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All searching tools are grouped under the search pane in Biblioscape. The followings 3 tabs are available to all modules: Search, Lookup, and Categories. The search tab is likely to be the most often-used one, because your search words will be highlighted in the preview box on the search tab. The Lookup tab gives you an overview of your database records makeup. The Categories tab functions not only as a tagging tool, but also can be used to find relevant records easily.

Fast search

Fast search is a full text search. You enter search words or phrases to find records containing the words entered into the search box. Search words will be highlighted in different colors (other text is underlined and hyperlinked, but at present the hyperlinks are inactive). Since fast search is based on indexed words, it can return search results instantly even when your database becomes very large with tens of thousands of records. Biblioscape searches the entire database. If there are too many hits, you can click the "Refine fast search" button and add additional conditions. For example, you can limit hits to be from certain folders, tagged with certain categories, etc.

Advanced search

Advanced search is an SQL query builder. You can limit searching to a field and combine several searches with logical operators. For example, you can define a query to find references with "boron" in the keywords field and created before 2007-01-01.

Lookup

Lookup lists all references by field. In the drop-down box, select the field you are interested in. Lookup lists all values of that field; for example, if you select "Authors", all authors are listed. Double-clicking on any of the values shows the references with that value. For example, double-clicking "Einstein, A." lists all references with that author.

Categories

Categories are used to classify your records. You can use it to organize your references, notes, etc. in many dimensions. You can simply drag and drop records into a category to tag it. The next time you click on that category, all those records that are tagged before will be automatically retrieved in the main display. So categories can be seen as a searching tool as well. When you hold down the Ctrl key while selecting categories, all the records tagged by selected categories will be displayed. You can also hold down Alt key first, then the Ctrl key, as you select several categories, only those records that have been tagged by those selected categories will be displayed. This is a very convenient way to retrieve relevant records.

Search across modules

In rare occasions, you may want to search across all modules. There are two ways to do this. First, you can use the cross module search. Simply type your search string in the "Look for:" box next to the main menu. Biblioscape will run Fast Search across all modules including references, notes, tasks, charts, categories, deleted, and links. All the hits will be displayed in the same window on different tabs. Second, you can use the same categories to tag records from different modules. When you go to the categories module, all the tagged records from different modules, will be displayed together. This is a really convenient way to find relevant records across modules.