Tips and Tricks for usingthe Library Catalog :Tips and Tricks for usingthe Library Catalog


Slide 2:? ? ? You have questions ? ? ? ? ? ? ? You’ve aimlessly wandered the stacks You’ve searched the “new book” shelves You’ve tried googling Now it’s time to check the catalog!


Slide 3:blank


Slide 4:1. What kinds of things can I find in the catalog? Books Journals (a.k.a. periodicals, serials, magazines) Recorded music (CD’s, cassettes, etc.) Scores Lots more FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)


Slide 5:Welcome to the Catalog!


FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) :2. What’s a “browse” ?? Use this kind of search if you know the author’s name, the title, or the Subject Heading. Order counts! FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)


Browse - author :Browse - author If the last name is somewhat unusual, you can just put in the last name or last name with an initial. ex.: zafren lastname, firstname


Browse - author :Browse - author For common last names, add the first name or prepare to do lots of scrolling Cohen


Browse - Title :Browse - Title Order counts! If the title starts with an article (a, an, the, ha-, der, die, das, el, la, etc.) skip it and start typing in the next word. You don’t have to type the complete title – just start at the beginning and type in the first few words. The more unique the title, the fewer words you need.


Browse - Subject :Browse - Subject We use a somewhat odd system of subject headings (courtesy of the Library of Congress) These are terms that the library assigns to a book (or other resource). The term may or may not appear in the title or on the work itself. Like the other browse searches, the order that words appear matters. If you are not sure of the subject heading – use a keyword search instead.


FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) :What’s a “keyword” ? The keyword search looks for your term anywhere in the field Order does NOT matter Use the most distinctive terms FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)


Keyword :Keyword You can search anywhere in the record or in specific fields You can combine your terms.


Slide 13:Use AND to narrow your search. The catalog finds only those documents that contain both the first AND the second search terms For example, to find David Kaufman’s Shul with a Pool, choose author and put in his last name and then choose title and put in one of the most distinctive word(s) of the title Keyword - AND


Slide 14:Keyword - OR Use OR to broaden your search. The catalog finds all documents that contain the first search term OR the second search term OR both. For example, to find books on either Ruth or Naomi, put their names in a subject search using the “or” option.


Slide 15:Keyword - NOT Use NOT to restrict your search. The catalog finds all documents that contain the first search term, but NOT the second. For example, if you want to research for Jewish political activity, but you already have everything that Steven Windmueller has written on that topic, you can exclude him from the search.


Slide 16:Keyword - Wildcards Use wildcard symbols to get multiple forms of a word or if you are unsure of the spelling. An asterisk (*) will be replaced by one or more letters. For example femini* would retrieve feminism, feminist, feminine, etc. A question mark (?) will be replaced by one letter. For example wom?n would retrieve woman and women.


FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) :What if I’m picky and I only want English! Books on my campus! Recent books! Something published in Cincinnati! Use the filters. FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)


Slide 18:Filters Click on “Set Search Filters to get lots of options Pick a format like books, recorded music, scores Choose your campus


FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) :What’s the best search strategy? If you’re not sure of what subject headings to use, use the keyword search. Find a book that looks close to what you need and then look at the full record Do a new browse search by the subject headings FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)


Example :Example For example, if you are researching Jewish ghetto life in Italy, do a keyword (anywhere) search for “ghettos italy” Page through the results. Click on the titles (even if it is the wrong language or campus) Look at the subject headings. You’ll see “Jewish ghettos—Italy …” Go to the browse search screen and do a subject browse search for “jewish ghettos italy”


When all else fails … :When all else fails … Ask your local librarian! We’re here to help!