EBSCOhost

EBSCOhost Integration Toolkit

SearchService

Click here for a complete list of operations.

Search

The Search method is used to perform basic searches on EBSCOhost reference system. Abstracts as well as the full text for documents and articles can be retrieved using this method. When available, full text articles can also be downloaded in pdf format.

To test the operation using the HTTP GET protocol, click the 'Invoke' button.

Parameter Value Default Value Notes
prof:(customerID.groupID.profileID)
  • Required Field if using Profile Authentication
pwd:
  • Required Field if using Profile Authentication
authType: profile
  • Indicates if using IP Authentication or Profile Authentication. Valid values are: (ip, profile)
ipprof:(profileID)
  • Required Field if using IP Authentication
query:
  • term to be searched on.
  • Required Field
startrec: 1
  • Starting record number for the result set returned from a search.
  • Greater than 0
numrec: 10
  • Number of records returned from a search (if available). Note that the maximum number of records returned is 50 when a 'full' record format is specified.
  • Between 1 and 200
sort: date
  • The sort order for the search results. Note that the different sort options are database specific, please use the Info method for a list of sort options per database.
db:(Values Separated By Commas)
  • One or more short database names to search.When used with a Non-Discovery Service Profile, this field is required.When used with a Discovery Service profile, this parameter is ignored, and all databases available to that profile are used.
format: brief
  • The format of the results' records.
  • Valid values are: (brief, detailed, full)
subset:(Values Separated By Commas)
  • Returns a subset of the records' data.
  • Valid values are: (subjects, authors, titles)
orgid:
  • The OrgID if search is being executed by a third-party. (optional)
clusters: False
  • Return clusters with the search results.
  • Valid values are: (True, False)

The following is a sample HTTP GET response. 

<searchResponse>
   <Hits>
      <!-- N-total number of hits from all databases -->
   </Hits>
   <Statistics>
      <!-- N-number of Statistic elements, one per database used during the search -->
      <Statistic>
         <Database>
            <!-- Database Short Name -->
         </Database>
         <Hits>
            <!-- Number of hits found for the query within the database -->
         </Hits>
      </Statistic>
   </Statistics>
   <Facets>
      <Clusters>
         <ClusterCategory ID="xs:string"  Tag="xs:string" >
            <Cluster>
            </Cluster>
         </ClusterCategory>
      </Clusters>
   </Facets>
   <SearchResults>
      <records>
      <!—N-number of rec element, one per record returned from the search -->
         <rec recordID="xs:int">
         <!-- The exact structure will depend on a number of factors including the format used and database(s) searched -->
         <!-- Below is a list of more commonly used data items -->
            <pdfLink> <!-- link to the full text pdf document --> </pdfLink>
            <pubinfo> <!-- publication information --> </pubinfo>
            <aug> <!—- authors --> </aug>
            <su> <!—- subjects --> </su>
            <ab> <!—- abstract --> </ab>
            <atl> <!—- title --> </atl>
            <abody> <!—- the full text --> </abody>
         </rec>
      </records>
   </SearchResults>
</searchResponse>