The current PRC Universal Knowledge System (UKS) uses the following conceptual spine for its search-centred research model:
UKS → Library → Collection(s) → Content Unit(s) → Search Target → Target Context → Search Context → Search Process → Search Matches → Search Results → Content View(s) → View Context → Context Window(s) → Multi-Context exploration
The practical principle is simple: first define what material you want to investigate; then choose either the Search route or the direct no-Search viewing route; then examine relevant source material in context.
1. Open the Library of Perspective
- Open the Library of Perspective from the PRC Library navigation.
- The Library of Perspective screen displays the available Library Collections.
- This is the principal starting point for defining the material that will form your Search Target.
The Library of Perspective contains multiple organised Collections of Publications and other Content Units.
2. Choose one or more Library Collections
Select the Library Collection or Collections you want to investigate.
You may select:
- one Collection;
- several Collections together; or
- All Library Collections.
The selected Collections establish the broad scope of the enquiry.
If a Publication belongs to more than one selected Collection, it is counted only once in the resulting Search Target.
3. Apply refinements if required
The selected Library material can be narrowed further using the available refinements:
- Record Type / Form
- Subject Collections
- Topic / Project Collections
You do not need to use every refinement. A refinement group with no selections places no additional restriction on the Search Target.
The current refinement logic is:
Collection(s) AND Record Type / Form AND (Subject OR Topic / Project)
Several selections within the same refinement group operate as alternatives.
For example, selecting Book and Paper allows Publications of either type to remain within the Search Target.
Clear Refinements removes the refinement selections while retaining the selected Library Collection scope.
4. Understand the Search Target
The Publications remaining after the Collection and refinement choices form the Search Target.
The Search Target is the actual body of material available to Library Search. The same Collection-level selections and refinements also determine which Publications are available for direct no-Search selection.
The associated Target Context describes how that Search Target has been created — for example, which Library Collections, Record Types, Subjects and Topics / Projects were used.
The Search Target therefore answers:
What material am I about to search or examine?
5. Choose Search or direct viewing
Once the required material has been identified, you can continue in either of two ways.
Search route: click Search this Collection to open Library Search and search within the current Search Target. Running Library Search creates a Search Context.
Direct viewing route: if you already know which Publications you want to examine, select them at Collection level and use Open Multi-Content Views (no Search). When Publications have been selected, the interface can show View N selected Publications (no Search).
The direct route opens selected Publications for examination without first creating a Search Context or running a content search.
6. Adjust the Search Target if necessary
When you use the Search route, the Library Search screen opens.
The top of this screen continues to display the Search Target, including:
- the Collection Scope;
- the number of Publications in scope;
- the refined Publication count;
- the current Type / Form, Subject and Topic / Project refinement counts; and
- the actual Library Collection or Collections being searched.
This keeps the scope of the enquiry visible while searches are being constructed.
The Search Target can still be adjusted from the Library Search screen.
You can change:
- Collection Scope;
- Type / Form refinements;
- Subject refinements; and
- Topic / Project refinements.
Changing the Search Target changes the body of Publications available to subsequent searches.
7. Set Search Options if required
Search Options provide optional publication-level filters.
They include:
- Author
- Title
- Date range
- Publication Type
These options can be used individually or together.
They narrow the Publications considered by the search but do not alter the underlying organisation of the Library.
If no Search Options are required, leave them blank.
8. Enter Search Content
The Search Content section determines what you want the system to search for.
Enter a search term or phrase in the Search box.
You can choose how the words are matched:
- Exact — finds the words together in the same order;
- All words — requires every search word, although they do not need to occur together;
- Any word — finds material containing one or more of the entered words.
You can also choose where to search:
- All Content
- Title
- Author
- Year
All Content searches indexed document text together with publication metadata including Title, Author and Year.
9. Search without entering a search term
Search Content can also be left blank.
If you press Search Library without entering a search term, the system returns all Publications that satisfy the current Search Target and any Search Options you have set.
This is useful when you want to browse a deliberately defined body of material without searching for particular words.
This is different from Open Multi-Content Views (no Search). A blank Library Search still runs the Library Search process and creates a Search Context; the no-Search route opens selected Publications directly without creating a Search Context.
10. Create a Search Context
Each time you run a new search, the UKS creates an independent Search Context.
The first search becomes Search A, the next Search B, then Search C, and so on.
Each Search Context preserves its own combination of:
- Search Target;
- Search Options;
- Search Content;
- matching method;
- search field; and
- result state.
This means that creating a new search does not destroy the previous one.
The Active Search Contexts area allows several searches to remain available at the same time.
11. Use different Search Contexts for different questions
Different Search Contexts can investigate different terms, publication filters or Library scopes.
For example:
- Search A might search for perspective;
- Search B might search for projection;
- Search C might search for visual perception.
You can move between these Search Contexts without having to repeat each search from the beginning.
12. Understand Search Process, Matches and Results
Once Search Library is pressed, the system performs the Search Process.
Where textual searching is involved, the system identifies individual Search Matches in the indexed material.
These are then organised into Search Results, principally by Publication.
The conceptual distinction is:
- Search Process — the search operation being performed;
- Search Matches — the matching occurrences found;
- Search Results — the organised results presented to the researcher.
13. Review the Results List
The Results List shows Publications matching the active Search Context.
The heading identifies the current context, for example:
Results List — A
You can move between active Search Contexts and inspect the corresponding Results List for each.
Results can also be sorted using the available publication sorting controls.
14. Select relevant Publications
Select the Search Results you want to examine more closely.
Selections can be made from more than one Search Context.
This is important because the UKS allows relevant material discovered through different searches to be brought together for comparison.
Up to 9 selected Publications can be opened for Multi-Context exploration.
15. Open Multi-Content Views
The Multi-Content Views system brings selected source material together for examination and comparison.
When you have selected the required Publications, use the Multi-Content Views control provided for the selected material.
The selected source material is then available as Content Views and can be examined in Context Windows for direct comparison.
Multi-Content Views can therefore be reached either from selected Search Results or directly from selected Publications using the no-Search route.
16. Examine source material in Context Windows
A Context Window provides direct access to the source Publication rather than restricting you to a short search-result fragment.
Where a Publication was reached through a textual Search Match, the system can take you to relevant matching material while still allowing you to move through the surrounding Publication.
Where a Publication was opened through the no-Search route, the Context Window provides direct access to that selected source without requiring a Search Match.
You can therefore examine:
- the relevant page;
- neighbouring pages;
- the larger argument or discussion;
- the complete Publication where required.
This preserves the relationship between a Search Result and its original source context when a search has been used, while also allowing direct source examination when no search is required.
17. Use Multi-Context exploration
Several Context Windows can be displayed together.
This allows you to compare:
- different Publications;
- different pages;
- different passages;
- different Search Contexts; and
- different ideas or treatments of the same subject.
This is the Multi-Context dimension of the UKS.
Instead of working through a single linear stream of search results, you can bring several relevant source contexts together for direct examination.
18. Return to Library Search
You can return from the Context Windows to the Library Search workspace.
The current system preserves the relevant working state, including the active Search Context, Results List and selected Publications, so that the enquiry can continue without unnecessarily rebuilding the previous search.
You can then:
- continue examining the current Search Context;
- switch to another Search Context;
- create a new Search Context;
- change Search Options;
- change Search Content;
- adjust the Search Target; or
- return to the Library of Perspective to change the broader target structure.
19. Use Help Boxes when needed
Help Boxes provide additional explanations of the controls and logic used in the system.
They are off by default.
Turning Help Boxes on or off changes only the display of guidance. It does not change:
- Library Collection selections;
- refinements;
- the Search Target;
- Search Options;
- Search Contexts;
- Search Results; or
- selected Publications.
20. A simple example
Suppose you want to compare treatments of perspective in several Library Collections.
- Open the Library of Perspective.
- Select the relevant Library Collections.
- If useful, refine them by Type / Form, Subject or Topic / Project.
- The remaining Publications form the Search Target.
- Click Search this Collection.
- If required, set Author, Title, Date or Publication Type under Search Options.
- Search for perspective. This becomes Search A.
- Create another search for projection. This becomes Search B.
- Review the Results Lists for Search A and Search B.
- Select relevant Publications from either or both Search Contexts.
- Open the selected material using Multi-Content Views.
- Compare the relevant source passages side by side in Context Windows.
If you already know which Publications you want to compare, you can instead select them at Collection level and use Open Multi-Content Views (no Search) without creating Search A or Search B.
The key rule
Define the material first. Then either establish and search a Search Target by creating one or more Search Contexts, or select Publications directly at Collection level when a Search is unnecessary.
The UKS is not simply a search box. It is a structured system for defining a body of knowledge, conducting several independent enquiries within it, preserving the connection between Search Matches and source Publications, and comparing sources directly through Multi-Content Views and Multi-Context exploration.
For the wider concept and design, see About the UKS →