AMICUS Help - AMICUS - Library and Archives Canada

AMICUS Help

About AMICUS

Acceptable Use Policy

Specialized AMICUS Sites (more…)

Appendix

Select a topic below or the Help Contents

Browsers
How to set up your browser for AMICUS
Punctuation & Abbreviations
A list of punctuation and abbreviations used in searching and holdings
Buttons & Commands
A list of all the buttons and commands
Indexes & Limiters
A list of all the indexes and limiters
Record Contents
A list of the contents of the Brief, Full & MARC records

Browsers

We recommend the browser settings below for Access AMICUS on the Web.

Web address:	collectionscanada.ca/amicus
Browser:	Netscape 4.7 or above; Internet Explorer 5 or above
Operating system:	32 bit
Screen resolution:	600 x 800
Colors:	256 (minimum); white for background, blue for links
Javascript:	"enabled"; for full use of Options use Javascript 1.2
Font:	Use document specified fonts; default font is Courrier New, size 10; records are in Lucida Console

For character-based browsers, like LYNX, assume character set ISO-8859-1 (ISO Latin 1) and display character set Western cp850 version 2.3 and above.

To enhance performance, reduce the number of applications that are open at the same time.

Punctuation & Abbreviations

Punctuation Used in Searching

You can ignore punctuation except when searching subjects and class numbers.

.	Use the period in Dewey, LC and UDS class numbers. Example: 810.3
--	Use two hyphens before a subject subdivision. Example: jazz--canada

The punctuation below can be useful to narrow or broaden a search.

!	Use the exclamation point to narrow a search to a precise term. Example: peters a! finds works by A. Peters but excludes A.G. Peters, A.H.M. Peters, etc.
" "	Use quotes to search by a phrase. Example: "acid rain" searches for the words together rather than as acid and rain
?	Use the question mark to replace one or more characters. Example: neighb?rhood finds both neighbourhood and neighborhood
#	Use the number sign to replace a single character. Example: ethiopi#n finds both Ethiopian and Ethiopien (French form)

Abbreviations & Punctuation Used in Library Holdings

ci	Only the current issue of the item is in this library
cm	Only the current month of the item is in this library
cw	Only the current week of the item is in this library
cy	Only the current year of the item is in this library
-	There is an unbroken range of holdings for the item. Example: v.1-30 means the library has everything from the start of volume 1 to the end of 30
[ ]	The holdings for the item are incomplete. Example: [1950] includes some parts of 1950
?	The holdings information is uncertain. Example: v. 18-42? may include volumes 18 to 42
/	A single physical item with two connected volumes. Example: v. 12/13 indicates that volumes 12 and 13 are contained in a single physical item.
,	There is a gap in the holdings for the item. Example: v. 1-3, 5 means the library has volumes 1 to 3 and 5 but not volume 4
;	There is a publication break (not a gap) in the holdings. Example: v. 1-3; 5- indicates that after volume 3 the publisher jumped to 5 without publishing volume 4

Buttons & Commands

Buttons
Buttons are specific to each screen. To use a button click it once.

Add	Adds your preferred indexes and limiters to the Search screen
AND	Combines terms in an advanced search to narrow your search
Authority	Shows details about a heading in the name, title or subject index
Biblio. records	Shows the bibliographic records for the authority
Brief	Shows a brief record for the item
Browse	Browses for the term in the index
Clear	Clears the entry box on the Search screen
Clear List	Clears the View List screen; see the View List command
Clear selections	Clears the selection boxes on the Browse or Results screen
Display selections	Displays the items selected on the Results or Browse screens
Download	Converts records to MARC 21 and moves them to a local file
E-mail to	Sends the saved results to an e-mail address
Full	Shows a complete record for the item
ILL request to LAC	Asks the National Library to search other sources for the item
Locations	Displays the libraries which have the item
MARC	Shows the record with Machine Readable Cataloguing codes
Next	Shows the next record or the next page of the index or results
NOT	Combines terms in an advanced search to narrow your search
OR	Combines terms in an advanced search to broaden your search
Previous	Shows the prior record or the prior page of the index or results
Record	Returns to the record from the Locations screen
References	Shows related entries while browsing the name, title or subject indexes
Remove	Removes unwanted indexes or limiters from the Search screen
Reset	Returns to the previously saved options
Results	Returns to the search results from the Record screen
Save	Saves the selected results to a list; see the View List command
Save permanently	Saves the options permanently as your new choices; see Save next
Save temporarily	Saves the options for this session only; see previous
Send	Sends the interlibrary loan request
Show request	Shows the interlibrary loan request that is to be sent
Sort	Sorts the search results by name, title or date
Submit	Starts the search or browse

Commands
Commands display underlined below the screen title. To use a command click it once.

Account	Shows details about your account such as your usage to date
Advanced search	Enables you to search multiple indexes
Basic search	Enables you search a single index
Command search	Enables you to search with commands instead of menus
Comments	Enables you to e-mail comments to the National Library
Exit	Logs you off Access AMICUS on the Web
Francais	Switches to the French search screen
Help	Displays the help file
List Indexes	Displays information for command searching
New search	Enables you to start a new search
News	Displays news about AMICUS
Options	Customizes AMICUS to your needs
R	Enables you to request an item from another library
View list	Displays what you saved on the Results and Record screens

Indexes & Limiters

Indexes
You can search the indexes below. Those in italics can be browsed as well as searched.n Registered users can add or remove an index from the Search screen by using the Options command. Shelf list indexes available only to the National Library are not shown below.

AMICUS no.	Enter as found. An AMICUS number search bypasses the Results screen to go directly to the record. Example: 2345678
Any keyword	Enter any significant word in a name, title, subject, note or publisher name. Use with caution. Example: lunar eclipses
*Canadiana no.*	Enter 2 digits (year), 6 digits (right-justified), check digit, language (e or f) as applicable. Example: 940012359
*Class-other*	Enter as found. Example: 30720971533
*CODEN*	Enter as found. Example: ababac
*CONSER no.*	Enter either ocl or ocm with 8 digits. Example: ocl79876569
*CRMM no.*	Enter the Canadian Registry of Microform Masters number as found. Example: aeu 72025175
*Dewey class*	Enter prefix (j, c, jc) if applicable, 3 digits (right-justified), period and remaining digits. Example: 810.3
*Dynix no.*	Enter the Dynix number used within the Library and Archives Canada. Example: 12312142
*ISBN*	Omit hyphens, price and qualifier (pbk) in the International Standard Book Number. Example: 0838423620
*ISMN*	There are no examples at present for the International Standard Music Number
*ISSN*	Omit hyphens and slashes in the International Standard Serial Number. Example: 03161196
*LC control no.*	Omit hyphens and slashes in the LCCN. Also known as the Library of Congress Card Number. Example: 81126148
*LC class*	Enter 1-3 letters, 1-4 digits, period, remainder of the LIbrary of Congress class number. Example: pn751
*MARA control no.*	Enter the library symbol and control number. Example: oocc5498
*Name exact*	Enter the beginning of the name of the author. Ignore initial articles, such as "The". See also name keyword. Examples: munro alice and conference board
Name keyword	Enter any significant word in a name. Avoid common words ("canada"). Example: armenian
*NAL subject category*	Enter 4 digits (right justified) for the National Agriculture Library subject category number. No example available
*LAC authority no.*	Enter 4 digits, hyphen, one letter, hyphen, 4 digits, language if applicable. Examples: 0016-A-3367; 0000-e-0847e
Note keyword	Enter one or more significant words in a note. Use with caution. Example: acid rain
Other class (Canada)	Enter as found; example not available at present
*Other control no.*	Enter as found. Example: ci96-69/1993E
Publisher keyword	Enter any significant word in the publisher name. Examples: acadia house and porcupine
*Publisher no. (music)*	Enter the number as found on the item. Example: 1000747
*Report no.*	Enter the number as found on the item. Example: tisc 5
*Subject exact*	Enter the beginning of the subject heading. Use two hyphens before subdivisions (e.g.--canada). Example: jazz--canada
Subject keyword	Enter any significant word in a subject. Avoid common words ("canada"). Example: individualism
*Title exact*	Enter the beginning of the title. Ignore initial articles, such as "The" or "An". See also title keyword. Example: feliciter
Title keyword	Enter any significant word in a title. Avoid common words ("canada"). Example: illiteracy
*UDC*	Enter the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) number as found; do not begin with a period. Example: 614.253

Limiters
You can narrow a search with the limiters below. You cannot: a) browse an index with limiters, and b) search by a limiter alone. The limiters displayed on the Advanced Search screen are based on your choices on the Options screen. For two or more values for the same limiter use the Command Search screen. Some limiters use the abbreviations DOB (meaning used in DOBIS records) or OBS (meaning used in older records and now obsolete).

	This limiter is useful for limiting your results to:
Bibliographic level	Serials (such as journals) or monographs (books, etc.)
Conference	Conferences or meetings
Date	Items with a specific date (=) or items before (<) or after (>) a specific date
Form of item	Braille, large print, microforms
Govt. publication	Provincial, national, international or other government publication
Language	Items published in a language other than English
Library symbol	Locate an item in a specific library
Material type	Cartographic items (maps), music, sound recordings
Music composition	Blues, jazz, oratorios and other printed music
Music format	Vocal and other printed musical scores
Nature of content	Theses and other content
Place	Province, state, country of publication
Serial type	Newspapers, periodicals and monographic series
Target audience	Children's and young adult books or music
Volume no. (series)	Specific volume number of a book in a series

Record Contents

Brief Record (registration required)
The Brief record displays an abbreviated description of the item.

AMICUS number
Bibliographic level: such as Monograph or Serial
Names: Main author (with an asterisk) or uniform title heading
Titles: Main title and statement of responsibility
Edition: example, Revised ed.
Publisher: includes place and date of publication
Description: includes pagination and volumes published
E-Location: URL for the item
Series: traced series
Notes: includes serial information and selected relationships
Numbers: ISBN, ISSN
Subject headings

Full Record

The Full record displays a complete bibliographic description of the item. In addition to the information on the Brief record the following is provided.

Names: additional names, such as joint authors
Titles: additional titles, such as, cover titles, parallel titles
Series: both traced and untraced series statements
Notes: complete notes including all relationships
Numbers: Canadiana, CONSER, report and other numbers
Classification: Dewey and LC class numbers

MARC Record (registration required)

The MARC record displays the entire bibliographic description with Machine Readable Cataloguing (MARC) codes. The Library of Congress website (http://www.loc.gov/marc/) provides detailed information about MARC.

Help Contents