Figure 5: The Search Menu. Click to enlarge

The Search option allows the user to search the database based on several criteria. The user can either conduct an Individual Search or a Global Search.

1. Individual Search:
The individual search consists of the following components:

• Name: First, Last

• Private Address: City, State, Zip Code, Country

• Professional Data: Name of Institution, Department, Function, City, State, Zip Code, Country

• Special Topic: Theme, Field, Special Group, Type of Work

• Options: AND, OR, Match Case

In an individual search, the user enters the to-be-searched information in the respective fields, i.e. to search for a last name and a first name, the name is entered in the field provided for the last name, and first name. The user may specify a boolean operator, either AND or OR, as a clarification for the search criteria. For the AND operator, all specified search criteria must match a record, in order for the record to be listed. Furthermore, a Match Case checkbox has been included.

2. Global Search:
The global search consists of the following components:

Any Field, Match Case

The global search is more powerful than the individual search, since it searches all fields in the entire database. Whenever a match between the specified keyword and a word, or part of a word in the databse occurs, the entry will be listed.

The result of any search will be displayed in a Search Result window, which acts more or less like a normal Database window. All options can be used for this window. Therefore, a new search can be conducted on the new database, which is useful in case the previous search produced too general matches.