Page contents:
Interfaces
The Web Interface
The Web Interface is the way most people search Copac. For those interested in technicalities it takes the form of a Web/Z39.50 gateway. [For a description of Z39.50 see our FAQ Page].
The Web interface incorporates a number of features to assist the search process. For example, an author search using initials and surname will find relevant full names too. Similarly, a title only search will produce a ranked result list, bringing to the top of the result set those records that offer the best match to the search terms.
Search Copac from your Web browser search bar using 'plugins'
We have created search plugins to allow you to easily add Copac to your search bar in Firefox 2.0 and Internet Explorer 7. Simply click on the following links to add one or more plugins to search Copac by author, title or keyword.
A pop up box will appear - select 'Add' in Firefox or 'Add Provider' in Internet Explorer. You will then be able to select a Copac search from the drop down list in the search bar.
If you are a Facebook user there is also a Copac search plugin available that you can add to your Facebook page. You can use this to do keyword searches of Copac whilst you are in Facebook. You can find the Copac search plugin by looking in the Facebook applications directory.
The Z39.50 Target
You may like to try the Copac Z39.50 target if you have access to a Z39.50 client such as EndNote or BookWhere. Z39.50 connection details are available, along with information about some Z39.50 clients. You can also download the Endnote connection files for Copac.
The Z39.50 target provides access to the Copac database, but you are likely to lose some of the supportive search features offered by the Copac Interfaces, eg. title search results ranked in order of likely relevance to your search.
OpenURL access - creating links to Copac
Copac offers access using the OpenURL standard. If you wish to
create links from your service to Copac using OpenURL the base
address to use for creating the OpenURL is:
http://copac.ac.uk/openurl
The OpenURL Interface page offers basic information about OpenURL and more details on accessing to Copac through this route.
SRU access
Copac has an SRU interface accessible at:
http://copac.ac.uk:3000/copac
If you try it please let us know how you get on with it.
Searching uses Dublin Core Metadata Terms and CQL.
The SRU Interface page provides more details about accessing to Copac through this route.
