Click here for the Home Page Includes a preface, editorial criteria and more View a list of all authors in the database Search the source bibliography Search the database for specific authors Search the texts for words, phrases and more Search the texts for words and phrases in combination with other fields Highlights items of lay interest from the collection Click here for help


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Table of Contents
 

1. GUIDED TOUR

A basic 10 minute guided tour that shows the major features of the database is available. Please CLICK here for more.

2. INTRODUCTION

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Black Thought & Culture provides sophisticated searching across large numbers of primary documents, as well as table of contents access to a wide array of primary sources.

For novices who wish to get quick access to key documents, we recommend using the Tables of Contents and the Simple Search tools.

For scholars who wish to conduct in-depth searches we recommend using the Advanced Search tools.  The search value of some of the fields in the database will not become apparent until more documents are added.

2.2 UNDERSTANDING THE STRUCTURE OF THE DATABASE

There are three basic ways to use the database.

2.3 SEARCH NAVIGATION BAR

The Search Navigation Bar lets you move around the database retrieval tools, including the Search tools. It is the same as the Tables of Contents tool bar, except that the Search tools are expanded, and the Tables of Contents tools are reduced. You can toggle between the two by clicking Tables of Contents or Full-Text Search in the maroon section indicated above. (The graphic above is just an illustration; it does not have live links.)

The Search tools are divided into two separate categories, all of which search the texts in the database and return documents:

  • Simple Search - for novice users or those wishing to do a quick search. It provides basic searching.
  • Advanced Search - all fields, except specific letter fields.
The mustard color indicates which Search tool you are currently using. As you move from tool to tool, the mustard color moves to indicate which tool you've selected. You may click on the maroon parts of the Navigation Bar to move to the appropriate tool.

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2.4 TABLE OF CONTENTS NAVIGATION BAR

The Tables of Contents Navigation Bar lets you move around the Tables of Contents tools. It works in the same way as the Search Tool bar. When using these tools, the Tables of Contents are expanded and the Full Text Searches are collapsed. You can toggle between the two by clicking Tables of Contents or Full-Text Search.

The Tables of Contents are divided into seven separate categories, all of which provide quick access to specific documents within the database.

  • Authors - a list of every major author in the database
  • Sources - a complete list of every source (work or manuscripts) in the database
  • Year - every letter and document organized by year
  • Personal Events - a list of key life events in the life of a person, with all documents pertaining to each event
  • Historical Events - a list of key events in history, with all documents pertaining to each event
  • Question - a list of questions posed to various figures, with links to documents pertaining to each question
  • Subject - a list of subject terms, with all documents pertaining to each term
The mustard color indicates which table of contents you are using. The mustard color moves as you move from tool to tool. You may click on the maroon parts of the Navigation bar to move to the appropriate tool. 

2.5 NOTES ON MARK-UP CONVENTIONS

Materials in the database have been transcribed using original spellings and grammar. In some documents spelling is inconsistent, even within a sentence.

For more information on mark-up conventions, contact the Editor.

2.6 ABOUT THE SEARCH SOFTWARE

PhiloLogic, a suite of software developed by the ARTFL Project at the University of Chicago in collaboration with The University of Chicago Library's Electronic Text Services, provides sophisticated searching of a wide variety of large encoded databases on the World Wide Web. It is an easy to use, yet powerful, full-text search, retrieval, and reporting system for large multimedia databases (texts, images, sound) with the ability to handle complex text structures with extensive indexed metadata.

PhiloLogic in its simplest form serves as a document retrieval or look up mechanism whereby users can search a relational database to retrieve given documents and, in some implementations, portions of texts such as acts, scenes, articles, or head-words. This same document retrieval mechanism serves as the basis for defining a corpus in a full-text search. One can, for example, either retrieve all documents in a database written by women from 1935 through 1945 or one can search for words or phrases within database which fit those criteria. The typical PhiloLogic search is broken down into five distinct stages: 1) defining a corpus (i.e. limiting a search), 2) word expansion, 3) word index searching, 4) text extraction, and 5) link resolution and formatting (e.g., SGML to HTML conversion). In other words, after defining a corpus (or one may search an entire database), one can execute a single term, phrase or proximity search. By looking up indices of the word(s) in a relational database, PhiloLogic extracts blocks of text containing the search term(s) with links to larger blocks of text. These extracts are formatted to display on a Web browser and sometimes include links to images, sound recordings, other texts, or even other databases.

In addition to simple word and phrase searches, users can perform more sophisticated searches by using extended UNIX-style regular expressions for complex wildcard searching and, in some implementations, morphological and orthographic expansion. All of these mechanisms to expand words can be combined using Boolean operators such as OR (the vertical bar "|") and AND (a space) within a variety of searching contexts.

Its functions were originally designed for scholarly research in databases of literary, religious, philosophical, and historical collections of texts as well as important historical encyclopedias and dictionaries. PhiloLogic handles notes so as not to interfere with phrase searching. Users can easily search words with diacritics (either by specifying accents or ignoring them by typing in uppercase) and non-Romanized scripts. At present there are some fifty databases on the Web under PhiloLogic containing languages such as ancient Greek, Latin, Hindi, and Urdu as well as nearly all Western European languages. PhiloLogic can also be set up to recognize or ignore manuscript notations such as different brackets, which can indicate spurious text or editorial emendations. Because the software recognizes typical text structures as real data objects, it understands units, such as words, sentences, paragraphs, sections, and pages, permitting very flexible searching and retrieval of these textual objects. Other full-text engines on the market search for strings of characters. Rather than searching for two words within the same sentence or paragraph (intellectual units), other engines must search for two words within a certain number of characters regardless of sentence or paragraph. With PhiloLogic scholars always know where they are in a given text since pagination can be displayed along side other objects. Such a high degree of indexing can lead to decreases in speed, PhiloLogic indexing has been maximized such that it is still incredibly fast on the Web.

For more information on PhiloLogic, contact Catherine Mardikes, ETS Coordinator, The University of Chicago Library.

 

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3. FIND AUTHOR AND FIND SOURCES

3.1 FIND SOURCES

The Find Sources tool lets you find all the original works in the database that match your specific criteria. For example, you can find out all the sources published by the Pennsylvania Historical Society or see whether a particular edition is included.

Practical Example: Find all sources that have slavery as a subject.

Note: For a detailed discussion of the fields in Find Sources see the section on Fields and their Descriptions below.

3.2 FIND AUTHORS

The Find Authors tool lets you find authors in the database that match your specific criteria. For example, you can find all the authors in the database that were born between 1850 and 1870.

Practical Example: Find all authors born between 1850 and 1870.

Note: For a detailed discussion of the fields in Find Authors see the section on Fields and their Descriptions below.

 

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4. SEARCHING

4.1 SEARCH OVERVIEW

There are two basic kinds of searching in the database.

The conventions used in each kind of searching are slightly different as shown below.

 

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4.2 FULL-TEXT SEARCHING

4.2.1 Full-Text Searching

Full-Text Searching is when you search for specific words or phrases that occur in the texts themselves.

PhiloLogic supports wildcard characters and Boolean (logical) operators, which are modeled on UNIX regular expressions to perform "pattern matching" in full-text searching. Pattern matching allows identification of a large number of words corresponding to a defined pattern. Wildcard characters can be useful, for example, in identifying cognates made obscure by affixes and vowel weakening, inconsistencies due to irregular orthography, and variations on account of word inflection as well as for discovering potential emendations for uncertain readings. The most commonly used regular expression operators (wildcard and Boolean) are listed below.

4.2.2 Wildcard Characters in Full-Text Searching

 

. (period):
matches any single character (e.g., gentlem.n will retrieve gentleman and gentlemen).
* (asterisk):
matches any string of characters, anchoring the match at the beginning of a word (e.g., cigar* will match cigar, cigars, cigarette, etc.).
* (asterisk):
matches any string of characters, anchoring the match at the end of a word (e.g., *habit will retrieve habit, cohabit, and inhabit), or in the middle (e.g., c.*eers matches compeers, cheers, and careers).
.? (period question mark):
matches the characters entered or the characters entered plus one more character in place of the question mark (e.g., hono.?r matches both honor and honour and cat.? matches cat and cats, but not cathedral, Catherine, etc.).
[a-z] (brackets):
matches a single character found in the specified range (e.g., [c-f]at will match cat, dat, eat, and fat) or any letters within the brackets (e.g., civili[zs]e will match both civilize and civilise).
# (hash mark):
matches capitalized words only (e.g., #bacon will retrieve Bacon, but not bacon). Otherwise word searches are case insensitive. Please note that this operator does not work properly in conjunction with the vertical bar (e.g., searching #hamlet|#bacon will not retrieve accurate results).
E (capital letter):
matches all accented and non-accented forms (e.g., to search naïveté regardless of accents type naIvetE).

Note: If you are using wildcard characters and would like to see a full list of the words matching your search-term, then run your search as a Frequency by Author search. The results page of a Frequency by Author search lists all the terms found in a database that match your search-term.

4.2.3 Wildcards and Boolean Operators in Full-Text Searching

4.2.4 Punctuation and Full-Text Searching

4.2.5 Selecting a Search Option

PhiloLogic at this time offers two kinds of searches: "Single Term and Phrase Search," which is set up as the default, and "Proximity Searching in the Same Sentence or Paragraph." One may select and deselect a search option by clicking on the "radio" buttons.

For a fuller discussion see the PhiloLogic User Manual

 

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4.3 FIELD SEARCHING

4.3.1 Searching in Specific Fields

When entering search terms in bibliographic fields, as opposed to the full text search box, use the following Boolean operators: uppercase AND, OR, and NOT. One can use a NOT operator by itself (e.g., in the Type field enter: NOT editorial). It must be the first term in the box with no spaces preceding and it cannot be used with other Boolean operators

4.3.2 Advanced Field Searching with Regular Expression Operators

As in full text searching, one can use regular expression operators for more specialized searching. The caret sign (^) at the beginning of a word anchors the match at the beginning of the entry (e.g., ^child will find the personal event "Childbirth," but not "Adoption of Child). One can also use the verticle line (|) as a Boolean operator OR. With this operator one can exclude two terms from one's search (e.g., NOT adams|burr).

4.3.3 Punctuation and Spacing in Fielded Searching

When entering terms, punctuation and spacing must match exactly that in the fields. The following marks of punctuation produce a "Nothing found" message: ampersand (&), parentheses, question mark, and double quotes (""). If necessary for searching, replace the mark of punctuation with a period, which stand for any single character.

 

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5. FIELDS AND THEIR DESCRIPTIONS

5.1 LIST OF ALL FIELDS THAT CAN BE SEARCHED

Here is a summary table of all fields in the database, showing which tool they can be found on. Detailed descriptions can be found below.

  Find Authors Find Sources Simple Search Advanced Search
Age at Writing       x
Author(s): x x x x
Document Type:     x x
Editor or Translator:   x    
Educational Level: x      
Gender: x     x
Historical Event(s):       x
Influence Name:       x
Interviewer Name:       x
Nationality: x     x
Occupation: x     x
Organization(s):       x
People Referred to:       x
Personal Event(s):       x
Place of Birth: x      
Place of Death: x      
Place(s):       x
Previously Unpublished:   x    
Publication Place:   x    
Publisher:   x    
Race: x     x
Record Number:       x
Religion: x     x
Schools Attended: x       
Search in Texts:       x
Search word or phrase:     x  
Source Type:   x    
Subject Headings:   x x x
Title:   x    
Year of Birth: x      
Year of Death: x      
Year of Publication:   x    
Year Written     x x
  Find Authors Find Sources Simple Search Advanced Search

5.2 FIELD DESCRIPTIONS WITH SAMPLE SEARCHES

5.2.1 Age at Writing

Description: This field indicates the age in years of the author when a document was written.

How to use this field: Use this field to restrict a search to materials written by an author during a particular time in their lives. It is particularly useful for examining changing perspectives over time, to explore differences in the vocabulary and preoccupations of the young and the old. It is used in the Advanced Search screen.

Practical Example: Find all writings by authors aged 20-50 in which they discuss politics.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "politic*" into the Subject Headings field.  The system will retrieve all words that use politic – like politics, political commentary, political causes, etc.
  • Enter "20-50" into the Age at Writing field. This will restrict the search to items written by an author aged 20-50.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences in context.
Note: To search for occurrences of the text where the author's age is not known, key in 9999 in the field Box.

 

5.2.2 Author

Description: This field indicates the name of the author of a document entry. It includes variant names, such as maiden name, professional penname, aliases, other married names and nicknames. The same official form of the name is used for display for all occurrences of that name, regardless of the form the author used at the time of writing.

How to use this field: Use this field to analyze word usage or materials by a single author or authors.  Names are entered surname, first name, and middle initial. This is a mandatory field.  It is used in all the Search screens.

Practical Example: Find all occurrences of "slavery" in texts by Maya Angelou.

  • Click on Simple Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "slavery" into the Search Word or Phrase box.
  • Enter "Angelou, Maya" into the Author field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences in context.

Note: To see a list of available Author terms click on the Terms button next to the Author field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

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5.2.3 Document Type

Description: This field allows you to restrict the kinds of documents you want to search and retrieve.

How to use this field: Use this field to restrict a search to find specific types (i.e. speeches, chapters, interviews, etc.) of documents.  It is used in the Simple Search and Advanced Search screens.

Practical Example: Find all occurrences of the word "lynching" in a chapter.

  • Click on Simple Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Lynching” into the Search Word or Phrase field.
  • Enter “chapter” into the Document Type field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences in context.

Note: To see a list of available Document Type terms click on the Terms button next to the Document Type field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

 

5.2.4 Editor or Translator

Description: This field describes the compiler, editor, translator or author of the source title. The name is entered surname, first name, followed by a comma, and the abbreviation of the function filled (i.e. ed., comp., tr., introd., notes) if not the author.

How to use this field: This field allows users to find works translated or edited by specific individuals. Is is used in the Find Sources screen.

Practical Example: Find all sources compiled by Amy Garvey.

  • Click on Find Sources on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Garvey” into the Editor or Translator field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences in context.

 

Note: To see a list of available Editor or Translator terms click on the Terms button next to the Editor or Translator field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

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5.2.5 Educational Level

Description: This field indicates the highest level of education completed by the author. The possible options include: Finished college, Finished high school, and Master's degree, among others.

How to use this field:  Use this field to find authors by their level of education. It is used in the Find Authors screen.

Practical Example: Find all authors who have a master’s degree.

  • Click on Find Authors on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "Master's degree" into the Educational Level field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all authors who have a master’s degree.

Note: To see a list of available Educational Level terms click on the Terms button next to the Educational Level field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

 

5.2.6 Gender

Description: This field indicates the gender of the author.

How to use this field: It is useful for analyzing the differences in vocabulary in between men and women. It is used in the Find Authors screen.

Practical Example: Find all women authors.

  • Click on Find Authors on the navigation bar.
  • Select "Female" from the Gender drop-down box.
  • Click the SEARCH button.
  • The system will return of list of documents written by women.

5.2.7 Historical Events

Description: This is a controlled field with a special vocabulary of historical events.

How to use this field: Use this field to restrict a search to a specific historical event or events.  It is used in the Advanced Search screen.

Practical Example: Find all occurrences that discuss the Civil War as an event.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "civil war" into the Historical Events field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences in context.

Note: To see a list of available Historical Events terms click on the Terms button next to the Historical Events field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

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5.2.8 Influence Name

Description: This field contains the names of individuals that influenced authors in the database.

How to use this field: Use this field to find authors influenced by particular individuals. It is used in the Advanced Search screen.

Practical Example: Find all authors influenced by Langston Hughes.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Hughes, Langston” into the Influence Name field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system will respond with all authors that meet the criteria.

Note: To see a list of available Influence Name terms click on the Terms button next to the Influence Name field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

5.2.9 Interviewer Name

Description: This field indicates the names of interviewers in a source.

How to use this field: Use this field to find the names of specific interviewers. It is used in the Advanced Search screen.

Practical Example: Find all interviews conducted by T. H. Baker.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Baker, T. H.” into the Interviewer Name field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system will respond with all occurrences of the name as an interviewer.

Note: To see a list of available Interviewer Name terms click on the Terms button.

5.2.10 Nationality

Description: This field indicates the nationality of individuals in the database.

How to use this field: Use this field to restrict your search to all materials written by an author of a particular nationality.  It is used in the Find Authors and Advanced Search screens.

Practical Example: Find all sources written by Americans.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "American" into the Nationality field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

Note: To see a list of available Nationality terms click on the Terms button next to the Nationality field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

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5.2.11 Occupation

Description: This field indicates the author's occupation, if any. It is an optional field.

How to use this field: Use this field to find documents written by an author in a particular occupation - for example, Writer. It is used in the Find Authors and Advanced Search screens.

Note: All occupations throughout an author's life are entered. This is not tied to when an author is writing. An individual may have several occupations throughout his or her life.

Practical Example: Find all sources written by writers.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "writer" into the Occupation field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

Note: To see a list of available Occupation terms click on the Terms button next to the Occupation field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

 

5.2.12 Organizations

Description:  This field indicates the names of organizations discussed in texts and organizational affiliations of authors.

How to use this field:  Use this field to search for a discussion about an organization within the text or to identify authors or documents by authors affiliated with specific organizations.  It is used in the Advanced Search screen.

Practical Example: Find all references to Tuskegee Institute.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Tuskegee Institute” into the Organizational Subject field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system will provide a list of all significant discussions of the Tuskegee Institute.

Practical Example: Find documents by authors affiliated with The Black Panther Party.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Click on the Terms button next to the Organizational Affiliations field. Select "Black Panther Party, 1966-1985" and then click on the Paste Terms button to automatically paste the term into the search form.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system will provide a list of documents written by authors affiliated with this organization.

5.2.13 People Referred To

Description:  This field contains names of individuals who have been significantly discussed in a document.

How to use this field:  Use this field to locate a discussion of a particular person in a source. It is used in the Advanced Search screen.

Practical Example: Find all discussions of Abraham Lincoln.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Lincoln, Abraham” into the People Referred To field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

Note: To see a list of available People Referred To terms click on the Terms button next to the People Referred To field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

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5.2.14 Personal Events

Description: This is a controlled field that describes key events in an author’s life. It is used in the Advanced Search screen.

How to use this field: Use this field to restrict your search to documents pertaining to a key event, such as childbirth or the death of a spouse. It is used in the Advanced Search screen.

Practical Example: Find all references to an author “attending school” as a personal event.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "attending school" into the Personal Events field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

Note: To see a list of available Personal Events terms click on the Terms button next to the Personal Events field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

5.2.15 Place of Birth

Description: This field indicates the author's location of birth, if known. It is an optional field.

How to use this field: Use this field to find authors born in a particular place or region. It is used in the Find Authors screen. Use "Not indicated" to find occurrences where we have been unable to determine the place of birth.

Practical Example: Find all authors born in Virginia.

  • Click on Find Authors on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "VA" into the Place of Birth field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

Note: To see a list of available Place of Birth terms click on the Terms button next to the Place of Birth field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

 

5.2.16 Place of Death

Description: This field indicates the author's location of death, if known. It is an optional field.

How to use this field: Use this field to find authors who died in a particular place or region. It is used in the Find Authors screen. Use "Not indicated" to find occurrences where we have been unable to determine the place of death.

Practical Example: Find all authors who died in New York.

  • Click on Find Authors on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "NY" into the Place of Death field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.
Note: To see a list of available Place of Death terms click on the Terms button next to the Place of Death field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

5.2.17 Places

Description: This field allows you to find references to a specific geographical location.

How to use this field: Use this field to restrict your search to documents that contain significant discussions about a geographic location.

Practical Example: Find all discussions of Africa.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "Africa" into the Places field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.
Note: To see a list of available Places terms click on the Terms button next to the Places field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

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5.2.18 Previously Unpublished

 

Description: This field indicates sources that have never been published before.

 

How to use this field:  Use this field to limit a search to sources which have been previously published, never been published, or both.  It is used in the Find Sources screen.

Practical Example: Find all unpublished material.

  • Click on Find Sources on the navigation bar.
  • Select "Yes" from the Previously Unpublished drop-down box.
  • Click the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all unpublished material.

5.2.19 Publication Place

Description: This field indicates where a source work was published.

How to use this field: Use this field to find out where specific sources were published. It is used in the Find Sources screen.

Practical Example: Find all sources that were published in New York.

  • Click on Find Sources on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “New York” into the Publication Place field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

Note: To see a list of available Publication Place terms click on the Terms button next to the Publication Place field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

5.2.20 Publisher

Description: This field indicates the name of the publisher of the source work.

How to use this field: Use this field to find all source works by particular publisher. It is used in the Find Sources screen.

Practical Example: Find all sources that were published by Crisis Publishing Co.

  • Click on Find Sources on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "Crisis Publishing Co." into the Publisher field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.
Note: Publisher names are standardized and may vary from the form of the name that appears on the source's title page. To see a list of available Publisher terms click on the Terms button next to the Publisher field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

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5.2.21 Race

Description: This field indicates whether the author is American Indian, Asian, Black, Multiracial, Not Applicable, Not Indicated, or White.

How to use this field: Use this field to find all documents written by authors from a particular race or races. It is used in the Find Authors and Advanced Search screens.

Note: If you enter "Not Indicated" the database will respond with all documents where the race of the author is unknown.

5.2.22 Record Number

Description: This is the mandatory, unique identifier for each document in the database. It consists of the source work identifier and the individual document number, in the form: S1-D001.

How to use this field: This field allows you to go quickly to a specific entry in the entire database. Type in the document number exactly as it appears; the field is case sensitive.

 

5.2.23 Religion

Description: This field describes the religious background or beliefs of the author.

How to use this field: Use this field to analyze the vocabulary, behavior and experiences of authors with particular religious beliefs. It is used in the Find Authors and Advanced Search screens.

Practical Example: Find materials discussed by Episcopalians.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "Episcopalian" into the Religion field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.
Note: Terms in this field are standardized in an authority file. "Not Indicated" is used when we have been unable to ascertain the religion. "Christian" is used where a specific denomination is not known. To see a list of available Religion terms click on the Terms button next to the Religion field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

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5.2.24 Schools Attended

Description: This field contains the names of schools attended by authors in the database.

How to use this field: Use this field to search for authors who attended specific schools. It is used in the Find Authors screen.

Practical Example: Find all authors that attended Harvard University.

  • Click on Find Authors on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Harvard” into the Schools Attended field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all authors that attended Harvard.

Note: Note: To see a list of available Schools Attended terms click on the Terms button next to the Schools Attended field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

5.2.25 Search in Texts

Description: This field allows you to search for a word or phrase used in the text.

How to use this field:  Use this field to see examples of a specific word or phrase used by an author.

Practical Example: Find all mentions of the word “Abolitionists.”

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Abolitionists” into the Search Texts field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with all occurrences.

 

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5.2.26 Source Type

Description: This field indicates the type of source (book, journal article, etc.).

How to use this field: Use this field to restrict a search to a specific type of source. It is used in the Find Sources screen.

Practical Example: Find all journal articles.

  • Click on Find Sources on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Journal” into the Source Type field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.
Note: To see a list of available Source Type terms click on the Terms button next to the Source Type field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

 

5.2.27 Subject Headings

Description: This is a composite field consisting of all terms in the Name Subject field, Organization Subject field, Title as Subject field, Topical Subject field, Broad Subject field, Historical Event subject field, and Geographic Subject field.

How to use this field: Use this field to find a wide range of materials, including specific places, people, works of literature, and historical events.  It is used in the Find Sources, Simple Search and Advanced Search screens.

Practical Example: Find all discussions of John Brown.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Brown, John” into the Subject Headings field.
  • Click on SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

Practical Example: Find all references to National Negro Business League.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “National Negro Business League” into the Subject Headings field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

Practical Example: Find all discussions of the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” into the Subject Headings field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • They system responds with a list of all occurrences.

Practical Example: Find all references to “World War I”

  • Click on Advanced Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter “World War I” into the Subject Headings field.
  • Click on the Search button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

Note: To see a list of available Subject Headings terms click on the Terms button next to the Subject Headings field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

5.2.28 Title

Description:  The field contains a list of all available sources in the database.

How to use this field:  Enter the title you wish to search for into the Title field.  To see a list of available Title terms click on the Terms button next to the Title field. Check the terms you want and then click the Paste Terms button to automatically paste them into the search form.

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5.2.29 Year of Birth

Description: This field indicates the year of the author's birth, if known.  It is an optional field.

How to use this field: Use this field to find authors born in a particular year or period. It is used in the Find Authors screen.

Note: Use 9999 to find occurrences where we have been unable to determine the year of birth.

Practical Example: Find all authors born during the Civil War.

  • Click on Find Authors on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "1861-1865" into the Year of Birth field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

5.2.30 Year of Death

Description: This field indicates the year of the author's death, if known. It is an Optional field.

How to use this field: Use this field to find authors who died in a particular year or period. It is used in the Find Authors screen.

Note: To search for occurrences where we could not ascertain the year of death, key in 9999.

Practical Example: Find all authors who died after World War II.

  • Click on Find Authors on the navigation bar.
  • Scroll Enter "1945-2003" into the Year of Death field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

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5.2.31 Year of Publication (Source)

Description: This field indicates the year of the source's publication. It is an optional field.

How to use this field: Use this field to find sources that were published in a particular year or period. It is used in the Find Sources screen.

Practical Example: Find all sources published between the 1900 and 1925.

  • Click on Find Sources on the navigation bar.
  • Scroll Enter "1900-1925" into the Year of Publication field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

5.2.32 Year Written

Description: This field indicates the year in which a document was written.

How to use this field: Use this field to restrict your searches to all documents written in a particular year or range of years. It is used in the Simple Search and Advanced Search screens.

Practical Example: Find me all speeches written during 1865-1900.

  • Click on Simple Search on the navigation bar.
  • Enter "1865-1900" into the Year Written field.
  • Enter “speech” into the Document Type field.
  • Click on the SEARCH button.
  • The system responds with a list of all occurrences.

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6. RESULTS

6.1 SELECTING A RESULTS FORMAT At the head of any results format one finds the bibliographic criteria limiting one’s search, the number of texts searched, the search term(s) entered, and the total number of occurrences of the search term(s) in the database. The number of occurrences displays at the bottom of the report if Philologic has not detected the number before generating the first 25 occurrences on the screen.  

 

6.2 OCCURRENCES WITH CONTEXT

Occurrences with Context is the default results format option. In this format each occurrence is represented by a short citation consisting of the author’s name and the title of the work followed by links to the occurrences within several levels of context such as page, paragraph, scene, act, chapter, body, or contents. Below the citation there is a passage of text consisting of some forty words on either side of the key word, which is shown in red in the example below. Clicking on the links takes one to that level of context at which point one finds links to the previous and next sections. Links to the table of contents and occurrences have been disabled.

 


Bibliographic criteria: none
Searching Entire Database for oppression.*.

This page contains the first 25 occurrences. Please follow the link(s) at the bottom of the page to see the rest of the occurrences your search found.


1. Anonymous Mid-Atlantic Quaker, fl. 1779. "From the Minutes of the Yearly Meeting of the Friends of Philadelphia and New Jersey, 1779"
[Page 366 | Paragraph | Section | Document]

and New Jersey, 1779 FROM THE MINUTES OF THE YEARLY MEETING OF THE FRIENDS OF PHILADELPHIA AND NEW JERSEY, 1779 "A tender Christian sympathy appears to be awakened in the minds of many who are not in religious profession with us, who have seriously considered the oppressions and disadvantages under which those people have long laboured; and whether a pious care extended to their offspring is not justly due from us to them, is a consideration worthy of our serious and deep attention; or if this obligation did not weightily lay upon us, can benevolent minds


2. Crummell, Alex. "Eulogium on the Life and Character of Thomas Clarkson, Esq. of England"