MadCat Help

About Canned Searches

Canned searches allow you to provide a dynamic link to a particular title or set of records. They can be useful....

• for faculty to provide a short cut for students to the reserve readings for a class
• in bibliographies, when you don't want to list numerous locations/call numbers or you don't have the space to show complicated journal holdings
• for pre-defining specific types of information (all periodicals about dance)
• as a quick search method for a lengthy standardized strategy (alcohol abuse OR alcoholism OR problem drinking OR alcohol? intoxication)

These instructions are best used for canned keyword searches that return fewer than 100 titles.

Building a Search

To build a search and make a link from it, the following components are needed. The arguments (everything after http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?) are separated by an & and seem to be able to occur in any order. However, you do not need an & between http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi? and your first argument.

• http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi? tells it to search MadCat and must be first.
• DB=local
• CNT=25
• CMD=CODE+SEARCHTERMS where CODE is replaced by the desired four-letter keyword search code and SEARCHTERMS is replaced by the desired search terms (Note)
• The optional argument v1=1 selects the brief view, v2=1 selects the full view, and v3=1 would result in the MARC view.

Example:

When combined on one line, the following URL pieces would find all titles with the author Austen and publisher Penguin:

http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?
DB=local
&CNT=25
&CMD=nkey+austen+AND+publ+penguin (Try It)

Copying a Search

To copy a search and make a link from it, do the following:

1. Perform the search in MadCat
2. Once you're done with the search, copy the resulting URL. In Netscape, this is the text in the Location: field. In Internet Explorer, this is the text in the Address: field.
3. The resulting URL is made up of several parts, some of which must be included and some of which must be deleted for the canned search to work correctly as a HTML link:
   • The URL must start with http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?
   • The arguments (everything after http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?) are separated by an & and seem to be able to occur in any order. However, you do not need an & between http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi? and your first argument.
   • You must have the following:
     • DB=local
     • CNT=25
     • CMD=CODE+SEARCHTERMS where CODE is replaced by the desired four-letter keyword search code and SEARCHTERMS is replaced by the desired search terms (Note)
   • You must not include the PID=blah, SEQ=blah, or SID=blah arguments.
   • The optional argument HIST=blah may be omitted.
   • If it's a Guided Keyword search, you do not have to include the values for blank elements (like the second or third search boxes, boolean selectors, etc).

Example:

After performing the keyword search skey science AND urls proquest, you would have the following URL (all on one line):

http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?
CNT=100
&CMD=urls+proquest+AND+skey+science
&PID=27909
&SEQ=20000508141702
&HIST=1

...which can be reduced to (all on one line)...

http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?
DB=local
&CNT=100
&CMD=urls+proquest+AND+skey+science (Try It)

(Note the addition of the DB=local argument)

Course Reserve

Building a Course Reserve canned search for a particular course:

1. Perform the search in MadCat
2. Once you're done with the search, copy the resulting URL. In Netscape, this is the text in the Location: field. In Internet Explorer, this is the text in the Address: field.
3. The resulting URL is made up of several parts, some of which must be included and some of which must be deleted for the canned search to work correctly as a HTML link:
   • The URL must start with http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?
   • The arguments (everything after http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?) are separated by an & and seem to be able to occur in any order. However, you do not need an & between http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi? and your first argument.
   • You must have the following arguments:
     • DB=local
     • CNT=25
     • CRSE=COURSENAME where COURSENAME is replaced by the full name of the desired course and various numbers and/or symbols
   • You must not include the PID=blah, SEQ=blah, or SID=blah arguments.
   • The optional argument HIST=blah may be omitted.
   • You should omit the values for elements not used in the Course Reserve search (INST=Any, DEPT=Any, SECT=Any).

Example:

After performing the Course Reserve search for the class POLSCI 104: Introduction to American Politics & Govt, you would have the following URL (all on one line):

http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?
INST=Any
&DEPT=Any
&CRSE=POLSCI+104%3A+Introduction+to+American+Politics+%
          26+Govt+%28383%29
&SECT=Any
&PID=13534
&SEQ=20000530104154
&HIST=1
&CNT=25

...which can be reduced to (all on one line)...

http://madcat.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?
DB=local
&CRSE=POLSCI+104%3A+Introduction+to+American+Politics+%
          26+Govt+%28383%29
&CNT=25 (Try It)

(Note the addition of the DB=local argument)

Notes

• When the URL returns more than one page of results, there is an error with using the Next button. You are taken to a screen that has a results table and numbered boxes, but no titles. To avoid this, you may wish to set the CNT=25 variable (which indicates the records per page) up to 100 and avoid using canned searches that bring up large numbers of results.
  
  
• If the search terms have colons, quotes, or spaces, you must replace them to ensure the URL works correctly.
  • Replace spaces with %20
  • Replace quotes with %22
  • Replace colons with %3A
  • For instance, "Journal of Algorithms" would be %22Journal%20of%20Algorithms%22 in the URL.