LISTSERV database searching can be a complex and abstruse topic, and
the available documentation does little to set the newcomer's mind
at ease.  (Abject apologies to LISTSERV inventor Eric Thomas if he's
listening.  It's a magnificent product, but some of us are lazy.)
 
My strategy is to keep a small template file (named, appropriately,
DB TEMPLATE) with the boilerplate text in it.  When I want to do a
database search, I copy this file into my note editor, edit it
to produce a particular search, and send it to the LISTSERV that
manages the list in question.
 
In the example below, the only variable line is the one that begins
with the word "Search".  The syntax for this particular form of
query is:
 
        SEARCH <keyword> IN <listname> SINCE <date>
 
Since this the form of query that I use most often, it's the one
I'm including here.  Other LISTSERV mavens may want to provide
examples of queries they find useful.
 
So, to find all notes containing the word "taxonomic" in this list
since January 15, I would copy the template file into my note
editor and edit the "Search" line to produce:
 
   // JOB Echo=No
   Database Search DD=Rules
   //Rules DD  *
   Search taxonomic in MUSEUM-L since 95-01-15
   Print all
   /*
 
Then I would address the note to LISTSERV@UNMVMA and send it off.
A few minutes or hours later I would receive a note from UNMVMA's
LISTSERV containing the search results.
 
Some notes on the above:
 
I've indented the example text to make it stand out, but you will
want to start each line at the left margin.
 
Be *sure* you send the note to the LISTSERV, not to MUSEUM-L.  Please.
 
The line "Print all" tells LISTSERV to send you back the text of
the notes selected in the "Search" line.
 
The other lines are "just things you have to include to make it work,"
which was the explanation of mainframe batch job language we certified
techno-nerds received in mainframe assembly language class.  Sometimes
you just shrug and follow the recipe.
 
Does anyone else have a favorite template or query syntax they would
like to share?
 
       +------------------------------+------------------------+
       |  Barbara Weitbrecht          |  [log in to unmask]  |
       |  National Air & Space Museum |  [log in to unmask]       |
       |  Smithsonian Institution     |  (202) 357-4162        |
       +------------------------------+------------------------+