HOME	MANUAL OF SUBJECT CATALOGUES

DYABOLA - Manual of Subject Catalogues
1.1 The Programme and the Subject-Catalogues of the German Archeologic Institute (DAI)

The DYA program controls access to all DYABOLA databases like the electronically stored data of the Subject Catalogues of the German Archeological Institute. This program contains all applications. The selection of the individual options is effected in DYA by means of so-called Menus, i.e. the user chooses one of several given possiblities, each with its own self-explanatory description. The current functions of the program are continuously displayed in the bottom line on the screen. The function key F1 is used to call up "Help Texts" for many steps in the program. The external appearance of the program is structured by the use of different colours and so-called display windows, the aim being to make the program as user-friendly as possible and to allow even the inexperienced computer-user to begin use at once.

All examples are taken from the Subject Catalogue of the German Archeological Institute at Rome. The instructions, however, are valid for all other DYABOLA subject catalogues.
Together with the DYABOLA Short-Reference you are able to search every DYABOLA-Database. If you need some further assistence, please consult the DYABOLA User-Manual.

Requests made to the user are so formulated that every conceivable question can be put to the data-base.
The most frequent request will certainly be the search for a Subject Heading chain, the Subject - e.g. Topography : Greece : Sites : Athenai : Acropolis : Parthenon.

A Subject Heading is a term used in scientific classification. Only if it becomes necessary - because of the large number of pu-blications and objects of research - will a proper name be accepted as a Subject Heading.

It is also useful to be able to initiate a search using only so-called Key-words.

A Key-word is understood by the database, firstly, as all proper names, i.e. place names, mytholo-gical or historical personalities as well as classical terms used for objects of art and of daily life. All other elements of data entry, however, do appear also as key-words! (Key-words are not given in four languages.)

(It is advisable before actually using the program to look through the tree of Subject Headings to become familiar with its structure. Thus, for example, the term "frontier fortifications" is found in the Subject Catalogue Rome under the heading Topography, while that for "frontier walls" is to be found under Architecture : Monuments : Fortifications. In the first case the reference is to the course of the frontier, but in the second to the method of construction. If it is necessary to cover both aspects, a search will have to be made under two different subjects.)

The publications of an individual author can be found by using a search option of the Quick Search Menu. It is conceivable that the user wants to compile a list of one particular researcher's publications. It is often the case, however, that you remember that the researcher XY wrote on a certain subject but you have forgotten in which place. If you can browse through his entire publications, you will certainly find it quickly.

It is equally possible that you can only remember the title of a publi-cation. Then you will be helped by the search option Title. This option is especially useful when you are looking for a publication that gives the name of neither the author nor the publisher, e.g. in an exhibition catalogue.

You can also search for any word contained in the title of a publication. This will be appropriate when the user of the data-base can only remember a significant term in the title or when the criteria for a Search Result is to be further restricted.

You can also compile the table of contents of a volume of a periodical or of a volume of collected works or quickly look through the articles in a series.

Enter "Quick search" to retrieve e. g. by publisher or ISB-Number.