Using the Library Catalogue — No. 2. Advanced Features

Full Search | Save/Mail Results | My e-Shelf

The Library Catalogue has a number of facilities for advanced searching, and for storing and manipulating your results.

Full Search

Full Search allows you to carry out a more complex search than is possible with Quick Search (see the guide: Using the Library Catalogue No. 1: Quick Search for more information).

You can combine a number of search terms over several different fields e.g. combine authors with titles, or keywords with subject headings.

You can also limit your search by a range of options, including language, date of publication, format and collection.

Enter your search terms, select your chosen fields, and click on Go.

All the records retrieved for the search terms in each box will be combined to show the total number of records that match all the elements of your search.

Click on the number of hits to view all records to see your results.

Brief List

The Brief list shows how many records have been found which correspond to your search. The total number of records retrieved is displayed at the top of the list. You can sort the list by author, title or date of publication, by clicking on the underlined headings.

Full View of Record

By clicking on either the title or number of any item a more detailed record will display, containing subject headings and more information about the author(s), publisher, and sub-titles, etc.

Underlined entries are links to other related documents or headings. Following the link from a subject heading, for example, will enable you to view other items relevant to the subject.

If the full-text electronic version is available, this may be accessed by clicking on either the SFX button or the Full Text Link.
N.B. You will need to be a member of the University and logged in to the network in order to access electronic resources.

Hints and tips for improving your search strategies

If your search has produced too many or too few results, there are a number of options available to help you modify your search.

Refine – allows you to narrow or broaden your search by using the Boolean operators (AND, OR, & NOT), and by adding additional search terms.

Click on the Refine link at the top of the brief results list
Select the operator to use (AND & NOT to narrow the search, OR to broaden the search)
Select the field to search
Add the search term or phrase to look for
Click on the Go button

Filtering – allows you to Filter your results in a number of ways. For example you can select results within a specific date range, or results which have a specific term in the title.

Click on the Filter link at the top of the brief results list
Choose a filter to view a subset of records
Add the relevant search term or dates to the boxes
Click on the Go button

Subset – allows you to select a subset of the records in the brief list and re-display them.

Select the items for your subset by clicking the check boxes alongside each item
Click on the Create subset link at the top of the brief results list to re-display your selected records

Using previous searches

Any searches you have performed in a single session can be viewed by clicking the Previous Searches button. This will list all the previous searches you have performed together with the number of results for each search.

You can view the results again by clicking the check box of the relevant search and clicking on the View button.

You can combine two or more previous searches by clicking the check box of the relevant searches and clicking on the Cross button.

History

During any session of searching the catalogue, you are likely to build up a number of search statements. These are stored during that session under Previous Searches but will be lost when you finish the session, unless you save them.

In order to save a search statement you must be logged onto the catalogue, and then carry out the following steps:

Click on the Previous Searches button to view a list of all the searches you have carried out during a session
Select the search statement you wish to save by clicking the check box alongside, and clicking on the Save link

To view a list of previous search statements you have saved, click on the History button.

To re-run a saved search, select the search statement by clicking the check box alongside, and clicking on the Find link. A list of results will display on the screen.

Search statements can be deleted from the list by clicking the check box alongside, and clicking on the Delete link.

Saving and storing results

There are a number of options available for saving and storing your results.

Saving records

From the Brief list display of results, click the check box alongside any records you would like to save
Click on the Save/Mail link
Choose the range of records you wish to select
Select the format in which the records will be saved
Click on the Go button
Click on the Save Selected button and choose where you would like to save the file. We recommend that you change the file extension from .sav to .txt on saving

Mailing records

From the Brief list display of results, click the check box alongside any records you would like to e-mail
Click on the Save/Mail link
Choose the range of records you wish to select
Select the format in which the records will be sent
Enter a subject to appear in the Subject line of the e-mail
Enter your name if you wish to send the records to someone else
Enter the e-mail address to which the records should be sent
Use the text box to add any notes you wish to accompany the records
Click on the Go button to send the e-mail

Using My e-Shelf

My e-Shelf enables you to build up a personal bibliography of Catalogue records, with notes if desired, and to organise records into different folders. In order to save your records for future sessions you must log on to the Catalogue before you move any records into the e-shelf.

You can add records to My e-Shelf from either the Brief list or Full view displays.

From the Brief list, click on the check box next to your chosen records. Click on Add to My e-Shelf. Add a note if desired. Click Go.

From the Full view of a record, click on Add to My e-Shelf. Add a note if desired. Click Go.

To view contents, click on the My e-Shelf button. The records you have just added will be listed in a Basket.

To organise into folders, click the Folder Management button. The contents of your basket will be listed on the right-hand side. To create a new folder, enter your chosen name in the Save Basket As box on the right hand side of the screen, then click on the underlined Save Basket As heading.

Another way of creating a new folder is to enter your chosen name in the New box on the left hand side of the screen, then click on the underlined New heading.

You can move selected records between folders by clicking the check boxes next to the records and using the left and right arrow buttons.

Other useful guides:

Using the Library Catalogue No. 1. Searching the Catalogue
Using the Library Catalogue No. 3. My Library Account
Finding Books and Journals in the Library
Finding and Using Electronic Journals