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TOPIC
The following discussion gives an overview of the use of the Technical Information Library, keywords, constructing searches, and relevance ranking.For a description of how to submit an article for publication, refer to the article titled "Tech Info Library: Submitting Articles for Publication".
DISCUSSION
THE TECHNICAL INFORMATION LIBRARY
What Is The Technical Information Library?
The Apple Technical Information Library (TIL) is Apple's official technical support database. The TIL is a textual database of several thousand articles about Apple and third-party product technical issues. The TIL is accessible by thousands of users world-wide on online services such as AppleLink, CompuServe, and the Internet (both World Wide Web and WAIS). The TIL is updated daily or weekly (depending on the online service you are using) with new information and is the same database that Apple employees use to answer customer questions.
Where You Can Find the TIL?
A subset of the TIL is available to anyone through these online services:Use your AOL Web Browser to visit: http://til.info.apple.com.
Located in the Apple Tech Info area (go apltil).
AppleLink
Located in the Support Area.
The Internet
Maintained in two locations:
info.hed.apple.com (Home Gopher Server)
Path: Home Gopher Server -> Computer Information -> Apple Tech Info Library
World Wide Web
Located at this URL: http://til.info.apple.com OR http://www.info.apple.com
SEARCHING THE TIL
There are four ways to search the TIL:
- By keyword (not available on CompuServe)
- By full text search
- By publication date (on AppleLink and CompuServe -- See NOTE*)
- By browsing folders (AppleLink)
*NOTE: This search varies slightly between platforms. See the specific platform section below for information on searching by date.
Searching with Keywords
Use keywords to quickly and easily find the information you are looking for in the TIL. For best results, use a keyword and a product name. Here is an example of using a keyword and product name in a search string:"SPECSHT and Quadra 840AV"
This search string finds the "Quadra 840AV: Specifications" article.
Using a keyword in a search string may not find all relevant articles; some articles were in the TIL prior to the implementation of keywords. In addition, some related articles do not include the keyword for the article to which it relates.
Keywords are available in the TIL on all online services except CompuServe. See the section "The TIL on CompuServe" later in this article for information on searching the TIL on CompuServe.
The keywords in the following list can help you easily narrow a search. This list is current as of 31 January 1996:
| Description | Keyword |
|---|---|
| Apple MessagePad (Newton) | knmp |
| At Ease Information | katease |
| Available in rich text via FAX | kfax |
| Cable Information | cabinfo |
| Compatibility | kcompat |
| Document Manual Errors | kmanerr |
| Emerging Issues | kissue |
| Engineering Feedback Pilot Program | kfeed |
| Frequenly Asked Questions (FAQ) | kfaq |
| Information Alley | kalley |
| Internet Related Information | kinter |
| Matrix/ Table | ktable |
| Online Information | kol |
| PCI Bus Related Articles | kpci |
| PowerBook | kpbook |
| PowerPC, Power Macintosh | kppc |
| Searching Libraries/Posting Articles | khelp |
| Software or Hardware Configuration | cnfg |
| Specification Sheets | specsht |
| Support Issues | supt |
| System 7.0 Articles | sys7 |
| System 7.5 Articles | sys75 |
| Third Party Compatibility Lists | pcompat |
| Third Party Info | 3pty |
| Top 20 Most Accessed Articles/Month | ktop20 |
| Top TIL articles read in Internet TIL | ktoptil |
| Troubleshooting: Hardware | hts |
| Troubleshooting: Network | knts |
| Troubleshooting: Software | ksts |
| Windows/MS-DOS | kwindows |
Entering Text Queries
You can search the TIL by simply typing in a word or phrase and then clicking the Search button. A list of all articles that contain the word or phrase you entered displays in a scrolling field. You can then double-click on an individual title to view the article.Spell Correctly
To ensure a complete search, it is important to spell correctly. Products are indexed into the TIL by their full name. Capitalization and trademark symbols are not necessary.
Use Full Product Names
When making searches, it is important to use the full product name. For a complete listing of all Apple product names, see the Apple Computer, Inc. Trademark List. This can be located by searching the TIL using "trademark list" as the search information.
Use Full Search Phrases When Appropriate
It is possible to use a full search phrase when searching the TIL. For example: searching for "color stylewriter pro" finds all articles that contain the exact phrase "Color StyleWriter Pro". (Note: for all example search strings shown, do not type the quote marks [","]- they used in this article only to identify the specific search string.)
Searching Tips
When you do not know an exact phrase, use operators such as AND, OR, or NOT* (except in the Internet WAIS-based TIL) between words to expand or limit your search. For example, typing in "PowerBook and Printer" gives you a listing of all articles that contain the words PowerBook and Printer anywhere in the document. If you are looking for information on toner cartridges for a LaserWriter, typing the search string "laserwriter and (toner or cartridge)" finds every document that includes the words LaserWriter and toner or the words LaserWriter and cartridge.
*Search Tip for WAIS-based Tech Info Library
An important tip to remember when searching the WAIS-based Tech Info Library (http://til.info.apple.com) is that the database does not understand AND, OR or NOT. Thus, if you search for either "MessagePad and 120," or "MessagePad OR 120," the result is all articles that contain either Messagepad or 120. Thus, try using keywords or very specific terms (example: 5200) as well as limiting the number of article titles found (40 is the default, up to 100) when searching.
Relevance Ranking of Articles
The theory of relevance ranking is that it matches your search words against the textual content of selected information sources to find articles that match the search request. A statistical algorithm then ranks the articles according to relevancy and displays the most relevant article(s) at the top of the hit list. As a result, you can see at a glance which articles are most relevant. Relevance ranking helps you find more pertinent information with less effort.
THE TIL ON COMPUSERVE
This section describes the differences in searching the TIL on CompuServe. You can search the TIL on CompuServe in three ways:
- By product category
- By Publication date
- By full text search
You can perform a search using one or a combination of these methods.
We recommend using "Full Text Search" in your search (alone or in combination with one or both of the other methods). Although searching requires more time, in many cases you get more matches based on your search criteria.
Searching on CompuServe
The following instructions assume that you are using CIM (CompuServe Information manager) software. (If you are using the text mode, please type the number next to the appropriate line item.)
- Step 1:
- Type "Go APLTIL" to access the main search screen for the TIL.
- Step 2:
- Select "Search the Apple Technical Information Library"
- Step 3:
- Complete Step 3 as described below for the type of search you want.
- Step 4:
- Complete Step 4 as described below for the type of search you want.
The remaining search steps follow the separate Step 3 and Step 4 procedures. To perform a combination search, complete Step 3 and Step 4 for each desired type of search before continuing with Step 5.
Searching by Product Category
- Step 3:
- Select "Product Category."
- Step 4:
- Select the product category you want to search:
- Any Product Category
- AppleTalk
- A/UX
- HyperCard
- LaserWriter
- Newton
- Performa
- PowerBook
- Power Macintosh
- Quadra
- System 7
Searching by Publication Date
- Step 3:
- Select "Publication Date."
- Step 4:
- Select the date specification and enter the search date in MM/DD/YY format. The date specifications are:
- Any Date
- On or After a Specific Date
- On or Before a Specific Date
Searching with Full Text
- Step 3:
- Select "Full Text Search"
- Step 4:
- Enter the word or words you want to search for. You can enter all words in the first of the three available rows, which results in a search for the exact string. You can enter words in different rows, which results in a search for the specified words in any order (in other words, the multiple rows provide an "and" function). For example: Entering "Power Macintosh printing" on the first row searches for this exact string; entering "Power Macintosh" on the first row and "printing" on the second row searches for an article that includes the two strings "Power Macintosh" and "printing" somewhere in the article. (CompuServe does not support boolean "or" or "not" type searches.)
- Step 5:
- The Apple Tech Info Library performs the search and reports the results labeled "Records selected: nnn".
- Step 6:
- Select "Display Selected Records" to view all article titles of articles found in the search.
- Step 7:
- Select individual article title(s) to view the article(s).
THE TIL ON APPLELINK
This section describes how to browse folders and search by date in the TIL on AppleLink.
Browsing Folders
You can browse folders on AppleLink by clicking on the Index button in the main TIL window. When you click on this button, a List of Library Subjects window displays. This window lists all the folders in which TIL articles are stored. Double click on a folder, opening any subsequent folders, until you find the article title you are looking for.
Searching by Date
You can search by date on AppleLink by entering a date string (format MMM DD, YYYY, as in Oct 23, 1994) in either the Newer Than or Older Than fields. Then click on Search Library.
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