Using the Publimath Database to Bring History into our Teaching: Two Search Modes

Simple search

Let’s try it! Open the homepage here: http://publimath.univ-irem.fr/. This gives access to “recherche simple” (simple search).

In the first box, you can put in all the key words that you like, in any language you like.

In the second box, you have a choice between les fiches, la liste des mots-clés (keywords), la liste des auteurs (authors), les notices du glossaire (glossary notice). A glossary notice is intended to provide quick information (e.g., definition of an object or a concept, biographical details of mathematicians) and references for further research.

To start your search, click .

The two search options liste des mots-clés and les notices du glossaire are especially useful for people who are less familiar with French mathematical or teaching vocabulary. If you put in an English word, you’ll get the fiches in which the word appears in the abstract in English, even if the paper is written in another language.

As with all the basic search engines, you will get all the items in which any one of your search terms appears (full text search). The tag “bibliothèque numérique” allows for searching only the items in the IREM Digital Library

Advanced search

Now, if you know precisely what you are looking for, you can use the “recherche avancée et dans les revues” (advanced and journals search) by clicking on that tag; it opens a second page: http://publimath.univ-irem.fr/avancee.php.

If you are looking for a specific kind of document, such as a website or a video, click on the button “Type” and choose that item in the drop-down menu: site (internet website) or film (video).

“Public visé” means “Target audience".

If you are wondering what “CDI Litteramath” is, it is a collection of books available in every French school library (CDI) for students in the first 4 years of secondary education.

Some Useful Tips

• Clicking on the logo on any page will take you back to the homepage: http://publimath.univ-irem.fr/.
• The homepage contains direct links to the following alphabetized lists:
  • mot-clés (keywords)
  • auteurs (authors)
• The link dernières fiches on the homepage takes you to a list of recently-posted fiches (e.g., the last 20 fiches posted, fiches posted within the last month).