The basic tools for searching across the Perseus database are the Browser,
Thumbnail Browser, English Index and Search Saver. The Browser and Thumbnail
Browser, in particular, help you target information for detailed study and
spend less time following false leads. A fifth tool, the CD Swapper, is used to
store requests for information that is on another cd-rom.
The Lookup tool, explained in the previous chapter, performs some limited
searching features, but it is primarily a navigation tool for going directly to
resources in Perseus.
Figure 5.1 Browser. In this pop-up menu, the user chooses Collection to display search results by Collection.
From the Gateway, click the Browser icon, or from anywhere in Perseus, choose Browser from the Links menu.
Click the Vases button upper left to highlight it (
).
Immediately to the right of the Vases button is a pop-up menu containing search
topics. Choose Period from this pop-up menu. A list of attributes
appears in the field below. In this case, it is a list of chronological
periods.
Many objects in the Perseus database have been linked to the Browser by keyword, an item in the search topic pop-up menu. If you choose the item Keywords, a second pop-up menu appears for you to select a category of keywords. The Keyword search feature does not work for texts, however. The Browser searches texts by Author, Title, Genre, Form, Period and Region. You can use the English Index, described below 5.3, to search texts for the appearance of any English word.
Scroll down and click the line Early Classical in the list of attributes. Your selection is indicated by the boldface type. As soon as you click a line in the attribute list, the Browser conducts the search. The Browser puts the results into three columns.
The parameters of your search are recorded in the horizontal field below the list of object types and the attribute list (Figure 5.2). This information indicates the object database, search topic, the number of objects identified with those parameters, and the number of pages of results listed in the three columns.
Figure 5.2 Search parameters.
Use the scroll bar on the far right to scroll through the three-column list. The three columns may be viewed by any attribute. Change the attribute viewed in any column by using the pop-up menu at the top of the column. Change the width of a column by holding the cursor at the top of the vertical dividing line and dragging to change the column width; note that the cursor changes from Pointer to Field-expander mode (figure 5.3).
The labels at the top of each column are pop-up menus listing all possible attributes of that type of object. You can display any attribute in any column. By default, the object's name always appears in the left column. In this example, the first vase listed is from the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas at Austin, identified as such by the attribute Collection. Its catalog Name is Austin 1980.63, and its Shape is Lekythos (Figure 5.3).
If attributes other than Name, Collection and Shape appear at the top of the three columns, they have been reset by a previous user.
Change the type of information shown in the middle column by choosing Summary from the pop-up menu at the top of the middle column. Now you can read that this vase shows "Flying Nike with kithara and phiale."
If there is not sufficient room in the field to read its contents, hold the mouse on the border between the two fields. It will change to Field-expander mode. Drag to the right or left to expand or contract the field (figure 5.3).
Figure 5.3 Pop-up menus with cursor in Field-expander mode.
The images and descriptions are stored on the Catalog cards. Return to the Browser by clicking the Go Back arrow on the Navigator Palette.
Note that you must always link to an object by clicking on a line in the left column; the left will remain active, regardless of its attribute setting.
> To save the results of your search, click the Search Saver icon on the Navigator Palette.
A description of the Search Saver is given in chapter 4.3.
The Browser sorts object databases only within the attribute appearing by default at the left. The default settings for the six object databases are, left to right:
Vases - Name, Collection and Shape.
Sculpture - Collection, Title and Type
Coins - Name, Collection and Material
Architecture - Name, Type and Site
> Click the Thumbs button (upper right) to open the Thumbnail Browser.
The Thumbnail Browser feature is described separately in section 5.2 below.
The Thumbnail Browser displays images from three databases: vases, sculpture, and coins. It also comes in two sizes, small and large, to accommodate different memory conditions. The Thumbnail Browser is an image-based tool and requires large amounts of free memory - a setting of at least 5 MB of application memory is recommended. The small Thumbnail Browser shows a two-by-two array of thumbnail images, or a total of four per page. The large Thumbnail Browser shows a two-by-three array of thumbnail images, or a total of six per page.
Perseus is set to use the small Thumbnail Browser by default. You may change the default by going to the Thumbnail Browser Settings card, described below.
The Thumbnail Browser is most useful when you want to survey a large group of images without having to call up each full-size image. The Thumbnail Browser is not as useful for surveying only a few images.
Once you have stored visual data in the Thumbnail Browser, you can leave it open and return to it as you continue your work. If you no longer need the Thumbnail Browser, close it to free up memory.
Note that all three Thumbnail Browser windows (Vases, Sculpture, Coins) can be left open simultaneously. You may want to close one or more windows to free up memory.
The Thumbnail Browser is opened from the Browser and the Catalog summary cards by clicking on the Thumbs button. The following example continues search for all vases of the Early Classical period described in the section above.)
> Click the Thumbs button on the Browser after the search results have appeared.
The Thumbnail Browser for vases will appear (figure 5.4). (Depending on the speed of your system, this may take a moment.) The thumbnail images that appear represent one to three canonical images of each vase found in the search. Please be aware that the Thumbnail Browser displays images for only one page of Browser results at a time. You must return to the Browser and choose a new page of results before you can obtain Thumbnail images for the new page.
Figure 5.4 Thumbnail Browser, small, showing page 18 of 22 of Early Classical vases.
A black box around an image indicates that this image is selected and that its caption appears in the caption field.
> Click other images on this page of the Thumbnail Browser to select different images and see their captions.
The caption shows the image number, videodisc frame (if applicable), Perseus object reference, caption and credits. The last line of the caption is a descriptive line about the image.
NOTE: Do not double-click the thumbnail images. To see the full-size image of a thumbnail, select it by clicking it once, then clicking the button Picture, upper right. (If you double-click a thumbnail image, it will change to a different image not necessarily related to the images currently selected.)
> The Thumbnail Browser indicates how many pages of thumbnail images are available and the current page number.
Choose a different page from the Page pop-up menu.
> Click Picture to view the full-size image of the thumbnail currently selected (i.e., the one surrounded by a black box).
> Click Catalog to open the catalog summary of the object depicted by the current thumbnail. (Hold the shift key down to open the catalog in a new window.)
> Change the default from small to large Thumbnail Browser.
From the Gateway, select the Settings icon. The Perseus Settings card appears. Go to the next card, Thumbnail Browser Settings, by clicking once on the Go Forward (right) arrow on the Navigator Palette.
Unlock the card by selecting Edit Settings. A dialog window appears asking if you are sure you want to make the change. If so, click Yes. If you are not sure that your computer has adequate memory for the large Thumbnail Browser, click the Advise button. Click the button Large Thumbnails. Please be sure to click the Lock Settings button before leaving the card.
> Change the movie locations. (For network administrators.)
From the Gateway, select the Settings icon. The Perseus Settings card appears. Go to the next card, Thumbnail Browser Settings, by clicking once on the Go Forward (right) arrow on the Navigator Palette.
Unlock the card by clicking on the button Edit Settings. A dialog window appears asking if you are sure you want to make the change. If so, click Yes.
Type the file path for the movie location in the field provided. Don't forget to click the Lock Settings button before leaving the card.
The English Index (figure 5.5) is an index of all English words in Perseus occurring in the translation of all the primary texts or the works of a selected author and in the Atlas, Encyclopedia, Historical Overview, and catalogs of archaeological objects. You can use this tool to search for locations of an English word or a string of letters at the beginning, middle or ending of a word.
Figure 5.5 English Index. Note that the search has been made for the string "weav" occurring anywhere in the word, and that the list of results has been made to start at Euripides .
The string "weav" was chosen because the search will produce results not only for "weave," but for "unweave," "weaving-pins," etc.
Choose English Index from the Links menu. Click the "Look for" field to make the insertion point appear. Type in weav.
Choose Top of List from the Show List at pop-up menu.
You can narrow your search by choosing a designated search area (for example, All Text for all Primary Text works, a selected author, the Atlas, or the Encyclopedia).
Choose the type of search from the Position pop-up menu (Exact Match for a complete word, Anywhere for a string of characters anywhere within a word, Starting Characters or Ending Characters). In this case, choose Anywhere.
Click Do Search to activate the word search. The results of the search will be reported on the left. Select any word to bring up its citation
You can save the list of citations by clicking on the Search Saver icon on the Navigator Palette. Use of the Search Saver is described more thoroughly below.
> Go immediately to a citation.
Scroll down and highlight the citation you wish to link with.
Click the Go There button to go directly to a reference within Perseus.
Note that there are two Macintosh techniques involved in operating the English Index. First, you can select a word from the list by clicking it. Second, to go to a citation, you must hightlight it, and then click Go There.
To return from a reference to the English Index, click the Go Back arrow on the Navigator Palette.
The contents of the Search Saver are automatically erased when you save a new search, when you close the Search Saver by clicking in the box in the upper left, and when you end your Perseus session. The procedure for permanently saving your searches is explained below.
Figure 5.6 Search Saver appearing as a floating window over the Browser. Note that only the results from the left column of the Browser are saved.
To save the results of a search, click the Search Saver icon on the Navigator Palette.
The Search Saver window appears, with the results of the current search copied into it, in this case, the contents of the far left column of the Browser. If you change the attribute displayed in the left column of the Browser and click the Search Saver icon again, the Search Saver will list the search results using the new attribute.
By default, vases are listed by name, collection, and shape. If you would like to save a more descriptive list of Early Classical vases, you can change the attribute of the left column to Summary by releasing the mouse on that item under the pop-up menu (figure 5.7), then click the Search Saver icon. The Search Saver lists the vases found in your search by summary, the attribute selected for display in the left column.
Figure 5.7. Browser with Summary in left column of results.
Now click the Search Saver icon to save the results by Summary.
> Select a line in the Search Saver window.
To continue the example of vases of the Early Classical period, click the top line in the Search Saver window ("Side A: Woman and young warrior pouring libation...", if results are listed by Summary (Figure 5.8), or Ann Arbor 77.7.1, if results are listed by Name). Perseus will display the Catalog card containing the summary of this vase. When you want to see another vase from the search, click another line in the Search Saver window.
Figure 5.8. Click a line in the Search Saver to link with its Perseus Catalog card.
If the results of your search are more than one page, the Search Saver will store only the current page. Thus, to save an entire search of more than one page, you will need to use the Search Saver to Notebook feature, described below.
With the English Index, the Search Saver always stores the Perseus canonical references. Canonical references can be typed or copied into the Lookup tool in the Links menu to go directly to a reference.
When you use the Philological Tools to conduct searches, you can also use the Search Saver to store the results. In this case, the Search Saver stores the results applicable to the particular tool (citations for Greek Words in Proximity, words and their locations for the Greek Word Search, and so on).
> Save the results of a Greek Word Search for élkÆ in Euripides.
Choose Greek Word Search from the Links menu. Type élkÆ (courage) into the Look for field if GreekKeys is installed in your system.
Or, if you do not have SMK GreekKeys installed, you will need to copy and paste the word in. Go to Euripides Phoenissae 274 (by typing Eur. Phoen. 274 into the Lookup tool and pressing Return), copy élkÆ from the text and paste it into the Look for field in Greek Word Search. Further information on GreekKeys and typing in Greek characters is given in sections 2.1.2 and 8.4.1.
Choose Euripides from the pop-up menu on the right. Click the Do Search button.
The results appearing in the lower left are nine forms derived from élkÆ. Choose Citations for All Forms from the Options pop-up menu.
Save theses citations by clicking the Search Saver icon on the Navigator Palette figure 5.9).
Figure 5.9 Results of Greek Word Search in Search Saver.
The Search Saver can also be used to compare the results of one search with the results of another search. After you have saved the results of a search in the Search Saver, perform a second search with different parameters. One set of results appears in the Search Saver window, and the second is in the current tool.
Figure 5.10 Notebook card with Word Search results copied from Search Saver.
The Note will be stored permanently in the Notebook Index, and available to you in any future Perseus session.
More information on the Notebook feature may be found in chapter 10.3.