ArticleFirst
Why select this database?
- The ArticleFirst database describes items listed on the table of contents pages individual issues of numerous journals
- Each record describes one article, news story, letter, or other item from a journal
- Most records provide a list of libraries that hold the journal title
Subjects included
- business
- humanities
- medicine
- popular culture
- science
- social science
- technology
Database details
| Database name | ArticleFirst |
|---|---|
| Short database name | ARTF |
| Available on | FirstSearch, WorldCat Discovery, and WorldCat.org |
| Sources | Over 16,000 |
| Number of records | 34,000,000+ |
| Coverage | 1990 to present |
| Update frequency | Daily (British Library feed only) |
| Producer | OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. |
Indexes
Index labels and search examples
Use a colon after an index label (for example, au:) when you are not certain of your search terms. Use an equal sign after an index label (au=) for an exact match search. You can search with an index label from any search screen. The information you type overrides any default menu selections. The following examples show sample rather than actual searches.
Index use and structure
What follows is a list of FirstSearch indexes and the combination of USE and STRUCTURE attributes that can be used to access them.
- For any FirstSearch label where multiple USE attributes are listed all the attributes will provide the exact same search result sets.
- Any USE attribute that is not marked as a restrictor is available via the SCAN service.
- Restrictors are specially implemented indexes and are not available for scanning. Terms for these must be ANDed with other terms to limit the size of the result set. See the table provided for each restrictor to determine valid terms and their associated meaning.
FirstSearch indexes and USE and STRUCTURE attributes used to access them:
* The data for the Article Type (1034) and Language (54) indexes should not be used for general searching. The data is only available with the oldest data and with less than 1/3 of the newest data.
Record display information
List of FirstSearch fields for ArticleFirst and the MARC fields to which they correspond:
Restrictors
The following restrictor can be used only in conjunction with an index search. It must be added to an index search with the Boolean AND to receive results:
| Restrictor | Type | Input | Use Attribute | Structure Attribute | MARC Tag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year * | All years Single year Range of years |
-- 19xx, 20xx 19xx - 20xx |
31 | 5 | 008 <date> |
| Limit to Holdings | OCLC institution symbol | Enter symbol for OCLC institution | 2 | 56 | 948 |
* Year is both an index and a restrictor.
Note: To find the OCLC symbol for an institution, please see the online version of OCLC Participating Institutions.
Sorting
Search results in the ArticleFirst database can be sorted by Author (1003), Title (4), Journal (1033) and Date (30).
General punctuation rules
Exceptions are made, but the following are generally correct:
Searching tips
Keyword All searches (1016): The Keyword All search finds information in these fields: Author (100/a, 700/a); Title (245/a,b, 980/o), and Source Phrase (773/s,t, 980/2,,3,4,5,6,7,8).
Using limiters: You can limit searches by Year (31) and Library Holdings (56).
Journal browse functionality
In the FirstSearch service, this database also provides an option to browse the Journals List. The options include:
- Retrieving a list of all the journal records
- Retrieving a list of issues covered in ArticleFirst for a journal
- Retrieving the Table of Contents for a specific issue
Alternatives for searching journal records in ArticleFirst are also provided in ArticleFirst journal browse functionality.
Copyright information
Copyright © 1992-[Current year] OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Certain records in this database are © COPYRIGHT THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD: ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The British Library owns the entire right in the records in this database that include the "BL Shelfmark" or "BL Stock Location" field. Any rights that subsist in the components of said database remain the property either of the British Library Board or the individual publishers contributing to the database. The said records in this database may not be used, sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner, form, or in any media to any person without the prior written consent of the British Library.
ArticleFirst journal browse functionality
Is this functionality useful to your service?
Not all users of ArticleFirst will find the journal browse functionality valuable to their users. Most users find the article searching in ArticleFirst more important, intuitive, and helpful to the average user. However, there are additional options in this database. The information below will allow you to offer users the ability to call up the complete list of journals in ArticleFirst, retrieve a list of the issues covered in ArticleFirst, retrieve the articles within an issue, and/or search for journal records in ArticleFirst by title and/or subject information. Included below is information on how FirstSearch has implemented the browse function as a possible template and one example of how this has been implemented.
Record display information
List of MARC fields in Issue records:
List of MARC fields in Journal records specifically created for this database. All valid MARC fields are also possible. In this database there are two types of Journal records. One is a record created based on a cataloged serial MARC record that may include all possible MARC fields present. The other is a record created specifically for this database. The fields that only exist for the specifically created records have an asterisk (*) after them.
* Field that exists only for a record created specifically for this database.
± Display the copyright (949/y), disclaimer (979/k) and publisher terms (979/L) with these displays of the journal record.
Journal record MARC fields
Journal record MARC fields present for both types of journal records are:
| Field Name | MARC Field |
|---|---|
| Journal Title | 245/a |
| Journal ISSN | 022/a |
| Journal Publisher | 260/b |
| Journal Library of Congress Classification Numbers | 090/a |
| Journal Dewey Decimal Classification Numbers | 092/a |
| Display Code (S) | 949/x |
| Accession Number | 035/a |
Search options
What follows is a list of FirstSearch indexes and the combination of USE and STRUCTURE attributes that can be used to access them. For any FirstSearch label where multiple USE attributes are listed all the attributes will provide the exact same search result sets. These indexes are divided into indexes that retrieve specific types of records: Articles, Issues and Journals searches. Each group of searches will retrieve only that group of records.
Record indexes
The following table contains a partial list of FirstSearch Article record Indexes and USE and STRUCTURE attributes used to access them.
* These indexes are only listed here. They can also be used to search for articles from an Issue record.
Issue record indexes
FirstSearch Issue record Indexes and USE and STRUCTURE attributes used to access them:
Journal record indexes
FirstSearch Journal record Indexes and USE and STRUCTURE attributes used to access them.
Searches used on FirstSearch for this functionality
This information is given as a template of search options that could be implemented. There are more searches and more options available then what is listed below.
When a user clicks on "Browse Journal and Magazine Titles" the search is "S" with the Record Type search (use 6017 & structure 2). This provides a long list of journal titles (245/a field). New user options appear on this screen including the option to retrieve records starting with a letter of the alphabet or to search the journal titles.
When clicking on a letter to bring up a list of journals starting with that letter, the search is the letter selected with the Journal title letter search (use 6022 & structure 2).
To search the journal titles, currently FirstSearch uses the Journal Title search (use 5246 & structure 2).
When a user selects a journal record to display, the full record display includes some new options for the user, including Search articles within this journal and Available issues.
To search this journal, FirstSearch provides the user with a place to search three basic article searches of Keyword (use 1016 & structure 2), Author (use 1003 & structure 2) and Title (use 4 & structure 2). All of these searches are added with the journal records ISSN (022/a) using the article standard number search (use 1007 & structure 2). Other article searches are listed in the regular Z39.50 documentation for ArticleFirst. Some of these may also be useful.
Available issues are retrieved by searching the journal records ISSN using the Issue ISSN search (use attribute 6016 & structure 2). The Issue records only have one useful display field, 245/a, which is the citation of the issue.
If a user selects an issue record to display, the issue data is searched to retrieve a list of the article records of that issue. The search needed includes the search for the ISSN, the year, the volume and issue number together. The issue's ISSN (022/a) is searched using the article standard number search (use 1007 & structure 2). The issue's year (008<date>) is searched using the article year index (use 31 & structure 5). The volume number (983/p) is searched with the article system volume search (use 6007 & structure 2). The issue number (983/r) is searched with the article system issue search (use 6006 & structure 2).