About Command Keywords
All index codes can be used in combination with Boolean operators. Link from the index name below to a discussion of keywords used in that index.
Name (Author, Narrators, etc) Subject Title Format Location Note Production/Publication Number (Book Number/Dewey Decimal )
Name (Author, Narrators, etc) Indexes
- KNAM (Name: All)
- Searches for material by and about persons and corporate bodies in the fields describing
personal and corporate authors/creators/narrators and names as subjects. Examples:
knam Shakespeare
knam "Askey, Bob"
- Retrieves names in narrator fields
- Uses Boolean operators. To search for records with name headings for Shakespeare and
Scourby and with the word poetry in a subject heading:
knam Shakespear? and knam scourb? and skey poetry
- NKEY (Name: No Subject)
- Searches for material by persons and corporate bodies in the fields describing personal and
corporate authors/creators/narrators. Does not search for names in subject fields. Example:
nkey Shakespeare
- KSNA (Subject: Names Only)
- Searches for material about persons or corporate bodies in personal or corporate subject
fields. Example:
ksna Shakespeare
Subject Indexes
- SKEY (Subjects: Authorized)
- Searches for words or phrases only in authorized subject heading (including subject
subdivisions) and genre heading fields. List of genre headings used by NLS
Examples:
skey Bobcats
retrieves topical subject headingsskey "mystery fiction"
retrieves genre headingsskey Shakespeare
retrieves names used as subject headingsskey France
retrieves geographical subject headingsskey "civil war"
retrieves subject subdivisionsskey Bible
retrieves titles used as subject headings
- KSNA (Subject: Names Only)
- Searches for the words or phrases in both personal and corporate name subject fields.
- KSTI (Subject: Titles/Works Only)
- Searches for words or phrases in subject fields for materials about titles/works.
Example:
ksti Bible
retrieves works about the Bible
Title Indexes
- KTIL (Title: All)
- Searches for words or an exact phrase in fields and subfields describing titles, series, subjects
and authors. Includes titles in contents notes. Example:
ktil oz
ktil "wizard of oz"
ktil "wagons west"
retrieves series titles as well as main titlesktil "gift of the magi"
retrieves titles in contents notes
- Most, but not all short story collections as well as a limited number of other types of collections cataloged by NLS, i.e., works produced by NLS and locally produced network books, have contents notes. RFB&D works also frequently have contents notes. Works cataloged by other agencies in the Union Catalog may not necessarily have contents notes for collections. See the k505 index below to search only the contents notes
- TKEY (Title: No Subject)
- Searches for words or an exact phrase in fields and subfields describing titles, series and
authors (relating to titles). Includes titles in contents notes. Does not search for titles as subjects.
Example:
tkey Bible
retrieves records for the Bible, not for books about the Bible
- 440T (Title: Series)
- Searches for words or an exact phrase in titles of series. Example:
440t "Hercule Poirot"
retrieves records with Hercule Poirot in the series title
- KSTI (Subject: Titles/Works Only)
- Searches subject fields for works about titles containing the search words or exact phrase.
Example:
ksti Bible
retrieves records for books about the Bible
Format Index
- 245H (General Material Designation)
- Searches for words or an exact phrase in the general material designation, the bracketed
statement in the title field stating the medium of the book. This index code is an alternative to
limiting by medium. The phrases that are used in this field are limited to:
- braille
- electronic resource
- map
- music (braille)
- music (large print)
- sound recording (enregistrement sonore used on some catalog records from Canada)
- text (large print)
- Example:
245h sound
retrieves records for sound recordings. Only one word is needed here.245h music
retrieves braille and large print scores
Location Index
- K852 (Holding Code)
- Searches for words or codes in the holding agency field. All NLS locations
can be searched with the word: NLS. All books produced locally by network
libraries may be searched with the word: Regional. A list of holding codes
includes other agency codes. Example:
k852 nls
retrieves books held by NLSk852 otbnl
retrieves books held by the Canadian National Institute for the Blindk852 nnjbi
retrieves books held by the Jewish Braille Institute
Note Indexes
- KNOT (Notes: All)
- Searches for words or an exact phrase included in any notes fields. Notes fields may contain
a wide variety of information including such things as:
- contents notes
- annotations
- braille notes (e.g., web braille, contracted, uncontracted, print/braille)
- K505 (Notes: Contents)
- Searches for words or an exact phrase in the contents notes only. Most, but not all short story
collections as well as a limited number of other types of collections cataloged by NLS, i.e., works
produced by NLS and locally produced network books, have contents notes. RFB&D works also
frequently have contents notes. Works cataloged by other agencies in the Union Catalog may not
necessarily have contents notes for collections. The TKEY and KTIL indexes described above
search the contents notes and the other title fields. Example:
k505 magi
- K520 (Notes: Annotation)
- Searches for words or an exact phrase in the annotation.
- K521 (Notes: Content Descriptors)
- Searches for words or an exact phrase in a special note field specifying a target audience
grade and other characteristics of the work. Works cataloged by NLS (i.e., NLS and locally
produced network books) will contain the following phrases as appropriate:
- Caldecott Medal winner
- Newbery Medal winner
- Pulitzer Prize winner
- Award winner
- Bestseller
- Contains descriptions of sex
- Contains descriptions of violence
- Contains strong language
- For preschool-grade 2
- For grades k-3
- For grades 2-4
- For grades 3-6
- For grades 4-7
- For grades 5-8
- For grades 6-9
- For junior and senior high
- For high school and adult.
- Female narrator
- Male narrator
- These phrases are not necessarily used in catalog records submitted by other agencies.
Examples:
K521 "6-9"
k521 grade?
retrieves grade or grades, i.e., all juvenile worksk521 high
retrieves records for young adultsK521 "male"
knam "steel danielle" not (k521 sex or k521 violence or k521 strong)
retrieves records with Steel, Danielle in a name field but without descriptions of sex, or strong language or descriptions of violence.
Production/Publication Indexes
- KPUB (Publication: Special Format Publication Information)
- Searches for words or dates entered in the special format publisher's and producer's name,
place and publication date fields. Producer names are not always entered with a uniform name.
E.g., American Printing House for the Blind may be entered that way or as APH. Examples:
kpub NLS
kpub APH or kpub "American Printing House for the Blind"
use Boolean "or" to search for both versions of a namekpub 2000
retrieves records with the date 2000 in the date of production field
- K534 (Publication: Original Publisher Information)
- Searches for names of the original print publishers. Publisher names are not always entered
under a uniform name. E.g., Alfred A. Knopf or just Knopf. Example:
k534 Knopf
- 260C (Publication: Date of production)
- Searches for year of production in special format. Note that many older records and some
records that were not cataloged by NLS do not have the year of production recorded. Example:
260c 2003
retrieves records produced in 2003
Number (Book Number/Dewey Decimal Number)
- K082 (Classification: Dewey)
- Searches for bibliographic records whose Dewey numbers contain the sequence of numbers
and characters entered. Does not search across "subfields" so searches for a Dewey number in
combination with the dewey code "b" for biography will not work. unless entered separately.
Search text must be surrounded by quotation marks ( " ). Punctuation must be exact. A question mark may
be used for truncation. Example:
k082 "599.753?"
retrieves records whose Dewey numbers begin 599.753k082 "78?" and k082 "b"
to retrieve biographies of musicians
- K084 (Book Number)
- Searches for bibliographic records whose book numbers contain the sequence of numbers
and characters entered. Examples:
k084 "RC 12345"
retrieves the record with the book number RC 12345k084 inprocess
retrieves records with Inprocess in the book number field