You can return to the previous page of records by clicking the icon. Click on the hyperlinked numbers between these two icons to advance to that number in the list.

A Titles List is usually sorted by Author, Title, Date. If you wish to change the sort order, select from the list in the Sort by: box.

The Limit Results button allows you to apply Search Limits to the records in the Titles List. See Search Limits for more information.

The Titles List attempts to give enough information about each of the titles found to allow you to choose which records you wish to examine more fully. To display a fuller record click on the underlined title or on the number in the left-hand column. (See Record Displays to learn more about how individual records are displayed. See Printing and Saving to see how to retain a permanent record of your search results.)

 

Headings List
 

Search results from an NAME, NAME-TITLE, or SUBJECT BROWSE search are displayed in the Headings List. The Headings List displays the number of titles associated with each heading in the column labeled Titles; the column labeled Headings Type indicates the type of heading. The heading types that appear in the Name Browse are self-explanatory. To learn more about the heading types that appear in the Subject Browse, including how they can assist your research, see the Heading Types List.

To view the records linked to a heading, click on the underlined number in the first column. If only one record is linked to the heading, it will display as a Detailed Record. If more than one record is linked to the heading, a Titles List will be created.

To browse the Headings List, click the or the icon. The number of headings shown on the page depends on the number selected in the Records per page box in the Keyword/Browse search page. The default is 50; you may change this by returning to the search page and selecting a different number.

A See/See also icon or Notes icon may appear in the first column. These will link to information about related headings or to notes defining subject or genre terms. See Cross References and Scope Notes for a full description..

To begin a new search, click the icon.
 

Cross References and Scope Notes

 

Clicking on the icon retrieves reference(s) related to a heading. These may include See references (giving the heading used in the catalog, when a variant was searched for), or See Also references (e.g. references to earlier or later name forms of a corporate body). To perform a search on one of the listed references, click the appropriate underlined heading.

Clicking on the Notes icon retrieves definitions of subject or genre terms.

To return to the previous Headings List, click the Return to Previous Headings icon. To begin a new search, click the New Search icon.
 

Record Displays
 

You can display records in any of three different forms: Detailed, Brief or MARC Format. Click the or icons to move one by one through the current records in the result set. Search terms used in KEYWORD OR PHRASE or GUIDED searches are highlighted in boldface throughout the record. Detailed and Brief displays include hyperlinks (underlined and colored) to the various browse lists; these are the same lists retrieved by BROWSE searches. You can use your browser's back button to return to the record you were viewing before activating the hyperlink.

You can save and print information about the current records in several ways. See Printing and Saving.

Detailed Record Format

  • Includes full bibliographical description, with notes, subject headings, associated names, etc.
  • Includes information required to request material: accession number, call number, and location.
  • Includes hyperlinks to browsable lists of names, subjects, titles, call numbers.

Brief Record

  • Includes minimal bibliographical information and some hyperlinks to browsable lists.
  • Includes information required to request material: accession number, call number, and location.

MARC Format 

  • Most useful to librarians and others familiar with its tagged format.
  • Does not include hyperlinks, call numbers, or locations.

More about the MARC Record format.
     

Printing, Saving, and Emailing
 

Follow these instructions to save, print, or email the Detailed Record version of CORSAIR records. The system does not allow you to output records in the Brief and MARC Format displays. (The MARC Format option offered for output is intended for machine use only). If you wish to print a record in the Brief or MARC Format display, use the print button on your browser.
 
 

Single records

  • Single records can be saved, printed or emailed while viewing a record in any of the Record Displays (Detailed, Brief or MARC Format).
  • The options appear at the bottom of each display.
  • Click the icon to view the Detailed version of the record in the window of your browser; then use the browser functions to print or save the record.
  • To email a copy of the record, enter a valid email address, then click the email button; the system confirms that a message has been sent, but not that it has arrived at its destination.

Multiple records

  • To email, print, or save multiple records, you must be viewing the Titles List, not an individual record.
  • To print, save or email multiple records from the Titles List you must first select them.
  • The radio buttons in the Save Options section allow you to select all the records on the current page, all the records on all pages, or individual records (click in the box on the left of each record to select individual records).
  • Click the icon to get the Detailed version of the records in the window of your browser; then use the browser functions to print or save the record.
  • To email a copy of all your selected records, enter a valid email address, then click the email button; the system confirms that a message has been sent, but not that it has arrived at its destination.

To begin a new search, click the icon.