Search Help

Last edited April 28, 2005

The set of forms at this site allows you to search the Nestor bibliographical database from 1957 to 2003. There are currently more than 369,000 entries. This website contains all of the information available from the "Articles & Books" and "Review" from the ftp site at ftp://classics.uc.edu/pub/nestor/individual_nestor_files.

The database (like NESTOR itself) does not include information on the subject matter of the books or articles; therefore, it is not searchable by subject or keyword. It is searchable by the text in the titles of the books, articles, journals, author names, and by publication dates. Any disadvantages are outweighed by the sheer quantity of articles that are indexed here and nowhere else.

There are two ways to access this database. The simple search page will allow you to search for a string of text in any of the available fields. Simply enter the data that you desire, and click on the search button. The detailed search engine will allow you to be more creative in your search. Until the reviews are fully linked, there is a temporary review search engine that will allow you to query that database directly.

After you enter your search criteria, use the Search button on the bottom of the page. Using the Return key on your keyboard may result in an error message, depending on your browser program. Results will be returned in groups of 20. In order to see the next 20 returns, click on the "Next" link at the bottom of the page.

If you wish to construct your own database for off-line searches, the text files are still available from the UC Classics web site for free, or you can purchase copies on diskette from the Nestor office.

Hints:

1. This database is not case sensitive.
   
   
2. The database searches for any instance of the query word regardless of its position within that field. If you want to search for word fragments in titles (e.g. "glyph"), use the detailed search page and change "starts with" to the "contains" parameter. For example a search done for Title "Starts with" glyph will return 3 results; however, a search conducted as Title "Contains" glyph will return 138 results, including 'hieroglyphenhethitischer', 'Hieroglyphic', and 'hieroglyphische.'
   
   
3. Names have been entered according to the style used in the book or article. Therefore, Carl Blegen is sometimes listed as Blegen, C.W. and sometimes as Blegen, Carl W. and subauthored as C.W. Blegen. Be creative when attempting to isolate names with unique first names from common surnames. Do not include commas or other punctuation in your search as that will cause the database to search for that exact string of text, commas and all.
   
   
4. Remember, you are only searching for a string of text. In order to use wildcards, use the character *. When you want to limit the return to the exact text that you supply, use the detailed search engine and use the 'equals' command. For example, searching for 'Troia' in the title field on the simple search will return 'Troia', and 'troianischen.' To limit this to 'Troia', select Title (or In Journal/Book): 'equals' Troia on the detailed .
   
   
5. For titles, make sure that you check for the subject under different languages (including different versions of site names: Troy and Troia). Please also try alternate (British and American) spellings: e.g. harbor and harbour.
   
   
6. A review of the work will show up as an indented entry, underneath preceeded by "Review:". Reviews are abbreviated in the standard AJA format.
   
   
7. This database is being served by using FileMaker Pro as the database, which means that you can enter complex search material in a manner that FileMaker understands. Below is a list of the most commonly used search symbols. The most useful implementation of these symbols is to use '...' to indicate a range of dates (example: 1980...1985). 
   
    
   
8. Performance of this database is dependent upon several factors, including complexity of search, number of results returned, and time of day. If you get a message saying that the search timed out, or another error message, try again in one minute. If problems persist, please contact us with a description of your search criteria.