I thought it might be a good time to run this note, since a lot of you might
have need to use our vast archives files. Please read and print out a hard
copy, or save to your hard drive, for future use.
This is the HOW TO of the LACTNET ARCHIVES SEARCH SYSTEM. Because of the
large amount of memory that LISTSERV uses when searching a very large set of
archives, the archives of Lactnet are now in two files, Lactnet and Lactnet95-96
LACTNET (has LACTNET postings for 1997 and 1998)
LACTNET95-96 (has LACTNET postings for 1995 and 1996)
Therefore, as you search via e-mail, remember that you will have to do two
searches if you want a complete search of all LACTNET notes, using either
LACTNET95-96 or LACTNET as the listname.
* SEARCHING BY WORD *
Let's say you want postings about epilepsy or epileptics since Oct 1995.
Just send an email message to [log in to unmask] that says
SEARCH EPILEP in &LISTNAME
SEARCH EPILEP in LACTNET95-96
LISTSERV will send you back a listing of all of the messages that have
EPILEP anywhere in them, so this would match "epilepsy," "epileptic,"
etc. -- just what you want.
OK, now you want postings about epileptic mothers who are taking
Tegretol (whose generic name is carbamazepine). What you need is
messages containing each of those words. First, here's how ** NOT** to look:
SEARCH EPILEP IN LACTNET
SEARCH CARBAMAZEPINE IN LACTNET
SEARCH TEGRETOL IN LACTNET
... WRONG! That would make LISTSERV go through the database three times
instead of one, and make YOU mentally combine its output. Instead, tell
LISTSERV what you really want, by using "AND" and "OR", like this:
SEARCH EPILEP AND (CARBAMAZEPINE OR TEGRETOL) IN LACTNET
SEARCH EPILEP AND (CARBAMAZEPINE OR TEGRETOL) IN LACTNET95-96
Notice the parentheses -- this means "find postings that have epilepsy
in them, and also have either carbamazepine or Tegretol."
One more example: now you want postings about Prozac that do NOT mention
depression (or DEPRESSed people). Prozac's generic name is fluoxetine,
so this would work for you:
SEARCH (PROZAC OR FLUOXETINE) AND NOT DEPRESS IN LACTNET
SEARCH (PROZAC OR FLUOXETINE) AND NOT DEPRESS IN LACTNET95-96
.
* SEARCHING BY AUTHOR *
You can specify that you want to match certain bits of text in the
author (sender) field. Say you want every LACTNET post from Katherine
Dettwyler since Jan. 1 1997, her address being [log in to unmask] or
other... This search statement (to [log in to unmask]) would find
them: (please note that sometimes, people's names are not in their e-mail
address):
SEARCH * in LACTNET where sender contains Dettwyler
SEARCH * in LACTNET95-96 where sender contains Dettwyler
(The * means "match anything here.")
You can even say you want postings about cats that *aren't* from her:
SEARCH CAT IN LACTNET WHERE SENDER DOES NOT CONTAIN DETTWYLER
As you saw in the very first example, you can use SINCE to give a
starting date for the search. When you search in the LACTNET files, you get
anything that is posted since Jan. 1, 1997. To get older posts relating to
your search, remember to search in the LACTNET95-96 files. You can also use
UNTIL to give an ending date for it. Here's an example:
SEARCH LIBRARY IN LACTNET SINCE Jan 1997 UNTIL Feb 1997
This would cause LISTSERV to search the archives from Jan 1, 1997 through Feb
28, 1997 -- it uses a "wide" definition of dates.
You can specify dates many different ways. Here are some useful ones:
Jan 1997 -- January 1997
Mar -- the most recent March
1997 -- 1997 (of course)
TODAY -- today
TODAY-1 -- yesterday
TODAY-7 -- last week
97/2/12 -- February 12, 1997
Notice that a date like "2/12/97" will not be understood. The reason is
that Europeans have a different date format from Americans, and
LISTSERV's philosophy is not to give either one preference.
You could send this search in once a week to find news about rabbits:
SEARCH RABBIT OR HARE OR BUNNY IN LACTNET SINCE TODAY-7
.
* GENERAL HINTS *
1. Coming up with a good search is as much an art as a science. In
general, if you don't find what you want, be LESS specific (use fewer
words, and give less of them as shown above); if you get too much, be
MORE specific. Remember that people make spelling mistakes and may not
use the same words you do.
2. Unless you must search the entire archives, use SINCE and UNTIL to
limit your search. It makes less work for both you and the computer.
3. For more information on searching, write to [log in to unmask] with
the command
INFO DATABASE
or
GET LACTNET WELCOME
4. When you use SEARCH, LISTSERV will send you back a "menu" of posts,
each having a number. You can then order the posts you want with the
command
GETPOST LACTNET #### #### #### ####
(where you use the numbers themselves, not "####"). Remember that each
LISTSERV command sits on one line, so if you need more than one line
you'll need to repeat the GETPOST command, i.e.
GETPOST 47 127 849 1552
GETPOST 3072 4411 8193
5. Last but not least, the search function is also available on the WEB
SITE at the Lactnet archives url at
http://library.ummed.edu/lsv/archives/lactnet.html
The hints above still apply.
Please NOTE: Searching LACTNET takes time, up to a minute or two, and
you won't get immediate responses when using the Web page. You should
*wait* though, as reconnecting and trying it again causes it to be even
slower (i.e. it will finish off the search for the session you
disconnected from before it even starts on the next one you've
reconnected for -- you will end up waiting LONGER). Web searches run
faster at night because the machine has a lower load then. E-mail
searches can be sent anytime; the machine will do them when it can.
If you have questions, please let us know.
Kathleen Bruce and Kathleen Auerbach, co owners, LACTNET list
[log in to unmask] and/or [log in to unmask]
Remember. All commands for search go to [log in to unmask], the
*computer* address.
Kathleen B. Bruce, BSN, IBCLC co-owner Lactnet,TLC, Indep. Consultant
Williston, Vermont, where the icy winds are blowing hard...
mailto:[log in to unmask]
LACTNET Archives http://library.ummed.edu/lsv/archives/lactnet.html
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