Searching
Browsing
Browse allows you to go through a list of items in some specified order:
- Browse by Community/Collection takes you through the communities in alphabetical order and allows you to see the sub-communities and collections within each community.
- Browse by Title allows you to move through an alphabetical list of all titles of items on OAR@UM.
- Browse by Author allows you to move through an alphabetical list of all authors of items on OAR@UM.
- Browse by Subject allows you to move through an alphabetical list of subject headings assigned to items on OAR@UM.
- Browse by Date allows you to move through a list of all items on OAR@UM in reverse chronological order.
- Browse by Type allows you to move through a list of all the types of material available on OAR@UM.
Searching
To search all of OAR@UM, use the search box at the top right hand corner.
To limit your search to a specific community or collection, navigate to that community or collection and use the search bar on that page.
Search tips:
What is searched in the general keyword search?
The word(s) you enter in the search box will be searched against the title, author, subject abstract, series, sponsor and identifier fields of each item's record.
If your site is enabled for full-text searching, the text you entered will also be searched against the full text of all archived documents. For more information on full-text searching please contact your OAR@UM Administrator.
What is not searched? - Stop Words
The search engine ignores certain words that occur frequently in English, but do not add value to the search. These are:
"a", "and" , "are" , "as" , "at" , "be" , "but" , "by" ,
"for" , "if" , "in" , "into", "is" ,"it" ,"no" , "not" , "of" ,
"on" , "or" , "such", "the" , "to" , "was"
Truncation
Use an asterisk (*) after a word stem to get all hits having words starting with that root, e.g.
will retrieve markets, marketing, marketed, marketplace...
Stemming
The search engine automatically expands words with common endings to include plurals, past tenses, etc.
Phrase Searching
When searching for multiple words as a phrase, put quotation marks (") around the phrase.
Exact Word Match
Put a plus (+) sign before a word if it MUST appear in the search result. For example, in the following search the word "training" is optional, but the word "dog" must be in the result.
Eliminate Items with Unwanted Words
Put a minus (-) sign before a word if you do not want it to appear in the search results. Alternatively, you can use NOT. This can limit your search to eliminate unwanted hits. For example, in the search
| training-cat |
or |
training NOT cat |
you will get items containing the word "training", but not those items containing the word “cat”.
Boolean Searching
The following Boolean operators can be used to combine terms. It is important that the Boolean operators AND, OR and NOT are CAPITALIZED!
AND is used to limit searches to find items containing all words or phrases combined with this operator, e.g.
will retrieve all items that contain BOTH the words "cats" and "dogs".
OR is used to widen searches to find items containing any of the words or phrases surrounding this operator, e.g.
will retrieve all items that contain EITHER the words "cats" or "dogs," or both.
NOT is used to exclude items containing the word following this operator, e.g.
will retrieve all items that contain the word "training" and EXCLUDE those items containing the word "cat".
Parentheses can be used in the query box to group search terms into sets, and operators can then be applied to the whole set, e.g.
| (cats OR dogs) AND (training OR discipline) |
Advanced Searching
The advanced search page allows you to specify the fields you wish to search and to combine these searches with the Boolean operators "AND", "OR" or "NOT".
You can restrict your search to a Community by clicking on the arrow to the right of the top box. If you want your search to encompass all of OAR@UM, leave that box in the default position.
To add filters click on “Add filters” and then select the field to search in and the Boolean operator you want to use, and click on “Apply” to proceed with search.
Note: You must use the input boxes in order. If you leave the first one blank your search will not work.
OAR@UM Structure
Communities
The OAR@UM content is organized around Communities which correspond to the University of Malta entities such as faculties, institutes, centres, schools, and administration.
Each community has its own entry page displaying information, news and links reflecting the interests of that community, as well as a descriptive list of collections within the community.
Within each Community there can be an unlimited number Sub-Communities and an unlimited number of Collections. Each Collection may contain an unlimited number of items. This organisation gives OAR@UM the flexibility to accommodate differing needs of Communities
Collections
Communities can maintain an unlimited number of collections on OAR@UM. Each OAR@UM collection has its own entry page displaying information, news and recent submissions. Collections can be organized around a topic or by type of information (such as working papers or datasets) or by any other sorting method a community finds useful in organizing its digital items.
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Sign In to OAR@UM
When you access an area of OAR@UM that requires authorization, the system will require you to sign in. The University of Malta Single Sign-On enables staff and students to access OAR@UM by signing in using their UM IT Account username and password. You have to sign in to the system if you:
- wish to view restricted access material
- wish to edit your profile
- wish to subscribe to a collection and receive e-mail updates when new items are added
- wish to submit within a collection and check status of your submissions
My Account
Profile
My Account is a personal page that is maintained by each member of staff employed by the University of Malta. This page allows you to change your detail information.
Users can subscribe to receive daily e-mail alerts of new items added to collections. Users may subscribe to as many collections as they wish. To subscribe choose collection from the drop down menu and click on the "Subscribe" button (repeat for other collections).
Submissions
If you are authorized to submit to OAR@UM, in your My Account page you will find:
- a list of your in-progress submissions - from this list you can resume the submission process where you left off, or you can remove the submission and cancel the item
- a list of submissions that are awaiting your action (in case you need to review your submission)
- a link to a list of items that you have submitted and that have already been accepted on OAR@UM
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Submitting on OAR@UM
Submit is the OAR@UM function that enables users to add an item on OAR@UM. The process of submitting includes filling out information about the item on a metadata form and uploading the file(s) comprising the digital item. Please read Submission Policy.
Who can deposit?
Self deposit and mediated deposit
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- own work (to be included within Departmental Collection)
- on behalf of Department (administrative material)
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- own work (to be included within Departmental Collection)
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- approval form* to be signed by the supervisor (from the Department)
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* All approval forms have to be printed on Department Letterheads and submitted with each item (eg. article, book chapter, etc.) deposited.
Mediated deposit (only)
To deposit items (eg. article, book chapter, etc.) in the External Research Collection, the work has to be accompanied by a recommendation form signed by a scholar/researcher in the field
Choosing Collection
From the Communities list select your faculty, institute, centre, school, etc.. Select Sub-Community and then the Collection.
If the Community, Sub-community or Collection you wish to deposit your work into are not available, and you are a member of staff at the UM, you are kindly requested to place a submission access request through here. The OAR@UM Team will contact you as soon as the community is created an you have been approved as a submitter.
A full list of Communities, Sub-communities is available here.
Depositing
There are currently two ways to deposit your research output on OAR@UM: self-deposit and mediated-deposit. The latter is done on your behalf by the OAR@UM Team.
Regardless of the route chosen, we ask you to check that:
- you have the right to deposit the material
- the material is available in suitable electronic format(s)
Self-deposit
To self-deposit an item from the Communities list select our faculty, institute, centre, school, etc., select your respective Sub-Community and then the Collection and click on Submit a new item to this collection.
Mediated-deposit
A mediated deposit service is available. For mediated deposit please send the pdf attachement of your research publication via email, and the OAR@UM Team can add the content on your behalf.
Progress Bar - Buttons at Top of Page
At the top of the Submit pages you will find 7 buttons representing each step in the submission process. The submission goes through these main steps: description of the metadata (2 pages), access, upload (file by file), review, license agreement and complete submission. As you move through the process these buttons will change colour. Once you have started you can also use these buttons to move back and forth within the submission process by clicking on them. You will not lose data by moving back and forth.
Click on the "Next" button to proceed, or "Stop" button to stop and save or cancel your submission.
At any point in the submission process you can stop and save your work for a later date by clicking on the "Stop" button at the bottom of the page. The data you have already entered will be stored until you come back to the submission and you will be reminded on your "My Account" page that you have a submission in process. If somehow you accidentally exit from the submit process, you can always resume from your "My Account" page. You can also cancel your submission at any point.
Metadata
The information you fill in on the ‘Describe’ screens will form the metadata record that will enable users to retrieve your item using search engines. The richer the metadata, the more "findable" your item will be. Please take the time to fill in as many fields as are applicable to your item. OAR@UM uses the Dublin Core metadata scheme.
Description fields
- Creators
- Title
- Date of Issue
- Publisher
- Citation
- Series / Report No.
- Identifiers
- Type
- Language
- Subject Keywords
- Abstracts
- Sponsors
- Copyright Holder
- Access Rights (OpenAIRE)
- Embargo End Date (OpenAIRE)
- FP7 Project ID (OpenAIRE)
- Description
Creators
Fill out the name of the primary person(s) or organization(s) responsible for the publication/research item and also those who have made significant intellectual contributions to the resource but on a secondary basis. Please use capital letters only for the first letter of the name and surname, e.g. Smith Donald
| Personal authors: |
Enter the surname and the full first name if available |
| Editors: (only for books) |
Enter the surname and the full first name if available (used in case the persons having the final responsibility of the content of a book containing contributions of different authors) |
| Corporate authors: |
Enter the name of entity (used in case the work is created by an employee of the University of Malta as part of his or her job |
| Conference name: |
Enter name of conference (used in case the work has been presented in a conference) |
| Conference place: |
Enter place and date where conference were held (used in conjunction with conference name) |
By clicking on the “Add” button you can add as many creators as needed.
Title (main title mandatory)
All OAR@UM items must have a title
- Main title:
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- Enter the full and proper name by which this item should be known
- Title and subtitle are divided by a colon (_:_)
- Alternative titles:
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- Enter the translated titles following the same rules as the main title
- By clicking on the “Add” button you can add as many alternative titles as needed.
Date of Issue (year mandatory)
Enter the date the resource was made available in its present form. All OAR@UM items must have a date of issue.
Publisher
Enter the name of the entity responsible for making the resource available in its present form, such as a publisher, university department or corporate entity.
Citation
Enter the name of the resource (journal/book) where article/book chapter is found.
| Type |
Format |
Example |
| Journal |
Title. Year of Publication, Volume No.(Issue No.),p. Star and end page |
Maltese Medical Journal. 1995, Vol.7(1), p. 55-61 |
| Chapter of Book, Proceedings paper |
Title. (Edition). Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. p. Start and end page. ISBN |
Coastal mass tourism : diversification and sustainable development in Southern Europe. Clevendon: Channel View Publications, 2004. p. 32-47. 9781873150696 |
Series/Report Numbers
Enter details if work is part of a series or has a report or paper number. By clicking on the “Add” button you can add as many Series / Report Numbers as necessary.
Identifiers
Identifiers are a string or numbers used to uniquely identify the resource.
| ISSN |
Journals |
| ISBN |
Books |
| URL, DOI |
Networked Resources |
By clicking on the “Add” button you can add as many identifiers as needed.
Type (mandatory)
The type of content must be chosen from the enumerated list.
Language (mandatory)
Choose the language(s) of the intellectual content of the resource from the drop down menu
Subject Keyword (mandatory)
Enter the topic of the resource that better describes the subject or content of the resource.
If Library of Congress Subject Headings are not included with your keywords, the OAR@UM Team will include two in order to create consistency within its subject vocabulary. The Library of Congress Subject Headings are a controlled vocabulary of terms which form a dictionary of descriptions of particular types of content or subject matter. These are maintained by Standards’ Bodies in order to standardise the way that similar materials are categorised in databases. This aids searching by increasing the likelihood that the relevant materials will be returned by the user's search.
By clicking on the “Add” button you can add as many Subject Keywords as needed.
Abstract (mandatory)
Enter a brief, objective representation of the essential content of the work, presenting the main points in the same order as the original. The abstract should help the reader to identify and determine whether to read the entire document.
Sponsors
Fill out the name of the entity responsible for the funding of this work, including any other relevant data.
Copyright Holder (mandatory)
It is important to make sure who exactly is the copyright holder of the content submitted. When content has already been published in a journal/book, agreement with the publisher must be established. In case of multiple authors, the submitter is responsible to attain consent from the other authors to deposit the work on OAR@UM.
The following text should be entered in the ‘Copyright Holder’ field:
| The copyright of this work belongs to the author(s)/publisher. The rights of this work are as defined by the appropriate Copyright Legislation or as modified by any successive legislation. Users may access this work and can make use of the information contained in accordance with the Copyright Legislation provided that the author must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the prior permission of the copyright holder. |
Access Rights (OpenAIRE - mandatory)
- Open access: freely and universally available via the internet
- Restricted access: anyone who has a UM Account
- Embargoed: closed for an established period
- Closed access: open only to specific users
Embargo End Date (OpenAIRE - recommended for embargoed items)
In case the item is embargoed, enter the date when the embargo is to be lifted, in the following format:
box if you want to deposit your work for storage. In case you are working with someone else and you want to share the content with only these persons, please contact the OAR@UM Team with the details of the persons in question.
